Author: WebEditor

Metal Roofing Is Making a Comeback – Is It Right for Your Home?

Whether your home is already built, or you are starting a new construction project from the ground up, one of the most important components of your house is the roof. There are numerous roofing material options on the market today that can offer you every conceivable color or texture to suit your preferences. One material that is increasing in popularity is metal. Metallic roofing is no longer relegated to commercial and industrial structures only, and many homeowners are choosing metal for use on their homes. If you are weighing your options, here are factors to consider about this popular choice.

Long Lasting and Lightweight

Metal is fire resistant, mildew resistant, and impervious to insects and rot. You can expect this durable material to last for many decades to come. It can withstand severe winds, and its slippery surface repels water and snow, reducing the likelihood of leaks. Metallic tiles and shingles are non-combustible, earning a Grade A fire rating, and some home insurance companies even offer discounts to homeowners who install fire-resistant types. It is also considerably more lightweight compared to other popular roofing materials. Metal roofing, depending on the exact type, can weigh less than a pound per square foot. Concrete and clay tile, on the other hand, can weigh between five and ten pounds per square foot.

Easy to Install

Because the metal products are so lightweight, the installation process is relatively quick. Some metallic tiles can be installed directly over preexisting shingles. This can save you money on contractor costs, as you may not have to pay for the removal of the existing structure.

Energy Efficient

While asphalt shingles absorb heat, making your attic unbearably hot and taxing your cooling system, metal reflects heat away from your home. This difference can save you money on energy costs. Additionally, metal tiles and shingles are approximately 95% recyclable, so after their usefulness is over, they can be reused, rather than being dumped into a landfill.

Excellent Curb Appeal

Whatever look you are trying to achieve, you can get it with metal. Many of the major manufacturers are creating metallic tiles to mimic the look of other conventional options, such as clay tiles, asphalt, and slate. Copper will produce an attractive patina over time, while diamond-shaped metal tiles complement more ornate architectural home styles, such as Victorian and Queen Anne.

Easy Maintenance

Metallic shingles and tiles are very easy to maintain, requiring little more than an occasional removal of debris from the surface and the gutters. However, you will also want to keep nearby trees trimmed back to prevent possible abrasion of the finish or paint. Additionally, if you need to walk on top of the surface, be sure to follow the manufacturer’s instructions to prevent denting.

For some homeowners, the initial cost to install metallic roofing is its biggest drawback, as it is similar to the cost of other premium materials. You will save money over the long haul, however, with minimal maintenance costs and lower energy bills. So, if you plan to stay in your home for many years to come, an investment of this nature makes good sense.

Roofing

Remedying Sump Pump Problems

Sump Pump Problems affect many homes, but there are steps that can be taken to either prevent these problems, or address them when they do occur.

If you live in an area where constant water damage is a concern, then there’s a good chance that your home has a sump pump installed. The pump’s main job is to get rid of water that has collected in a sump pit or water basin so keeping it working at all times makes sense. Sump pump problems are sometimes common and easily fixed.

Plug in pumps are prone to failure in the event of power outages, so checking the power is one of the first things you can do to see if this is the reason the pump has failed. If this is something that happens, consider switching to a battery operated sump pump or a plug in model that has a backup battery in the event of a power outage. There are also water powered pumps that rely on the home’s pressurized water system and not an electrical power source.

Another common sump pump problem is the accumulation of dirt and debris over the course of time. Like with any mechanical device clogged with dirt, a sump pump that has this kind of accumulation built up can see a decrease in its intended performance. A simple, routine cleaning will fix this. You also want to check any screens or openings into the pump, as dirt clogging these can make it so that the pump has a hard time moving water.

If your sump pump has a check valve, then check for compressed air. Enough of a build up can render the pump completely useless, especially if your model has a solid pipe leading to the check valve. This can be fixed by making a small 1/8th inch hole in the side of the pipe to prevent air from being trapped in it.

