Archives January 2020

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You need to know how to install laminate flooring if you want to do it yourself, but its not that hard

how to install laminate flooring, installing laminate flooring, installing hardwood floors

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Knowing how to install laminate flooring is as simple as reading the instructions on each package of laminate flooring that you buy. The edges of the laminate flooring lock together with the tongue and groove feature of each plank. The same thing applies when you install hardwood floors. Each board has a tongue on one side and a groove on the other. Sometimes you may have to gently tap the laminate or hardwood planks to get them to fit together, but the whole process of how to install laminate flooring is relatively simple.

Most of the time, when you are learning how to install laminate flooring, the planks simple snap together with the Uniclic system. It is important to read the instructions because each manufacturer has different methods of installing laminate flooring. If you are unsure about installing hardwood floors or laminate flooring, you can log onto the website of either the flooring retailer or the manufacturer. There is usually a section about installing the flooring and you might be able to download a PDF document telling you everything you need to know.

When you get the information about how to install laminate flooring, you can practice on a small area where it doesnt really matter whether you have to remove the planks. This will give you the practice you need for when you are ready to start installing laminate flooring in your living room or another room of the home. One thing that you do need to know about installing hardwood floors is that you have to open the packages of hardwood and let them acclimatize to the surroundings. In contrast, when you are installing laminate floors you dont open the packages until you are ready to start the installation process.

You do have to ask questions about how to install laminate flooring if you are not familiar with this type of flooring. For example, if you are building a new home, you do have to have the kitchen cabinets installed before installing laminate flooring. Installing hardwood floors however, means that since these boards are heavier, you can do all the floors of the house first before you install the cabinets. It would mean, though, that you do have to take extra care so that you wont scratch or dent the flooring.

Learning how to install laminate flooring also means that you have to learn about the areas of your home best suited for this type of flooring. Laminate flooring is a very versatile product and although you can install it over just about any type of surface, there are rooms in your home not conducive for installing laminate flooring. These include bathroom, wet room, sauna or an enclosed porch or anywhere that would mean an excess of water or continual mopping. Extended exposure to moisture could damage your laminate and hardwood floors. This is why it is important to get all the information you can about how to install laminate flooring.

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Your kitchen is one of the most important rooms in your house. Not only do you rely on it to cook, you do most of your socializing and entertaining in there as well. And one of the first things people notice about a nice kitchen is the cabinets.

kitchen remodeling, kitchen cabinets, cabinets, kitchen

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Copyright 2006 Dennis Watson

Your kitchen is one of the most important rooms in your house. Not only do you rely on it to cook, you do most of your socializing and entertaining in there as well. And one of the first things people notice about a nice kitchen is the cabinets. Not only is it important to have cabinets that are functional and that provide adequate space, they tend to be compared to as a nice peace of furniture. Below I will step you through the steps necessary to install your own cabinets enabling you to feel proud of your accomplishment and saving you a ton of money.

1. First you must remove your old cabinets. Be sure to turn off all electrical breakers and shut off all water valves in the kitchen. Once that is done start removing the old cabinets and cap off water pipes and electrical wires.

2. Remember to always keep your work space clean to prevent accidents. Once the area is clear of all unwanted items use a level and draw a line across the wall parallel to the floor about 3 inches up from the floor. At this point you want to find the high point in the floor and from there measure 34 1/2 inches and draw a level line across the wall to determine where the top of the cabinet base will be.

3. From your 34 1/2-inch line, measure up another 19 1/2 inches and mark a level line across the wall to determine the bottom of the wall cabinets.

4. At this point locate the wall studs, then, mark their locations above and at least 5-6 inches below the mark you’ve made for the bottom of the wall cabinets. Draw some vertical guide lines on the wall between the two horizontal lines to give you guidance when attaching the cabinets. Be sure to place those vertical lines in the center of each stud.

5. To provide a ledge to support your cabinets fasten a temporary 2-by-4 support rail to the wall, aligning the top edge of the 2-by-4 with the line for the bottom edge of the wall cabinets.

6. Install the corner wall cabinet first. Always drill pilot holes to prevent splitting through the cabinet framing support rail and into the wall studs. Do not use nails but instead screw the cabinet to the wall using two to three screws that are long enough to penetrate the studs by at least 1 1/2 inches. During this phase make sure that the cabinet is level and plumb and to adjust the position, back off the screws, and add shims behind the cabinet at stud locations as needed.

