Month: October 2019

• Financing:
  For many people financing is the way to go. Most of the time you don’t have to put any money down which is a great plus. Financing consists of you making monthly payments until your furniture is paid off. The keys to this plan are that you can get your furniture up front, and monthly payments are easier then dropping a lump sum of money, especially because you just spent a lot of money buying your new home. This is also a good way to build credit. The downside is that you have to be approved for financing and sometimes interest rates on financing furniture can be high. Financing is a great way to afford furniture by making a large sum smaller and more affordable to you.
• Layaway:
  Layaway is another great way to afford new furniture. If a furniture store offers a layaway plan, take the time to check out their plan. Most plans ask for a percentage upfront. This could be anywhere between 10% to even 50%. After you give them your down payment then you make monthly payments until your bill is paid in full. A downside to this is that you can not bring the furniture home until you finish paying on it. Another downside is if you don’t finish your payments you may lose your initial deposit. This doesn’t work if you need the furniture right away. If you are willing to wait though, this is a great budgeting plan that shouldn’t hurt your credit and will break up your major purchase into smaller easier amounts.
• Save:
  If you don’t like the idea of making a contract via layaway or financing for your furniture then another option is to save up on your own. This does take some time, but in the end you fully own your furniture, and won’t screw up your credit line. A good way to do this is open an account at a bank specifically with the purpose of saving for your furniture. Then decide on how much you want to save out of each paycheck to buy your new furniture. For example, each week you decide to put $50 into your new account for your furniture. Make a plan and stick to it. This will help you afford furniture in your price range. In the end it will be worth the wait and the results of you buying your own new furniture will be a great feeling. The biggest downfall of this is having to wait for your furniture.

The first house we looked at was a foreclosure on an acre of land. Can you say DREAM PROJECT?? After walking through it, we (more Chris than me) realized that it was more than we could take on right now. Realistically, pastoring a new church, working full time, being a mom to 3 kids, coaching two soccer teams, and doing interior design side jobs made our cup runneth ova. Sometimes too much. So we scratched a HUGE project like that off our list. (Insert ice-cream and Hallmark movies here.)

This process quickly turned into a journey toward health for our family. We had to come to terms that even though we wanted LOTS and LOTS of projects, we needed to be wise and slooooooowwww things down a bit. We wanted to live life with our kids by traveling and making memories. My oldest son, Justus, just turned 10 and (gulp) will be leaving for college in just 8 short years. (I know it’s forever away. Shut up.) So we changed our search for what “we” wanted and looked for something that would benefit our family and bring health to our already busy schedules. And so we changed our search and found our new/old house. Third confirmation.

This house had been on the market for about a year. Chris was sold before I was. It’s a “sort-of-fixer-upper”. Definitely livable, but could use some TLC here and there to make it our style. It works perfectly with what we wanted to find because we can live in it while we fix it up in phases. We can handle that (hopefully)! As we walked through it, we both knew it was our new home. The neighborhood is established. The trees are mature. The neighbors are so kind. And our backyard backs up to the kid’s elementary school yard. We are finally home.

Phase 1 started on Day 2 of possessing the keys. No time wasted here!

Here’s what it will include:

Refinish/re-stain wood floors

Paint interior

Paint trim throughout

Reno entire kitchen (cabinets, counters, sink, faucet, appliances, backsplash, custom hood, open shelving… )

Replace chandeliers on main level

Paint exterior

Punch through the staircase wall and open up a passthrough

As of today, floors are done, interior paint is done, main level trim is done, chandeliers have been ordered, and the kitchen has started its demo process. Did I mention we’ve only been in the house for 3 weeks? Yeah… Thankfully we contracted out the floors and the interior paint. Didn’t regret that for a second. My husband and I and a contractor friend will finish the rest. Our timeline is to finish the kitchen by the end of August, paint the house the first week of September and then punch through the wall sometime this Fall. Anyone want to help!!!!! HAHAHAHHAHHAHA! No really…

I didn’t want to overwhelm you with every reno project so I’ll just start with the exterior and kitchen area. Aren’t I nice.

Let’s start with the mustard and poop brown exterior, shall we.

The house has great peaks and curb appeal EXCEPT for the color. Like everything else in my house, the house will soon be dark white (including trim) with a taupe-grey shutter and a German Smear effect on the brick. Chris will be making bigger shutters as the current ones are too small for the windows.

