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Archive for the ‘Home Improvement’ Category

For every home, they must want every thin perfect in their home. One thing that can make a house become perfect is the Gas Logs. By having the Gas Logs, it can make the house become warmer. Not only making the house warmer, the Gas Logs can make house looks beautiful as well. Since there are many kinds of Gas Logs that you can choose for your house, then, you should determine what kind of Gas Logs you want to make your house looks beautiful.

By having the Fireplace Gas Logs in your living room, you can ask your family member to gather in the room so that all of your family member will feel warm in that room. Fortunately, the Fireplace Gas Logs will also give different nuance in your house. Since the Fireplace Gas Logs is not the same with usual fireplace, you’ll feel different warm feeling as well when you have installed the Fireplace Gas Logs in your living room.

When you have decided to install the Fireplace Gas Logs, but you don’t know the right place to go for it, then Hansen Wholesale Gas Logs can be your choice in determining the Fireplace Gas Logs you’d like to have for your house. Still not satisfied with the result? Then, you should go to Ventless Gas Logs. The last one I can recommend to you is the Outdoor Gas Logs. Then, just choose one you think will be the most suitable for your own house.

Anywhere you go and everywhere you may be, you were always looking for something that will give you something very special.  Let us face the reality, practicality wise, it is very important that you always consider the price and the offer of those things that you are going to buy.  Therefore, if you were looking for something that you can put in your window, be practical and wise.  Look those items that can give you something special and at the same time at a very reasonable price.  Just like what Hillarys Blinds is offering right now.  There are several reasons why to avail this offer, here are the following:

1. It has a free customer telephone line
2. It has a free home appointment
3. It will give you free measuring and its fitting
4. Up to 50% off sale now on
5. And you can choose from different designs that you wanted to have

Those are just some of the reasons why you don’t have to lose this chance for you.  This is the right time for you to grab it and enjoy.  This is just a great opportunity that you have to grab, so what are you waiting for, call now and make it happen.

Caring for knobs care

There are many materials that are used for the manufacture of door knobs. That means that the care that is applied will vary with each material. It is very important that the person making the purchase is well aware of the care requirements of the products that they are buying. This is because the care of those products will directly determine how long they last.

Generally one someone purchases door furniture; the salespeople will give them some advice about what they should to guarantee their proper care. For example there will be some difference in the way that we care for wood products as opposed to brass products. These subtle differences are important if one has to get the best utility from the furniture on a long term basis. It is also part of good home ownership.

There might be separate procedures for looking after the double pocket door depending on the type of quality that the buyer has gone for. It makes sense that the luxury products will cost more in maintenance than the standard products. Therefore if someone is buying the products on the high end of things they need to consider the care costs as an integral issue.

Walk in baths are particularly beneficial to the elderly. For an instance, they may perhaps face troubles to stand up from a sitting posture. A majority of these walkin baths have side doors, which means an easy access to the bath. The doors are sealable and these baths are available in durable materials such as acrylic or fibreglass. Such materials would lessen the overall weight of the product.

These bathing solutions come with extended warranties and hence you can use them for longer period of time. Some of the recent innovations with these baths include the instant hot water as well as an integrated ergonomic seat, so as to ensure comfort to the elderly or the physically challenged. In order to balance the entire structure, the vendors now provide aluminium frames. There are metallic bars included on the sides, which allow an easy access to the walk in bath. You must ensure that the product you choose has a warranty of at least 10-15 years, which is ideal in terms of walk in baths. Obviously, these baths would cost a little more than the standard baths, but they also ensure safety and comfort to all those individuals with restrictive movement. Also, there are tons of resources on the internet which elaborate more on the technicalities of such baths.

We all like to decorate our homes, so as to enjoy the festivals or special occasions. Regardless of the occasion, step ladders come in handy for putting up decorations. In case if you do not have one, then it time to consider buying one. It is an inexpensive home accessory and these ladders are often used for convenience and safety. There are numerous options available in the market when it comes to the step ladders; therefore we have formulated a quick guide that would help you make the right choice.

Assess the purpose for which you need the ladder, in case if you need it for work purposes then it would be best to evaluate the nature of work you do. Also, select the model that would best suit your needs. For an instance, if you are to work at an elevated level, it would be best to choose the extension ladders. These ladders are available in different sizes and you must consider the ladder certification in your area to make the best decisions. There are specific ladders for industrial, heavy load or domestic purposes.

Every region has its own ladder grades, in accordance to the durability and the working load. Always choose to buy these ladders from reputed sources since they are usually tested on issues such as ladder hinges, strength, durability and rung endurance. Check those ladders that cover the minimum requirements for construction purposes. If the tasks tend to have more variation, such as painting or fixing the ceiling, it would be best to choose a five step ladder that gives you better reach. Fibreglass platform ladders are highly recommended for heavy duty loads or industrial purposes. Lastly, ensure that these ladders are slip resistant in nature, which would give you more safety.

