Sunrooms are a great place to spend a lazy afternoon. However, during certain times of the day (or year), this area of your home may be a little brighter than you bargained for. UV blocking glass may keep you from getting sunburned, but the light can still create an unpleasant level of glare. Installing shades, blinds, or drapes is one way to take control of how much sun you let into your sunroom.

Blinds and Shades

Louvered vinyl blinds or roll-up bamboo shades are the cheapest option for the floor to ceiling style windows in most sunrooms. These can be installed as a DIY project and are available in a wide variety of sizes. Consider purchasing shades from the same manufacturer or distributor who supplied the other materials for your sunroom. This is one way to get a fairly good deal and ensure a proper fit. If you have a bespoke sunroom built to your specifications, expect to pay more for custom blinds.

Sunroom Drapes

Do you prefer curtains but don’t want to spend thousands on a custom window treatment? Buy sheer fabric from a discount store and make these yourself. For full drapes, each fabric panel should be at least 1.5 times the width of the glass pane it is covering. Allow several inches of extra fabric at the top and bottom for a hem and the channel for the curtain rod. Finish with ribbon tie backs for a breezy, simple effect. If you want to be able to fully block light and conserve energy when you aren’t using the room, install solid drapes with a thermal blackout liner.

Fun Stuff

Don’t forget that skylights may need to be shaded as well. Motorized blinds can be installed to open and close with the flick of a switch. This gives you the option of blocking the rays of the sun when it is directly overhead. During the summer, this can make your sunroom easier to cool.

You know that horizontal stripes aren’t usually flattering as a fashion statement. They make you look fatter than you really are. These lines can do the same thing to your home. Traditional beveled siding wraps your home in overlapping horizontal layers that can make the entire building look short and squat.

What if you want a façade that draws the eye upward toward lovely scalloped trim or a specialty roof? In that case, you might choose vertical siding. You can purchase this style of exterior in vinyl, cedar, or fiber cement varieties; so there is a product for every budget.

Manmade

Board and batten style vertical siding is available in cement fiber sections from manufacturers like HardiePanel. This look features wide flat panels (boards) interrupted by, thin raised strips of trim (battens) at regular intervals. Fiber cement can be pre-coated at the factory with a baked on finish or painted on-site. This material is very durable and resistant to wind, hail, and sun.

Vinyl siding offers even more vertical design options with fancy beaded and triple batten patterns. It come in preselected colors and doesn’t have to be painted. This option is cost effective from a maintenance standpoint. Just hose it down a couple of times a year and check the caulking around joints.

Natural

Red cedar is kiln dried in preparation for use outdoors. This pre-shrinks it by removing moisture so that it won’t contract as much after installation. Lapped, tongue and groove, board and batten, and other joining methods can be used for vertical installation to add visual interest.

Cedar that is properly primed and painted is resistant to weathering and can last for several decades with proper maintenance. If you select this wood, install a different façade material for the bottom 6”. Cedar that comes into contact with the soil is prone to decay.

Have you ever wanted to watch your favorite cooking show in your kitchen instead of on the sofa? You could try out the techniques those super-chefs demonstrate with all the utensils, ingredients and appliances you need in arm’s reach. Or, maybe you like to hang out at the breakfast bar with your friends instead of watching sports in the living room with the guys. Install a TV in the kitchen and you can choose whatever entertainment you want.

TV Lifts Save Space in your Kitchen

With counter top space at a premium, you will want your TV monitor tucked out of sight when not in use. This will also protect it from the occasional cooking accident that ends up with oil spatters or mashed potatoes on the walls. You have several choices for hiding your flat panel plasma TV.

A rising TV lift can be incorporated into your center island. This is the best location if you want to install a large screen. The surface of your island will still be flush so it can be used as a workspace. The hinged section of marble, granite, wood, or laminate concealing your TV will simply open up with the press of a button from your remote control. A scissor or telescoping lift brings the monitor into view.

Drop down “lifts” operate in the opposite direction. You can mount this kind in the ceiling or have it drop down to counter level from inside a kitchen cabinet. These are a great solution for smaller screens. Here are some extra tips for making the right choice:

• Always choose a lift that is designed for the size and weight of your plasma screen
• Measure the inside dimensions of your island or cabinet twice before purchasing your TV and lift
• Avoid buying a lift that has plastic parts – these will break easily
• Have your lift professionally installed to preserve your warranty

Roof underlayment materials provide the final surface on which shingles are attached. The most common type is roofing felt (sometimes called tar paper). It is often made of fiberglass “paper” impregnated with asphalt. This felt is available in #15 and #30 weights with the thicker paper, 30 lb paper being slightly more durable. These products must be fire, wind, and puncture resistant to meet current building codes.

Tar paper isn’t designed to act as a replacement for shingles. It is intended to make your roof less susceptible to moisture penetration. Felt is applied over the roof decking and may be layered over an additional water barrier such as flashing tape. Roofing felt is a very inexpensive material but not as durable as some of the newer products on the market. It must be overlapped properly during installation to prevent water from seeping between the layers. Extensive smoothing is often required to prevent wrinkling.