I seriously CANNOT. WAIT. FOR. THIS. There is such a peace when you drive up to your house and it’s calming and you just want to run inside and cozy up with your family. Yeah… not getting that from this present paint color.

Now for the kitchen area. Lemme explain a little bit first. The kitchen is teeny-tiny. Our last kitchen was double this size. So this took some careful thought and vision to re-plan this space. Attached to the kitchen is the eating area and then the family room.

The floors are beautiful (and real) hardwood, but not our style. And the paint color is a taupey-peach. Not our style either. Because the space is small, and it’s broken up with windows and doors, it needed to be brightened up. I chose a dark white for the whole interior. Don’t laugh at me. There is such a thing. Technically, it’s called Aesthetic White by Sherwin Williams. I wanted to error on being too white instead of being too pink, yellow or taupe. And I love how it turned out!

One of the first things we did after the floors were done and the interior was painted was to switch the layout of the house. The family room doesn’t have to stay the family room. The eating area doesn’t have to stay the eating area. When you enter the house to the right was the formal dining room and to the left was the formal living room. Well, folks round these parts folks like us don’t use formal anything. So we decided quickly that the “dining room” would become the piano/office room. And the “formal living room” would become our family room. (More on those rooms coming later.) That allowed us to use the kitchen, eating area and family room as the new kitchen and eating area. And I don’t know if I shared it or not… but it has a fireplace. I have always dreamt of a fireplace in my kitchen. Swoon city.

For the kitchen, we ripped out the upper cabinets and open shelving will go in their place. A custom hood will go above the range, counters will be a white quartz, the island bar will be knocked down to counter height and extended another 3 inches. A farmhouse sink will go in the island too. The backsplash will be white subway tile with dark grout. Open shelving will continue on the wall above the microwave where the original eating area once was. This helps the kitchen feel bigger and continue on beyond the space it was intended for. The fireplace will get the same German Smear treatment as the brick on the exterior.

White on white on white. I know some of you want to shoot me right now, but I’m also trying to make “good” decisions with the material for our sectional, rugs and so on. Not gettin’ a white sectional y’all. You can breathe now.

Well, if you’ve made it this far in the post I should give you an award. I barely made it.

Thanks for staying the journey with me! I might need a shoulder to lean on in the near future!

Effective Inserts

Curb inlets aren’t designed for pollutant and sediment capture. As such, retrofitting the can substantially improve the inlets performance. Inserts can boost their efficiency. They can remove sediment, debris, trash, grease and oil. One of the simplest retrofit options are hooded outlets that capture floatable materials and prevent them from entering the storm drain system.

Filters are one of the varieties of inserts that exist for effectively filtering runoff. The filter fabric will remove pollutants as storm water flows into the system.

The second type of inserts that can be installed by plumbers are catch basin traps; these can be a series of trays or plastic boxes fitted into the basin. The tray-like insert has a top tray that traps sediment at the entry point and other underlying traps can filter specific materials. Plastic boxes can remove hydrocarbons as the water passes and all trash and rubbish is left in the box. These traps make cleaning of the curb inlets/basins by plumbers or drain cleaning experts much easier.

Cleaning Clogged Systems

The grids of basins are widely spaced and because of this, some objects fall through into the system.

The system is clogged when trash and sediments pile up onto and in the basin and as a result, water ponds are formed as the storm water can no longer flow freely into the curb inlet. Street flooding that is localized is a hazard to you and the public as a whole.

Curb inlets should be well maintained and monitored to ensure that they work as efficiently as possible to eliminate the risk of water damage on driveways and flooding of roads. If not frequently maintained the catch basin can be a source of dangerous pollutants and lead to material flowing to rivers and oceans.

When you want to have a surface added on to your home, there is a lot of planning you must first do. The first thing to discover is where would you like to add this structure. Once you have come up with a location, it is time to decide the color and type of substance you would like to use. There are many different types of composite deck material to choose from. There is the tropical design that can give your property a striking and unique look. If you want to feel like you’re on an island in your own backyard, this is the style for you. It will definitely make your place stand out in the neighborhood. The captiva decking is exquisite, with a much finer look to it. It is pleasing to the eye and satisfactory for most house styles. The marine decking is meant for locations near the water for floating docks. Having this design certainly makes for a great scene.