Another problem can be rooted in the switch float. Check to make sure that the switch float inside of the pump is floating freely and not stuck. The switch float’s job is to activate the pump once the water reaches a certain level to prevent flooding, so the switch float becoming stuck causes the entire device to not function.

Home Inspections

Carpet Cleaning : Sure-Fire Tips

There’s no question that your daily or weekly vacuuming makes your carpet look fresh and newer but it’s not enough to protect your carpet from dirt, debris, and oily film deposits that go with this debris. You can’t avoid the oily debris. It comes from cooking vapor, the air, the bottoms of your feet, your pets, and a host of other places. So you’ll need to clean your carpets regularly. Follow these carpet cleaning tips to get the best job done.

Clean Frequently

Carpets should be cleaned every 12 months. This ensures that the oil film doesn’t get so thick it discolors your carpets. If you live by yourself or there’s just two of you then every 18 months will probably be suffice. If there is more than 5 of you then you’ll probably need to do your carpets every 6 months.

Hiring A Professional

You should consider hiring a professional to clean your carpets. A professional cleaner is trained, that’s why he or she is a professional and they will know which type of cleaning is best for your carpet. The professional will come with a heavy duty hot water extraction system which will be used to spray your carpets with water and detergent and then to suck back the water and oil into a tank in their vehicle.

Do It Yourself

If you decide to rent a steam cleaning machine and do your own carpets you need to realize that the rental equipment is not nearly as powerful as the pro’s equipment so you won’t get as deep a clean. You also need to realize that some of these machines can damage your carpet so be sure you know what you are renting.

Powerless Retail Rentals

Choose your retail rental carpet cleaner carefully because many of these lack power meaning you might land up with a carpet that’s too wet and not enough power to suck the water up. This could end up damaging your carpet. Make sure you do your research and that you know what you are renting

Easy On The Water

Pretend like there’s a water shortage and use water sparingly. If you use too much water and your carpets are wet for more than 24 hours you can develop mold and mildew growth which is bad for your health. Never mind those interesting odors that seep out of the carpet.

Leave No Trace

Choose a solution that leaves no or little residue behind. The PH of the cleaning solution should be around 9 and it should always be less than 10. If you are left with that sticky residue your carpets will pick up more residue and pick it up quicker.

Wool Carpets

Wool carpets are different than the synthetic blends. They require a special solution that is designed for wool and the natural fibers. Make sure the solutions PH is no higher than 8 and no lower than 5.

Stop The Stains

If your carpets are already treated with a stain resistant treatment you need you use a cleaner that’s designed to work with this treatment. Any other cleaner will destroy the stainguard treatment already on the carpets which could cause discoloration and void the warranty.

Less Dry Time

After you’ve cleaned your carpet places fans around the room to push air across the carpet. This will reduce the time it takes to dry the carpets and the risk of mold and mildew. If you have a dehumidifier use it to pull the moisture out. An air conditioner will also pull moisture out. Your carpet should be dry in 12 hours or less.

Following these carpet cleaning tips will have your carpets looking fresh and clean and it will extend their life. Carpets are expensive so the longer you can make them last the better!

Cleaning Tips and Tools

Professional Closet Organization Tips for Keeping Your Stuff Neat

When you have a closet full of stuff that needs to be organized, one of the things that you can do and should consider includes hiring a professional organizer or purchasing an organization system. In between these solutions, your closet might get scary. You can follow some of these tips for keeping your closet from ruling your life.

Make Sure You Have Enough Space

One of the advantages of professional with this type of organization is that they can assess your closet situation and help you determine whether you have sufficient space and if there is something you should do to either enhance your current space or add to it by supplementing it with some under-the-bed storage or using storage furniture to supplement your space. Just follow through here for more of these useful tips.

Know When to Fold Them

A lot of people think that they can save space by hanging up everything, but stacking certain items such as sweaters and knits is actually more effective for your space. You can fold them and stack them on top of each other. If you don’t have enough shelving, keep in mind that extra shelving is easy to build and cost effective to purchase.

