Posts Tagged ‘others’

Materials Used For Bathroom Countertop

Friday, March 12th, 2010

For a bathroom counter top the most important thing to look for is its appearance and looks. The look and feeling of the bathroom counter top should be such that it increases the beauty of your bathroom unlike kitchen counter tops in which functionality is very important deciding factor.

For choosing bathroom counter top other important factors to consider apart from appearance are: price, maintenance and compatibility. In this article we will talk about different material choices available for a bathroom counter top.

A good material choice for your bathroom counter top can make the bathroom looks astonishing. For example stainless steel counter tops looks wonderful and also don’t need much maintenance. Glass is also a good choice of modern kitchen but it is more likely to get fingerprints on it. Glass tiles can also be used.

Granite, quartz, tiles and solid surface are also used to make bathroom counter tops. Now we will discuss their features and method of maintaining them.

Choose A Bulb For Your Home

Tuesday, March 9th, 2010

Different types of light bulbs are available in market such as Incandescent bulbs, Compact Fluorescent (CFL) bulbs, Fluorescent bulbs and Halogen bulbs. Let us have a brief idea of their features and working.

Incandescent bulbs are regular or standard bulbs that are being used from long ago. You can get these bulbs in various colors, shapes and sizes. You can also easily fix these bulbs in different fixtures. These bulbs are cheap but their energy consumption is very high. A filament is present inside these bulbs and when this filament is heated, it produces light. For heating this filament, a lot of energy is wasted resulting in high consumption of energy.

Compact fluorescent bulbs are the most energy-efficient bulbs available, using about two-thirds less energy than standard incandescent bulbs to provide the same amount of light and lasting up to 10 times as long. CFLs now come in a variety of shapes, styles and light output. Just like regular bulbs, they can be used in standard sockets.

Electric Lighting Fixtures Of Home Backyard

Tuesday, March 9th, 2010

Installing outdoor lighting fixtures in your backyard serves many purposes. First, it enhances the look of your house at night. Second, it provides safety to the house from intruders. To avoid any chance of meeting accidents during night time, you should properly light up the backyard of your home. A variety of products are available in the market to serve the purpose. You can choose any kind of effective lighting fixtures.

The selection of the lighting fixtures must be made on the basis of your requirement. If the security of the area tops your priority list then choose the lighting fixtures that illuminate a wide area. Support the spread lights with the spots lights or the mini spread lights.

Before you commence the project, check the requirements of the area. Also, analyze the techniques that would be employed in the installation of the lighting fixtures. Use a flashlight to figure out the most appropriate angles for the installation of the chosen lighting fixtures. The beam of the light must be directed towards the ground. Also, two beams could be pooled to enhance the effect of lighting.

How To Fix A Broken Roof Truss ?

Saturday, February 27th, 2010

Roof trusses are frames made up of timber that is nailed, bolted or pegged together to form structurally interdependent shapes of great strength. Trusses are pre-fabricated, triangulated wooden structures used to support the roof.

However, the roof trusses may break due to many reasons. A broken roof truss can cause many different problems. If the truss is bad enough, it can cause the sagging or collapse of a roof. Well, don’t get dishearten. You can fix the broken truss.

Measure the truss area to be repaired. Roof trusses come in all shapes and sizes to suit almost every single design of roof. Find the one that suits to your existing trusses. Make sure, you but the one that measures the width of the truss under repair. For this, measure the width of the truss as these are available in sizes of 2 by 6 that is 5.5 inches and 2 by 8 that is 7.5 inches.

To begin with the repairs, we must have lumbers of 4 feet length each. These patches would be placed on either side of the broken truss.

Testing An Electric Capacitor

Saturday, February 27th, 2010

Capacitor is an important component for many of the electrical equipments. It stores energy in it to provide power to your electrical appliances. They are the mini powerhouses for your appliances and give them a start. But like the other mortal things in this world, they also lose there value as the time passes. You can check the effectiveness of the capacitor with the help of an ohm meter. The ohm meter tells you about the state of capacitor and determines whether it is in working condition or not.

First of all, you have to discharge the capacitor. In order to discharge it completely, you would need a screw driver with an insulated handle. Grip the screw driver from the insulated end and touch the metal end of the screwdriver to the capacitor. The screwdriver would discharge the capacitor with an electric spark.

Now, make way for the ohm meter. Plug the red lead into the connector indicating ‘ohm’ and the black lead into the connector indicating ‘com’. Next, switch on the instrument. In some cases, you have to manually switch the meter to ohm position.

