Sisterhood Home Interior & Design

Posts Tagged ‘home’

Water Heaters

Water heater leaks are a common cause of basement flooding. Proper maintenance of your water heater is crucial to maximize its life expectancy. Periodically, have a plumber perform a check up on the heater. He or she should inspect the anode rod inside the tank, and replace it if needed, since this rod serves to protect the tank from corrosion. Also, make sure the tank’s glass lining, pipes, and valves are in good condition. Replace worn out parts. Finally, remove sediment from the tank every 6 months by flushing the water heater.

Washing Machines

Regularly inspect your washing machine. Be on the lookout for valves that do not work properly, as well as worn out supply hoses. Hoses tend to crack in places where they bend sharply. Replace old or worn hoses with the steel braided type for maximum durability.

Toilets

The simplest way to prevent toilet-related water damage is to simply stay in the bathroom until the toilet has finished refilling. Beyond that, take note if your toilet starts to run between uses, a sign that components are beginning to fail. Also, inspect your toilet a couple of times per year. Make sure the valves inside the tank work properly and the supply line is connected securely.

Basement Flooding

Make sure you have a reliable primary sump pump installed in your sump pit, as well as a backup sump pump system that can protect your basement during periods when a storm knocks out your power. Additionally, ensure that each of the pumps have sufficient capacity to handle the water volume that could potentially flow into your basement.

Plumbing System

Keep an eye out for signs of potential leaks in your plumbing system. Are your water bills higher than they should be? Do you see signs of moisture on your walls or floors? Make sure your water shutoff valve works properly – test it regularly! If you live in a cold weather region, take measures to prevent frozen pipes. For example, during extremely cold periods, open your faucets slightly to reduce pressure in your pipes. Also, keep the temperature in your home above 60 degrees, even if no one is home.

Water Leak Detection

Utilize leak detection and automatic water shutoff systems to keep small leaks from turning into extensive water damage. If you can detect a leak early on, you will be left with only a small mess to clean up, instead of a large scale disaster.

Through regular preventive maintenance and by monitoring potential trouble spots in your home, you can stop many types of water damage before they occur.

Let’s be honest, how frequently have we arrived home from a long day at work, and thrown our coat and umbrella in the corner, or over chair? How messy is that? What you require is a coat rack stand. Many folks have thought of it, however most will not actually head out and procure one.

Let us just hang on here now. So what exactly are the main rewards to putting a coat rack stand within your residence? Let us search for the positive side and mull over 3 explanations why you should plan to buy a coat rack stand.

The primary chief benefit of the stands are that they hold a lot of things in addition to coats. In addition to holding coats, they furthermore may retain umbrellas, caps, scarves and jackets. They are a very good piece of furnishings to put in to your residence. Consider your next dinner party or social event – how fantastic would it seem if you had a means to retain your friends property in a smart way.

Secondly, you truly should be aware that you can get coat stands in a diversity of materials such as metal or wood. A substantial collection may be hung upon the brilliant hooks on the racks. Should you require a better method to deal with your coats, a coat rack stand is undoubtedly the preferable way to accomplish this. Plus, how many times have the kids arrived home from school and immediately tossed their jacket anyplace they like? Now is the moment to take charge and initiate some organisation around the home and get them hooked on the pattern of hanging them up on your new coat stand.

Lastly, you imagine that your closet is the most correct place to hold your coat. Nevertheless, how many people have a closet large enough to keep everyone’s coats in the family household – coupled with friends and people calling by. Further, should you posses a good selection of quality jackets or coats you shall wish to show them off in a viewable place and you cannot manage that in the closet! By hanging them upon a coat rack, everyone can catch sight of them.

The stands can be quite affordable, and will fit into any area with effortlessness. The ideal place to search for stands is using the world-wide-web, because you can put side by side a immense assortment of models and costs with easiness. Do not buy the very first thing you see, but rather choose a couple and make a cautious decision. Locate any one that goes extremely well with your house, as this may be the only one that you purchase.

A coat rack stand will as a matter of fact enhance any dwelling. Besides keeping track of all the various scarves, hats, caps, coats and umbrellas that are scattered around the house, they in addition insert stylishness and style to your home.

Tips For Finding and Hiring the Perfect Contractor.

Finding and hiring a contractor that you trust can be a daunting task, here are a few tips to help ease the process.

With the advancement of the web in the last 10 years and such social media applications such as Face book, Twitter and You tube. We have almost an unlimited access to information. With that said, it’s becoming much easier to find the services we’re searching for and eliminate the good from the bad.Here’s a list of sources to help find quality contractors, remember not all of them are professionals but we’ll go over the screening process in a moment.

1. The Internet
Google, Yahoo, Ask.com or any other popular search engine will work. If you type the specific type of contractor you’re looking for, followed by your region you will find a list of contractors who provide that service. I.e. “Siding Contractors Halifax Nova Scotia.” Try to be direct and use short, to the point words or phrases for best results.

