Monday, October 5, 2009

Luxury Bathroom Suites - Affordable Bathroom Luxury

When it comes to looking at luxury bathroom suites, you might find it confusing wondering where to start. There are so many things you have to take into consideration, such as the layout of your bathroom and the essential bathroom components. Perhaps you don't need a full bathroom suite and just need a new sink or toilet? That's when you have to decide what the best option is; buy a new luxury bathroom suite or just update part of the old one.

Save The Cash In Order To Splash...

Many people who find their bathroom needs a bit of updating often get suitably "put off" by the assumed cost of brand new luxury bathroom suites. However, in the current climate, luxury is now extremely affordable. Many people find that it is not cost effective to simply replace one item of their bathroom, as eventually the rest of the bathroom suite will need replacing too. That's why more and more people are saving the cash in order to buy a luxury bathroom suite so that they can have a stunning new bathroom in one simple step.

Complement The Dcor

If you decide to just replace your sink or toilet in your bathroom, you may find that there is a niggling feeling whenever you walk in afterwards, because you may regret not updating the bathroom as a whole. One new item in a bathroom full of old items can look out of place and stick out like a sore thumb, so that's why it is easier to take a look at brand new luxury bathroom suites sooner rather than later to ensure you get a great looking bathroom that complements the dcor.

Choices, Choices

If you are now convinced that you want a new luxury bathroom suite, then you might be wondering which are the best brands to look at. Some of the best luxury bathroom suites are made by Duchy and Armitage Shanks. These are both reputable, well-established companies that offer a great selection for every taste. Quite often, you will find each bathroom range varies according to what style of bath you are looking for, so bear this in mind when looking at complete bathroom suites.

Update Today

If you've been saving money in order to indulge in one form of home improvement, getting the bathroom spot on is money well invested. A neat, stylish new bathroom suite will add money to your property as well as offer a welcomed, updated alternative to your old bathroom that you thought you would be stuck with forever!

Check out the latest bathroom suite ranges by clicking on Luxury Bathroom Suites.

Sunday, October 4, 2009

Basic Home Electrical Wiring - For the Do it Yourself Home Electrician

The Green Bay Packers were one of the most successful football teams and Vince Lombardi said something to them that I will never forget," This is a football." All the football players laughed and he said that we're going to start with the basics and that's what I'm going to do, with this article.

Let's start with our electrical wire, the two most common electrical wire sizes, that will be used in most homes, will be 14 and 12 gauge electrical wire. Let's clear something up, right off the bat, the smaller the number, the larger the wire. In other words a 12 gauge electrical wire is a little bit larger and will carry more electricity, for longer distances than a 14 gauge wire.

What about electrical outlet plugs? These plugs are usually the same, except for the fact that they come in different colors. When I said that most electrical plugs are the same, I'm talking about your standard wall outlet plug. There are different electrical plugs that will be used for air conditioners and some kitchen appliances like 220 Volt electric stoves and ovens.

What about your home's light switches? Your standard two way light switch will usually turn a one light on or a group of lights on, from one location. A three way light switch will usually turn one light on or a group of lights on from two different locations. A four way light switch, will usually turn one light or a group of lights on from three different locations.

It doesn't get any more basic than that. I hope this gives you a better understanding about your home's electrical system.

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Greg Vandenberge is working on the internet to promote the education for creating simple to follow guides and home building books to help professional building contractors as well as the weekend warriors. He has just finished a Home Buyers Guide to take some of the frustration out of home shopping.

If your looking for some more home inspection pictures or home building ideas.

Thanks For Reading My Articles

Things You Should Know About an Electric Shower

Are you planning to buy an electric shower, but do not know what features you need? For this reason, this article will help know the basics and features of different models of electric showers.

Electric shower is a water heater whose main principle is to apply pressure on the water. Cold water flows to the unit where it is pressurized and heated through electricity. The amount of water dispensed depends on the water pressure applied. This way electric showers are economical since you only get water as much as what is needed or consumed. This type of shower does not required hot water system as the source. It is called as instantaneous water heater because you will get hot water whenever you want it.

Pumped power shower is a type of electric shower. Such showers are connected to both hot and cold water supply i.e. mixer showers and uses electric pump to increase pressure coming out from the shower head. It uses lesser electricity than electrically heated showers.

Features of Electric Shower

Riser Rail: The riser rail is the vertical metal bar attached to the wall allowing variable height and flexibility for the shower head.

Shower head: Is the handheld spray that is attached to the riser rail. Shower head has different patterns of spray. When all the holes are opened, water sprayed is weaker than using one or two combinations of opened holes. However, using only inner holes provide high powered spray.

