Increase the Selling Price of Your House with House Painting
Bob Vila of This Old House fame tells people to “…be kind to their neighbors when picking a color scheme.” His house painting advice is echoed by realtors and builders across the country. The color that you paint your house, they say, can affect the value of all the other houses in your neighborhood. That’s one of the reasons that many homeowner associations limit house painting color choices for homes in their communities.
While you might feel that house painting is a personal choice, there’s a good deal of sense to the painting restrictions that some homeowners face. A garish purple house with Halloween orange shutters on the block can effectively make it almost impossible for anyone else in the neighborhood to get full value for their home if they choose to sell. A cohesive house painting color scheme that’s carried on from property to property adds enormously to the appeal of a neighborhood.
In some cases, the house painting restrictions are based on more than just owner preference. On the West Side of one New England town, for instance, is a neighborhood of historic period houses all built in a similar Edwardian style. Owners who purchase houses in the Tatnuck community usually sign an agreement upon purchase that they will maintain a white or gray exterior with shutters in black, green or red – and that they will only use white Christmas lights at the holidays.
So what colors are good choices for exterior house painting?
According to Realty Time magazine, the choices are, in order, white, gray, blue, tan or brown, cream, beige, green, yellow and red. Of those, the overwhelmingly most popular house painting color is white, with over 37 percent of all homeowners stating that if they were repainting a house, they would choose white. While gray is the second most popular color, most realtors would recommend painting your house a pale shade if that’s your choice. The reason? Lighter colors brighten a house and make it seem more spacious.
Among the other colors, the favored shades tend to be muted tones, often in ‘historical’ themes. House paint manufacturers like Benjamin Moore and Sherwin Williams often name their paint colors to cater to that trend. Thousands of houses across the country are painted Williamsburg blue or Colonial green.
If you do want brighter accents in your exterior house painting scheme, advise Realtors, confine yourself to the front door and shutters. A front door that’s painted a friendly blue or warm red, they say, puts buyers in a good mood as they enter your house. And who’d know better than the guys that sell houses?
Christmas Lighting – Ten Steps to Stay Safe
For many streets across Britain, Christmas lighting is a grand affair. If a street holds an annual Christmas lighting competition, it often leads to houses covered from porch to chimney pot in electrical lights of all colours. Here are a few things to remember to stay safe with all your electrical lighting this Christmas.
1. When purchasing any electrical lights, read and follow the manufacturer’s instructions, and retain instructions for future reference.
2. Check that all Christmas lights are undamaged and do not have any loose wires exposed.
3. When replacing a bulb, always use the same bulb type and rating as those originally supplied with the lights. Any outdoor lighting should be connected through a 30mA RCD protected socket. An RCBO could also be fitted to provide added protection against an electric shock.
4. Replace any failed lamps immediately to prevent overheating. If the lamps are not replaceable, the whole lighting product may need to be replaced.
5. Any flammable decorations or other materials that burn easily should be kept away from all electrical lighting.
6. Switch off all lighting before you go to bed each night.
7. Keep the packaging for safe storage use. Avoid storage in damp or excessively hot conditions.
8. Never use electric lights outdoors, unless they are specially designed for such use.
9. Never overload sockets and try to avoid the use of extension leads or adaptors.
10. Never remove or insert lamps whilst the chain is connected to the supply.
If somebody does suffer an electric shock – always switch off the electricity supply before removing the casualty away from the danger if it is safe to do so. Contact the emergency services immediately. Check the location of your fuse box, so it can be reached quickly in case of an emergency.
Christmas lights operate at either mains voltage (230 volts) or an extra low voltage. This information should be stated on the packaging. The safest Christmas lights operate at extra low voltage through a transformer, which will reduce the risk of electric shock if there is a leakage or a bulb breaks.
The most common types of electric lights used for Christmas lights are traditional filament (incandescent) light bulbs, these use either mains voltage or extra low voltage.
LED (Light Emitting Diode) lights are the safest form of Christmas lights. LEDs only operate at extra low voltage. They use much less power than traditional lights and produce less heat. A special plastic is used to make an LED light, which means there is no glass to break or flake.
In 2009, a commission report was published revealing 30% of randomly tested Christmas lights failed basic safety checks. The main risks highlighted were from electric shocks and fire outbreaks. When purchasing any electrical lights, always go to a reputable dealer where basic standards should be assured.
Every year electric lighting helps transform a dull fir tree into a magical Christmas tree. If you take note of the tips and information, this should ensure the safety of you and your loved ones this Christmas.
Best Laminate Flooring
Laminate flooring was created by a Swedish company called Pergo AB in 1977. It didn’t become popular in the United States until 1994 when it was first sent to retailers on the East Coast and in the Midwest. When trying to choose the best laminate flooring, there are a number of factors that need to be considered.
Durability
By its very nature, laminate flooring is more durable than other types of flooring. This is its largest asset and part of what makes it so popular. This type of flooring is made so durable by the high density of its backing board. The durability of the best laminate that extends to the ability of the flooring to resist scuffs, stains, water, scratching and fading. The things that will often ding wooden floors or other types of flooring have little to no affect on laminate floors.
Installation
It is easy to be installed over older floors that include wooden floors, tile floors, vinyl floors, and linoleum floors. The best laminate flooring is easy to install yourself, which is a great way to save money on your new floors. Laminate flooring is an interlocking form of flooring that is held together with an adhesive which means that most floors can be installed in an afternoon.
Price
Typically costs are between seven to eleven dollars per square foot, though it is possible to get discounted flooring or wholesale . While it might be tempting to go for the cheapest laminate flooring available, you run the risk of getting a product that is of lesser quality. The best might cost a little more, but it will be well worth it in the long run. The nice thing about laminate flooring is that the wood character comes from a photo image, so the price doesn’t vary according to finish or grain options.
Maintenance
The best laminate flooring is one that is easy to take care of. By nature, this flooring doesn’t need much care. Owners need to make sure that moisture doesn’t get into the core of the flooring and other than that, care can be kept up by a simple mopping with a damp mop or running a vacuum over the surface.
There are a wide variety of laminate floors brands out there and choosing the best can be quite a challenge. Because it has become so popular and because there are so many brands, often the choice can be overwhelming. When choosing flooring for your home you will want to think about how long you are going to be in your home, the traffic that the floor will get and the general needs of your family. If you have a large family, you will want a thicker core to resist the heavier traffic. The best laminate will suit your family’s traffic and activity. Look at the materials used to make up the different layers of the flooring and choose the materials that will work best for your family.