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Painting a dark house in bright colors? Q & A

Q. We just bought a house that is painted a very dark grey and want to paint it white. The surface is flaking in many areas what is the best way to get this job done? 

A. Sweep off all the flaking bits with a stiff brush or you could power wash it off. I prefer sweeping because you don’t wet or soak the wall. Generally speaking, if you try to paint white on top of a dark, you would require three good coats to get the proper hiding power, but there is a quicker and less labor intensive method used by many contractors. After you’ve done the most important part, the preparation, apart from tools etc you will need a good quality exterior water based paint, E-B, and some Floetrol, and here’s a real neat trick on how you should be able to do it in just two coats instead of the usual three.

Mix in 25% E-B into your first coat of paint and apply. The E-B will deal with the flaky condition as well as help with hiding power. When your first coat is nice and dry, apply the second coat, and this time mix in the Floetrol emulsion paint additive (do not put E-B in your second coat) at a rate of 10% +/- and apply. You should have the equivalent of a good three-coat job done at this point.

Tip: For readers who have exterior walls that look a bit tired but you don’t want the expense of a two coat paint job, you can get a tremendous one coat job done with a combination of E-B and a high quality exterior masonry paint as mentioned above.

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Build a pond

Being around the water offers allure and beauty, which is why waterfront homes are admired by many. Your own backyard can be alive with the visual appeal and sounds of water in motion. These soothing sounds and the beauty of colorful fish swimming among your plants, brings your landscaping alive. It's fun to create this attractive feature and it will become the centerpiece of your backyard. Before we get started I would like to answer some frequently asked questions about backyard ponds.

• Will the winter cold kill my fish? Most fish will naturally stop eating and hibernate at the bottom of the pond when the temperature of the water goes below 45 degrees. If you live in a climate where the pond will completely freeze over (even at the edges) you will need to create a hole in the ice for the fish to remain alive.

• Will the winter cold kill my plants? Yes, if it goes below freezing in your area. Bring plants inside for the winter months.

• Do I need to filter the water? That will depend on your climate and the design of your system. Ask a local dealer his recommendations for your geographical area concerning filtration. (look up in the Yellow Pages under ponds or water gardening) The action of water moving provides some natural filtration, so sometimes you can get away with only a fountain or waterfall. There are biological filters and cartridge filters available from pond supply outlets. We have provided links below to 3 sites that offer products, services and advice for building backyard water gardens. Water Gardening and Pond Supply :

• B&Q

• WICKES

• FOCUS

Step 1. Educate yourself so you can make intelligent decisions. Learn about water gardening in your part of the country. Visit retail stores, shop out of a catalog click on the website links above. Determine the answer to such questions as, will I use a flexible liner or pre-formed shell...The location of my pond should take into account such things as availability of electricity...will I have a waterfall...etc. We will describe how to install a flexible vinyl liner pond in this article. Flexible liners give you complete variety in the shape of your pond, and are extremely durable.

Step 2. Locate the area in your yard for the pond. Determine how deep you want your pond to be. The depth of a back yard pond will usually be between 18-24", but you determine that after study and deciding the particulars about your pond. Mark the outline of the pond shape with string or garden hose on the lawn. Remove sod and start digging !

The outside wall of the pond will have a step in it to hold potted plants just under the water. You create this step by leaving the original dirt in place as you dig. This will make the step as solid as possible. The depth of this step is approximately half of the depth of your pond. This depth is also determined by the potted plants you plan on placing in the pond. You need to raise low areas so the entire perimeter is the same height. Check the depth as you dig to make sure the bottom is level as well. 

3 Step 3. To determine the right liner size, take the width of the pond and add twice the depth of the pond, plus 24 more inches. The length measurement will be done using the same formula.

Step 4. When hole is completed, drape liner over pond, centering it and placing stones around the edge. Start filling with water. As it fills, remove wrinkles and fold large creases into neat folds to be less noticeable.

Step 5. After pond is filled, trim excess liner to within 12 inches of edge of pond, and place your coping material around edge to give it a natural finished look. We recommend large flat stones because they can overhang the pond edge slightly, and they look very natural.

This article covers the basics of how to install your own backyard pond. To finish the project you will need to investigate pumps, filters, plants and fish.

I know from personal experience that the catalog from Lilypons is complete and informative. Enjoy your new water gardening hobby. Waterfall built next to pond with dirt from pond excavation

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Wooden Interior doors

standard sizes - panel doors - hollow doors - glazed doors imperial/ metric equivalents

Two basic features define internal doors:
• Height, width and thickness
• Method of construction


Doors come in a number of standard sizes:
• Width - 24, 28, 30, 32, 34, 36 inches (each designed to fit openings between 1/4 inch less to 5/8 inch greater)
• Height - 78, 80, 82 inch
• Thickness - 1 3/8, 1 3/4 and 2 inch For a replacement door, the correct thickness should be chosen to avoid the need to reposition the door stop strips.