Power ratings: It usually varies from 8.5 to 10.8 Kilowatt. Electric showers are made with high power ratings. They produce high powered spray while supplied with lower water temperature.

Wireless showers: Is newer design of electric showers whose physical shower unit is hidden and a remote control is used to communicate with the box to control the water temperature. Wireless shower installation does not require plumbing thereby maintaining the look of the bathroom which is the main advantage of using this type of shower.

Some showers have variable power out put so that you can choose features according to range and adjust power out put.

Additional features of showers include the thermostatic models that help control the temperature so that showers will not be affected by other appliances like washing machine. Push button control to maintain shower settings each time it is used. Memory function, built-in to most expensive showers available in the market, is designed to allow showers to store information of the pre-set shower temperature. Shut down button flushes out the remaining hot water from shower head before it turns off to prevent from scalding. LCD is a small display that shows the temperature of water being heated. This allows users to control the water temperature.

Electrical shower can only be installed properly by a person who is well equipped with the right knowledge of the task or a professional. The cost of the installation depends upon the electrician and the design. If the model has a separate top, bottom and sides then it is easier to install as it gives flexibility while rooting cables and pipes.

Shower installation requires plumbing from cold water supply and connection to electricity. Electrical cable and fuse size vary on the power rate of the shower. For safety, it is necessary to use double pole switch with an indicator for turning the shower on and off.

With electrical showers, it is easier to regulate warm and cold water output according to a person's need. Shower temperatures can also be adjusted to counter the temperature of the season for perfect refreshment.

If you are looking for more information then feel free to visit electric showers and electric power showers

Do I Need a Home Inspection? - Real Estate Advice

Most home inspections today run between $300 to over $1000 and sometimes you don't really get your moneys worth. There are home inspection companies that guarantee, any problems that they miss will be repaired at their expense over a desired period of time, usually a year. It seems like, most home inspection companies are just inspecting the property and have no guarantees or liability from their inspection.

It's not a good idea to buy or sell a home without getting a home inspection from a licensed home inspector. This is like having a second opinion from someone who is usually skilled in the process. I would like to point something out to unsuspecting, potential home buyers and sellers. Sometimes a home inspection company will get a little behind in their work and need to hire other home inspectors if these home inspectors don't have any experience in the construction business or have never inspected a home before. In other words there fresh out of home inspector school. You might not get a good home inspection.

You can always ask the question, how long have you been in business?... How long have you been a home inspector?... have you ever worked in the construction business or have any skills in home building and remodeling. If the answers to these questions are satisfactory, it doesn't mean, that they're telling the truth and being sincere and could lead to problems later if they are lying to you.

Let me rephrase the question now, "Do I Need a Home Inspection" from an unqualified home inspector? Absolutely not. But how can you really tell the difference and is the report going to be worth the money that you paid for it.

What would you say, if I had the solution to your problem. How about a pre-home inspection, using a home buyers checklist? What if I could give you a check list with questions, that you could ask your home inspector? Some of these questions are not going to be part a regular inspection but should always be asked and make sure you get the answers to them, before purchasing the property.

Would you be interested now? What if I told you, for under $20, you could purchase a home buyers checklist, now for the tough question, this checklist could save you thousands of dollars and prevent you from purchasing a home with major construction problems or defects, and can be used on every house you look at.

Don't buy a home without purchasing a professional home inspection checklist. These lists of questions can save you some serious headaches and stress in the future.

Greg Vandenberge is working on the internet to promote the education for creating simple to follow guides and home building books to help professional building contractors as well as the weekend warriors. He has just finished a home buyers guide to take some of the frustration out of home shopping.

If your looking for some more home inspection or home building ideas.

Bathtub Surround Installation DIY Guide

You can install a tub surround kit over your regular walls, whether they be tile or any other hard, solid material. Typically, you want to consider bathtub surround installation if the current walls of your bath area are dated or unattractive.

Generally, you'll need a small screwdriver, pencil, pocket knife, tape measure, level, and a jig saw. You'll also want to make sure that you have an installation kit, adhesive with the proper applicator, coarse sandpaper, and caulk.

When using a tub surround installation kit, each will have their own directions specific to that product kit. You want to make sure that your read the directions carefully and thoroughly.

You'll want to following the following general directions when installing your tub surround.

First, you'll want to remove the spout, faucet handles, and all accessories from around the bath tub, and set them aside.

You'll want to go ahead and repair the damaged areas on the current walls that surround the tub, and if you will be installing over ceramic tile, you'll want to use the coarse sandpaper to enhance the grip abilities of the adhesive.

Clean the area between the tub and the wall, and re-caulk if you need to.

