During a kitchen construction or remodeling project, expensive countertops are often damaged by dropped tools, spilled food, and liquid splashes. Workers or subcontractors can scratch and dent them through carelessness. Not only does this force builders to spend more time replacing or repairing damage, it also annoys customers and decreases potential referrals. To ensure countertops remain as beautiful as the day they were installed, it is important to use temporary protection. There are several types of countertop protection available through surface protection providers.

When deciding what type of protection to use, the first step is to determine if the project needs heavy-duty or light-duty protection. This will depend on the type and scope of the construction project, the number of workers in the area, and the actual material type of the countertop. The materials can be granite, synthetic stones, tile, cement and wood. Each of these materials can experience various types of surface protection damage, with surface scratching being the most common problem.

High-strength adhesive bubble protection, commonly known as Tackguard, prevents impact damage and scratches. It is pre-drilled every 12″ for quick and easy installation. The professional look of the adhesive bubble guard impresses customers and provides an air cushion between the countertop and the bubble surface. This layer works well to prevent dings and dents. expensive.

Adhesive film is the most common type of protection. This lightweight protection is the least expensive protection option and works well to prevent scratches. It is safe to use for up to 45 days of use and is available in 24″ and 30″ widths to fit regular countertops with a 6″ backsplash. The 3 mil puncture resistant film is durable and can be used not only on countertops, but also on vinyl flooring, tile, stone, linoleum and other sealed surfaces One downside of cling film is that it is not impact resistant like Tackguard As with all adhesives it is critical to use the product in accordance with the manufacturer’s recommendations so that there is no transfer of adhesive.

Some vendors also sell laminated corrugated cardboard as countertop protection. Cardboard is the most labor-intensive protection, as it must be installed with duct tape to hold it down. Also, cardboard is not leak proof, so care must be taken to keep all liquids out of the shield. The cardboard provides impact protection and can be printed with the information of a construction company or contractor for advertising purposes.

Once the necessary protection is purchased, builders simply need to install and maintain it throughout the construction process. Builders and contractors should also discourage use by workers and subcontractors. These steps will effectively prevent countertop damage, which will impress clients and increase lucrative job referrals.

With the country’s declining real estate market, a home seller can easily sell a house if the price drops. But for others who can’t afford to lower the asking price, it’s better to find other ways to make your home more attractive.

Real estate agents are familiar with industry trends. They are also very knowledgeable about selling homes and choosing the right homes. For this reason, we have created a list of home selling tips from successful real estate agents.

Make the house stand out from the competition

It is very important that the property attracts potential buyers. Home sellers should consider custom layouts or adding a few design touches, such as improving the landscaping or updating the roof and windows. These simple touches can have a significant impact on improving the aesthetics of the home. It is important to avoid over-improving the house. For example, bathroom and kitchen renovations may not always be profitable.

clean up the mess

Before putting the property on the market for sale, it is essential to first clean the clutter from the house. Clutter will turn off potential buyers because they can’t imagine living in the house. As a tip, consider removing some unnecessary furniture to make the space look bigger. You should also keep family photos and other personal items so potential buyers can imagine staying in the house.

The staging of the house is very important. You may want to hire a professional for the job. This may cost extra, but it will be worth it. Real estate agents believe that a professional decorator can make the house more attractive and salable.

the price is ok

No matter how you organize your home or how much space you’ve renovated, it’s very important to price your property appropriately. An agent can help you determine the correct price for your property. You can also hire a property appraiser for the job. It doesn’t matter if you’re offering the lowest price in the neighborhood, especially if your home is very attractive and you’ve made significant home improvements. However, it is important that the listing price is not too far fetched with other comparable houses on the market.

Selling a home in a slow real estate market will take patience and perseverance. Make sure the house is in good condition and hire a reliable agent to help you sell the house faster. Following these tips will help increase your chances of getting a good deal on your property.

