Simple tips to reduce home maintenance

September 28, 2011  //  Posted by: cooldude  //  Category: Repairs & Maintenance

Maintenance at home is a very essential aspect of basic living. You should also be aware of the preventative measures of reducing home maintenance which will help in averting any fore coming disasters on your way. The following are some tips:

• Check whether your toilet tank is not leaking; you can test this by adding food color to the tank and check the pot after a while, if the water is colored than probably your tank is leaking.

• You should make sure whether the hose pipes of your washing machine are not cracked or defective. Also ensure that the drainage pipe is properly fixed to the drain outlet.

• Your refrigerator has a plastic line called the capillary line. This might be frizzled after some period of time leading to leaks. You need to check them and change periodically.

• To have proper drainage of water, do not let solid or fats go through drains which might later clog the pipes.

These were some basic tips to reduce home maintenance.

Tips to maintain your wooden flooring

September 20, 2011  //  Posted by: cooldude  //  Category: Floors & Ceilings

Wooden flooring looks the classiest. But if you have wooden flooring in your home, make sure to take proper care of it to retain the beauty for years. Here are some useful tips. Firstly, sweep your floor regularly with a soft broom.

Then, mop your wooden floor with damp rag but never use excessive water over it. Again, go for a vacuum every week with its soft brush attaching at least for the 1st two stages. A wax or wood polish occasionally would bring back its lost luster.

Besides, never place any thing heavy on the wooden floor or walk on it with your high heel stilettos as these might lead to scratches over the surface. In case of heavy traffic areas, cover the surface with mat or area rugs for further protection. Make sure to go for a re-varnish or re-sand after 2-3 years to enhance its durability.

Home maintenance tips during the winters

September 10, 2011  //  Posted by: cooldude  //  Category: Home Care

A lot of people think that maintaining their homes during winters is a very big problem. This is however not right. If you follow some simple tips, maintaining your home and preparing it for the winters will not be that difficult at all. The very first thing that you should do when the winters are setting in is adding an extra layer in insulation to the attic. Minimum insulation is R-30. However, if your house is relatively new it conforms to the minimum requirement in all probability.

Installing storm doors and windows in case you have them, is a good idea. The older windows are usually not designed for modern insulation so purchasing the storm windows is advisable. If your furnace is malfunctioning make sure that you fix your heating system before the winter starts. You can also use alternate heating sources like winterizing your house with extra insulation and wooden stoves.

Simple tips to do up your home exterior

September 03, 2011  //  Posted by: cooldude  //  Category: Home Decor

If you are doing your home exterior, you need to keep some points in mind. You need to paint your walls well. Painting the walls is an easy and cheap way to change the exterior look of your home. If you have a big house, use a sedate paint colour.

You home needs to have a sturdy siding. You can upgrade your siding to a modern composite siding. The composite siding is designed in a way that it will last for at least 50 years. An important part of home exterior is a strong and sound roof. Choose a roof colour depending on the colour of your walls.

An added advantage is a well maintained landscape, provided you have the space. You can have well shaped trees and shrubs. You can also have a decent walkway if there is space. Most old houses have walk ways. You can use slate tiles to do up the walkway.

Tips to take care of your marble flooring

April 22, 2011  //  Posted by: cooldude  //  Category: Floors & Ceilings

Marble floor always give your home a shinning and bright appearance. The beautiful marbles are very pleasing to the eyes. But your marble flooring will lose all its charm and luster if proper care is not taken.

In order to keep your marble floors free from scratches and damage, a few things should be kept in mind. You must regularly clean the floor so that no dust or sand is accumulated. Use soaps that are specialized for marble cleaning to keep the shine and gloss intact. Never drag any object on the floor else it will lead to damage and scratches on the marbles.

Sealing of the marbles will give protection from blemishes. The floor should always be properly dried immediately after cleaning else water might lead to fading of the color. Acidic products, beverages, oil, food etc. can also cause the color to fade or leave an ugly stain. So, make sure you clean them properly whenever anything spills on the floor to keep the gloss intact.