7. Next install the adjacent cabinets. Secure each cabinet to its neighbor with a clamp and check it for plumb. Once you have the cabinets aligned properly use screws to attach them together, be sure not to use the shelf-peg holes that you will need for shelves later.

8. Once all the wall cabinets are in place, install the corner and/or end base cabinet. When necessary, use shims to level it and raise it up to the high point of the floor. Once level from front to back and from side to side screw it to the wall studs.

9. Finally place screws through the cabinet back and shims where used into the wall studs. Always trim all excess material from the shims with a sharp utility knife.

That’s it, I know it sounds easy but don’t be fooled it will take some detailed planning on your part and most likely a helping hand from a friend. Good luck with your project.

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Interior decorating with today’s natural styles and how Native American art could fit in.

interior, decorating, home, decor, native american, art, carving

For the best Paver Contractors Toronto company, call Stonecraft Masonry & Construction.

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338

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Not just food for pandas or the stuff of cheap picnic mats, bamboo is now being processed with modern techniques into beautiful “hardwood” flooring that beats standard wood floors in durability, hardness, and dimensional stability.

home care

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Not just food for pandas or the stuff of cheap picnic mats, bamboo is now being processed with modern techniques into beautiful “hardwood” flooring that beats standard wood floors in durability, hardness, and dimensional stability.

An added bonus to these beautiful floors is the knowledge that bamboo, unlike wood, grows quickly and abundantly, reaching maturity in five years or less. Red oak and maple, by comparison, can take decades to mature and then have to be replanted. Clear-cutting of forests also has a negative environmental impact and threatens the planet’s biodiversity.

After harvesting, cutting, processing, and finishing, bamboo flooring installation is not much different from standard hardwood floor installation. The important steps in installation occur before putting in the bamboo floor. First, make sure you buy from a reputable manufacturer who is willing to back up their product with a warranty.

The next step in bamboo flooring installation is making sure the subfloor is dry, clean, and level. Dirty subfloors will not bond well with the adhesive, and subfloors that are not dry will eventually cause rot. If not level, the bamboo flooring will squeak when walked on. If you are competent in home repair and good with your hands, you may be able to complete the bamboo flooring installation on your own. In some cases, with certain types of bamboo flooring, a professional will be needed.

Bamboo flooring may be glued down using a moisture barrier flooring adhesive. After applying the adhesive to the subfloor with a trowel, the bamboo flooring planks should be immediately placed. You may also install bamboo flooring using a nail gun over plywood or particleboard. Once starter rows are secure, subsequent planks should be nailed directly above the tongue at a 45-degree angle to face.

After installing the bamboo flooring, you will care for it in a similar way to hardwood floors; frequent dusting/sweeping, occasionally mopping, and use of wood cleaners. With regular care, bamboo flooring will add a stylish, beautiful component to your home for many years to come.

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Interior Decorating with Inuit art from the Arctic region of Canada.

interior, decorating, home, decor, inuit, arctic, canada, art, carving, sculpture

For the best Paver Contractors Toronto company, call Stonecraft Masonry & Construction.

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336

For the best Patios Dublin company, call Sandyford Landscaping Dublin.

Thinking of buildin your own sauna? Don’t neglect the sauna ventilation system. Here’s how to do it the right way!

sauna ventilation system, home saunas, saunas

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An efficient sauna ventilation system is an important component of a properly working home sauna. Whether you operate your sauna as a wet steam room or you use dry, infrared heat, you should ventilate the area with a system that allows several complete air changes every hour.

All wet and dry home saunas require some sort of ventilation to bring fresh air into the sauna. A simple but efficient system is to leave an open space at the bottom of the entrance door. Since hot air rises and cold air stays near the floor, you wont feel the draft as you sit on one of the benches. A crack of anywhere from  to several inches will provide sufficient ventilation to recycle the air for a comfortable sauna session.

A better system to ventilate wet and dry saunas is to provide an opening in the wall just behind the sauna room heater. This intake vent should be located several inches above the floor to provide the fresh air supply. The outlet should be located on the opposite wall close to the ceiling. This opening will remove the used air from the home sauna, thus ensuring several complete air changes and efficient ventilation.