Expectations are extremely important with large purchase items like flooring. This is especially true with hardwood floors. There is no doubt that a new hardwood floor will add a dimension of beauty and warmth to your home. Many consumers are unaware that hardwood flooring has some unique characteristics that make it not the perfect choice for everyone. This article is not intended to dissuade you from purchasing hardwood flooring, but you should consider these four little-known facts about hardwood flooring before making a purchase:

1) Hardwood floors are guaranteed to scratch

There are several finishes that manufacturers put on hardwood floors to make them more scratch resistant. The most popular finish these days is aluminum oxide. Hardwood floors also typically carry a 5- to 50-year wear warranty. However, wear warranties generally only guarantee that the wood veneer will not wear out completely. There are no warranties against scratches in the hardwood flooring business. All wood floors, regardless of finish treatment or quality of wood, will be susceptible to surface scratches. With that said, be sure to prepare your home for a hardwood floor before installation. It’s a good idea to use furniture protectors, rugs, and mats to protect hardwood floors from scratches. Additionally, you may want to consider tile installation at entrances, as this is the area where the most traffic usually occurs. If there are large pets or children in the house, you may want to consider looking at laminate flooring, which is much more scratch resistant.

2) Hardwood floors are guaranteed to bleed

Hardwood flooring is by no means a soft product, but it can be susceptible to dents from heavy use or drops. No wood flooring is dent-proof, but different species of wood have different degrees of hardness. The Janka test is used to measure the hardness of a species of wood. Using this test, wood species are given a score based on the force required to embed a steel ball into the wood. It is said that the higher the score, the better the species of wood with permanent dents and wear. Northern red oak, the most common wood species used in flooring, is the standard against which all other species are compared. It has a score of 1290. There are species of wood that score over 3000 on this test, and while they may wear better with daily use, they will probably dent if something heavy like a hammer or food can is dropped on the surface. wood. . If you’re really concerned about your floors’ ability to resist indentation, you have other options. There are high-pressure laminates and “wood-look” porcelain products that are much more resistant to pressure and wear. Also, a hand-scraped or distressed hardwood floor will do a better job of hiding dents and other wear and tear on your floor.

3) Hardwood floors are guaranteed to age

The aging of most floor coverings is generally related to how a floor loses its shine over time due to wear and tear on the floor. If I said, “Your carpet is getting old,” you’d think it’s time to buy a new carpet. However, one of the most unique attributes of hardwood flooring is its ability to look better over time. Hardwood floors already come with a lot of character and natural beauty. With proper maintenance, normal use and traffic should add to the beautiful character of your hardwood floor. A real hardwood floor can also be refinished to restore its original luster and shine. This is something that cannot be done on wood-look products such as laminate, vinyl, and porcelain.

These are all good attributes, but what I really want to mention in this section is the photosensitivity of hardwood floors. Wood tends to change color over time when exposed to sunlight. In fact, some hardwood floors can take up to a year and a half to mature and take on their full color. Other floor coverings, on the other hand, can be vulnerable to fading or discoloration when exposed to prolonged sunlight. So while sunlight makes other floor coverings look older over time, it beautifies hardwood floors, allowing them to reach their true color. This is an important attribute for consumers to know, because a freshly laid hardwood floor will not always look like the sample you saw in the showroom, which was allowed to reach its full color.

Consumers should also be aware of moving their rugs and furniture periodically to prevent discoloration. Exotic hardwoods and hardwoods with a natural finish tend to be the most photosensitive. Most hardwoods darken and get bolder over time, but some woods like Santos mahogany actually get lighter in sunlight. If you’re really worried about the effect of sunlight on your floor, buy a hardwood that has been colored with a darker stain or buy a species like northern red oak, which is a less photosensitive species.

4) Wood floors are guaranteed to be affected by moisture

Wood floors are extremely sensitive to moisture. That includes changes in surface moisture, subsoil moisture, and humidity. Damage from moisture-related issues can cause wood planks to crack, cup, or buckle. It is important to hire an expert installation team that is familiar with wood and its reaction to moisture. Proper maintenance by the consumer is equally important. Standing water should be cleaned up immediately and hardwood flooring should be kept in a climate controlled environment.

One way to combat the effects of moisture on your floor is to choose engineered wood flooring. Engineered wood flooring is a much better choice than solid flooring because its construction adds dimensional stability to the planks. The plywood layers under the veneer are laid crosswise, which reduces the wood’s ability to expand and contract along the grain when there is a change in moisture levels.