Custom lamp shades, a fine way to add the dash of elegance to your home

April 03, 2011  //  Posted by: cooldude  //  Category: Home Lighting

Lighting remains one of the major focuses, as far as your home decorations are concerned. Striking the right chord in the lighting department can completely transform the ambience and atmosphere of your rooms, and make it much more comfortable and habitable. Therefore, people often tend to decorate their houses with custom lamp shades. It is not only a method to enhance the interior design of your house, but also a relatively cheap and inexpensive method of decoration.

Different rooms demand different lighting schemes. A varied and rich combination of color should always be used, so as to ignite the appeal of the rooms. Complimentary coloring is always preferred, as it vibrantly reflects the surrounding environment. There are various custom lamp shades available in the market, of varying designs, shapes and sizes, so as to suit the need of every individual.

Effective guidelines to keep your garage doors noise free

February 20, 2011  //  Posted by: cooldude  //  Category: Garage

A noisy garage shutter is very annoying especially if you have your bedroom or living room near it. Here are some guidelines to help get a peaceful garage door.

Loose nuts are one of the possible causes of the disturbing noise. Hence get a mechanic to tighten the nuts on the track and door. But do not overdo it. Get new metal rollers because the older ones start making noises when they turn old and get worn out. See whether the  rollers are creating noise while rolling. If so, you have to replace them.

Go for nylon ones as they are much peaceful compared to the metal rollers and also require little lubrication. Also look out for the hinges, you  might need replacement if the hole has got little oblong. Finally, if everything fails, you have to install a new door equipped with advanced safety mechanisms for optimum protection.

Tips to keep your storeroom clutter free

February 06, 2011  //  Posted by: cooldude  //  Category: Home Care

A storeroom is a place where  you usually dump unnecessary items of the house. It is like a garage without the car. However keeping it clean is very important so that it becomes easy for you to look for things. The primary thing while cleaning the storeroom is to demarcate the junk by newspaper, checks, books, envelopes etc. place in boxes depending on which one do you want to retain or throwaway.

Now take these boxes filled with the junks out of the storeroom. Ensure that you make the storeroom empty before starting with the cleaning process. Now with the help of a broom sweep the area well. Clean the tables, shelves and drawers of all the junks. Wipe out all the dust and vacuum clean the area. Now seat on the floor and open the filled boxes. Check out everything you need and dump the ones that are not required. This completes the cleaning process to ensure that your storeroom is clutter free.

Walk in bathtubs, a perfect accessory for elderly people

January 25, 2011  //  Posted by: cooldude  //  Category: Bathroom & Tubs

Walk overnight shipping in bath tubs are those bath tubs which are specially designed for the older folks and people who are physically challenged. They are also termed as safety tubs and people can enter it easily without climbing (because of their low height) and generally are narrower and longer than the regular ones.

The walk- in bath tub has a door which opens either inward or outward. The door is sealed by water pressure in inward doors. The outward swinging ones have a special seal to prevent leakage.

Some of the tubs have walls by their sides which go up and down or sliding doors. In most of the cases, there is a seat (chair-height) on the tub. These types of bath tubs are beneficial for those who are restricted to wheel chairs due to age or other challenges. They will seat on the chair and swing the hands and legs to bathe. Many of the tubs come with a hand shower. You will get them in various ranges and sizes.

Ways of cleaning wooden furniture

January 04, 2011  //  Posted by: cooldude  //  Category: Wooden Furniture

Wooden furniture’s are always preferred options for their sturdiness, durability and the timeless contemporary look as well. It is highly important to maintain the sheen of the wooden furniture’s, whether your furniture is painted, polished or oiled it needs proper cleaning.

Firstly always clarify the product information of your wooden furniture. You can take experts help by showing a chair or small wooden furniture. On a daily basis wipe the oiled and vacuum wooden furniture with soft cotton clothe to remove grime and dust.If there are white spots then use toothpaste to remove them. Make a homemade oil of boiled linseed oil and little turpentine to clean wooden furniture. Use a damp sponge to remove fingerprints and smudges from the painted wooden furniture surface. In order to clean the polished wood furniture use liquid furniture polishing, aerosol or paste wax.

Paste wax is a better option as it needs to be applied only 2 times a day unlike liquid which requires frequent application. The easiest is the application of aerosol.