October 2020

Heating and cooling make up the largest portion of most home energy bills. As cooler weather approaches, now is the time to think of ways to keep those bills in check for the upcoming winter. These three strategies can help you stay comfortable, even when paying the utility bills.

1. Adjust the Thermostat

No one wants to sit shivering because they can’t afford to turn on the heat, any more than they want to pay exorbitant bills. However, minor adjustments or those made for when you aren’t home can have a big impact. According to the Department of Energy, lower the temperature by seven to 10 degrees for eight hours each day can result in a 10% savings on energy usage. Installing a programmable or smart thermostat can make it very simple to do.

2. Clean Furnace Filters

Many types of heating systems use filters to remove contaminants. Over time, those contaminants build up in filters, making the systems run less efficiently and costing you more. It can also shorten the useful life span of an HVAC system. Learn how to inspect and either clean or replace the filters on your heating unit to help it run more efficiently and effectively.

3. Seal Air Leaks

Newer homes tend to be sealed relatively well, but older ones often have multiple sources of air leaks. They provide plenty of opportunities for the hot air generated by your heating to escape outside. Sealing the up and adding residential spray foam insulation Chalfont PA can help minimize heat loss. As a general rule, it will rise through the roof and escape out of the attic, but doors and windows, and the spaces around them, are also common sources of drafts. Weatherstripping and storm windows can help in those areas.

By sealing air leaks in your home, helping your furnace run more efficiently and adjusting the temperature when you aren’t home, you can reduce winter heating bills without affecting your comfort.…

A Short History Of Dining Room Furniture

Dining room furniture has seen a lot of changes over the years. This is mainly due to the changes in dining and the needs of the person buying the furniture. To understand the influences on society that brought about changes in the dining experience we need to go back many centuries.

The idea of communal meals originated in Europe in the Middle Ages. During this time evening meals were grand affairs that took place in great halls. Such events were mainly for the aristocracy and upper class of the time, with the lower classes very much at the fringes. It was also a time when people did not eat from plates, instead the food was served on top of a piece of bread called a trencher.

The social class structure was reflected in the seating arrangement at these large meal time gatherings. Diners sat on benches around long trestle tables. The host family sat raised above the others, at the centre of the dining room. Less important gentry were lower and sat further away from the head of the table depending on their role in life.

This changed around the time that Henry the Eighth dissolved the monasteries in England. This caused divisions and tensions between Catholics and Protestants, making mass communal meals difficult. To help minimise tension between people of these different religious allegiances, parlour rooms were established to separate those within the household of different beliefs, whist dining.

The design and size of tables and seating changed to reflect the smaller numbers dining together and the limited size of the parlour rooms. This was how our current arrangement of places for individual diners originated. Over time, the idea of the dining room as a more intimate space for eating in evolved. The large halls in turn were used for special occasions and grand banquets.

Another change that came about was locating the dining room adjacent to the kitchen. This is contrast to the Middle Ages when the kitchen was generally on a different floor to the eating area. As affluence increased so the number of homes increased such that more people cooked and entertained in their own homes and needed to be able to serve food quickly, conveniently and safely (without climbing up stairs!).

Dining room furniture has changed over the years to adapt to the changing needs of society. Some people enjoy the comfort and luxury of leather chairs and wooden tables. By contrast in recent times there is a trend towards minimalist items of furniture, with glass tables and plastic padded furniture being popular. As the dining experience becomes less formal so society’s choice of style and type of table and chair is changing.…

Christmas Decoration Ideas on Toddler Table and Chair

Christmas is the occasion which creates excitement in everyone’s mind. But the most enthusiastic group is the children group. The kids of all levels are very happy in this season as they are going to get new gifts and can take part in the decoration activities and get an opportunity to show the world that they have their creativity and importance in the whole affair. So, the parents should take the opportunity of such occasions when they will be able to work with their tots to teach the basic things about home decor for enhancing their creativity. One of the main attractions of this occasion is the gorgeously decked dining room. The kids may not take part in decorating the big dining room but you can give them toddler table and chair to work on those.

There are some ideas for the decor of the toddler table and chair that you can follow for the Christmas season:

Firstly, you can give them to hang the small seasonal wreaths or artificial fancy wreaths to hang on the seats.

Secondly, you can give them miniature stockings of different colors to hang those on the seats.

Thirdly, you can also ask them to make little paper crafts to ornate the dining furniture.

Fourthly, you can consider different colors of ribbons, frills to put around the edge of the counter and seats.

Fifthly, you tell them to place the traditional Christmas pretend food items for entertaining the guests. For example: pudding, dessert, turkey, chocolates and so on.

Sixthly, you can also ask them to place the toy cutlery set and candles on them.