Thermoplastic polyolefin (TPO) is a membranous, synthetic roofing underlayment. It is less prone to leaking and tearing than traditional tar paper. One major advantage is the breathability of the material. Instead of trapping moisture in the attic, it permits water vapor to escape. This minimizes the risk of mold growing under the roofing material. TPO is generally available in wider widths that reduce the number of total seams that must be overlapped. This type of product is sometimes advertised as providing wrinkle-free installation.

Specialty felts are available for extreme climates. Some are designed to be self-adhesive and are thick enough to withstand ice as well as rain. They won’t allow water through – even around nail holes. These barriers are laid down first with a layer of traditional tar paper or synthetic membrane on top. With all of these materials, proper installation provides the greatest protection and longevity for your roof.

Tiled shower stalls are popular for a reason. They look great – for the first few months. After that, the grout may start to show signs of age. Many shampoos and body washes contain dyes that stain tiles and grout. Soap scum mixed with minerals from your water can cake to any surface. Keeping mold and mildew at bay is a constant struggle in the moist environment of your bathroom.

No matter what the makers of spray on shower cleaners claim, you will end up scrubbing your grout at some point. The only way to avoid this is to replace your shower stall or tub surround with smooth acrylic panels. Unlike a pre-fab unit, you don’t need plumbing skills to do this upgrade yourself. You aren’t removing the old tub or shower, simply covering it with a fresh, easy to clean surface.

Variety in Choice

While tub liners and shower pans are generally available in just a few neutral colors, there are lots of options for the surrounding walls. Faux granite and marble wall liners can make this “quick fix” look quite sophisticated. There are even molded acrylic panels that look like tile – but without the grout.

You can easily find products with accessories like soap dishes and safety bars. There are also companies that will customize a liner for you to fit any space and add cut outs for windows.

Before You Install

Clean your existing bathtub or shower stall before installing a liner. Also, let the area dry fully. You don’t want water to be trapped between the liner and the original surface. Choose materials that are protected with Milguard or a similar microbe inhibitor to help keep your liner free of mildew.

Stucco siding is fairly resistant to stains from fungus, rot, and exposure to the weather. However, staining and discoloration may still occur. The complexity of the removal process depends on what kind of stain you are dealing with. The age of the stain and whether it has set also play a part. Because of this, you should always address discoloration as soon as you notice it.

Stained Stucco Siding

What to Use

There are many products that purportedly work to remove stains on stucco. However, the preferred method generally includes the use of a dilute solution of the following:

1 cup of TSP (trisodium phosphate)

1 quart of bleach

1 gallon of water

Apply the solution with a pump sprayer for large areas or just pour it on for smaller stains. Rigid brushes could potentially damage some stucco surfaces. Always use a soft bristled brush for scrubbing.

For the rinsing stage, use a fairly gentle spray of water from a garden hose. If you decide to use a high pressured sprayer, don’t exceed a PSI of 1500. The durability of stucco varies from one manufacturer to the next, so don’t assume that yours will stand up to pressurized spraying.

Additional Information

Protect the surrounding ground from chemicals whenever possible. Soil may not sustain plants for several years after being soaked with TSP. Vegetation may be harmed or killed by exposure to this solution.

Wear protective equipment to keep the stain remover from coming into contact with your skin or eyes.

Other potential cleaning products include muriatic acid (another name for hydrochloric acid), CLR, stone wash, Jomax, lime wash and a variety of specially designed stucco wash. Follow the manufacturer’s directions and safety precautions when using any of these products. Light sand blasting of especially difficult stains should only be used a last resort.

In the near future, imagine windows that not only provide a clear view and illuminate rooms, but also use sunlight to efficiently help power the building (or home) they are part of.  MIT engineers are working on a new way to harness the sun’s energy that could allow just that.

This involves the creation of a novel “solar concentrator.” “Light is collected over a large area [like a window] and gathered, or concentrated, at the edges,”

As a result, rather than covering a roof with expensive solar cells (the semiconductor devices that transform sunlight into electricity), the cells only need to be around the edges of a flat glass panel. In addition, the focused light increases the electrical power obtained from each solar cell “by a factor of over 40,”

The system is simple to manufacture, the MIT team believes that it could be implemented within three years even added onto existing solar-panel systems to increase their efficiency by 50 percent for minimal additional cost. This would substantially reduce the cost of solar electricity.

For now this can be quite expensive, but for the long term of your home it is a big investment making your home energy efficient.  Combine this solar power tech with the current insulated windows, you can’t go wrong!

Getting your pantry organized and making small improvements lets you stock more of the items you need without using up valuable cabinet space in your kitchen. Using air tight, stackable containers for storage is a good start. To really maximize your available space, you need to create unique shelving solutions.

Screw small wire organizer shelves (the kind with a lip to keep things from falling off) onto the inside of the pantry door. Or, install a hook. Here, you can hang your fly swatter or a plastic grocery bag holder. Since the door will swing opened and closed, don’t use this space to store anything breakable. Also be careful not to add too much weight.