Introduction

As a homeowner, it is very important to come up with the best house floor plan to build your dream home.

You should consider these five important things and discuss them in detail with the architect while drawing the floor plan.

#1 – Evaluate your lifestyle

You should write down the physical strengths and weaknesses of your family members.

Do you have an elderly mother who will not be able to walk the stairs and might need an elevator? If yes, then she should consider space for an elevator.

You should consider the size of the kitchen based on the number of present and future members so that you or your wife or other members can cook without any problems.

If you are going to have a house on a closed street, it is important to consider the importance of air visibility and sunlight.

You should opt for an open floor plan. However, if you have a large family, you should include a multi-story house plan with individual rooms to maintain privacy.

#2 – Safety should be your top priority

Stairs and glass showers should have railings and sealed enclosures respectively to keep your children safe and sound.

You must maintain adequate spaces for CCTV cameras and video monitors to view live images 24/7 of the entrance and other important areas.

#3 – Consider the locality

If the locality is too quiet, you should make room for a secret room locked inside the house.

It’s a smart way to keep your family members safe and sound during an emergency threat.

#4 – Browse the Internet for Similar Floor Plans

You can easily search and find house floor plans that match your requirements online.

You need to be careful about the design aesthetics, the size of the rooms, kitchen, bathrooms, garage, and also calculate the free space where family members can easily move from one section to another.

It is very important to correctly use the space with minimal congestion inside the house.

#5 – Show the plan to your family members for suggestions

All members of the family should give their suggestions on the plan of the house. You’ll get great recommendations like including a home office for the future OR a separate rooftop lounging area for parties.

Suggestions will play an important role in improving the functionality of the floor plan. If the living room is across from the dining room/kitchen, it will be very frustrating for family members to carry meals from one end to the other. Similarly, if the bathrooms are far from the bedrooms, it will really irritate the older members of the family.

Therefore, it is important to consider the above things in your house plan.

In this day and age, Russian spies living among us have been identified, to hack at will, stealing our most precious secrets. As if we didn’t have enough to worry about! But apparently it is true, and to be sure, nothing is certain. They might even have peeked out its kitchen, pretending to be friends, or even sneaking through your iphone, discreetly reproducing your recipes or copying the layout of your cupboards. Worse yet, they could have been making notes on the construction of their cabinets to ship to China, so they can produce them cheaper, thereby undermining our fragile economy.

While it is true that 35 undesirables have recently been given 72 hours to leave the city and return to Russia, it is likely that others are still lurking. And just by examining their cabinets, a trained spy could tell a lot about them. Therefore, it pays to be aware of the differences and beware of people looking too closely at them. Lip, insert, full overlay, standard overlay, framed, frameless, European, custom, semi-custom, stock, etc, etc. The wise kitchen cabinet owner/buyer/spy needs to understand the differences, because without knowing the basics, they may not end up with the dream kitchen they expected.

Cabinet construction/design can be divided into four distinct groups: CABINET TYPE, CATEGORIES, CABINET STYLES, and DOOR STYLES. (I am not referring to cabinet door designs in this article, [that information is classified]only to the different types of construction available).

CABINET TYPE includes framed and frameless cabinets. If you’ve been helping your kids with basic geometry lately, you’ll remember that a box usually has 6 sides. A frameless cabinet (also known as a European cabinet) only has 5 sides; it does not have in front of the cabinet box. Made up of a top and bottom, two side pieces, and the back, the cabinet front is made up of just the edges of the top, bottom, and two side pieces (usually 5/8″ or 3/4″ thick). ). The door for this type of furniture must cover the edges of the sides, top and bottom. A framed cabinet includes the sixth side of its box, which makes up the front of the cabinet. The opening for the framed cabinet is cut from the sixth side (the front), creating the “frame.”

Both cabinet types are available in custom, semi-custom, and standard CATEGORIES. Custom cabinets are built to the exact specifications outlined by your kitchen designer. Semi-custom cabinets are also made to order, but to the manufacturer’s specifications. They can be modified to a certain extent, for an additional charge. Standard cabinets are mass-produced to manufacturer’s specifications, with little or no modification available, and are the most economical.