Composite deck material is inexpensive. All it takes is the right professional to make installations for you. You can choose the exacting decking textile that suits your styles and desires. Browsing pictures and designs can help you discover exactly what it is you may want for your property. There is a design out there that fits your exact personality.

For those wanting to install these additions to their homes, the process is actually quite simple. Installation is a do-it-yourself process that comes with easy instructions. If you want to use professional installers, this option is available as well. But doing it yourself can save you money. It can also prove to be a fun learning experience and even an adventure. You will feel a sense of accomplishment knowing that you installed a brand new part of your home all on your own. As long as you know how to read and measure, the results should turn out fine. You will be able to behold your masterpiece before you know it.

Composite deck material is very classy and affordable at inexpensive costs. There are so many colors to choose from. Your property can go from bland to glamorous in just a matter of time. You can have a brand new space to chill, entertain guests, have drinks, and lounge. It just takes the right tools and resources to have it completed the right way.

Vinyl

Every material requires its own solution when it comes to keeping deck post caps secured to their place. Vinyl, for instance, benefits from being secured with a specific PVC glue. Why use this adhesive? Well, not only does it work well, but it will also stand up to the elements. This, as you have probably already seen, is one of the most important aspects of any adhesive you use in an outdoor setting. Rain, wind, and hail do not represent particularly pleasant precipitation under the best of circumstances, but they can play absolute havoc with your outdoor construction projects. Brush on some PVC glue and your vinyl should stay in place.

Wood and Composite Materials

There are several big differences between using wood and using composite wood mixtures when building your patio, but for this purpose they are much the same. Wood is one of the most common choices for a homeowner looking to build an outdoor entertaining area, and for good reason. It is timeless, classic, and it just fits. Many homeowners are looking to composite materials as well, hoping to cut down on maintenance necessities. When it comes to deck post caps, both materials are usually fixed in place well with wood glue. If you have the type that doesn’t slip directly onto the posts, you may have better luck with screws.

Aluminum and Metal

This is the only type of deck post caps that doesn’t respond well to glue. You may as well put your glue gun away if you want these to stay in place. Instead, you should look for special screws intended for use with aluminum products. These will do the trick. If you purchase the type that is self-locking, however, you can dispense with the screws, as these babies aren’t coming off anytime soon. Get a mallet, hammer it down onto the rail, and you can forget about it.

People saw the need for something like this because of number of reasons. Primarily it’s because of the steady increase in electricity rates and gas prices in the past few years. Another reason is that people are starting to notice the adverse effects of climate change and are feeling the need to help keep the planet healthy. The DIY Power System was conceptualized because of the first two reasons and because of this third one, having a contractor install a green power generator in your house can lead to large labor costs.

Much has been said about the effectiveness of such systems when it comes to providing all the power needed by a typical home. Naysayers say that such systems are not reliable and maintenance costs can be high as well. Those points might be true a decade ago. New developments in green power technology have increased the efficiency of such systems dramatically. The cost of building one and maintaining it has significantly gone down as well. The price of setup and maintenance costs will only go down in the coming years.

There are a lot of power systems that people can install in their home all by themselves. Some, however, are not applicable in every geographical location. One example would be harnessing wave movements to generate electricity. However, this could only be done in coastal areas. Here are some examples of power systems that can be installed just about anywhere.

Solar Generators

Solar generators arguably are the most famous, and most common, type of renewable power sources out there. It works by harnessing the power of the sun’s rays and converting it into usable electricity. It basically has three parts to it; the solar panels, the inverter, and storage batteries. The solar panels are the ones who absorb and convert the sun’s radiation into electricity. The inverter then converts that electricity, which is DC power, into AC power that can be used by home appliances. The storage batteries’ job is to store excess or unused electricity so that there is power to use just in case the sun’s light is not that powerful.

Wind Turbine Generators

Windmills have been around for hundreds of years. People have been harnessing the power of the wind to make some of their tasks, like grinding corn and even fetching water, a whole lot easier. Wind turbines are just the next phase of development of windmill technology. Wind turbines harness the wind by using the force of the wind to turn rotors, which in turn rotates a mechanical generator. A mechanical generator uses mechanical energy to generate electricity. Wind turbines have been so successful in producing huge quantities of energy that commercial wind farms have been constructed worldwide to help provide the world with cleaner energy.