Online classified ad sites, such as Craigslist or Kijiji. These sites are often gold mines, you must use your better judgment here and sift through the ads a little more carefully, as these sites are usually free and don’t require any special qualifications to place an ad. The upside is that often you’ll find a company who is new in business who will offer great, sometimes better service then most and for a cheaper price. Make sure you background check thoroughly when looking on free classified ad sites.

Your local phone directories will most likely have an online site you can search as well, Yellow pages and Canada 411 for most of us in Canada.

2. Phone Directory
Yes, underneath that inch of dust is a book. Yes, they still exist. That book is most likely the Yellow Pages and it is chock full of ads for local businesses. Quite a few pages are dedicated to local contractors, there’s an abundance of us, but that’s an entire different story.The Yellow Pages have gone through a few changes and one of those changes is that they now present you with the largest ads first, instead of alphabetically. There are many different opinions on this method of advertisement and how to choose a company from the Yellow Pages. Don’t always assume companies with larger ads will charge more or companies with smaller ads are not as good. Some companies with large ads will go into debt paying massive fees for those large ads and may be on the brink of a financial crisis, whereas a company with smaller or less advertisement has funds freed up to support other areas of their business, customer service for example. Again, it boils down to doing your homework carefully and selecting a contractor who’s qualified, can fit your needs and has a good reputation.

3. Friends/Family/Neighbors
“Hey Joe, hey Sue, know where I can get my roof serviced?” “Yeah, call (Company name). They did ours and we’re very pleased”

Word of mouth referrals is where most of our business comes from, and what better way to find a contractor then through a referral from someone you trust?. I advise you still go through the screening process because what works for some may not work for others.

Decorating a window, let alone a whole home, can often be a daunting task for many people. When faced with the enormous selection of materials, colors, products and styles, it may cause anxiety and confusion when trying to determine the best aesthetic and functional solution for a project. Initially, one should determine what a window treatment needs to do for the room. Usually, the basic functional requirements are one, or all, of the following: privacy, light/glare control, heat/draft insulation and sun damage protection.

Of course, there are applications where the aesthetic beauty of a window treatment is the primary consideration for the homeowner and functionality takes a back seat. It is important to note however, that direct sunlight will cause significant damage to upholstery, carpeting, hardwood and artwork over prolonged exposure. Sun fade and rot are two very important considerations when choosing the appropriate window treatment, even if privacy and increased insulation are not.

The next step is to determine the overall style you are looking for. There are many beautiful blind solutions available today that offer the customer an ‘all in one product’ answer. The term hard window covering is often used to group blinds under one heading, however there are several styles of blinds that look and feel like soft flowing sheer and drapery. If a more formal, elegant, or traditional window treatment is preferred a layered, more elaborate, design may be the best alternative.

With this approach you can combine the cost effective functionality of a privacy blind to the soft flowing fullness of a sheer or embroidered organza along with a drapery over treatment, such as side panels or valance. Current trends, with regard to drapery fabrics, are focused on lined side panels hung on decorative hardware. This design provides a single layer solution for north facing windows, however if direct sunlight is a concern one should always add a blind or sheer to filter the damaging UV rays of the sun. Without a sun filtering layer the room would be darkened and closed off when the drapery is drawn. A layered treatment provides not only the necessary sun control, but also allows the homeowner to maintain their view while allowing natural light into the room.

If, you have any decorating questions, or are looking for design ideas, I’d be more than happy to answer your emails in future additions of ‘The Connection’. Or simply stop by our showroom and view a comprehensive selection of fabrics and blinds.

Great tips for buying any kind of household appliance online are essential and while they might have been covered in the past, it can always be covered again. Making big purchases online is becoming more and more common, but it can really be a bit tricky if you’re new to the process. Here are some really great tips that will help you to make the right choice the first time:

- Know what you’re looking for. When you have a good idea as to what type of household appliance you’re seeking, you will be able to narrow down your search and get the products you really need. Be sure to take measurements and have a good idea of how you want your new appliance to look so that you can choose from products that exactly meet your needs.

- Consider the retailer. You’re going to want to choose an online retailer who not only sells top of the line household appliances, but also carries the really great mid-range appliances. This will help you to feel confident that you are ordering from a reputable source. Don’t go for “off brands” when it comes to your appliances or you might find out that you’re buying a new one in a year or two. When it comes to the retailer, look for great prices, but nothing so low that it feels too good to be true. You should also consider factors such as warranty, installation, and delivery as well as customer service.

- Read the product reviews. Much of the time, when you order an appliance online, you are pretty much doing so without having the benefit of physical shopping. This can save time and energy, but if you don’t make sure to read the product reviews that have been written by others who actually made the purchase, you could wind up spending lots of money on a product that really isn’t so great. Product reviews are one of the best ways to determine which appliances are going to be a good fit for you, as well as for you to find out the quality of the household appliance before you get it in your home.

- Is the online retailer recommended? Where did you hear about them? A good online retailer will work a lot like a physical retailer and will do advertising that doesn’t involve your online search, so the more you hear about it, the more reputable it likely is.

Buying household appliances online can be fun and convenient, but it’s important to choose the right retailer to ensure you get just what you need and just the way you want it.