Keep Frequently Used Items in Sight

Keep things that you are using frequently, or your go-to items, at eye level or below so you have easy access to them. On the other hand, keep items that you are not using as frequently in boxes up above eye level or even underneath your bed if you need to preserve your closet space as much as possible. This will ensure that you are able to access those things that you are grabbing for every day and help you maintain things in a proper rotation. This way, if you have a box of items and clothes in a box overhead that you haven’t opened or even thought about in months, you know you will be less likely to miss these items if you were to donate them.

Put Items in a Rotation

Make sure that you have items in a rotation. Many people use different-colored hangers to indicate which items were hung up and forgotten long ago with another color for clothes that are in the current rotation. You should also store off-season wear separately from clothes for the current season. Your closet will look much more cluttered in the summer if your tank tops and shorts are being crowded out by all of your winter weather wool slacks, sweaters, and scarves.

Donate Unused Items

Only keep those things that you are currently able to wear. Many people will hold on to items from high school or items from years past with the hope that they will fit into them again or because they have an emotional attachment to the items. Generally, to keep your closet from taking over your life and your clothes, shoes, and purses from overflowing off the shelves, make sure you are being realistic about what you are using now.

Storage Garage

How to Remove Lipstick Stains From Clothes

For centuries, poets and men with an agenda, have been writing peons of praise to the loveliness of female lips. Most of them however, admired from afar and didn’t have to deal with the lipstick of today. Now, a compliment is as likely to get a gentleman an enthusiastic hug, and an imprint of those incomparable lips on his shirt collar.

The first thing to do, is return the enthusiasm and forget the stain! You can’t do much about it until you get home, although you can try blotting it wit water to make sure it doesn’t set any deeper. Don’t rub though, or it will become a real mess, instead of a charming imprint.

Take care of it as soon as you get home. Lipstick is a grease-based product, and most good grease pre-treatments will do the job. Spray the spot, or blot if necessary with a white cloth and the pre-treatment. Let sit for 15 minutes. Rinse with warm water. If the stain is still there, turn the fabric over so you are working at the stain from the back, and work in some liquid dish detergent with an old toothbrush. Let sit 15 minutes, then launder.

An alternative is to dab the stain with rubbing alcohol. Do not rub, or you’ll spread the mark. Turn the fabric over and work in dish detergent from the back, with a toothbrush. Let sit for 15 minutes and launder. If there is any mark remaining, re-treat with a pre-soak.

Other choices include dabbing off what you can with a water dampened cloth, then blotting the stain with a bit of ammonia, and laundering as usual. Or, you can try wetting the spot with hairspray, wiping the spot gently, and laundering.

Cleaning Tips and Tools

Gas Safety Tips For Your Home

Gas makes an instant, efficient and reliable form of energy which explains why it is a popular choice for many households. But just like any other energy form, you need to be careful around your home so that you minimize accidents. Here are a few tips that can help you live with your gas supply safely at home to enjoy its many benefits in the different household areas.

Installation

Safe installation should be your priority when it comes to gas around your home. It is actually only through proper installation that your appliances will manage to work correctly and efficiently so start by focusing on proper installation.

Get a registered gas fitter to handle the installation or make any gas supply alterations that are necessary in your home. When you use a registered fitter, you can be sure that everything from appliances to ventilation is in working order.

If yours is a new gas installation, ensure that the fitter gives you a certificate showing that the work was completed according to regulations and also manufacturer recommendations for safety purposes.

Never try to make any changes to your gas system, however simple it might look in your eyes. Instead, always get a certified gas expert to evaluate the problem and offer the best solution.

Maintenance

For the sake of efficiency and safety, ensure that your appliance gets regular checks from a competent, authorized expert. Most energy providers supplying gas can offer such services so you can take advantage of them for your safety at home.