CABINET STYLES refer to framed cabinets only and indicate how much the door covers the front of the cabinet. (Remember, in a frameless cabinet the door have to cover the entire front of the cabinet box). Framed cabinets are available in full skin and standard skin, where a portion of the frame is exposed.

Standard overlay doors come in two DOOR STYLES. The standard style sits on top of the frame and is also known as an overlay door. The other variation is the “lip” door, where the center of the door protrudes into the frame. Lip doors are typically only available in custom lines because they are more difficult to build and therefore more expensive.

Of course, there is always the exception to the rule, and in this case it is the recessed door, which is typically only available with full custom cabinets. This type of door fits completely inside the face frame, making the door sit flush with the frame. Although it is the most expensive option available, many feel that it is by far the most exquisite look. If you choose a pocket door, it is imperative that the cabinets are hung by a professional because if they are not installed perfectly aligned and level, the doors will get stuck in the frame.

Now that you have a basic understanding of modern cabinet construction, I strongly recommend that you delete all references to this article that may have been saved in your computer’s history. This will help keep it out of the reach of insidious spies who may be watching you right now.

* “The Russians are coming, the russians are coming“, (click here) a very funny 1966 American comedy film directed by Norman Jewison.

Patio furniture is a big investment and you want to make sure it is there for you to enjoy year after year. If you have a sheltered area in your backyard, you probably won’t worry too much about securing your patio furniture from shifting in a strong wind or storm.

But battling the elements is a way of life for those who live on the coast or in areas where the trade winds seem to always be blowing. Often times, a strong wind can come out of nowhere, blowing away all your furniture, food, and drinks. This is especially true if you have a patio full of plastic patio furniture.

As you know, these inexpensive pieces can be very useful at a party, complementing your permanent patio furniture so everyone can get together, enjoy a drink and a bite to eat on a hot summer day. Not only are they cheap, but they are easy to move around, especially when compared to quality furniture, which is built to last and much more solid.

To prevent your party from turning into a whirlwind of unintentional excitement, you’ll want to take a few precautions when setting up your party if wind is in the forecast. With just a few precautions, you can be sure your party will be a success, even if it gets hit by a sudden gust of wind.

Contrary to popular belief, you don’t need to overload your furniture with unsightly red brick. However, you can weigh down a small patio table with a glass brick filled with colored sand or other heavy objects, such as glass beads. This not only adds weight, but also beauty to these tables.

If your party is going to last into the night, you can use a similar trick, but create lighting instead. You can use the decorative glass bricks to hold a single candle or push multiple taper candles down into a base of sand or aquarium rocks. This can create an elegant decoration and hold the table.

Plastic lawn chairs are a bit more difficult to handle. That said, you can create a simple weight with lead sinkers. If you’re near a lake, river, or ocean, there’s a good chance you have a fishing tackle store nearby. Sometimes Wal-Mart will also have a good selection of lead fishing weights.

Get a good commercial plumb line, one that is heavy enough to hold chairs in place without adding so much weight to the chair that it is difficult to move. You can mount these weights in two ways. If you want them out of sight and out of mind, you can add them to the base of the legs where they curve together. You can stick them in there permanently or use decorative duct tape (it comes in many colors these days) to hold them down. Alternatively, you can hang your weight from the center of the chair. Simply drill two holes in the center of the chair (there’s usually one there already for a drain) and tie the sinker with fishing line. Be sure to leave enough line for the plumb line to touch the patio or deck. You don’t want it to swing around and hit the guest sitting in the chair.

Larger dining tables won’t move as easily, but if you have an umbrella, you’ll want to make sure it has a weighted base to add weight to the table. Otherwise, your umbrella may catch a sudden gust and send your table flying. The decorative glass bricks mentioned above can also help keep the table heavy enough to withstand a cool breeze. These bricks are available at almost any home improvement store as they are a popular item in homes where they are used to create translucent walls in the bathroom or between rooms. To add a decorative touch, insert a string of colored lights into the opening and plug them in when darkness falls.

