Month: February 2021

Creating Energy Efficient Attics

When the term attics come to mind it is often in distaste. Most people consider them to be storage areas or those creepy places in horror movies. This isn’t so. They are normally stuffy and hot or freezing because they have not been insulated as part of the overall house. This is because they are not considered regular living space. Did you know that the extreme heat and cold can be bad for the items stored there? It can also be bad for your heating or cooling bill. Although heat rises up into attics, it is also often stuck there. This warms your ceiling in your living area and therefore makes the air conditioner work harder which affects your wallet.
It’s best to be proactive in this situation. Creating energy efficient attics is a matter of a few simple steps that involve spraying on a barrier sealant, adding insulation, and maintaining proper ventilation. The hardest of these steps will possibly be creating the right ventilation. That’s all depends upon the current system or the lack thereof.
A barrier coating is applied to attics in spray form. This is placed on the walls and ceilings of the room in order to deflect or block the heat from coming into the room or space. This coating is normally in paint form. It can be applied with an airless paint sprayer. It can also be rolled or brushed on.
Insulation is used to keep the temperature regulated in attics. It helps to keep things warm during winter months and cool during summer months. It comes in flexible roll-out sheets and in foam that you can spray between the outer wall and the sheetrock or drywall. You don’t need interior walls to install insulation. A lot of attics have it already on the floor area. They just don’t have it on the walls. If you don’t have a finished attic then it is best to use blanket type insulation.
Ventilation systems are designed to allow moisture and heat escape attics. This will help regulate temperatures and prevent damage to the wood.
As with any home improvement project, don’t guess or estimate what the required materials will be. Take appropriate measurements and apply them to the job at hand. When working on attic space remember to follow a few precautions. Before starting the project, clear the area of all items that are being stored. If there is no floor, only joists then place plywood or strong boards across them to support your weight and take away the risk of falling. Make sure that there is adequate lighting whether it is natural or you have to bring in a light.
These steps can not only create lower heating and cooling bills, they can help to make attics into living space and therefore increase the price of your home. Think of it as an inexpensive way to put an addition on your home. This doesn’t have to take nearly as long and you don’t have to put up with holes in your house, though.…

February 27, 2021 Suzana Mikolova

General Article

The Benefits of Garden Landscaping

Kent is known around the world as the Garden of England and this is reason enough for Kentonians to keep their Gardens in tip top shape.

Since the 18th century, Garden Landscaping has been considered around the world as a form of art. Previously a luxury indulged in only by the rich and royal. These days though, everyone in Kent with a patch of grass or soil seems to be landscaping their garden, and with good reason.

An attractively designed and maintained garden can do wonders for your health. Would you want to spend that hot summers day out in the garden with it looking like the jungle from platoon? Well not exactly like platoon, but throw a yellow kids 3 wheeler into the jungle and it will be a good representation your garden in its current state.

The benefits of landscape gardening are not just in the end result. There are at least 25 people around the world who partake in this form of landscaping for the sheer joy of it. Take internet user DunkenAugen for instance: “I LOVE to garden. I just moved into a new house, and dinked around all summer. But now that I know what I’m going to do, I’ll have a fruitful garden. ^.^ *squeals* I can’t wait!” admittedly, if she looks anything like her avatar, she may be a bit strange, but, backing up her story is Anti War Roberto Bagnara who admits on his website “Gardening is one of the things I like more”.

If however, like me, you would rather spend your time doing something else, like seeing how fast you can get through a case of spitfire, but would still like all the benefits of landscape gardening, you could hire someone else to take care of it for you. There are literally hundreds of landscape gardeners in Kent. A son of one of your friends is even likely to be one.

The benefits of hiring someone to do the work for you are great. Most landscape gardeners will sit down with you over a cup of tea and discuss your requirements. Once they fully understand what look you are after, they will go away and make some plans. You will be presented with detailed plans documenting what they intend to do to your garden allowing you to fine tune and make changes before the job starts.

Once everything is signed off, you have nothing more to do other than make cups of tea, wait for the garden to be finished and then pay them.

Most garden landscapers will even clear away all their rubbish. Leaving you with nothing, but a beautiful garden.…

February 23, 2021 Suzana Mikolova

General Article

Reflective Sheet Insulation – Costs and DIY Suggestions

Reflective sheet insulation is a kind of insulation that can be set up very easily with the returning part up, over the current garret and fasten it. One must leave a little space in between the base and the filling panels. One more way of setting it up is attaching close to the roofing of the top story but remember to leave sufficient gap between the garret roof and the filling panels. You can do this by fixing the radiant fence panel to support beneath the roof.