Ensure also that all your gas appliances are serviced on a regular basis. If you are not sure how often the servicing should be, contact your appliance retailer or get assistance from your gas fitter or expert. Space heaters need to be serviced annually and so do most of other appliances.

Ensure that a gas worker working on other issues around your home does not leave without checking how safe and efficient your gas appliances are. Most plumbers are registered gas fitters so you can also ask they check your appliances.

Handling an emergency

One of the things you cannot forget to do once you become a gas consumer is to know the signs of a leak. The good thing about natural gas and also LPG is that they have an odor so that it is easy for you to tell when there is a leak. Rotten egg like smell or smell that is similar to garlic is usually the first sign of a leak. As soon as you suspect that you have a leak even when you really cannot smell anything, you should:

· Turn off your gas supply

· Turn off the gas appliances that were on

· Extinguish any naked flames and avoid lighting any matches or open fires

· Open your windows and doors to ventilate your home

· Immediately call your gas fitter if you still do not know what the problem was or you just want to be sure that all is well.

Security

Central Air Conditioning – What Is It?

This is a cooling method in which a central unit dehumidifies and cools air before it is circulated throughout a home or building. It is also referred to as central air and is often grouped with a heating system. The reason is that both of these systems depend on comparable amounts of ductwork and electrical power to distribute heated or cooled air. Central air conditioning is in direct contrast with other systems that depend on separate units being placed in a suite of rooms or just one room.

For these bigger buildings using central air is important because the stale air can become very humid, especially when the weather starts to become warm. The outdoor heat can cause the building to start to warm up and so can the heat generated from all the people who are working there. All of this can make working there unbearable. When central air is used it will keep the building at a comfortable temperature for those working there. If it is a department store it will make it a more pleasant shopping experience.

Homes located in climates that get hot in the summer can also benefit by using central air conditioning. When using this type of system it will eliminate the use of having window units in various rooms to cool that area such as bedrooms, kitchen, and living room. With central air the homeowner can also set the thermostat so the temperatures in the home are kept within a comfortable range while still maintaining its energy efficiency. When it is grouped with such measures as designing a home that is appropriate for that particular climate and insulating it in order to oppose external temperature changes will help to increase the energy efficiency of the central air unit.

When a building or home has central air conditioning the central unit is most likely outside or in an isolate section of the building. The reason is that they can produce a lot of noise, which is made when the refrigeration cycles, which help to take out humidity from the building and to cool the air, is running. The main unit is connected to ductwork that goes throughout the home or building. Cold air is blown out of the ducts in order to cool down areas of the home or building. The air conditioner also has vents going outside to clear the excess moisture and heat. There is also ductless air conditioning that uses individual wall units to pump in the cool air and pull out the hot air and moisture instead of relying on ductwork.

Heating and Air Conditioning

Things to Add To Your Kitchen This Year

Designing and creating your dream kitchen can be a tricky endeavour, but with some solid inspiration and knowledgeable guidance, it’s a snap. Nowadays, the kitchen is not built just for cooking. Rather, it is becoming a multi-purpose room that simultaneously allows restaurant-level meals to be made while also acting as the hub of all conversation, dining, social gatherings and festivities.

Bring on Bold Colour

Give your kitchen a bold upgrade this year. Add a little colour to your décor where you might not have expected it before. Sometimes it takes the creation of contrast to get the aesthetic look you’re aiming for. Try painting your cabinets a bold shade (dark or light). These attractive colours naturally draw the eye and create a focal point.

Be sure to pull all of your primary kitchen features together in an upgraded and modern fashion by balancing bold colours with lighter neutral tones throughout.

Industrial Lighting

Your kitchen needs to be well lit not only to keep up with your culinary adventures, but also to provide the perfect place for conversation and mingling to happen at get-togethers. Industrial-style lighting is very on-trend.