Obviously, wooden, wrought iron and steel garden furniture will not disappear as easily as the plastic variety. But with just a little creativity and some planning, you can confidently throw an outdoor party, even if the weather calls for a little bragging.

Many people consider the kitchen to be the heart of their home. They give it more importance than considering it a mother kitchen place. Consequently, they do their best to combine the functionality of the kitchen with the style and essential aesthetic elements, which is mainly called a modular kitchen. This includes both high-tech appliances with their pioneering custom-made accessories to create a sparkling kitchen. This turns your daily activities in the kitchen into a charming and eye-catching experience. True to its sentiments, a kitchen should be stylish, innovative, inventive and attractive. In fact, most people will judge your personality by the design of your kitchen. With this in mind, let’s take a look at why modular designs are being embraced all over the world. Today, these kitchen designs are considered to be the latest trend in home decor and design. Its tastemakers believed that the designs would make kitchen work momentarily easier as well as make it fun rather than boring. Essentially, most people who have incorporated these designs into their kitchen say they enjoy doing kitchen work rather than feeling compelled to do so.

The amazing components of modular kitchen designs

There are numerous modular kitchen design ideas designed in a plethora of colors, contours, and styles. However, they should all contain some repairable accessories. Most importantly, there must be a dishwasher. They are present in numerous sizes to meet the prerequisites of each individual. The size depends on the size of the family, rinse cycles, space to place the appliance and wash design. Also, due to the sophistication of modular design ideas, a fireplace is a judicious accessory. This is because it deflects smoke and thus protects kitchen décor from smoke-related damage. Also, considering the fact that the modular kitchen reflects the progression of technology, a microwave is a must-have appliance. It plays a vital role in massively decreasing the workload in the kitchen. The same case applies to other types of ovens, including slow cookers, crockery, and convection toaster ovens.

The cabinets in the modular kitchen help keep the kitchen tidy and resourceful. Thus, the entire design integrates an ingenious kitchen with several burners. This also clarifies why the roller shutters and pull-out drawers merge into the design. Shutters and pull-out modules are very convenient. People use them to place their tableware. The adjustable shelves are designed with handles to allow people to easily open and close them. In addition, these kitchens are easy to maintain as they are made of resistant materials. Sometimes modular kitchen designs add a refined touch to kitchen décor. Glass shutters are used to embellish kitchen cabinets, which are preferably placed in the corners. Additionally, most of the countertops are made of granite to revitalize its durability and style.

People of all ages had a strange affinity for traditionalism in their lives. Whether it’s casual wear or something to do with your art deco interior, giving a traditional twist defines and adds value to an otherwise hollow style. The trend of using traditional designs for interiors has become more popular since the 1990s.

However, the advancement of technology has changed the face of traditional art at that time. Thus, traditional options were recognized with uniqueness and antiquity. And today, when it comes to interior decoration, vintage and worn designer items, real or imitated, are considered a treasure.

For cabinet hardware, traditional designs and brands are in high demand. It gives a completely different look regardless of the type of furniture used. Changing cabinet hardware like pulls, handles, and knobs is one of the cheapest methods of interior renovation. It causes a great visual impact several times higher than its cost. Today, families who need to sell their old homes adopt this remodeling technique to give their interiors a stunning finish for potential buyers. It’s most effective for kitchen makeovers because that’s where the most cabinets in a home are located.

One method of giving your kitchen a brighter, cleaner look is to decorate it with classic glass cabinet hardware. It is more suitable for small and dark kitchens. Glass absorbs and reflects light in certain amounts, which increases the average brightness of the space around it. The effect may not be apparent enough, but it is the basic law of physics and it certainly exists. Crystal knobs and handles have a strong aesthetic aura that cannot be combined with polished metals or wood. And there is also a big difference between traditional and modern glass knobs. Most antique glass cabinet hardware is made from more tarnished glass and is sometimes mixed with alloys such as brass which gives it a colorful finish.

But pure glass items were always more in demand than colored ones. Today, cut glass knobs are made with a more slippery and shiny appearance. However, the soft glow effect that emanates from the vintage-style glass knobs is something inexplicably alluring. Even today, glass knobs are made to mimic the old days, but they still look different than the old pieces. This is the main reason why vintage glass hardware is still in high demand. The weathered and faded appearance that comes from the natural aging of the glass and prolonged exposure to the elements, gives evidence of its age. This makes them truly priceless and unique. More than useful, they shine like a wonderful piece of ancient art.