The cost of this reflective sheet insulation is not at all high when compared to other insulation materials. Nowadays the price of reflective sheet insulation is about $0.10 to $0.30 a square foot. The price actually differs according to the radiant fence insulation that you select. Moreover the difference in prices is also due to diver kind of installation process. The expense of setting up these sheets on the roofing is much higher than the garret installation. In case you buy the sheets in masses then you may get them at a cut price.

If you are attempting reflective sheet insulation yourself then here are few important suggestions that you must not forget. When setting up near the roofing you must keep enough air distance between the fence and roofing. Make sure that after setting up, the garret can breathe i.e. the steam mounting for the home must find an escape through the fence filling. For that purpose pierced fence insulation panels must be utilized.

When you have set up the reflective sheet insulation perfectly, you will soon find out reduction in the expenses that are accrued by your air conditioner and heaters. Hence you must select the reflective sheet insulation in order to reduce your expenses and also secure the precious energy as well.…

February 19, 2021 Suzana Mikolova

General Article

Important Do-It-Yourself Home Remodeling Advice

Often I’m asked by homeowners, if they think that they can build something on their own. Often I end up explaining the process to them and it’s pretty confusing. I would like to give some homeowners and construction handyman some do-it-yourself home remodeling advice, about projects that I think they should avoid and the reason why.

1. Working on Electrical Service Boxes

I really don’t recommend, anyone who lacks experience working with electrical, to be working on it at all. When it comes to the electrical service box repairs, if you don’t have any experience working in this specific area, I am suggesting this to all homeowners and do-it-yourselfers, stay away from electrical service power boxes. Electricity can be extremely hazardous to your health, so take my advice, this is coming from an expert on the subject.

2. Plumbing Water Supply Lines

I don’t recommend, anyone who doesn’t have any experience working with plumbing water supply lines, because if they break, or if your repair, doesn’t hold properly, you could destroy a large portion of your home. Picture this, you just got through putting a new faucet in, everything looks great, but it’s time for you to go to your baseball game. You come home about four hours later and the entire house is flooded with water.

This kind of stuff does happen and you need to take the advice of an expert here. It has even happened to me and I understand the process, pretty good. If you plan on fixing any plumbing water supply lines, make sure that you can spend the time, keeping an eye on your new home repair. If you’re going to have any problems with them, they will usually happen within the first few hours of use.

I hope this helps, sometimes it’s better to pay a professional, but I can understand, every intelligent person, is interested in saving a few dollars and learning new skills.…

February 15, 2021 Suzana Mikolova

House Improvements

Budgeting for a Home Renovation

Budgeting for home renovations is always tough. Even when you plan for everything and even a few glitches along the way budgets often find a way to be busted. In order to keep your progress from ending in a budget stale mate here are a few things to keep in mind when renovations are planned for your home.
First decide why you are renovating your home. What do you hope to accomplish with the renovation? Are you adding space for a new addition? Are you adding space for a kids play room or do you hope that with your renovation you increase the value of your home. Knowing exactly what you hope to accomplish with your home renovations will make it easier to create a budget and stick to it. It is often when a plan is not created that we go overboard with spending. So the more you can think out ahead of time before renovations on your home begin the better your finances will look in the end.
Speaking of a budget determine how much you can afford to spend on this home renovation. If you realize that what you hope to accomplish is not possible within the funds you have allotted for the project than you can easily put it on hold at this stage of the process. Determine the cost of all materials, tools and furnishings that will be needed to complete the renovation. If you are doing a kitchen renovation make sure to take into account large items like stoves and refrigerators. If you are doing a bathroom remodel take into account a new tub, sink and vanity. A toilet and new fixtures should also be added to the budget.
Next ask yourself are you up to taking on the challenge of a remodel or is it better for you to hire a contractor to ensure a smooth renovation. If you are the handyman type simple renovations can easily be done on your own and can save your contractor fees. If you are going to hire out a residential contractor make sure to look at examples of their previous work. Ask for references and check out their website. The detail put into their work, references and website will give you a good idea of their work and work ethic. It is also important to make sure your gut tells you that the contractor you have chosen is right for you and your home renovation.
A timeline is also important in home renovations. It is important to go over this with your contractor and get in writing a plan of attack. It is important that each step is broke down into a time frame so that you and the contractor can work together to make sure progress stays on track.
Making sure that the contractor you hire is on the same page as you is one of the most important steps in home renovation. You can have this by opening the lines of communication from the start. Know that sometimes things can take an unexpected turn but that you are interested in keeping up to date with the progress and would like updates even when something goes haywire
Once you have agreed upon a plan do not keep changing things. Nothing makes a contractor bitter more than an indecisive customer. They to have a time frame to stay within so that they can continue work with other clients. Every change adds time and money to the budget so stick to the original plan of attack. It will ease the schedule and budget if you stick to the initial renovation plan.
The last thing you will need to decide is if you plan on living in your dwelling during the construction or if you plan on finding a place that is more conducive to your life. If you decide to live in your home during the renovation make sure that you do not interrupt the progress. A happy contractor makes for a happy homeowner.…