So, there are a lot of other ideas that you use for your bigger dining room. They can be applied in the adornment of the toddler table and chairs.…

Every machine that’s developed is created to run efficiently and effectively. Whether it’s a car, clock or cellphone, each feature of the invention is created to fulfill a specific purpose. Without this purposeful development, an invention wouldn’t function properly, and tasks wouldn’t get done. A more well-oiled machine will lead to a better overall product. However, as machinery and equipment is used, sometimes parts get worn out and need to be mended by purchasing products from a lubricant supplier VA. Here are two common types of lubricants on the market today and what they’re used for.

1. Oil

This type of oil isn’t used for cooking but is instead used to prevent parts from corroding and from deposits forming. Oil is made from long polymer chains and comes in different weights. If the oil is thinner, it’ll flow better and will keep everything working smoother. You can use oil on hinges and bearings and can also sharpen tools with oil. If something you’re working with seems to be getting stuck or isn’t flowing as easily as it usually does, you may be able to help the situation with oil.

2. Grease

This is a derivative of oil. Grease is made by taking oil and mixing it with thickeners to create a stiffness oil doesn’t have. Since grease is thicker than oil, it acts as a barrier but can also be too intense for some machinery because of its thickness. If you try and use grease on small machines, it may be too much for the machine to handle and not work as effectively as you’d hope. The best scenarios to use grease on are gears, bearings, chains and links.

Oil and grease may be well known in the cooking world, but these two lubricants should be anywhere but your kitchen. However, they’re vital to cars, machines and any other power-based invention.…

The Basics of Bathroom Plumbing

When planning any bathroom, a good place to start is with its individual mechanical systems. This means understanding and planning for the room’s major plumbing, electrical, and heating/cooling/ventilation requirements. In renovation work, existing deficiencies-a system that doesn’t meet code or an inadequate dimension-often have to be corrected, a potentially costly and unforeseen addition to the project. Knowing how the various systems go together, as well as the requirements of applicable building codes, is an essential part of the planning process.

I’ve often heard it said that stacking bathrooms one above the other or arranging baths and/or kitchens so that they can take advantage of a “wet wall” is desirable because it minimizes plumbing runs and the number of drains and vents required in the system. In theory this makes sense, and in commercial multifloor construction that is often exactly what designers and architects do. But in the real world of residential construction, sometimes this happens and sometimes it doesn’t. Sure, putting a second-floor bathroom directly above the first-floor bath and configuring them identically is more economical than a more random placement, but it’s not that much more economical and generally not worth the sacrifice in planning flexibility. Since plastic ABS (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) and PVC (polyvinyl chloride) pipe (the materials most commonly used in most residential DWV systems) are cheap and install quickly, positioning the bathrooms advantageously to one another is less important in the long run than making sure that they are properly situated in the house.

Bringing water into the house, delivering it where it is needed, and then removing it is the responsibility of the plumbing system. While plumbing a whole house is outside the scope, knowing enough about plumbing systems to know when you need help and when you can go it alone can save a lot of aggravation and installation time. And new fixtures and features in today’s bathrooms, like multiple showerheads and jetted tubs, make planning an adequate system essential for proper fixture performance. A tub that takes forever to fill or an anemic shower system that dribbles when more than one showerhead is turned on won’t win many repeat customers.

Essentially, residential plumbing consists of two basic subsystems: the water supply system and the drain/waste/vent (DWV) system. The water supply system must have adequate pressure to deliver proper water flow to each fixture, particularly when more than one fixture is used simultaneously. The DWV system doesn’t rely on pressure to remove fluids, so pipe diameters must be large in order to allow gravity and atmospheric pressure to work.…

Using Decorative Pillows in Your Home Decor

One day it just used to be women that liked to go for fancy decorated pillows in the bedroom. Lately there are as many men as there are women that are choosing to decorate their bedrooms this way. You can still have a good night sleep in your bedroom but with the added bonus of the bedroom looking nice and stylish too.

We are not saying that you have to go out and find the fanciest pillow that you can find to make your bedroom look attractive. But there is no reason why you cannot go out and find something that can compliment the rest of your bedroom furniture.

Yes pillows have to be nice and comfortable in order for you to get the rest that you need. You can also make them look nice and tasteful in an aesthetic kind of way. You may wonder why you should need to have fancy pillows when nobody else is going to see them. But it is just a case of personal taste I suppose.

If you have form type pillows on your bed then it is unlikely that you will get a decorated version of those.

These types of pillows are more of a health issue than anything else and your health concerns are the main priority. But you can still think about bedroom decorating.

There are still however many people out there that think that pillows that are decorated are somehow not as comfortable as the everyday pillows that you can buy. But if this is the case then why do all the hotel rooms always seem to be adorned with fancy pillows on their beds?