Common design patterns on glass knobs include types of stars and sunflowers. However, global knobs with a smooth finish have always been in high demand.

Building a working stained glass workshop in your home is not as complicated as you might think. I have done it and it works very well.

First of all, it might be informative to point out that our store is actually located in the smallest area (room) of our basement. My wife and I made sure we had adequate lighting by installing two 40-watt fluorescent lamps and 4 bulbs in the grid of the suspended ceiling. I then installed enough outlets on each wall to handle the electrical load even when we weld. Our lights don’t dim.

My wife found a fantastic table (Ikea – bruised and battered apartment). It was only $20 and its height is adjustable. This table measures 63″ long x 30″ deep. It is so perfect for making stained glass. Sometimes I want the work surface higher than other times, depending on what I’m doing. I just click on a little control under the table and it moves up or down. Since the two of us do stained glass together sometimes, we built an additional table of a similar size and my wife added a quilted fabric top to both. This is great for cutting glass and we don’t risk damaging our cutting blades.

Between each table is the grinder, which we share. A simple homemade wooden cover around the pinwheel keeps things tidier. We have two long shelves on the wall behind our work table that hold all of our supplies.

Glass storage is always an issue, especially if you’re like us and tend to buy clearance pieces from time to time. We have built several stackable “units” that measure approximately 24″ x 13″ high x 12″ deep. Each of these units has vertical partitions approximately 1″ apart that allow us to store our glass. In fact, we have an extra slot that allows us to keep the Morton System set up all the time. Our circular saw is also in this room.

Of course, a small television is anchored in the corner to prevent noise.

Everything in our little stained glass workshop is homemade except for the adjustable table from Ikea. We have done many stained glass artworks in this room and will do so in the future.

Metals are an extremely important resource for our life and livelihood. It is impossible to imagine a world without metals. Over time we have used metals to build our lives and civilization to get it to where it is now and we have found that some metals are more useful than others. The further combination of different metals has given us alloys that form the backbone of the infrastructure of our civilization. We have found that some metals are resistant to rust while others are shiny and attractive to look at. Our knowledge has helped us to use metals in our favor and to satisfy our needs.

What is electroplating?

Electroplating is one of the countless processes that help us use metals for our benefit. It is basically a process where an object that conducts electricity is coated with a layer of metal with the help of electric current. Electroplating is primarily used to deposit an adherent surface layer of metal with certain desirable properties on a substance that does not have such properties. The property could be anything like wear and abrasion resistance, corrosion resistance, lubricity, aesthetic qualities, etc. Electroplating is useful for both decorative and functional purposes. The process is also used in industries to thicken undersized machine parts. It is widely used in various industries such as automobiles, machinery parts, jewelry, etc. There are many companies that offer electroplating services as solutions for various types of people and industries.

To describe the electroplating process in simple terms, it involves immersing the material to be electroplated in a solution that contains one or more dissolved metal ions and salts that allow electricity to flow. Dissolved metal salts include those of the metal to be plated. Another plate or rod of the metal that will form the lining is immersed in the solution. Now the electrical current passes through the solution, which results in the deposition of the metal on the material to be coated.

Benefits of electroplating

The benefits and uses of electroplating are varied. It is used for both industrial and decorative purposes. One of the most common is the use of silver plating for brass or copper electrical connectors. This is because silver has a much lower electrical surface resistance than other metals and therefore makes it easier to connect electrically. This is widely used in radio frequency (RF) connectors since the radio frequency current flows mainly on the surface of the conductors. Chrome plating is widely used to protect steel automobile parts from corrosion. Noble metals such as gold and platinum are widely used to plate jewelry and decorative items to give them a shiny and attractive finish. Nickel is also used to coat decorative items, automobiles, and machine parts against abrasion and corrosion, and also to build up and thicken undersized machine parts.

Electroplating services offered by different providers have many uses in our daily lives, both in terms of utility and decoration.