February 9, 2021 Suzana Mikolova

General Article

5 Tips to Improve the Look of Your Bathroom

You might be thinking of giving your aging bathroom a new look but don’t know where to start. The good news is that it’s easy to improve the look of a bathroom just by changing a few items and accessories. Here are 5 tips that you can use in your bathroom renovations:

1. The most significant change in your bathroom design would be your wall tiles. Obviously this takes a bit of work and renovation work to hack and replace existing tiles could be noisy and relatively costly as well. However, the change is worth it if you choose the correct tiles to suit your theme. If you do not wish to hack and replace the tiles, an option that you can explore is to spray paint them.

2. Another obvious area to look into would be your wash basin and shower area. The size and shape of your basin and bathtub (if you have one) can contribute significantly to how your bathroom looks. Your table top also says a lot about your personality. A luxurious dark granite top would have a much different effect from one with a minimalist design.

3. If you don’t want to make major changes, a shower curtain can do wonders for your bathroom. Curtains such as retro shower curtains or those with special prints can bring character to your bathroom at a low cost and can be installed easily without the help of a contractor or handy man.

4. Accessories such as mirrors, towel, soap and shampoo holders can also add a lot of character to your bathroom. If you want your bathroom to look like one from a luxury hotel, you’ll be surprised how changing small items such as installing an overhead rainforest type of shower can help.

5. Finally, an often under looked factor is the lighting in your room. Most people don’t even give a thought to the lighting as the bathroom area is so small, but lighting plays a big part in how a room looks. For example, try picturing any room with soft while lights and then imagine the same room with warm lighting. That’s quite a bit of a change right? The bathroom is no different and you can enhance the effect further by having features such as lamps or recessed lighting.

I hope these 5 tips help you get started in your bathroom renovations. A beautiful bathroom remodel project need not be costly, just get creative and let your imagination run wild.…

February 7, 2021 Suzana Mikolova

General Article

Get The Most From Your New Tablet With These IPad Tips

You should spend some time learning about your iPad once you know more. Keep reading the following article to better every day.

The latest operating system for the iPad iOS has folders. To start, just tap and hold the tap on your desired application, wait for it to jiggle, and then let it go. This will create a folder with both apps inside. You can rename the folder whatever you like.

Keep track of the total funds you are spending on iPad apps. It’s very common for iPad users to run up large bills with such engaging and apps. Make sure you monitor how much you spend with your iPad.

You can reset in order to reboot a frozen iPad. This will make the iPad to restart. To fix a frozen app, hold down the home button around a few seconds.

Did you just launch a loud app? You can quickly turn the volume by holding down the volume-down button. The lock orientation can be turned into a mute your device.

Don’t use your iPhone charger for your iPad if you don’t have enough time. This is because it has a different wattage than iPhones. Charging with an iPhone charger will delay the charge time.You should use the charger to charge it.

The iPad’s default setting shows the first two lines of an email by deafult. You might want to be able to see more content. You can do this by choosing the mail from your settings.

It is very important that you know how to take care of an iPad. The heat will ruin the battery. You also want to guarantee that your iPad away from areas where it may be subjected to liquids. You would be smart if you purchased a cover that will provide some extra padding for even more protection.

This will block anything labeled as ‘mature’ as well as bad language.

Do you hate not knowing exactly where hyperlinked will take you? There is a way to get around this problem. Since you can’t hover over words like on a regular computer, you can just hold the word. This action will reveal the URL of the word will take you to.

One feature that many people don’t know about is called iTunes U (for university). This section has many educational podcasts about all types of professoinal subjects and can really boost your know-how.

The auto-brightness setting can help your battery life. The iPad senses ambient lighting conditions of the environment it is in.This is a great deal of battery life and extends the length of time you can use your battery. You can enable this option via the “Brightness and off by accessing your iPad’s settings area.

After reading the article above, you surely know more than you did before about your iPad. It is an amazing little device that packs a lot of punch with an app for almost anything you could imagine. Keep the tips you read here in mind and start taking advantage of this handy little device.

February 6, 2021 Suzana Mikolova

MANGAMOFO

MANGAMOFO

Month: February 2021

Creating Energy Efficient Attics

The Benefits of Garden Landscaping

Reflective Sheet Insulation – Costs and DIY Suggestions

Important Do-It-Yourself Home Remodeling Advice

Budgeting for a Home Renovation

5 Tips to Improve the Look of Your Bathroom

Get The Most From Your New Tablet With These IPad Tips

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