General Home Development

On the face of it, the addition of an Add On Wood Furnace to your existing furnace sounds like a great idea. If you cut, split and season your own firewood, you already know how much money you’re saving over your propane poor neighbor.

Installing a wood furnace also tames the unavoidable messiness of burning wood by moving it to the basement.

Best of all, you can purchase a basic add on wood furnace for less than an inexpensive pellet stove.

However, the complex installation of an add on wood furnace goes a long way towards canceling out the benefits. When you install an add on furnace you not only have two furnaces; you now have two thermostats, two blowers, two plenums and two chimneys. Not to mention the connecting ductwork and dampers.

You don’t have to be a home heating expert to imagine all the possible scenarios for failure.

As with any other type of furnace, the warranty and building codes requires installation by a licensed HVAC professional.

But this requirement alone doesn’t necessarily guarantee your add on furnace will be installed for maximum efficiency. Simply because someone’s been installing gas furnaces for 30 years doesn’t mean their first attempt at installing an add on wood furnace will be a complete success.

Another problem that wood furnace manufacturers never address is a convenient way to store and transport a winter’s worth of firewood without making hundreds of trips up and down the basement stairs.

Finding the least expensive way to heat your home will always involve trade-offs. As with an add on wood furnace, buying the cheapest appliance to burn the cheapest fuel is not without its drawbacks.

Improve your home with

Before you go out and spend thousands of dollars on a new home security system, it’s a good idea to find out how secure your neighborhood is. Or to put it in blunt terms, find out how many crimes are being committed where you live. This information can have a big impact on what steps you take on the home security front.

This may sound like information you can’t get without going door-to-door and interviewing everyone within a four-block radius. Have you been robbed in the last year? Has anyone broken into your car? Has anyone stolen mail from your mailbox? It sounds like a pain, doesn’t it?

Fortunately, you don’t have to do this. Chances are the police station has this information already. As you might or might not have suspected, most police agencies keep detailed statistics of these things. They have records of crimes committed, and can often narrow down the statistics to the block level.

As a resident, you’re entitled to this information.

So, head down to your local police station (the one closest to your home), and ask to talk to the public affairs officer (or whoever is in charge of public relations). Request the crime statistics for your neighborhood. You might not get a list of who committed the crime, but you should be able to get information on how many break-ins, auto thefts, rapes, etc. have taken place over the last few years. Sometimes the records go back for decades.

This is the best way to find out how safe your neighborhood is. Do remember that the crimes that have been committed on your street in the past aren’t always perfect indicators of what will happen in the future. Just because no one has been robbed on your street this year doesn’t mean someone won’t be burglarized tomorrow. However, if there have been a lot of crimes committed in the past, this is a pretty good indicator that a similar trend will continue.

If there have been quite a few home break-ins in your area, you may want to consider an aggressive home security plan, such as a whole home security system that can protect your house and your family by sending the police if someone tries to get in. On the other hand, if there hasn’t been a break-in for years, you may feel safe with a less aggressive approach. Maybe you’ll feel it’s enough to install common sense home security items (i.e. replacing weak door and window locks) and adopt good security practices (i.e. don’t leave doors unlocked, don’t leave garages doors up, and don’t leave tools in the yard burglars could use to break in, etc.).

Remember, the first step to protecting yourself and your family is to find out how secure your neighborhood is.

For more on the topic, visit the author’s

There is a wide range of covered patio designs. One may choose among its beautiful and satisfying variations, reinvent or experiment on his own, or even make some combinations. Each will surely have different designs, styles and techniques.

Mud-like tile flooring or decking materials, pavers, slates and the likes have grown popular because they are more relaxed and spontaneous. Also, they can relate better to the structures and patterns of the inside area than those conventional materials.

One may always put up some simple yet sophisticated and elegant patio furniture and accessories such as picnic chairs and tables, wooden benches, colorful decorations, and even an outdoor fireplace. These bits and pieces may always heighten and promote a much cozier ambiance.

Indeed, having a covered patio would really be a great idea; therefore, a property holder should start looking for a good variety of covered patio designs. Putting up these things is truly of great help or advantage not only to the homeowner himself but also to his housemates or loved ones.