Industrial Kitchen Island

The hot kitchen trend is very much an industrious one. Kitchens are taking on a new personality thanks to popular cooking shows that exhibit industrial kitchens outfitted with all the restaurant-quality fixings. Mobile kitchen islands are all the rage and there’s a clear reason for their rise in popularity. Built with function and efficiency in mind, a mobile island gives you the benefit of extra counter space without restrictions on your kitchen floor plan. Kitchen islands that can be moved from place to place open up opportunities for space in your kitchen that you wouldn’t have with a stationary island. The style of island has begun to mimic a more industrial standard with steel wheels and stainless steel shelves.

High Efficiency

Efficiency is all the rage. There’s no better place to put efficiency into practice than with your pantry shelves. Your kitchen pantry holds all your most essential kitchen items, and should be a priority when it comes to your kitchen upgrade. Pull-out pantry shelves not only make the search for the right ingredient easier, but virtually painless. Shelves that pull out mean you’re able to see everything at once and just as easily rearrange. Make this the year that you eliminate kitchen stress by adding a set of pull-out pantry shelves.

Kitchen Improvements

Tips To Become A Good Self Storage Manager

If you are planning to become a good self storage manager, here are some tips for you to achieve success in your career.

As a manager you need to handle many issues in an efficient manner. If not, you may face many consequences that would make your organization face some problems which might result in loss for the organization and finally you may even lose your job.

Here are some issues you should be aware of.

How would you react if the tenant asks you for discounts? You should be cool and if you do not have such intentions you should think a reasonable answer to satisfy your version such as explaining your efforts to run the organization and the expenses that you put to run the business and explain him the additional features your organization is providing to the customers.

If your company has less occupancy then you could accept his request and may provide him with nominal discount which will not lead to any loss to your organization.

How will you convince your tenant if you have to increase the rent?

Today in this costly world, prices will not be the same for long and they may increase almost day by day and in that case you have no other option but to increase the rent. But the tenants may not agree as soon as you announce the hike. It is a very critical situation for a manager to handle this. Here are some tips which might help you to tackle the situation.

Give the tenants sufficient time to adjust to increased rates in rent. Intimate the tenant about the issue in a reasonable time in advance. Add some extra benefits such as packing/unpacking etc and tell him that you are going to provide the best services you could.

What will you do if tenant tells you that he could not pay the rent?

This is a situation where you should be careful. Tenants may have many problems but the main motto of yours is to earn some money. You need to understand both the situations of yours and the tenants. So you need to enquire him when he could pay the money. If it is short time you may give him a chance otherwise you would have no option but to proceed in legal way either to claim the tenants policy or to auction his/her stuff.

What would you do if you find money in self storage?

Well the first word that would come from many is jack pot and some would say that they will inquire whether the money is of previous tenant but you should not do like that as one will not leave money such easily in a self storage and they even don’t like to store money there instead of bank so you should handle the situation carefully. You should definitely seek the help of the police.

Above are some of the tips which can help the self storage manager to tackle the situations in an effective manner.

Storage Garage

How To Install Flooring In Your Basement

It can be a challenge to turn that hard, cold concrete floor in the basement into a floor that is warm and inviting. The good news is that there are several different options including painting the floor colorful patterns. This isn’t a good choice though if moisture collects on the floor. This will result in the paint peeling and it won’t look nice at all. Another option is installing soft carpet but again it won’t work well if you have the water issue to deal with. This will result in the carpet becoming molding and eventually rotting.

Since moisture is such a big concern to deal with it is a good idea to try to eliminate that issue to begin with. This can be accomplished by laying covering from felt or polystyrene over the concrete. It can be rolled out to about four inches extra on the sides that can be trimmed away later. Add a sub floor or either wood or plywood on top of it to prevent the moisture from getting in. This will allow you the freedom to do what ever you want with the flooring in your basement.

Some people enjoy using ceramic tiles because they look very nice but they will leave the floor feeling cold. Laminates work quite well for basement floors because they keep the moisture out and they are offered in a variety of finishes. If your basement doesn’t have heat then a radiant floor heating system and a wooden floor may work well for you.

Flooring
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