Posted by woodrow ~ March 5th, 2012
Setting countertop tiles with mortar is an age-tested method that works for most DIY-ers. You may spend a lot of time picking out and arranging a pattern of tiles ahead of time, especially if you’re doing a mosaic countertop out of one-inch tiles. There’s an amazing range of tiles, including glazed tiles with their options of matte or high gloss finishes. Many homeowners prefer natural tile materials from cut granite, limestone or slate.
The prep-work involves the dry-fit method, laying out your tiles on the existing surface to create your countertop. You can use alternating patterns and colors for effect. A great way to keep things straight is to lay out your tiles on the destination surface, then transfer it one tile at a time to another surface in the kitchen or on a pallet. You can buy tile spacers to ensure straight lines and room for grout at any home improvement store. Another way is to mark lines and patterns on the underlayment by pencil.
Don’t mix up your adhesive until you’re ready to work, and only mix up enough adhesive you can use up before it hardens (20-30 minutes). Countertop adhesive is typically used in thicker consistency than adhesive used for laying tile and stone floors. Think of peanut butter.
Putting down the tiles
Set your edge tiles first. Thinset is the adhesive of choice among many contractors. Use a notched trowel to lay down the adhesive, carefully avoiding covering the layout lines. Trowel the adhesive into an even plateau.
Be sure to set only the whole tile pieces first, saving cut and fill pieces until the end. Push the tile into the thinset and rub it in to ensure full adhesive coverage. Use a level as you go to ensure a flat surface. Finally, set your cut perimeter tiles. Always face the cut end toward the backspash, sink, or the sides. If your fill-in section is small, you may want to individually “paint” adhesive directly on the back of the tile and set it in its place.
Get out the grout
The last step in laying down tile countertops lies in the grouting. Pick your grout carefully. A white grout on a kitchen countertop is sure to darken or pale. If puzzled, buy a few small bags or boxes of grout and try it out with leftover tiles.
Remember: too much or too little water will cause grout to either run or crumble. Use only a fresh, consistent mixture based on the manufacturer’s instructions. After the grout dries, use a piece of cloth to polish it up.
Tags: bathroom, kitchen, tile
Posted in Bathrooms, General Remodeling, Home Maintenance, Kitchens, Remodeling | 2 Comments »
Posted by woodrow ~ March 3rd, 2012
It may be time before Americans accept natural swimming pools like they have in Europe. For those who can’t tolerate chlorine or other pool chemicals, the natural swimming pool (NSP) runs in the front of outdoor home improvement trends on the Continent. In Austria and Germany, NSPs in public parks and spas handle more than 4,000 swimmers a day without any compromises in water quality. In England, they’re called swim ponds and rely on native plants to filter and clarify the water.
Writer Michael Littlewwod reports that the trend toward NSPs in Europe began in 1985 when a company called Biotop created a self-cleaning process for pools using water circulation and plants. Plants, the company found, have ecologically balanced, natural skimming and filtration properties. In Europe, swimming pools are worked directly into the landscaping scheme.
A California company, Expanding Horizons, is embracing natural home improvement trends in creating a hybrid pool. The system employs conventional drains, surface skimmers, and sweepers, but circulates the pool water through a separate cleaning pond or restoration area where plants do the heavy filtration. The restoration area is packed with micro-organisms including beneficial bacteria that interact with the plants and water.
Build your own natural pools
Mother Earth News says you won’t need steel reinforcement if you dig your pool walls with slanted sides that drop one foot for every three horizontal feet. You end up with a bowl shape pond, rather than one with straight sides. At least half of the surface area of the pool should be reserved for shallow water plants that handle the cleaning.
The most important consideration is how to get the water moving. No movement, no filtration. Using a pump as well as underwater aeration (using a compressor) will handle that responsibility. The pool should be aerated from four to eight hours a day. Be sure to safeguard all wiring that runs to the equipment by burying it in a conduit.
The bottom of the pond should be covered with bentonite clay, according to Mother Earth News, topped with five inches of gravel. The gravel makes a great homestead for beneficial bacteria. Edge the top rim of the pond with rock or wood decking to prevent soil from eroding into the pond.
A swimming pond or natural pool is a great way to transform your landscaping, creating a rural scene of a bubbling brook or Asian garden. Talk about a fabulous home improvement project!
Tags: home improvement, pools, trends
Posted in Decks and Fences, Green Living, Home Maintenance, Landscaping, Patios and Sunrooms, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
Posted by woodrow ~ February 28th, 2012
Your laundry room doesn’t have to be a huge energy guzzler. You can affect positive change by switching to new appliances, and by changing your washing and drying habits. The Alliance to Save Energy (ASE) reports that you will use 37 percent less energy and 50 percent less water by switching to an ENERGYSTAR-rated washing machine. That’s 37 percent less carbon dioxide emissions your home pumps into the ecosystem.
According to ASE, doing the laundry adds up to 6 percent of your total energy use. New generation machines have been rated by consumer evangelist Top Ten USA. The non-profit organization evaluated top and front-loading machines of all sizes and capacities. The machines were ranked by how much water they used and both washers and dryers were ranked by energy use.
The most-efficient washers in the large-capacity category were the Kenmore LG, Electrolux EIFLS60, Electrolux EWFLS70, Frigidaire FAFS4474 and Whirlpool WFW97HEX. View the rest of the winners at Top Ten USA.
Green building today includes selecting energy efficient laundry appliances. If you’re shopping for a dryer, look for a model with a moisture sensor feature. The machine stops as soon as the clothes are dry. You’ll save energy and save your clothing from an unnecessary beating.