All of them could be able to experience different outdoor activities like playing various sports, having small talks or conversations, eating meals, and such – all with so much fun and enthusiasm. It is actually perceived more appreciative because they would be able to enjoy these stuffs even if they are only confined within the premises of their own homes with much convenience and comfort.

Likewise, ceiling treatment may also be associated with the idea of giving some extra yet necessary protection, amiability, security, tenderness, privacy and warmth to an earlier open spot. This may also offer you a new den or an extraordinary hang out where family members, relatives, friends and even acquaintances can have great bonding moments.

Furthermore, these covers or shelters will somehow help you realize the relevance of spending quality time with your loved ones and the importance of establishing good relationship, solidarity or camaraderie among themselves by just its mere existence.

Now, have you come to realize the significance of coming up with just an extension or what really a particular covered patio can do? Well, it would be so much better to experience such dramatic change or effect on your own.

For ideas on

People spend large sums of money to improve their homes, some even taking out expensive home equity and refinancing loans. While it’s true that putting in new floors or cabinets can cost a bundle, there are plenty of things you can do to improve your home for much less. There are 3 key areas to focus on where small improvements will make the most difference – the foyer, bathrooms and kitchen. These projects below cost under $100.00 to do and just one of the projects below can make a huge difference, but why not do all 3?

Foyer

It’s true that you only get one chance to make a first impression and the first impression people get of your home is your foyer. Has your welcome mat lost its welcome appeal? It’s time to spice up your entrance so what you hear are “oohs” and “ahhs” when people cross your threshold. If you have a spacious porch, a potted plant in a metal planter can create a pleasant atmosphere. Contemporary planters are about $10.

If you’re really adventurous, a coat of brightly-colored paint on your front door can create a splash. If you take on this challenge, it’s a good idea to make sure that the paint complements your home. For example, if your home is mostly red brick, a red door would make a dynamic look. A gallon of interior/exterior gloss enamel in red or any other bright color will set you back no more than $20.

Kitchen

When you look in your kitchen, what catches your eye first? Probably all those nifty cabinets that discreetly tuck away your dishes, right? After a number of years you might crave a different look. For starters, you might want to give them a good cleaning. This one step alone can make a difference. You would be surprised the amount of dust and grease that can accumulate on cabinets. Depending on the material that your cabinets are made of, simply removing the cabinets from their hinges and wiping them down with the damp cloth is sufficient. There are chemicals on the market, but you need to make sure that the chemicals are made for your cabinet material.

Once your cabinets are shining again, you can then add or replace knobs. Knobs range from simple unfinished versions that cost as little as $.50 to decorative insert pulls that costs around $3. With the average kitchen containing about 12 cabinets, your cost won’t go over $36.

Bathroom

Guest bathrooms are usually confined to a small space. Why not give this room a lift? You undoubtedly have a nice set of guest towels and matching accessories. These items are not necessarily cheap so unless you want to go over your $100 spending limit, you can leave those items as they are. What you can add are wallpaper trim, artwork, and color. There are numerous styles of wallpaper trim that you can choose a new look for your bathroom. You can go as conservative and as creative as you want. To complement the wallpaper trim, you can add artwork. You don’t have to go out and purchase expensive artwork. You can use your imagination to come up with some ideas. For example, a few seashells, colorful fabric, and an empty picture frame are all you need to become your own favorite artist.

If you have any leftover paint from your door, you can use this to paint a wall in your bathroom, as long as the color doesn’t clash with the other elements of your bathroom.

Lee Dobbins writes for a-kitchen-decorating-idea.com” target=”_blank A Kitchen Decorating Idea Guide where you can find
hundreds of a-kitchen-decorating-idea.com/articles1.html” target=”_blank articles on frugal kitchen decorating.

Kitchen cabinet doors can add to the beauty of your kitchen. The appearance of your kitchen cabinets rests on the quality of your cabinets. You can therefore completely change the look of your kitchen simply by changing the doors of your kitchen cabinets. Good kitchen cabinet design is also important if you want to get the most storage use possible out of your available storage space, and this should also be the goal in the design of any kitchen.

