Sunday, December 23, 2007

Essential Tools For Home Improvement

by: News Canada


(NC)—While the home may be a family's castle and an escape from today's hectic world, it's probably not perfect. Decorating styles change. There are pictures to hang and shelves to install. Things break. It's too pressing to ignore, but too minor to engage a professional. The question becomes one of where to begin.

Start with a highly recommended how-to book, such as Better Homes & Gardens – New Complete Guide to Home Repair and Improvement and New Complete Do-It-Yourself Manual by Reader's Digest.

With knowledge in hand, it's a good idea to have a basic set of tools. When choosing, experts advise buying the best quality possible. Good tools can last a lifetime and help ensure professional results, while poor ones tend to break, cause frustration and can even damage a project.

A hardware or home center employee can guide you in quality tool selection. Here are the top ten tools that home experts say should be in every toolbox:

1. Toolbox – Start with a sturdy, latching container that can protect the tools and keep them safe, organized, and ready to go.

2. Safety goggles – Safety is the first step in any do-it-yourself project.

3. Screwdrivers – Start with a couple sizes of both flat blade and Phillips types

4. Hammer – Choose a 16-ounce claw model that fits comfortably in your hand, heavy enough to accomplish most tasks but not too heavy.

5. Tape measure – Choose one with a shock resistant case in a bright colour, so it's easy to spot in your toolbox. For real convenience, try one with a built-in voice recorder to store your measurements like the Zircon Repeater®.

6. Slip-joint pliers with wire cutting jaw.

7. Adjustable wrench.

8. Utility or box knife.

9. Drill – This is the one power tool that's a must.

10. Stud finder – For dozens of home improvement projects a stud finder can be worth its weight in gold. Try the new Zircon StudSensor™ Pro SL-AC. It finds studs without guesswork and includes a new WireWarning™ safety feature so you won't accidentally nail or drill into live AC voltage.

For more information about Zircon's StudSensor Pro SL-AC, Repeater and other cutting-edge electronic hand tools and to find a nearby retailer, visit the company's website at www.zircon.com or call toll-free 800-245-9265.

- News Canada

About The Author


News Canada provides a wide selection of current, ready-to-use copyright free news stories and ideas for Television, Print, Radio, and the Web.

News Canada is a niche service in public relations, offering access to print, radio, television, and now the Internet media, with ready-to-use, editorial "fill" items. Monitoring and analysis are two more of our primary services. The service supplies access to the national media for marketers in the private, the public, and the not-for-profit sectors. Your corporate and product news, consumer tips and information are packaged in a variety of ready-to-use formats and are made available to every Canadian media organization including weekly and daily newspapers, cable and commercial television stations, radio stations, as well as the Web sites Canadians visit most often. Visit News Canada and learn more about the NC services.

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Small Bathroom Lighting

by: Anna Hart

Small bathrooms might be those added under a stairway or in a spare closet. They might be for children, adults, or both. A small bathroom might be a guest powder room off the foyer or living room. One thing they have in common is that they are – small. Another thing they have in common is that they call for special lighting.

Small bathroom lighting is dependent, in part, on the use of the bathroom. One type of bathroom light fixture might convey a warm, cozy feeling for dinner guests. Another type of bathroom light fixture might make the small bathroom seem spacious – or provide light for reading while relaxing in a deep soak tub.

Warm and Cozy Lighting

You can make a small bathroom feel warm and cozy rather than claustrophobic by adding the right light fixtures. Suppose this is a small half-bath meant primarily for guests to "freshen up" before dinner. You've used small-patterned deep red and gold wallpaper for warmth. What kind of light fixtures should this small bathroom have?

Try recessed, can ceiling light fixtures focused on work areas. Or use indirect lighting around the perimeter of the ceiling-wall junction. On either side of the mirror above the sink, add a wall sconce light fixture. Avoid large wall sconces, or those that protrude too far from the wall, as they will make the room look cluttered. Layering these two types of light fixture will give you warm, gracious lighting in a small bathroom for guests.

Bright Enough for Reading

If the small bathroom in your home has a soaking tub, or one used by children, you will want good lighting in the tub area. Most lighting above tubs and showers is diffuse lighting, which is fine for a quick shower or bath. Diffuse lighting is also good over-all lighting to soften the entire bathroom. However, if you want to read – or get paint off of a child – you may want brighter, more concentrated lighting. Use a focused flood or halogen light fixture on the wall above the tub.

Choose safe, moisture proof light fixtures for this area. "Make sure that your lamps are UL rated for damp locations insuring safety," says Todd Phillips, president of lighting manufacturer Quoizel.

Space Enlarging Lighting

You can never have too much light in a small bathroom, as long as you use it properly. Perhaps the best idea for small bathrooms is to begin with indirect lighting around the ceiling for overall softness and warmness. Then consider these possibilities.

1. If your small bathroom has a window, use light-admitting, sheer curtains at the window. Add a shade that can be drawn for privacy.