Next, you'll want to mark the bathtub surround installation area, including the location of the faucet, spout, and whatever else will stick out of the wall; cut out the areas on the template and use them to mark the location on the tub surround panels and use the jig saw to cut out the holes.

You'll want to next hold the panels in place according to the manufacturers instructions and mark the location of the top and sides on the wall so that you can make sure that the panels will be level.

Next, apply the adhesive according the the manufacturer's directions, paying close attention to the time you should expose the glue before affixing the panels because if you don't allow enough time, the adhesive will not bond properly.

Once you attach the panels to the wall, according to the manufacturer's instructions, you'll want to let the tub adhesive dry properly before turning on the water. Go ahead and replace the faucet, spout, and other accessories at this time.

Lastly, you'll want to seal all the joints with caulk and letting that dry before turning on the water to the tub.

Bathtub surround installation is a pretty easy do it yourself project. Just make sure that you have help with the project, and if you get lost call a professional. Source: Bathtubinstallationinc dot com, Louis Zhang

Get a free guide on bathtub installation. Find out how to install bathtub surround, drain, shower head, faucet, plumbing at http://www.bathtubinstallationinc.com

Saturday, October 3, 2009

What is a Three Way Home Electrical Light Switch?

A three way home electrical light switch is a special light switch that can be used in your hallways, large rooms and stairways. These light switches are specially made to operate one light or a group of lights from two different locations.

They are most commonly found in hallways and provide a homeowner with the option of turning the light on at one end of the hallway and turning it off, when they are finished walking through the hallway and are about to enter into another room.

Before three way home electrical light switches were made, people would turn the hallway light on and leave it on or they wouldn't turn the hall light on at all, because they knew that after they walked down the dark hallway, they wouldn't be able to turn the light off at the other end.

Three-way light switches are also used in stairways. It makes a lot of sense, to be able to turn your stairway light on, at the bottom of the stairs and then after you have walked up the stairway safely, you can simply turn the stair lights system off.

As homes become larger, it's not going to be uncommon to find three way light switches being used at either end of large rooms. If your living room or family room was located within the center of your home and had an entrance at each end, it wouldn't be a bad idea to install a light switch at each end, for travelers who are simply walking through these room.

Remember that three-way light switches, are used to operate lights from two different locations.

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Greg Vandenberge is working on the internet to promote the education for creating simple to follow guides and home building books to help professional building contractors as well as the weekend warriors. He has just finished a Home Buyers Guide to take some of the frustration out of home shopping.

Thanks For Reading My Articles

Important Bathroom Remodeling Plan Tips

Bathroom remodeling projects are quite complicated you can't just rush straight into it without any planning. There are some very important things that you need to think about before starting. Many bathrooms are fairly small, even so they can still be very difficult to remodel. In order to remodel your bathroom you need to employ several highly skilled people which can be very costly. If you make a small mistake then this could cost you quite a lot. Before you decide how to remodel your bathroom make sure you know these things.

You should start by measuring the room and working out the exact dimensions, this will allow you to plan the room and decide how it will look when it's finished. You should consider where the doors, windows and skylights are at the moment. Work out rough costs that you think these remodeling projects will cost you, also note down the trades that you will require.

You should work out how long you think the bathroom remodeling project is likely to take. Work out a schedule so that you know how long it will take you, remember to fit in your daily life, just don't make an unrealistic schedule! If you only have one bathroom then what are you going to do while this one is being renovated? Can you use a neighbor's bathroom? Or can you go to a local gym?

Before you have your final bathroom designs and a list of professionals you need you should get on with choosing the necessary skilled people. Make sure you hire qualified people, also check that they are insured and license. You should also make sure that the professional knows exactly what it is you want doing before you enter into any contracts or hand over any money.

Problems

You need to plan ahead and hire licensed professionals so that you can avoid any problems as much as possible. If you don't plan and organize then you can create many potential problems. You should make sure that you hire the right people in order to complete the project, also make sure they are coming at the right time.

Certain things must be done in a particular order, this will mean that the order the certain trades arrive in is vital. You should consider everything in the design of your bathroom, including the exiting electrics and plumbing. Before you choose any fixtures make sure you consult the experts so they can advise you.

Do It Yourself?

Many people think that bathroom remodeling projects aren't that difficult and that they could do it all by themselves. However few people are capable of doing complex projects, many projects require skilled people, especially where electrics are involved.

There are certain things that you can do yourself such as choosing the color scheme and style of your bathroom. You can also select any accessories and fixtures and fittings.

Claudio Carbeni continually creates news stories on topics associated with shower curtains and crazy shower curtains. You might come across his articles on shower drapes over at http://www.curtains-drapes-coverings.com/shower-curtains.html and various other sources for shower drapes news.