Kitchen Cabinet Wood Types

Kitchen cabinets can be made from dozens of woods including Oak, Maple, Pine, Cherry, Hickory, Poplar, Alder and Birch. Hickory and Oak are the hardest and the heaviest. Cherry, Birch and Maple are considered to be well suited to cabinetry. Less expensive and more plentiful woods such as Alder and Poplar work best with glazed finishes used in creating an ‘antique’ look. Pine is a soft wood that can be more prone to dents and scratches.

There are three types of cabinet door shapes, slab, recessed panel, and raised panel.

There are many cabinet design styles to choose from. Four of the more common cabinet design styles are: traditional, country, shaker and contemporary.

Kitchen Cabinet Construction

Kitchen cabinets are generally constructed using a combination of these kinds of woods, as well as particleboard or plywood.

Some cabinet doors are made of solid wood, which is generally more expensive. Although solid wood and plywood kitchen cabinet doors are regarded a stronger and thicker, particleboard is considered less likely to expand.

When selecting kitchen cabinets it is a good ideas to start by defining your style. Will your kitchen design be more along the lines of a traditional look with raised panel doors and a lot of ornate molding? Or will it be more of a rustic look with knotty pine and more simple detailing?

There are three main types of kitchen cabinets. These include, in-stock kitchen cabinets, semi-stock kitchen cabinets, and custom kitchen cabinets.

While custom-cabinet doors are more expensive than the do-it-yourself variety, the advantage is that you are able to get exactly what you want at a very high level of craftsmanship. You can tailor the cabinets to the exact specifications and needs of your kitchen.

There are also several styles of cabinet doors that can be related to one or two of the overall design styles. Doors for a custom kitchen cabinet can be flat or frameless, raised, curved, simple, or carved.

James Mahoney is the author of many kitchen design articles and has a site about kitchen design ideas at kitchendesignersideas.com Kitchen Designers Ideas.com. He also publishes a newletter on kitchen design.

Bird watching is a growing phenomenon. It’s great unless you have birds “raining” down on your home. Fortunately, there are a wide variety of bird deterrents available now.

If you’re reading this article, you have concerns for the environment and try to take steps not to destroy it. This is extremely commendable, but even the heartiest environmentalist hates the things birds can do. Sometimes they are just letting nature take its course after eating while other times they seemed to have picked your space as home. A couple birds can be great. A flock can drive you insane.

The traditional method of dealing with excessive attention from birds is the use of scarecrows. In theory, scarecrows present birds with the illusion of a person being present and supposedly get the birds to move along to another neighborhood. As with many traditional beliefs, this one is partially true. Birds don’t care for humans, but traditional scarecrows really aren’t particularly persuasive. Something that moves, however, definitely does the trick.

Modern scarecrows come in a variety of forms. None of them look like the scarecrow in the Wizard of Oz. Instead, they tend to come in two primary forms.

The first is in the form of a predatory bird that is motion activated. A particular favorite is the owl, a known predator of most birds.

The second form of bird deterrents is the spinning arm device. Motion activated, the device sits on a platform and has long “arms” that whip around when activated. They are often called “whirly birds” or some similar title. To save a little money, you can even go with solar powered bird deterrents.

Solar powered deterrents tend to come in the whirly bird category. Motion activated predatory birds such as owls tend to be battery operated, which can make them expensive over time. The best approach is typically to buy a solar whirly bird and life-sized cheap owl. Place the owl an easily viewed area where the birds congregate and place the whirly bird exactly where they are causing problems. The combination usually takes care of any problems.

Rick Chapo is with SolarCompanies.com, a directory of solarcompanies.com solar energy companies. Visit us to read more articles on solarcompanies.com/articles solar power and solarcompanies.com/renewable_energy renewable energy.

The trick to decorating for the seasons is to try to match the mood of the season through color and style. Spring is considered a fresh and alive season that does well with pastels and symbols of new birth. Summer is considered the height of abundance and you can decorate with lots of colors while keeping thinks airy for those hot, sweltering days. Fall demands the leaf colors like orange, red, and brown. It’s a time to get ready for the coming of winter. Winter is obviously more drab and somber with grays, dark shades of blues and reds being favored. It also is about nesting to make things feel warm and cozy too.