Going green in the laundry room
Even if you don’t change out your appliances, you can still take steps to cut energy and water use with your existing setup. First, stop heating your wash water. The ASE reports that 90 percent of the laundry energy use comes from heating water. There are soap products on the market specifically created for cold washing. New formulations for cold water detergents require less additives, too. Always use a cold water rinse.
Wait for a full load. The machine will use the same amount of energy whether the tub is filled or not. If you do use a smaller load, be sure to set water levels accordingly. If you have a high-spin setting, by all means use it to save energy on drying.
Be smart about drying. Auto-dry settings tend to dry clothes adequately. By using a timed-dry you can waste a lot of energy on clothing that has already dried. Separate heavy items from light ones before packing the dryer. Why use energy to spin dried light items around when the dryer is filled with wet towels? Use a drying rack for clothes that can air dry inside your home. Clean your lint filter ever EVERY wash and check the outdoor vent to see that air flows freely.
Tags: energy efficency, green, laundry
Posted in General Remodeling, Green Living, Home Maintenance, Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
Posted by woodrow ~ February 26th, 2012
It may be hard saying goodbye to home features that are no longer sensible, change is upon us. Last year, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) predicted that homes by 2015 may be more known for what is omitted from current home designs. The move is toward green, where new home trends are for energy efficient, multi-use rooms with less specialization. Now, MarketWatch weighs in with its list of ten once-popular home features that are about to disappear.
MarketWatch says you can say goodbye to superfluous outdoor kitchens, sunrooms, whirlpools, the home entertainment room, luxury master bathrooms and the good old living room.
Revising the concept of a functional home
The NAHB study predicts a downsizing of total residential square footing by 10 percent by 2015. More than 50 percent of home builders told NAHB that consumers are ready to dump the living room. It’s simply not used enough, restricted to a few social functions and uses too much juice to keep comfortable through the year.
Home buyers, certainly by 2015, will favor a great room – a flexible large space into which homeowners will combine a kitchen, family room and living room. That’s the view of MaarketWatch, which also pronounces the coming demise of the dedicated multi-media room or entertainment room. That’s because components will eventually be scaled so small as to fit into a closet, with video and music piped throughout the house. MarketWatch also says we can bid a sad farewell to two-story family rooms and foyers, both energy hogs and space eaters.
New homes going green
The NAHB survey revealed that builders seem finally convinced that shoppers want energy efficient homes. On today’s resale market, homes that are energy hogs are already disadvantaged. Recently, the NAHB predicted that the green housing market will explode by 20 percent by 2016.
Features to look forward to, builders told the NAHB, include low-E replacement windows, engineered wood beams, low-flow faucets throughout the home and and low-flow toilets for the bathroom. Housing trends show a move toward the practical, functional, efficient and those which add valuable over the long term.
The NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index in mid-February reported five consecutive months of increased builder confidence in the new home market. It’s not all rosy out there, according to the NAHB. Foreclosures still offer strong competition over new homes and many new houses have been appraised for less than it cost the builder to complete them. Home sizes may continue to constrict to economic reality.
Tags: bathroom, green, trends
Posted in Bathrooms, General Remodeling, Green Living, Kitchens, Remodeling, Windows | 2 Comments »
Posted by woodrow ~ February 15th, 2012
Come on, now. Everyone thinks they can hang a new LCD or plasma television. I’m reminded about what Mike Tyson said about boxing, “Everyone has a plan ’till they get punched in the mouth.”
I’ve seen a $1,899 LCD television, face down, on a wood floor after it fell from the mount and it wasn’t pretty. Here in the Seattle area you can spend around $375 to call in contractor to hang a wall mount and large screen TV. Basic guaranteed service includes the mount installation, TV set-up, and plugging in additional components (VCR, Blu-Ray, and satellite or cable box). You’ll pay more to have a new wall box, wall plates, a new electrical outlet behind the TV, or in installing full-motion mounts.
Or, you can do it yourself
Relax; it’s a minor home improvement effort. It’s not like you’ll be building a home recording studio. The most-critical step in it all is finding the mount that easily supports the full weight of your new TV.
The tag of the mount may insist it hangs up to a certain diagonally-sized television. Or the teen clerk with acne at the big box store might take a break from his headphones to tell you it’s a gimme. Ask to speak with the department head of the store and ask him to show you a mount designed exactly to hold your model. Some manufacturers pair up their models with their own mounts.
Next, make sure you have the right hardware and tools. Over at This Old House, Tom Silva insists on using toggle bolts if you’re doing steel frame hanging. Use the mount’s template to drill your holes and use the largest bolts that fit into the diameter of holes in the frame.
Popular Mechanics recommends that you find studs rather than expecting hollow-wall anchors to handle the job. Put your new TV face down on soft carpeting and attach the connecting mount pieces to the rear. Once the wall-side of the frame is secure, you can heft the TV to its place.
The best place to hang your new set is just above eye level in a location that serves the key sitting area of your room. If you’re running any cables through the wall, be sure to drill holes behind the mounting location – and run them through before mounting the TV. Check for placement where it won’t pick up glare from a window or frequently used lamp. Perhaps the best alignment won’t face all your seating directly. C’est la vie.
If you’re not using any kind of swivel system, be sure you adjust for level before torquing down the wall screws.
And that’s it!
Tags: contractor, home improvement, tools
Posted in Electrical, General Remodeling, Home Maintenance, Working With Contractors | 3 Comments »
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