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What is OSB?

Kelli — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:38:48 +0000

You’ve been hanging around the lumber yards lately because you need wood for one of your do-it-yourself projects. You haven’t settled on one type of wood yet, but in talking to experts and other homeowners, something has stuck in your ear. OSB. You’ve heard this acronym around town. What is it, you ask? While it is a widely used acronym, specifically for ocean groups and religious organizations, for our purposes OSB stands for oriented strand board.

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Blown-In Insulation Pumps out Protection

Kelli — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:33:49 +0000

All walls need some kind of insulation otherwise you’re risking a loss of heat in your home through cool drafts, thermal leakage, or actual condensation and damage along the inside of the wall itself. By adding this barrier between your walls, you will be able to reduce drafting, dust build-up, noise pollution, and the temperature on your thermostat, creating savings on your utility bill. However, if you live in an older house with no pre-existing form of interior padding, then your best option is blown-in insulation. Unlike the common batting which is often installed in walls as the original construction is being performed, this loose fill material is literally pumped into the pre-existing wall through a small opening made by your contractor.

How to Test Your Home for Chinese Drywall

Kelli — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 13:56:55 +0000

Does your home contain contaminated Chinese Drywall? This testing advice from the New York Times can help a homeowner determine if he or she is one of the thousands in over 30 states with the poisonous plasterboard.

Some ways to tell if you have Chinese Drywall in your home:

– Sulfuric smell. (Also a sign that you have descended into the less-favorable Afterworld. It’s best to inspect for fire, brimstone and the tortured souls of the eternally damned to eliminate this possibility)

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Cheap, Easy-to-Build Storage Shelves

Kelli — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 21:26:26 +0000

If you have an unfinished basement, a garage or a storage shed, you can store much more in it if you have shelves. Built-in shelves are great, but if you’re renting or want the flexibility to rearrange the shelving units, you might want to make some free-standing shelves. Here’s a simple method for building some inexpensive storage shelves — and you can build them without power tools.

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5 Tips for Restoring Old Furniture

Kelli — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:20:14 +0000

Professional furniture restorers and hobbyists alike all have one thing in common — the desire to pluck a piece of furniture off the side of the road and restore it to its former glory. And what’s not to like? Not only are you saving something from a landfill, but you’re breathing life into something that’s long been forgotten. All the former owner knows is that the legs of the table are busted, the surface is marred by water rings and it doesn’t sit evenly on the floor. What’s more, it’s taking up valuable space where that new Ikea dining table should go. But what many might see as a space-consuming relic from days gone by, furniture restorers see as a possibility.

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Home Invaders

Kelli — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 18:48:25 +0000

WE LIKE NATURE on certain terms — as in, the less of it inside the house, the better. So perhaps you can understand what compelled C.W. Roseburr to smoke a family of raccoons out of his house in Kansas City, Mo., last May. Seems Roseburr had a long-running feud with the animals, which had taken residence in his eaves.

Potshots from his BB gun did no good, so Roseburr decided to frighten the adult raccoon by using a long stick tied at the end with a rag. Soaked in kerosene. Lit with a match. “I set the raccoon on fire,” Roseburr told reporters. “He’s the one that set the house on fire.” Firefighters called to the scene quickly extinguished the blaze, but not before it caused $25,000 in damage.

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A Buyer’s Guide to Non-Toxic Paints & Coatings

Kelli — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:19:57 +0000

Hazardous ingredients are among the least expensive and most widely used in the paint & coatings industry, perpetuating a legacy of environmental damage for generations to come. Many paints and stains are petroleum-based, with toxic additives that are designed for a narrow benefit, such as killing mildew.

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Toolkit for Modern Living

Kelli — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 11:38:49 +0000

Times change. When Dad was a young dude, toolboxes were heavy on handsaws and block planes. But in this age of reliable, inexpensive power tools and modular building materials, it’s time to rethink the traditional toolbox. So here are our picks. You can rent or borrow specialized tools that you’ll use only once, but the tools below are must-haves for the modern household.

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Quieting Noisy Water Pipes

Kelli — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 11:06:55 +0000

Water flowing in pipes can cause all kinds of weird noises. We all know what water running through a pipe sounds like, but what about some of those other plumbing sounds – like creaks or cracking sounds, rattling, whistling and the most annoying or scary of them all, that loud banging noise? Let’s look at what causes those sounds and how you can fix them.

Creaks or a cracking sound
These are usually caused by the expansion and contraction of the water pipes themselves. As hot water runs through a pipe, it naturally heats the pipe, causing it to expand slightly. Once the water stops flowing, the pipe cools and the metal contracts, resulting in the creaking or cracking sound. The easiest way to fix this is to put some insulation around the pipe, or if the pipe is running through a tight fitting hole in the wood framing, cut a notch in the framing so the pipe can expand and then contract without that creaking sound.

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Let the Goverment Pay to Winterize Your Home

admin — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 15:30:20 +0000

These 19 tips, from easiest (and cheapest) to hardest, will help you save money by going green, this year and for years to come. Don’t delay: Winter’s coming, and lucrative federal tax incentives won’t last forever.

1. Dodge the Draft(s)
2. Change Furnace Filters
3. Run Fans in Reverse
4. Winterize Your A/C and Water Lines
5. Turn Down Your Water Heater
6. Install Storm Doors and Windows
7. Give Your Heating System a Tune-Up
8. Mind That Thermostat
9. Put Up Some Plastic
10. Use an Energy Monitor
11. Use Caulking and Weatherstriping
12. Put on a Sweater
13. Boost Insulation
14. Insulate Your Pipes
15. Seal Those Ducts
16. Take Advantage of Tax Credits
17. Choose the Right Contractor
18. Get Creative and Go Alternative
19. Upgrade to an Efficient Furnace

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