Posts Tagged home improvement
Basic Plumbing Training
Posted by GuestPoster in Education on September 16th, 2010
Most people know instinctively what those are. Even if you have never had any formal training as a plumber you probably know these three simple rules; Hot water goes on the left Cold water goes on the right and Doo-Doo flows down hill. It may sound silly but the next time you happen to be in some little tiny town in some out-of-the way diner or pub and the owners’ cousin Billy Bob connected the hot water on the right hand side of the faucet you are definitely going to notice, especially if you burn you hands and face with water you thought was going to be cold. In most of the Western world that is standard plumbing installation practice.
The mystery of plumbing has been a part of the Human condition for thousands of years. Stories have been told of the Turks and Ottomans that after having conquered the Northern parts of the Roman Empire discovered and were intrigued by the plumbing the Romans had been perfecting for decades. These stories tell of the conquering forces removing the faucets and sinks they saw in the public buildings and homes that were ransacked, taking them back home and installing them in their tents and huts, only to find they did not work. This, at the time only added to the mystique already surrounding the expansive and highly advanced Holy Roman Empire.
Luckily today most people in the Western world are not quite as intimidated by the mystery of plumbing and with the recent innovations in plastic piping and push together fitting most folks today can actually do a tremendous amount of this work on their own. What use to take a plumber a half a day to install with traditional copper pipe and soldered fitting can now be completed in about an hour with one piece of flexible pipe and just a few push on elbows.
Finding an Outdoor Chandelier for Your Gazebo
Posted by GuestPoster in Garden on September 13th, 2010
Outdoor chandeliers for gazebos may brighten up your backyard area allowing you to enjoy the outdoors even as night begins to fall. You can keep your outdoor social gatherings or dinner parties going well into the night with your chandelier. An outdoor solar chandelier will even let you conserve energy and keep your utility bills down so you do not have to worry about your expenses as you use your light.
Outdoor chandeliers are typically powered by candles, electricity or the sun, so you do have a choice of preference. If you want to use an electric chandelier then your gazebo must be wired for electricity. Since gazebos are used to add aesthetic appeal to your home, you may want to look into running an underground electricity line rather than a less appealing overhead one.
Solar chandelier lights are convenient and power during the day, but they do grow dimmer as the night goes on and may in fact flicker out. Candle chandeliers are great for a romantic setting if you plan to spend time on the gazebo as a couple. Both solar and candle lights are not very bright, so they may be more ideal for this type of quiet time rather than for an outdoor social party of more than two people.
When you are choosing your chandelier, you need to be sure it is made to accommodate the gazebo’s model. For instance, a chandelier made for a permanent wooden gazebo may not work for a portable gazebo. You also want to consider where you will be placing your gazebo. Your chandelier may not work the same way for a gazebo that sits off to the side of the yard. Whatever type of gazebo you choose, you can always accent it in just the right way with an outdoor chandelier.
Ductless Air Conditioning Keeps You Cool For Less
Posted by whaleadmin in Home and Furnishings on August 19th, 2009
If your looking for a better way to keep cool, ductless air conditioning is just the thing you’re looking for. You can stay cool and save energy with a ductless air system. In standard air conditioning systems, air is forced up from a unit in the basement into the house. As you know, cold air sinks and warm air rises. This means that the system is working extra hard to cool your home in a way that fights against the laws of physics.
In a ductless system, the air is allowed to fall out from vents in the ceiling. I have one of these systems myself, and I used to have a standard system. I have to tell you, the difference in effectiveness isn’t just something you see when the electric bill comes, you can feel it when it kicks on.
Ductless systems are also often called split air conditioning systems because one part of the unit is outside, and the other part is inside. I have part of it outside my house, and the other part is in the attic. Your probably used to seeing systems that aren’t composed of two separate pieces, but this is where the name “split air conditioning” is derived from.
The increase in efficiency is simply amazing. I thought when I moved to a home that was over 50% bigger, I would be seeing much larger cooling bills in the summer, but my energy bills are actually lower with a ductless air conditioning system. If your looking into a new air conditioning system, I would highly recommend going with a ductless split air conditioning system.