Boiler scrappage scheme of the UK government formally came into force from 5^th January 2010. Pre-budget report published in the month of December highlighted this scheme as a transformation towards better energy conservation and lower carbon emission. It is an initiative of department of energy and climate change of the UK government. This scheme will offer £400 incentive to 125,000 households to exchange their old G-rated boilers for more energy efficient A-rated ones. The incentive is not a direct one. It is like a voucher and people have to pay £400 while they are exchanging the boiler. Households are free to exchange their old boilers with bio-mass boilers and heat pumps too.

Boiler scrappage scheme aims at energy conservation, lower carbon emission and employment generation. Government will spend a whopping £50 million on this scheme. It will enable households to save between £200 and £235 on their annual energy bill. Total carbon emission in the UK is expected to lower down by 140,000 tons after the successful implementation of the scheme. It will create near about 250,000 new jobs in the UK and will benefit ten thousands of small and medium scale business ventures. Boiler manufacturers, plumbers and repairing mechanics will get the necessary business boost through implementation of this scheme.  However, if you want to grab the best offers, Baxi is the  perfect option for you.

There are many people who love to spend most of their time in the garden. The concept of a garden office or garden studio is perfect for such kind of people. In today’s world many people work from their own home. It becomes very convenient for these people to own their own garden office. However, everyone may not have ample space for his or her garden office. In that case, they can take professional help to create their own garden office within a small area.

If you want a robust and secure garden office or garden studio you simply must purchase a product from a specialist company such as Garden Lodges. People who want to build their garden office within a small space normally resort to this method. People who generally work from home prefer using a garden office instead of a spare room. However, there are certain details that one should keep in mind while creating a garden office.

For creating a garden office or garden studio, it would be best if one has sufficient space. He should take into account all the requirements for building a garden office or garden studio. Proper insulation and security of the modular garden office has to be considered.

People often like to own a garden studio. Garden lodges are market leaders in this field. A person can design his garden office or garden studio as per his choice. He can opt for designing a traditional kind of a garden office or garden studio or opt for the modern type of garden office. However, a person has to take into consideration a lot of details while creating a garden studio within a small place.

People who have limited space to build their garden office or garden studio generally purchase smaller buildings. The most modern equipment can be installed into a garden office or garden studio. Micro pods from Garden Lodges based in the UK can also be used.

Apart from the wide range of professional services available, you can get all the information about a garden office or garden studio from gardenlodges.co.uk.

You can make your lawn into that refuge that you want and need. All you need to do is plan and prepare the landscaping design so that you will be ready to carry out your plan.

I am sure that you have many different landscaping ideas that are inside your mind and heart. This is the best way to find the right landscaping design for your particular yard, because it assures your satisfaction. You, too, can make your lawn into that relaxing and tranquil spot that you deserve and need. You don’t have to be a professional landscaper to make your lawn look great. All you need is some time and energy, as well as creativity, to make your lawn into the oasis that you desire.

Plan Your Landscaping Design

Planning and preparation are the most important parts of landscaping design. You first need to lay it all out on paper. This will allow you to see exactly what you need and how it will work space-wise. Take the time to plan your landscaping design carefully so that you will be properly prepared. Keep trees and buildings in mind when you plan your landscaping design, so that you will not have problems once you start doing the work. Make them fit into your landscaping design now so that you will have a cohesive plan in mind.

Landscaping Ideas From Everywhere

There are many different ways that you can find landscaping ideas. Gardening magazines, stores, or books is one way that you can find some ideas. Online pictures and websites can also help, as well as driving around and looking at other people’s landscaping designs. This will help you to get your own imagination and creativity jump-started.

Evaluate the Landscaping Area

Keep the dimensions of the area and where the area is located in mind when you are determining your landscaping plan. Does the area receive lots of sun or is it shady? This is a very important determination to ensure that you choose the right plants for your area. You also need to see if there are any drainage problems and evaluate how you are going to keep the area watered. All of these considerations are very important to make sure that your landscaping will thrive and not die.

Adding Layers to Your Landscaping

You will find that there is a great variety of materials that are available to use to create artificial walls and borders for your landscaping. You will find that this can help to add texture and interest to an otherwise flat landscape and can help increase the visual beauty of your lawn. You can use many different things, including stones, rocks, lumber, railroad ties, or even cement blocks in your lawn. Some of these items can even be transplanted from other areas of your lawn. Use these materials creatively to help turn your lawn into the refuge that you want.