2. Light shower or tub with separate wet area light fixtures, strong enough to permit easy personal grooming, but with dimmer switches for atmosphere.

3. On either side of the vanity mirror, use warm fluorescent vertical wall sconces to provide even facial illumination. Place a halogen light above the mirror for cross illumination. Place these mirror surrounding light fixtures on a separate switch.

4. Run a linear light fixture along the vanity toe-space to provide a soft night light.

5. For a family use small bathroom, place a halogen or flood light near the toilet, focused as a good reading light. Install a separate switch.

With all of these light fixtures layered in a small bathroom, you will always have exactly the amount of light you need for any given task. Yet you can make it cozy with dimmer switches, safe with night lights.

Helpful Tip

Small bathroom lighting need not be garish or insufficient. You can have plenty of light or cozy lighting if you layer your light, and control it with separate and/or dimmer switches.



About The Author

©2007, Anna Hart. Anna Hart invites you to read more of her articles about small bathrooms at http://www.easybathroomremodeling.com. Anna has posted several articles on that site about large and small bathrooms. If you want to learn more about small bathroom design, visit Anna now. http://fallbrookconstruction.blogspot.com/

Bathroom Renovation Ideas – Preparation and Inspiration

by: Madonna Jeffries

Are you tired of the look of your current bathroom layout and feel that it needs a total upgrade? If so you are one of the many people who don’t particularly like the way their bathroom looks. The bathroom is probably the most overlooked room in your home because most people do not feel that the amount of time they spend there warrants the expenditure of money or energy on undertaking a renovation project.

This is in fact quite wrong as a recent study indicates that women will, on average, spend the equivalent of 2 years and 9 months of their lives standing in front of their bathroom mirror fixing their make up and ensuring that they look 'just right' before venturing out of the house.

In reality the bathroom home improvement is easily the best place to start you renovation work as you can accomplish quite a transformation with a little imagination, a splash of flair and, of course, a few basic building skills. If you are interested in upgrading your bathroom, but really don’t know where to start, do some research so you can consider the options that are open to you.

The ease of undertaking a bathroom renovation is due to the fact that the average bathroom is quite small in size and therefore a fairly modest remodeling program will have some marked results. Most bathroom renovation ideas are often centered on a replacement of wall and floor tiles as well as the inclusion of new fixtures and fittings. Don’t be put off attempting the project if one of your bathroom renovation ideas includes enlarging the space. The chances are that extending the area of you bathroom will not be too difficult as it could be as simple as removing an adjacent closet or a dividing wall. You will be amazed at how even a relatively small increase of the bathroom area can have a remarkable effect on the look and feel of the room.

Summon Up The Courage And Implement Your Bathroom Renovation Ideas!

Don’t be put off by the big jobs - stripping down the entire bathroom may look like a complicated job but, in all reality, it is quite simple and requires little more than some hard labor by you (and maybe a friend or two). If you are ever going to introduce some good bathroom renovation ideas then you have to get out of your comfort zone and learn some of the skills needed to undertake the work.

If you really are a novice when it comes to renovation work, then it may be in your best interest to engage a professional builder for some aspects of the job. This way you can observe how he approaches the job and you should also be able to throw a few relevant questions his way. Take time and study how to operate the particular power tools needed on the job. Quite often you can download from the internet some quite well presented instructional guides which show you how to use various power tools.

Before you start the bathroom home improvement ensure that you put together a realistic costing for your bathroom renovation. Check some of the online specialty bathroom websites and put together a pricing list for the fixtures such as vanity, light and toilet fittings. We all dream about having gold taps and features in our bathrooms, however, the reality check is that the cost for most people would be prohibitive and well beyond their budget.

When deciding on the look of your bathroom just remember that for many people the bathroom is a private get-away where they like to relax and have a little solitude. If you want to create a sense of tranquility then you should consider going with a classic style that incorporates crisp colors with minimal clutter. By doing this you can create a soft feeling of light and space so that your bathroom becomes a welcoming retreat. If, however, you want to make a statement and don’t particularly want to have to queue to get into your bathroom then go crazy with your creativity and splash around as much color as you like.

Before your bathroom remodeling ideas get the better of you be aware that the whole project will take some time and, unless you engage a professional or take time off from work, there may be some inconvenience while you squeeze the work in at night or during the weekends.

A Word Of Caution

Try to adopt a patient approach and don’t be put off if you initially make a few small mistakes. Even the experts make mistakes at times and even the best bathroom renovation ideas have some inherent problems that will need some corrective action at a later date. Be patient and most importantly, be happy with the thought you’re your workable bathroom renovation ideas are not so difficult after all. With a little forward planning and creativity your new look private oasis can transform before your eyes.



About The Author

Madonna Jeffries

For more details on Bathroom Renovation Ideas and other types of home improvement and house remodeling tips and advice visit http://www.easyhouseimprovement.com/