Method of door construction:

Panel door
These are made from pieces of solid timber, the stiles and rails being fixed together either by mortise and tenor joints (with wedges) or by dowels. The number of panels may vary, but the general construction is similar with full height stiles on each side with top, middle and bottom rails.


The bottom rail is wider than the top rail, and the middle is normally below the mid point - so it is easy to tell which way is up.


With the solid timber stiles and rails, these doors can be trimmed fairly easily to fit an existing door frame They must not be excessively trimmed as there is a risk that the sides of the mortise may be exposed in the top/bottom rails or the wedges holding the joints in the stiles becoming weakened.


Hollow Doors
These are made using a hidden frame covered with a thin cladding on each face and, normally, solid timber strips down the two edges to give a decorative finish. The cladding may be ordinary hardboard, which can be painted after the door has been hung, or a decorative plywood that can be varnished to give a natural timber appearance.


A number of different types of 'in-fill' within the door are available to give the faces some strength and rigidity. The simplest form of in fill, is a cardboard honeycomb, other specialist in-fills are used to make the door fire resistant.
Within the door, a solid timber area is provided for fixing the lock and handle; this solid timber is normally restricted to one side of the door and set at a suitable height for the lock/handle.


So when hanging a door, it must be hung the correct way up and with the correct side to the hinge - failure to do this will mean that there will be nothing solid within the door where the lock/handles will need to be fitted.


Hollow doors cannot really be trimmed (either in height or width) to fit an undersized door frame; this generally means that these doors can only be hung in modern houses where 'standard' door frames are fitted.

Glazed Doors
Glazed doors are ideal where it is desirable to 'borrow' light into a dark area such as a passage. These doors are made with solid timber surround and may be half glazed, full glazed or 2 half glazed. The frame is normally made from solid timber in the same way as for panel doors with the inner edges of the stiles and rails machined to take the glazing. The stiles and upper/lower rails can be trimmed as for a panel door.

The important aspect is the type of glass used to glazed the door. UK regulations require that Safety glass is used in full glazed and lower glazed panels; it is always wise to use Safety glass for all glazing in a glazed door. Safety glass cannot be purchased off the shelf, it is in fact ordinary float glass which has been subjected to a special heat treatment - the glass must be cut to size before it is treated.

Imperial/metric door equivalents.
imperial
(inches)
metric
(mm)
78 x 24 1981 x 610
78 x 27 1981 x 686
78 x 30 1981 x 762
78 x 33 1981 x 838
80 x 32 2032 x 813
82 x 34 2083 x 863
84 x 36 2134 x 914

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DESIGNING YOUR GARDEN

A well designed garden, tailored to your own particular needs, will not only be beautiful and productive, but will give you and your family pleasure throughout the year. You don't have to be a design wizard - or even particularly artistic - to create a beautiful garden. The concepts of good design are simple to understand and straightforward to put into practice. Whether developing a new garden from scratch, or reshaping an existing one, understanding and developing basic design skills will help you achieve good results, and more importantly, develop a garden with exactly the layout that is best for you.

Changes in your garden's design need not be profound. Repositioning a tree, for example, erecting a screen, or changing one of your garden surfaces may be small adjustments, but each of them can have a profound effect on the overall appearance.

2 - Decide what you want out of your garden The first and most important step is to decide exactly what your garden means to you, and what you expect from it. You may want: Somewhere to sit.

Examples might be a terrace or patio. Somewhere for children to play. Sandpits, swings and climbing frames could all be incorporated into your garden's design, perhaps to be altered later, when they've grown up. A source of food. More and more people want to grow fruit and vegetables. In a small plot, a kitchen garden can be beautiful as well as productive. A special plant collection. A plant enthusiast's garden should offer different habitats including hot dry spots and cool shady ones. A showcase. Why not enter your local 'Best Front Garden' contest? A wildlife refuge. With increasing threats to natural habitats, our gardens are becoming important sanctuaries.

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Planning to update your Bathroom? Read this first.

Because replacing your bathroom is an operation that will have a lot of influence in your daily live for a few weeks, it is probably not something you will do for pleasure. But think of the result, and it will all be worthwhile. This article will guide you to a relaxing and refreshing bathroom! Read More

Q & A About painting a new house.

Q. We are moving to a new house that we’ve decided to paint ourselves, and are wondering if the new plaster on the walls and ceilings should be given a coat of primer or is there any products that you recommend for this. The house is 1,080 sq feet, 3 Bed. Would you have an estimate or a guide to the amount of paint needed for the whole house?  Read More

WIRING IN SWITCHED WALL LIGHTS

Think carefully about the position of your new light/s and mark the wall, make your holes and chases, and all new connections before making the final connections to the existing circuit. That way you can keep the lights on as long as possible.  Read More
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