Spring

Everyone does a little spring-cleaning when the mood hits us. We know it by the birds chirping and the daffodils flowering. The thick furnishings of winter are replaced by lighter versions and pastel colors. This includes the covers on your bed, curtains, and the towels in the bathroom and kitchen. The windows that stayed shut all winter long might be pried open with herbs being placed along the sill in preparation for summer.

Summer

Summer has some great holidays and activities. Fourth of July and Labor Day are great decorating favorites. They use strong colors and vivid shades. Candles might be changed out to thin tapers from large candlesticks. Flowers are brought into the home as natural decorating elements. Area rugs might be picked up to let the wood floors have their day. Fans are moved in place and glassware becomes more visible, not just for flower vases, but for that cool drink with ice.

Fall

Fall has tons of decorating potential from all the natural materials available. One can use the squashes, dried corn on the cob, and fallen pinecones to make centerpieces or hanging accents or wreaths. Colors turn to shades of orange, red, and brown. Pumpkins appear at this time of year too. The bed coverings are changed out and coat or umbrella stands might reappear.

Winter

Winter means clearing out all the summer and fall clutter for a more serene winter landscape. The fireplace can become a big focal point in winter and changing out the mantle place decorations is very appropriate. Add lamps to your rooms if the winter sun isn’t enough to read by. Rearrange the furniture to make it cozy and inviting. Add books to your rooms. Paint a wall a darker color. Change the slipcover on your sofa to something more durable and softer. Add some throw blankets and pillows.

If you are following a seasonal palette and decorating scheme, you can still mix in out-of-season items with in-season items to add a quirky touch of fun. Adding an indoor herb garden or bringing your garden statues inside in the winter is one way to lighten the winter mood. Adding a shot of black to your spring colors might be considered interesting. Just remember that decorating is all about fun and your own personality. Any framework, whether it is seasonal or holiday decorating just helps to guide you to find your own unique expression in decorating.

About the Author: Hunter Pyle wrote this article for the purpose of sharing some tips on styling your home for the seasons. If you are looking for more ideas I’d suggest checking out shopgetorganized.com/ Get Organized or kitchenandmuchmore.com/ Kitchen and Much More.

1. Determine the Purpose of your box garden window:

Let’s be honest, window gardens are still something of a rarity in America, unless of course you live in brownstone houses or in hoity-toity neighborhoods. However, this is not the case for most of the rest of the world. In places like Japan-where most terrain is steep and uninhabitable, causing populations to crowd in small areas-window gardens offer aesthetic and spiritual relief. So, if you want to find the same aesthetic and spiritual relief in a place like New York, San Francisco, or even if you just want to cover something ugly on your home, or try your hand at growing a garden, a box garden window is a great way to go. So, to grow the best box garden window you can, your first major decision should be to figure out the purpose for your garden; from there, you can choose the right plants for your garden to get the best appeal.

2. Figure out Ornamentation

After you figure out your purpose you can figure out your ornamentation. For many people window gardens are purely there to spruce up their home and neighborhood. If this is your purpose, then your ornamentation may be different then if you have another purpose. For example, you may be satisfied to have just one burst of color in the spring and then allow trailing plants such as to dominate the window garden for the remainder of the growing season. So, you want to plant flowers and other plants that will bloom in different seasons so that you have good growth all year round. Take a look at the following lists to get some ideas for what grows well and when:

Some spring followers include:
Pansies, tulips, daffodils, crocuses, primroses, lilies, and violas.

If you want flowers in the Spring, but you also want to continue seeing flowers through the summer, plant:
Geraniums, lavender, impatiens, salvia, petunias, daisies, begonias, zinnias, fuschias, and nasturtiums (Nasturtiums have an added bonus in that their leaves and flowers are edible and add a peppery, cress-like taste to salads and sandwiches).

For permanent window boxes and year-round greenery, a “winter interest” window garden can include evergreen such as:
dwarf Alberta spruce, bristlecone pine, mugho pine, and small cacti

If you want plants that grow down your window, and are great for year-round greens try the following:
Ivy, myrtle, creeping Jenny, sweet potato vine, and vinca.