Proper ventilation is also an important safety consideration. The extreme heat found in both wet and dry home saunas can result in hot floors, walls, ceiling and benches without an air exchange system. Builders say to avoid mechanical air exchange methods as the forced air tends to dry out the wall panels and turns them into a potential fire hazard.

Another important aspect of a properly installed ventilation system is to discharge the spent air into the same room from which it was taken. In other words, do not discharge the used air to the outside. This obviously only applies to indoor wet and dry saunas. If you decide to build your home sauna from a precut sauna kit, the manufacturer will provide instructions on how to build the sauna and the ventilating system.

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Learn how to install a prehung door. Learn what to look for before you start.
Learn what it takes to get the job done right.

House Plans, homebuilding, home improvement, blueprints, building, contractor, home, construction, house, covenants, subcontractors, home plans

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Hanging a door these days is easier than its ever been. In the days before prehung doors, it took more tools and knowledge to hang a door than it does now.

Imagine getting a door slab, an unassembled door jamb, hinges and door hardware and having to do all the mortising, drilling, rabbeting on site.

No longer do you need an array of tools such as a drill, a mortising jig for hinges, strikes, and bolt plate. No jig for drilling the backset for the doorknob and bolt.

Nowadays all you need is a hammer and hard trim nails or a finish nail gun and some shims.

The first thing you need to do is check the opening you’ll be hanging the door in for the correct size. It should be 2″ bigger than the door size. Even though it’s a rough opening it should be reasonably plumb and square.

If the opening was framed by someone else, you may want to break out your level and framing square and check this also. Drywallers sometimes believe the rough opening was meant for them and will let the drywall run into the opening. If this is the case use a drywall saw or sawzall to cut it back.

Once all the vitals have been checked your ready to hang a door. Prehung doors come assembled a couple different ways. They can be bought with trim already mitered and nailed on to one side and without trim. If there is no trim installed, I like to put it on before I put the door in the opening. The trim is installed on the hinge side.

Most doors open into a room and against a wall. When putting the door into the opening, try to put the door in the center of the opening. The door jamb should be able to move to the left and right in the opening. The gap between the door and jamb on the hinge side is usually about an 1/8″ of an inch. This dictates the gap or space you should have all around the door. Move the door jamb to the left or right until you have that same space at the top. You then nail the trim on the top hinge side and the bottom hinge side. Then nail the strike side on the top making sure you still have an equal space. Nail off the rest of the hinge side with 3 or 4 more nails. The 2 nails already in the top are all I usually put in. Now nail the rest of the strike side starting at the top and working your way down, maintaining the same space as the top and hinge side.

Once the door is nailed into the opening on the inside, it’s time to shim the door jamb. First, pull the door closed to make sure it hits the door stop evenly on the strike side. If it is hitting only at the top pull the hinge side toward you till it hits even. If it hits only at the bottom, push the hinge side jamb away from you till it hits evenly.

Once you get the jamb aligned put shims between the jamb and stud opening, being careful not to bow the jamb into the opening. If need be use a straight edge to keep it straight. I put shims behind every hinge and the strike and also at the top and bottom of the strike side. I nail these shims in with two nails, one on each side of the stop.

The next step is to apply the door casing to the outside of the door. Once this is done, your ready for the door hardware. If everything went right, the bolt should engage the strike plate and the door should fit snuggly against the stops.

(c) 2005 Mike Merisko http://www.sawkerfs.com

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482

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Everyone wants to make sure that they can sell their house for at least as much as they paid for it. Sometimes, people go to great trouble to fix up their homes to make sure they sell for a good price. People replace windows, roofs, furnaces, even plumbing. These are all costly renovations, and are often unnecessary. There are many small and inexpensive changes you can make to your home that will raise its resale value. Consider these ideas:

home, value, increase, inexpensive, selling, buying, sell, price

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Selling your home can often be a stressful occasion. Everyone wants to make sure that they can sell their house for at least as much as they paid for it. Sometimes, people go to great trouble to fix up their homes to make sure they sell for a good price. People replace windows, roofs, furnaces, even plumbing. These are all costly renovations, and are often unnecessary. There are many small and inexpensive changes you can make to your home that will raise its resale value. Consider these ideas:

Paint every space in your house that you think could use freshening up. If you want a space to look bigger, such as a living room or closet, use a light color, or white. Although painting is time-consuming, it is quite inexpensive, and helps to make a house look new again.