Taking Care of Your New Landscape

No matter what materials you base your landscaping design around, you will want to make sure that you understand how to care for and maintain the landscaping. If you are using live landscaping materials, then you need to determine how to feed and water them so that they will thrive. You don’t want to waste the effort and time that you spent planting by not taking proper care of your plants or you will have a dead, brown landscape instead of one that thrives. Keep your landscape looking neat and trim by weeding and trimming it as necessary. If your landscaping design is centered around rocks and lumber, then you still will need to maintain it by keeping it clean and neat so that it will last for many years.

With some imagination, creativity, and a lot of time and effort, you will find that you lawn landscaping will give you a great deal of pride and relaxation. Doesn’t that sound great?

The Terrors of the Time and Material Contract in Home Construction

There is a form of contracting prevalent in the home construction world that is very dangerous to the American homeowner. It is called the time and material contract. In construction slang it is known as “T & M.” This contract is the cause of run away costs on seemingly inexpensive home construction projects. The wise homeowner will be very, very wary of signing a time and material contract with any home construction contractor.

The basics of the time and material contract are quite simple. The contractor charges the homeowner for the actual time that all workers spend on the homeowner’s project plus all the costs of materials. The contractor’s profit is built into the hourly rate charged to the homeowner by the contractor for all of his workers. Sometimes a wily contractor will have the audacity to add a percentage as their fee or extra profit to the contract.

The T & M contract is almost always suggested by a contractor to an inexperienced homeowner. They will say that the homeowner’s job is just too complicated for a fixed price bid and the best way to do this project is by time and material. It always sounds so reasonable that the homeowner has no reason to believe that things will not go well on their project.

The time and material contract has been around for decades. It became very popular in the late 1970’s and 1980’s on industrial construction projects around the globe. The time and material contract was used on large scale industrial projects where it was thought that the teaming of the owners and the owner’s contractor would result in a win-win situation for both the contractor and the owner. The contractor would have limited risk and the owner would have a project built for about the estimated price.

The time and material contract on these industrial projects took the form of the cost plus fixed fee contract. The contractor was paid for all the hours of all their workers plus the cost of all the materials. The two were added up to give the total construction cost. Then the fixed fee percentage was multiplied times the total construction cost and then added to the whole. The typical fixed fee was in the 2% to 10% range.

Sounds reasonable doesn’t it? It wasn’t though. The catch was whether or not the owner had hired a contractor willing to take a reasonable profit on a project rather than a huge profit at the owner’s expense. It turned out that there were not too many industrial contractors that could resist the lure of easy money at the expense of the owner.

What actually happened is that the contractors used every means at their disposal to drive the hours of labor and material up as high as they possibly could so that the fee would also be higher. As it turned out the construction costs grew much higher. So high that owner’s around the world were almost bankrupted by this form of the T & M contract.

The time and material contract destroyed the work ethic in hard working construction workers by rewarding slowness and laziness. This behavior was condoned and even encouraged by the managers of the construction companies. The reason for this was because the contractor made more money the longer the project took to complete.

The T & M contract also encouraged the use of unnecessarily expensive materials in an effort to drive up the cost. When two equally qualified materials could be used for the construction the most expensive alternative would always be selected because it drove up the construction cost and thereby increased the contractor’s fee (profit).

The time and material contract has largely disappeared from the Industrial Construction world because of its terribly abusive practices and its inherent ability to destroy any construction budget. However, I am unhappy to report that it is alive and well in the home remodel and new home construction world in America today!

The American homeowner needs to stay far away from the T & M contract even if a contractor says it is the best way to work their project. In actuality it is only rarely beneficial to the homeowner but almost always extremely financially rewarding to the contractor. The time and material contract is a recipe for disaster for the typical homeowner inexperienced in home construction management.

How does this relate to the homeowner’s small remodel or new construction project? It relates very well because many contractors convince the inexperienced homeowner (in regards to construction) that it would be really difficult or near impossible to give them a fixed price for their project. They market the following kind of statement, “Your project is too complicated to give you a fixed price. However, I can promise you that if we do your project on a time and material basis your costs will be much lower.” It sounds good but the truth is actually the opposite.

This is because the underlying negative aspects of the T & M contract remain the same for the homeowner as they were on the industrial construction projects. They drive labor and material costs up as high as possible. An unfortunate student of mine found this out the hard way.

I received a phone call in early 2007 from one of my former students (from my class on how to be your own general contractor) whose project was in trouble. He had taken my class earlier when the Pat Fay Method book was not yet completed. Unfortunately his project was in trouble and he needed some help.

He wouldn’t give me any details over the phone but asked if I would come visit him at his house that was presently being remodeled. I arrived at 10 o’clock in the morning and the first thing I saw upon arriving was two framing carpenters taking a smoke break up on the scaffolding.