3. Determine which Fragrance you want
Sometimes homes have smells, and many times they are smells you just can’t get rid of, like the musty smell of an old house. So, if you want to plant things with fragrance to cover the small try mints, or lemon smelling plants. There are also options for other smells, and honey smells from flowers in great as well.

4. Determine what else you want
You can always plant herbs, food, etc. Many people use box garden windows for growing an herb or vegetable garden. It is a great way to supplement the things you use in your cooking through out the summer months. So, if you want to have a small vegetable garden, grow the plants like cucumbers, tomatoes, etc. Try growing sage, thyme, rosemary, dill, etc.

HomeBuildingRemodeling.com is your source for top quality homebuildingremodeling.com/ home building, homebuildingremodeling.com/preparing_to_build_or_remodel/ remodeling and homebuildingremodeling.com/home_decorating/ home decorating information. For free articles delivered daily by email, visit HomeBuildingRemodeling.com and enter your name and email under the Free Home Building and Remodeling Updates section.

A reader wrote:

My wife and I have been building our house for just over three years now. We moved in on Nov.30, a year ago, and at that time there wasn’t a single sheet of drywall up; all of it was in piles on the floor. The breakfast area in the kitchen didn’t have the sloped glass installed, so we ate under a blue plastic tarp that leaked when it rained…

This reminded me of a rather large farming family who built a house on the prairie, near the North Dakota border (yeah, pretty desolate). I guess it was 1970 or so, about 180 miles south-east of Regina on a flat part of the flat part… not a living stick of wood for miles around… They dug a hole in the ground, and then every able-bodied family member, friend and neighbour pitched in to help lay the concrete blocks.

They dug the well, built the floor and basement stairs, roughed in the plumbing, heating and electrical - and then ran out good weather and almost out of money (bad crop year). Well, says old Tom (the father), we always wanted a finished basement! So, for not too much more, they built a basement rec-room, bathroom and kitchenette. That’s where they lived for two years!

Basement apartment!

Well, when the snow drifted and the prairie looked more like sub-arctic than temperate, was that house ever hard to find! The school bus driver said he had to check his mileage, stop along the road, and wait for the kids to pop out of the snow bank!

Copyright Gil Strachan - All rights reserved.

Gil Strachan is a professional home inspector, representing Electrospec Home Inspection Services in east-central Ontario, Canada since 1994. Visit allaroundthehouse.com allaroundthehouse.com to learn more about home inspections.

allaroundthehouse.com/hrb.htm “The Home Reference Book”
You can probably find a home inspection for a little less than what we ask, but you probably won’t find the Home Reference Book. A $60 value, this solutions-oriented reference tool comes free with every inspection we perform.
It’s the first tool you should have around the house!

Do you enjoy spending time outdoors on your porch or deck on warm summer days, but sometimes it gets too hot? If so, you may benefit from an outside ceiling fan.

Ceiling fans are becoming popular for outside use. With all the focus on luxury outdoor living, it is no surprise that outside ceiling fans are increasing in popularity as well. Outside ceiling fans are used to help move air in the outdoor living space to make it cooler, more comfortable, and to allow you to spend more time outside with less heat.

Outside ceiling fans come in many different sizes, shapes, and styles. For small porches, one outdoor ceiling fan is probably sufficient, whereas larger porches often require two or three ceiling fans to completely cool the area. Outdoor ceiling fans often come with nontraditional style blades to give them a stylish look. Large leaf shaped blades are a popular choice for outside ceiling fans. The styles available for outside ceiling fans are numerous and include just about any style you can think of, from modern to contemporary to rustic to traditional.

When selecting an outside ceiling fan, be sure to choose one that is made of a durable material so that it will last a long time. The easiest way to do this is to make sure that you choose a ceiling fan that is particularly labeled for outdoor use. Outside ceiling fans are constructed from more durable material since they will have to stand up to the weather.

Need more information on need-info.com/ceilingfans/Outdoor_Ceiling_Fan.html outside ceiling fans? Try visiting need-info.com/ceilingfans need-info.com/ceilingfans, a website that focuses on providing resources, tips, and advice on ceiling fans including outside ceiling fans. Click on the link to get all the facts and info today.