Check out the exterior of your house, including the yard; are there changes you could make here to improve its curb appeal? Paint trim and any steps or railings that look worn out, replace or repaint house numbers and light fixtures, and trim any hedges or bushes in your yard. Keep your grass cut and, even if you dont have a flower garden, consider buying a pot or hanging basket of flowers to add color to your homes entrance. You might even want to buy a welcome mat!

The kitchen and bathroom are two rooms you will want to pay special attention to. Make sure they are spotless. Are all of your lights and electrical outlets working? Do you need to add more to make the rooms brighter and more accessible? If you are unable to do these jobs on your own, ask an electrician to do it for you. Although it will cost more, you will know that everything works; also, extra lighting and outlets really do increase the value of a room in the eyes of potential home buyers.

Take a look at the flooring in your home. Are there rips or stains in linoleum or carpet? Are hardwood floors looking dull? Have all of your carpets cleaned. You can rent a carpet cleaner for a good price from a local home hardware or grocery store. If your carpet is damaged, you may be able to patch it if the spot is small. Linoleum is quite inexpensive, and easy to install. Clean and polish all hardwood floors.

Finally, before potential home buyers arrive to look through your house, add the finishing touches. Put fresh towels in the bathrooms and kitchen. Tidy closets, and make sure no newspapers or bills are lying out. Wipe down counters. Light a candle or two and put on some quiet music. Make sure all pets are out of the way. By following these tips, your home will be sold before you know it, and the selling price will put a smile on your face!

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One of the most important considerations in making a proper home theatre system is lighting. From the lighting designers’ perspective, there exist three kinds of lighting- task lighting, accent lighting and ambient lighting. Task lighting is, as the name suggests, lighting for doing a task. An example of task lighting is a table lamp that lets you read a book or doing crossword puzzles. Next, accent lighting is used to accent or highlight architectural or favorite displays of a room. If you have a large home with high ceilings with beautiful architecture you will want to show it off. Lastly, ambient lighting is used as filler.

home lighting system, accent lighting, task lighting, ambient lighting, lighting your home

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Word Count:
483

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A carpenter is a person who creates objects made of wood for various projects, from home remodeling to furniture. These skilled craftsmen should be able to complete the work per your specifications. There are several types of carpenters to choose from and hiring one should be determined based on the scope of the project.

carpenter

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A carpenter is a person who creates objects made of wood for various projects, from home remodeling to furniture. These skilled craftsmen should be able to complete the work per your specifications. There are several types of carpenters to choose from and hiring one should be determined based on the scope of the project.

A rough carpenter is someone who specializes in roofing, framing and structural work. These designs are not likely to need exact finishing edges or artistic ability. These people are generally used for home construction, additions and remodels. Choose an individual who has experience and can provide references of past projects. They may also need to have knowledge of structural safety and local building codes. Ask what requirements are necessary for your area and ensure they comply with those standards. If the project is small, budget may be a consideration. Many inexpensive rough carpenters are available who will provide a quality product.

A finish carpenter is someone who artistically crafts fine wood pieces with an eye toward exact joints and finishes. There is minimal margin for error so carpenters of this sort are generally highly skilled and experienced. Because of this, the cost is typically a bit more expensive but you will get a quality product. These types specialize in furnishings, cabinetry and other fine woodworking. Larger projects such as home remodels and building may also utilize this type if it is necessary to have precision or an artistic flair. It is important to discuss the ideas you have and get feedback on how the carpenter will accomplish the task. Look at pictures of previous work to get a feel for their style and skill level.

When hiring a carpenter get a contract in writing. This should include the scope of the work to be completed outlining all specifications, requirements and any special considerations to be made. Ensure the total price for the project is detailed as well as payment procedures. Many carpenters will require a down payment for purchasing materials but do not require a complete advanced payment. Ensure you have some leverage for quality assurance by retaining a portion for acceptance of work. Check the terms of any warranties available. Even pieces that look nice may not be structurally sound or may need tweaking after in use for a period of time. Be sure the carpenter will be willing to make minor repairs within the scope of work if necessary.

A carpenter becomes more skilled with experience, so it is important to check references and see past projects. For minor, one off work, hiring on a budget is acceptable and you will likely get decent quality of work inexpensively. For more important or larger projects, however, look for a carpenter who has a track record of quality work and sound references. The slightly added expense in the beginning may be worth saving frustration and disappointment in the end.