They were having a great time catching up with each other, laughing and carrying on. I couldn’t help but laugh to myself because it was obvious that these men were working on a time and material contract. The reason I knew this is because carpenters on a fixed price contract would have been working with a cigarette stuck in their teeth pounding away with their hammers or nail guns.

After we sat down in the owner’s kitchen I asked why he had signed a T&M contract when I had stressed in the class that it is the worst form of home construction contracting. At first he didn’t answer this question but immediately complained to me about how often they took breaks to smoke, to eat, to talk on their cell phones, and to discuss what they were doing. Some days there would be two workers and other days there would be three to four. He stated that the workers hardly spent any time working at all and that the project just barely progressed. He was so frustrated he was ready to explode.

I let him vent for awhile and when he had gotten it off his chest I repeated the question: why did you sign a T&M contract? His answer was classic. “I signed a T&M contract because the contractor told me my job was too complicated for a fixed price contract. He said that it was the best way to proceed on my project.”

It really was sad for two reasons. One, his project was a simple 960 SF addition to his two story house. One side was being pushed out 8’x 30’ and the front by 12’ x 20’. The scope of work was to add a new foundation, frame the walls, demo the existing, extend the floors, change the roof and add gutters. It also included new windows, new interior doors & walls with the standard electrical, lighting and flooring in the 960 SF remodel. That was it! There wasn’t even any plumbing as no bathroom was added and the kitchen was on the end of the house that was not being remodeled.

The second reason it was sad was because the contractor had two to four men working on the foundation and framing for SEVEN MONTHS! The foundation and framing should have taken no more than 6 weeks. To add insult to injury the framing wasn’t even complete! The contractor was completely milking the project at the homeowner’s expense.

After I read the owner’s drawings of his project, did some calculations, I estimated that this project should cost about $80 per square foot. This is less than the $100/SF that I normally tell homeowners because on this project there was no plumbing work. $80/SF x 960 SF is equal to $76,800. Add a few thousand for contingency and the project budget is $80,000.

This homeowner had already paid the contractor $135,000. He also had given the contractor a $40,000 down payment at the time the contract was signed that was not part of the $135,000. The total amount of money spent by this homeowner was $175,000! Besides the incomplete framing, the homeowner still had to pay for the installation of the roofing, windows, and all interior work. This unfortunate homeowner had already paid out twice what the project should have cost and the framing phase wasn’t even complete. The way it was going he was going to be lucky to finish up for a total cost of $230,000. That would be $150,000 more than the entire project should have cost.

Also, the amount of stress this poor homeowner was experiencing was terrible. He told me he would lay awake all night, he couldn’t eat, and he was irritable to his wife. All because he believed the following what the contractor said was the correct thing to do. In the Pat Fay Method we call that unwise. Unfortunately this scenario plays itself out all across America in every state in the country. This doesn’t just happen to a few people; this happens to hundreds of thousands of people every year throughout America!

I offered to walk outside with the homeowner and fire the contractor right then and there. I promised to stay with him until the workers had cleared their tools and themselves from the site. The homeowner declined my offer because “I can’t fire them because they still have my $40,000 down payment”.

I had taught this homeowner in my class not to pay a large down payment at the time the contract is signed. I had also stressed that no matter what to never sign a T & M contract. (The only exception to this rule is for limited demolition work but the homeowner protects themselves by building in a not to exceed maximum cost to the contract.)

Why had this homeowner gone against what he had learned in the Pat Fay Method class? This homeowner was inexperienced and unsophisticated when it came to home construction. I have learned from working with homeowner’s on their home construction projects that they have a need to have a contractor hold their hand and take care of them.

The big problem with this though is that there are not many contractors in America that want to hold the hand of the homeowner. Like all businessmen, what they want is to make as much profit as they possibly can. Chapter 16 (Lessons Learned from Homeowners) in the Pat Fay Method book discusses this subject in greater detail.

The best contract form the American homeowner can use is the fixed price contract. This is where the homeowner agrees to pay a fixed price for the contractor performing a fixed scope of work completed in a certain period of time. The Pat Fay Method book has an entire chapter (Chapter 9) dedicated to contract documents. Most homeowners don’t realize that they have a right to modify the contract to be sure their requirements are included. After all, the contract is a document for two parties. The contractor brings expertise in some construction skill and the homeowner provides money.

The Pat Fay Method is a professional construction management book written for the homeowner. If you are a homeowner that does not want the above scenario to befall you then invest $40 and read the Pat Fay Method. After all the homeowner is either going to follow the Pat Fay Method or the contractor method. Available at www.patfay.com or email patfayinc@aol.com.