It is their business to make sure that their guests are comfortable when they stay in their hotels. So if these decorated pillows are comfortable enough for them to use, surely they are comfortable enough for our personal use!…

Soap Dispensers in Your Kitchen Or Bath Are Effective

The use of soap dispensers is favored these days because it provides a more effective way of keeping germs at bay in households as well as work spaces. But not everyone is convinced that they should use kitchen soap dispensers for a number of reasons. If you are one of those who are not convinced of the merits of this item, here are some of the advantages that you should look at before dismissing the idea altogether:

o Keeps the kitchen or bathroom counter from getting smeared with soap scum

o Saves on soap consumption

o The dispenser has both practical and decorative uses. Most owners of modern houses prefer to have kitchen or bathroom dispensers because they add more personality to an otherwise boring space.

o They are more pleasing to look at than stray soap dishes

Shopping for Kitchen and Bathroom Soap Dispensers

If you want to have a soap dispenser installed in your home, you might as well go for one that is reliable. It is necessary to shop around first before purchasing so you can land the best product at the best possible price.

Home or bath accessory stores would be a good place to look for this type of fixture. However, if you want to save oodles of time and effort, you might as well shop online. You can find tons of choices for soap dispensers plus you have a better chance of finding one to fit your budget perfectly.

As far as your choice in soap dispensers go, there are no strict rules as to which one you need to buy. It all depends on your personal taste as well as your existing budget. However, you should be able to note which products are the best to use for certain types of situations.

If you have a modern looking kitchen that is fully outfitted, it would be great to choose a stainless steel soap dispenser as it would fit perfectly to the backdrop of the space. You can also go more practical and opt for a less expensive type, such as a ceramic dispenser, which is just as useful as the rest of the choices. What matters is to have something that you can use for a very long time.

Quality is always important. If you will go for cheaper varieties, you cannot expect good quality from it and you also cannot bet that you will not be buying another one in a few months.

Price versus Quality

This has been and always will be the battle when it comes to shopping for any type of merchandise. When you shell out more money for something, there is an underlying expectation that you will be able to use such item for a long time. In the same way, if you want to pinch pennies and go for cheaper items that are made of less reliable materials, you will not be able to expect much from it.…

Your home’s foundation is the most important part of your structure. How can that be? It’s because everything is built on a solid, competent foundation. Problems with your foundation will eventually translate into major structural issues in other parts of your structure. Problems with foundations can have a variety of causes, including intermittent wetness and dryness, clay types in the substrate, varying climate conditions, and plumbing leaks, to name but a few. Foundation repairs, if needed, will preserve the value of your home as well as save you money and heartache in the long run.

Common Signs that Your Foundation May Have Problems

There are a number of indicators that can suggest that your foundation needs evaluation. The most common are these:

1. Cracks on the foundation floor itself, especially if they show increasing gap width
2. Fractures in the walls emanating from the foundation
3. Settling or sinking, especially in one part of the home in particular
4. Doors that don’t open properly anymore or have become “sticky“
5. Attached fixtures such as counters or the stone-facing around fireplaces that are gapping away from the walls
6. Unusual dampness in the basement, especially when it’s clearly not from rain

In addition to these, other, less-obvious observations can be made by qualified professionals that also may indicate problems with your foundation.

What to Do When You See Signs of Foundation Trouble

If you observe one or more of these things, your foundation may have structural issues or even be compromised. At this point, further investigation by a trained professional is needed. You want them to undertake a comprehensive evaluation of your foundation’s integrity. The best firms will provide these evaluations free of charge.

Upon completion of the foundation evaluation, you’ll receive a detailed report as well as a tour showing you what problems, if any, were found. If foundation trouble is apparent, they will provide you with a written estimate of the proposed repairs and corrections that they can perform.…

If you find yourself envying other people’s property for their landscaping, it might be time to focus on your yard. If you think your yard is lackluster, there are ways to change it. If you’re new to landscaping, here are three tips for creating a yard that you can be proud of.

Decide on Plants and Foliage

Find a landscape company Memphis TN homeowners trust to help you decide which plants will provide your yard with the texture and pattern that you are looking for. Some people enjoy a lot of colors and request a variety of flowers. Others may appreciate more evergreen foliage. When it comes to flowers and plants, you do need to consult which will survive year-round and which you may have to replant later.

Consider the Use of Hardscape

Even if you want plants and trees to decorate your yard, the use of hardscape can make your yard stand out. Consider a patio or walking path through your property. Also, you could use gravel as an accent or install stone steps. When it comes to hardscape, not only can it increase the value of your home and improve the look but it also requires less maintenance. You don’t have to keep up with much work when it comes to hardscape.

Try Layered Flower Beds

Lawyered flower beds can look beautiful. To layer your flower beds, you would create three rows, with the tallest plants on one row, the next tallest on the second and then the shortest on the last row. Try to create a pattern with different types of flowers.

Bring your home to the next level. You deserve a yard that you’re proud of, that stands out and that can increase your property value. The best way to create the best-looking property is through landscaping.…