Electric Plumbing Snake- An Essential Tool

Sunday, February 21st, 2010

Clogged sinks are a common household problem. There are various ways by which drains can be cleaned out but the inconvenience caused is very stressful and irritating. There could be many reasons for clogging of drains like food residues, excessive hair accumulation, build ups of detergent in the pipes and many more.

There are plenty of techniques used to avoid drain clogging. You can unclog your drainage system by putting water with large amount of salt in it. Baking soda and vinegar are also used for this purpose. Also, for unclogging the drains you need tools like plunger or pliers. If the situation is worse, you may require an electric snake or an auger.

Below is the working and usage of an electric auger to be used in case you fail to dissolve the clog by above methods.

First things first, start inserting the auger into the pipe. Make sure you wear gloves for this also, better grip, and keeps your hands a little bit cleaner. Electric augers are big with a lot of cable and an auger at the end that goes deep into the drain to unplug the drain.

Working On A Hand Operated Electric Generator

Saturday, February 20th, 2010

The electric generators used in households or industries work on the basic principles of physics. One can build a small sized electrical generator to apprehend the basics of a generator. It clears all your doubts about the functioning of an electric generator. Make sure that the voltage limit of the generator doesn’t cross the hazardous limits.

It is very important to know the general working of an electric generator. Incomplete information could lead to errors and irregularities in the normal scheme of things. An electric generator is an electric device that generates electrical power from the mechanical power. Hence, the homeowners are able to use electricity even when the actual power supply is not there.

Initialize the project by looking for a regular DC motor. The voltage range of the motor decides the operational range of the generator. Hence, choose a motor that complements the voltage range of the electrical devices. You can use a DC motor of 6 volts and 1 ampere. Such a voltage range would be quite safe to work with.

How To Prevent Home Plumbing Problems ?

Friday, February 19th, 2010

No part of the house is more important than plumbing. Nothing in the house is used more often. A smoothly functioning plumbing system is a pin to health and adds to the convenience of modern living. However most of the homeowners neglect maintaining this very need of the house. Long avoiding the fault may hurt the integrity of your plumbing setup to a large extent.

You must have heard the saying “Flaws appear minor at first sight turn more daunting if left unnoticed for a long time”. Same is the case with the leaks, holes and seepage in the plumbing. Such irregularities allow the water to creep into the internal structure of your walls and ceilings. A neglected plumbing will collect late fees from your pocket whereas regular timely checkup will avoid worries and extra expenses.

Repair any dripping faucets inside and/or outside your home at the first sign of a leak. Letting them leak and waiting to make repairs only makes them harder to fix, and may ruin them all together. To maintain energy efficient plumbing you need to take charge and act now. Examine them meticulously.

Fixing A Compression Faucet

Thursday, February 18th, 2010

Compression faucets are the type that uses two handles. Using one handle provides you with the warm water and using the other one will avail you cold water. It basically consists of a stem that has a washer that when shuts off the flow of water.

The working mechanism of compression type faucets is just very simple. But these posses rubber o- rings that tend to wear and tear with time. Washers in the hot water tap tend to wear out before those in the cold water tap.

One can easily repair the leaks in the faucet. The write up provides you the steps to carry out project more effectively. Shut off the water to the faucet. Take apart your sink. You will need a screwdriver and pliers for this task. Take off the decorative covers on both faucets.

Loosen the lock-nut inside with a crescent wrench. Once the nut is loosened and removed, pull out the stem. With some types of faucets, the stem itself may be threaded into the body of the faucet assembly. You’ll have to turn it counter-clockwise to loosen and remove it.

Easy Way To Paint Galvanized Roof

Tuesday, February 16th, 2010

Residential apartments that have metals roofs are usually covered with corrugated metal sheets. The major disadvantage of the corrugated metal roofing was that it gets rusted after some time. Well, this difficulty is overcome by using galvanized metal roofing.

Many metal roofs are made out of galvanized metal, which is a type of metal that has been covered with hot zinc in order to protect it from the weather. In order to further enhance the feature of material, roofs are generally painted. However, paint on metal roofs often peels or rusts, in which case it is time to repaint it.

The write up below familiarizes you with the step by step procedure of the metal roof painting. This is one of the most simple home improvement tasks and you can do this without the help of a roofer.

A galvanized metal roof should be thoroughly cleaned free from all the accumulated dirt and grin, should be free of any loose or scaling rust by hand tooling these areas with a wire brush or a scraper. Using a power washer, all the unwanted build up over the roof should be cleared.