Installing DIY conservatory roof blinds
Posted by whaleadmin in Home and Furnishings on August 12th, 2009
When you think about it, fitting out an entire conservatory with blinds can be rather expensive undertaking. Assuming that you are paying, say, $100 for each set of blinds, a conservatory with, say, 20 windows, could easily cost you $2,000 to outfit properly. And the more stylish you want your blinds to be, the more it will cost.
A great way to save money, though, is to make your own. Depending on the kind of blind that you want to make, this is something that can be achieved relatively easily by most people. Even those with fairly rudimentary skills can construct a set of roller blinds – in essence, all you need to do is take a bit of cloth, stick it onto a roller, add a drawstring, and attach it to your window. You can find instructions in a lot of DIY books, as well as get them from the internet.
If you are doing a conservatory, though, I recommend against trying to make your own DIY conservatory roof blinds – these can be very tricky to install correctly, unless you know what you are doing. In these circumstances, I would suggest getting someone in to install them.
Hitachi DH18DL Rotary Hammer Drill Review
Posted by whaleadmin in hobbies on July 24th, 2009
The Hitachi DH18DL is an 18 volt Lithium ion SDS Rotary Hammer Kit. It has 3.0 Ah lithium ion batteries that allow very long run time in between charges, making the use of it absolutely maximized. It also helps to reduce the weight of the kit because of the light weight of lithium batteries.
It has a two step speed switch power mode which gives control over the drilling speed which allows for fast and efficient drilling in bigger diameters. It contains a save mod that is designed to further conserve battery power as well as to prevent the bending of smaller diameter bits. It has an idle strike restrictor that helps prevent no-load hammering, extending the life of the tool. It also has a very quick bit insert that allows for fast changing of accessories.
The new compact design makes this hammer kit more than 25% lighter than most other hammer kits in its class. The Hitachi DH18DL is a very useful took kid that is able to function in many diverse situations making it an optimal tool for most instances.
Tips on Garage Door Insulation
Posted by whaleadmin in Finance on July 1st, 2009
Garage door insulation either comes in foam or in another form. Either way, you’ll want to get to putting it up before the strong seasons come around and start sapping your heating and cooling from your home.
This is one of the main reasons why people are poor nowadays: they don’t take care of the myriad little things that can save them a bunch of money when you add it all up. I personally prefer the foam just because that’s what I have always worked with in the past. It certainly does a good job of insulating garage doors from whatever is going on outside. I can be standing inside and have no idea what the temperature is out anymore. That’s what I call a job well done.
Wood Yart Art
Posted by whaleadmin in Home Decorating on June 6th, 2009
I was looking for a fun wood working project to do with my son the other day. we have done a few projects together before. I usually do all of the cutting and and as much assembly then disassembly as possible prior to “starting” the project with him. We usually pound a few nails together, drive all of the screws and the paint the projects. Our last project was a small birdhouse it it took me 4 times longer to get ready to start than it did for me an the little guy to put the cute little thing together.
For our next project we are going to do a little wood yard art project. These are pretty easy and they are primarily silhouettes of something with only a couple of pieces of wood to slide together to form a stable base. My little guys likes the wooden yard art idea and he choose a pirate ship. I suppose it could have been worse. Off to the drawing board I go. Wish us luck.
Intercom Doorbells
Posted by whaleadmin in Technology on June 6th, 2009
So we have an intercom doorbell at my house and for the most part I love the thing. It is great to check to see how is at the front door prior to opening it. It is even better when I can do this from the garage out behind our house. Otherwise I would never know thee was somebody at the front door. The other feature of the intercom doorbell that really puts it over the top for me is that I have it programmed to call me on my cell phone when we are out of town and a visitor comes knocking. That is just super cool.
The thing about it that I don’t like is that my kids like it even more than I do. They play some spy game called shark boy and lava girl and go all spy vs spy on each other. It was funny the first couple of times, now it is annoying as heck because 99% of the time I answer the door it is either shark boy or lava girl.