On the Wire - Illuminating Advice
Exterior lighting is no longer just for seeing in the dark. We’ve transcended to a new place where illuminating the outside of our homes has a profound effect on how we feel when we’re inside as well. Illumination has become an art form and to help you get it right, Fine Homebuilding magazine has advice on everything from decorative and ambient to accent and safety lighting.
Decorative Lighting: Decorative exterior fixtures such as lanterns and post lights provide visual sparkle and they are the only exterior features that should be clearly visible. But these lights can’t do the job of landscape lighting by themselves. In reality, they should be providing no more than 25w to 40w each and they should be supplemented by additional, unseen light sources that provide more illumination. When out shopping for lanterns and the like, keep in mind that these fixtures appear about 25% larger in the showroom than they do on the side of a house. Another quick tip on lanterns, avoid clear or beveled glass as they will only highlight the bulb inside and not the fixture itself.
Ambient Lighting: True ambient lighting – achieved indoors by bouncing light off walls or ceilings – is hard to replicate outdoors. Generally speaking, there are two techniques used to create the effect of ambient light: Downlighting and Moonlighting. As the name implies, downlighting is training light sources downward from trellises, eaves, gazebos, and the branches of mature trees. Moonlighting is more subtle technique that is accomplished by mounting lights in mature trees, some pointed down through the leaves to create a dappled pattern of light and shadow and some pointed up to highlight the foliage. Another great trick is to bounce light off the inside of a large umbrella, pergola, or other overhead structure.
Accent Lighting: Four techniques fall under the heading of accent lighting. The first, known as uplighting, is a dramatic way to illuminate trees or other objects. Uplighting can create wonderful effects, but too much can be showy and unnatural. The technique of spotlighting highlights sculptures or specimen plants that deserve special attention. Be careful not to overuse spotlighting as it can lend to a commercial feel. Silhouetting is done by placing a light source behind a feature so that its dark silhouette comes into view. This technique works great to illuminate thick-leaved trees like magnolias, or cacti and succulents that have strong sculptural shapes. Vignetting combines a variety of light sources to call attention to a scene that, when unlighted, disappears from view.
Safety Lighting: For safety reasons, paths and any change in elevation should be clearly illuminated. But you don’t have to resort to the old pagoda lights that convert your front path and driveway into an airport landing strip. If you need a pathway light, use an opaque mushroom-type luminaire that projects light down without drawing attention to itself, preferably one no taller than 14 inches. An even less obtrusive option is to place small lights in planting beds on each side of the walkway and train them horizontally so that they wash the path’s surface without blinding the person coming towards it.
Visit Finehomebuilding.com for more info.
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Ask Tom & Leslie - Save Popcorn for the Movies!
This week’s question comes to us from Digby; “How do I remove a popcorn or textured ceiling treatment? It looks really dirty and I’d much prefer to have it gone!”
Of all the ceiling questions we get on our radio show, removing popcorn ceilings has to rank as one of the most popular. These are probably biggest challenge up in the ceiling zone found in homes from the paneling-and-disco era. At the time, they were an acoustic solution and a handy way for builders to skip having to add three layers of drywall mud and tape (with the added distraction of those little sparkle bits that were scattered across the ceiling), but today, they can be an inconvenient eyesore.
Removal is possible, but it takes some pretty intense work to accomplish: you’ll have to soak the popcorn surface with water (we recommend using a pump garden sprayer for this) and then scrape it all away with a six-inch drywall knife. You’ll then be left with a lot of material that should be disposed of properly, not mention some significant ceiling repair before applying an oil-based primer and a flat finish.
There are maybe a million better ways to spend a Saturday, starting with your annual dental cleaning. If you can live with the texture, you can always use a high-pile, slitted roller to apply a new coat of color that coordinates with the rest of the room.
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On the Air - Home Maintenance Musts
Do you know where your home’s air filter is? If not, you probably haven’t replaced it lately. Coming up on the next Money Pit radio show – why it’s vitally important perform routine maintenance on your home. To learn where to tune us in on your radio dial or download our Podcast, visit www.moneypit.com.
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Dot Common Sense - Winter Roof Woes
Winter is right around the corner, and while a wonderland of white can be pretty, what winter’s harsh weather can do to an un-protected roof certainly is not. Ice dams can be a sign of major damage to your roof. They form when warmth from inside the home melts the bottom layer of snow that’s piled on a roof, which sends water trickling down to the roof’s edge. Exposed to frigid air, this trickle quickly RE-freezes, clogging gutters and causing the water behind it to pool up and find a path into the home, usually through the shingles. While ice dams are more common in older and poorly insulated homes – and those with low-pitch roofs – even the roofs of newer homes can leak if water runs upwards between shingles.
Leaks caused by ice dams often lead to structural damage and mold problems, causing millions of dollars of damage to homes every year. To help prevent this from happening to your home, be sure that your roof is protected Grace Ice & Water Shield. This is a self-adhered roofing underlayment that is applied under your roof’s shingles and directly to the roof’s decking. This creates a watertight bond that not only protects your roof from pools of water caused by ice dams, but also from wind-driven rain and snow. If you are preparing to repair or replace your roof, visit www.GraceAtHome.com for tips and info to protect your roof from the elements.
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Fun Fact - Wash Your Washer
When you wash your clothes, are they REALLY getting clean? Maybe not. Your washing machine may not even be washing the germs out of your family clothes. Over the years, washing machines can become contaminated with bacteria potentially leaving millions of germs behind in your laundry. To correct this problem, run the washer without clothes with using just hot water and one-half gallon of bleach. The bleach will sanitize the machine and all it’s plumbing components, killing any bacteria that’s been left behind.
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The Scoop - Money Saving Membership
It’s tough out there for homeowners right now. But as always, we're on your side every step of the way to help you transform your house into the home you've always dreamed it could be. So we’ve partnered with the American Homeowners Association to bring you something you can really use: ways to save money. The Money Pit American Homeowners Association Membership has tons of benefits, including discounts on vision care, legal services, home and auto insurance… even your GROCERIES.
You will also have access to travel discounts and comparison shopping for millions of products at more than 4,000 stores like Sears, Wal-Mart and Target. Best of all, membership will open the door to the ONE source you need to save money and increase the value of your home – including an exclusive network of pre-screened, licensed and insured home remodeling professionals, with a $1,000 guarantee that the job will be done right.
The benefits of an AHA Membership are worth thousands of dollars. But through this special Money Pit offer - membership will cost you less than 35 cents a day – less than a newspaper or a cup of coffee. Better yet, try it absolutely FREE for 30 days. You read right! This is a no brainer folks. We are SO confident you will save money with this membership, we’ll let you try it FREE for 30 days. If you don’t save money, cancel and owe nothing.
To kick this exclusive deal off right, the first 1000 paid memberships come with a pair of high tech tools from Zircon. The Laser Ball 360 rotating laser level makes it fast and easy to get everything and anything straight, and the TriScanner One-STeP doesn’t just find studs, it locates the CENTER of the stud for super accurate nailing. What are you waiting for? Start saving today with a free trial. Call 1-866-REAL-HOME or visit www.moneypit.com.
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Short Cuts - Refinishing Floors
Hardwood floors are a tough and beautiful component of any home. However, with all the abuse that floors take, it’s not hard to understand why they’ll occasionally need to be refinished. Refinishing a floor is a job that you can do yourself. The materials are readily available, the tools are inexpensive or can be easily rented and the results are always worth the effort. If you are thinking about giving your floor a new life, here’s where to begin.
Surface Prep After removing all the furniture, throw rugs and anything else that’s been covering your floor, it’s time to give it an honest assessment. You need to ask yourself just how bad it is. Has the finish completely worn off? Are you seeing raw wood? Are there serious stains that need to be sanded out? The answer to these questions will determine your next step. If the finish is just dull and there aren’t deep gouges or any other kind of serious flaws in the floors, the simplest way to prep the surface for a fresh new coat is to rent a floor buffer with a sanding screen. The screens gently rotate to take off only the top layer of finish and won’t damage the surface underneath. If the floor is badly damaged, you’ll need to rent a floor sander. Typically, there are two types of floor sanders available. A floor belt sander is the tool most pros use. These tools are big, heavy, hard to maneuver and if you so much as sneeze when you are using one, can damage your floor for life. We don’t recommend renting a belt sander for your floors. If they are that bad, hire a pro to do the sanding.
A better option for the DIYer is a machine known as a U-Sand. U-sand is a 4 disk random orbital sander that does a fabulous job sanding the floor and is goof-proof regardless of the skill level of the user. It also does a good job of sucking up the dust it creates making for a much neater job and smoother finish. Even with these tools, you will most likely still need to do some sanding by hand in the areas tough to get to. You can also rent a disk sander that is designed to get into the edges of the floor, but keep in mind that these machines typically leave swirl marks that may need to be hand sanded out none the less. Once your floor is buffed or sanded, it’s very important that you remove all remaining dust. Dust that is left behind will mix with the new finish making it rough. Vacuum the floor and or use a tack cloth to remove as much dust as possible. This is also good time to check for gouges in the floor that might need to be repaired. If you find any, repair them now before the finish is applied.
Choosing a Floor Finish Polyurethane is the finish of choice for floors. The finish is available in both latex and oil based versions. In our experience, the latex finish works well for cabinets, trim and furniture but just doesn’t have the abrasion resistance to do a good job on the floors. For those, oil finish is still delivers the best long term result.
The best way to apply oil-based polyurethane is to “mop” it on with a synthetic “lamb’s wool” applicator. This useful tool, available at any home center, looks like a sponge mop and lays down a silky smooth finish in a fraction of the time it would take to do it using a brush. For best results, use several thin coats and try to avoid heavy traffic on the floor for a few days after the finish is applied so that it can fully harden. One note of caution; be mindful that drying time listed by the manufacturer can be “optimistic.” The actual time it will take your floor to dry, when impacted by humidity and temperature, can be much longer. Even after your floor is dry to the touch, it’s best to give it a day or two to get really hard before putting the furniture back on it and subjecting it to the wear and tear of daily life.
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Copyright 2007 Squeaky Door Productions, Inc.
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