Use a lazy Susan for areas that are difficult to reach. This round, turning storage mechanism can give you easy access to items that you keep on high shelves. Instead of having to climb up a stepstool to see which jars or boxes are tucked in the shelf corners, you can simply turn the lazy Susan to present one item after another until you find what you need.

Install custom sliding or pull out shelving in other strategic places in your pantry. Often there is wasted space between items that are stored on one shelf and those on the next shelf above. This approach will help eliminate these unused areas.

One of the biggest dead spaces in a pantry is the center. This space needs to be open so you can walk in and out easily. However, you can hang baskets, dried herbs, and ropes of onions from the ceiling taking care to place them where you won’t bump your head.

Choosing a kitchen sink faucet that suits your needs can make food prep an enjoyable task and dishwashing less of a chore. Function and style are blended in modern faucet designs, so you don’t have to sacrifice one for the other. If you are replacing the basin at the same time, be sure to select one with the correct number and placement of openings to accommodate the faucet of your choice.

Basics

A long necked faucet that arcs high over the sink is probably the most popular style for today’s kitchens. It is easy to maneuver even large pots under this type of fixture – especially if you have a double basin sink. This type of faucet can be installed with ornate hot and cold temperature knobs to the right and left of the central fixture.

If you like one-handed temperature and flow control, pick a faucet with a single adjustment lever incorporated into its base. For an old fashioned look with a modern finish, consider a pump handle style in oil rubbed bronze. Matte black and ivory are other alternatives to stainless steel and chrome on some high-end brands.

Accessories

A sprayer is a must-have for cleaning your sink and prepping soiled dishes for your dishwasher. You can install a separate retractable sprayer. Or, choose a faucet that features a pulldown sprayer head for a more streamlined look.  A soap dispenser can be hidden under the sink with a push nozzle located by the faucet for easy dispensing. Choose a standard sized faucet if you plan to install a water filter or want to hook up a carpet shampooer.

Upgrading your bathrooms with new showerheads is one way to instantly change the appearance and performance of your showers. There is plenty of variety to choose from. Luxury showerheads can be ornate and decorative as well as being practical. Most heads are simple spray devices but many are active body massagers. Some save water; still others create high pressure spray. Handheld and adjustable shower heads are also available.

The most expensive models include advanced electronics that control the balance and flow of large amounts of water. Such high-tech showerheads require professional installation. However, upgrades with a standard showerhead can usually be done simply by following the assembly instructions provided by the manufacturer. Here are a couple of additional installation tips.

Prevent Leaks

Use pipe thread compound (available from your home improvement store) when you attach your showerhead upgrade to the existing pipe. This will help ensure a proper fit. Unscrewing the old head sometimes breaks the seal from the gooseneck pipe to the internal plumping. Use the pipe thread compound and sealant on both ends of the gooseneck extension connection.

Prevent Damage
 
The finish on a new connection pipe can easily be damaged if you use pliers or a pipe wrench on the outside to force it to turn. To get a tight fit without damaging the gooseneck, it’s best to turn it by hand. However, this is not always possible. If the pipe has a flat surface, you may be able to use a flat adjustable wrench.

Otherwise, try an alternative solution. These pipes generally have a small bend in them (that’s why they’re called goosenecks). Stick the end of a long, thick screw driver into the pipe’s opening. Use it as a lever to turn the pipe from the inside. Any scrapes will be on the inside of the pipe and will not affect its performance.

Concrete tiles were developed in Europe during the mid 19th century. Since that time, they have proven to be one of the most durable roof products on the market. Some examples of this type of roofing have lasted in excess of 100 years without requiring replacement. Because of the manufacturing technique used, these can mimic many other types of roofing tile including terracotta and slate.

Although concrete tiles were intended to be cheaper and lighter substitutes for clay tiles, subtle differences in color permanence means the two should not be mixed even if they are made to look the same. They will wear differently over time and areas on a clay roof that are patched with concrete tiles will be apparent.

Costs and ROI

Today, concrete tiles tend to be a bit more expensive in upfront costs than other types of roof materials. However, their durability means that over the years the difference is recovered. In fact, the warranty is often for the lifetime of the building.

Extreme Durability

High standards in modern manufacturing allow concrete roofing tiles to withstand up to 150 mph sustained winds. This durability makes concrete roofing ideal for hurricane prone areas. These materials have been laboratory tested to withstand a strike from a 2 inch diameter hailstone without any blemish or damage of any kind.

If large blown embers from a fire land on them, then there will be no observable damage below the tile and only some discoloring on the surface. Basically, it is very fire resistant but not completely fire proof.

Modern concrete roofing tiles also exceed current seismic load requirements and standards. This means that they are more likely to withstand an earthquake too. This doesn’t mean that they are indestructible. A visual inspection is still necessary whenever your roof experiences extreme weather conditions or a natural disaster.

French drains offer a solution to the pooling of water next to your home’s foundation after a torrential downpour. These drainage trenches redirect water away from your house and act as underground gutters.

In their simplest form, French drains are open trenches that are 2 or more feet deep and approximately 12 inches wide. They can be used to intercept water flowing down from higher ground.

The idea is to have gravity take control as the trench slopes about 1 quarter of an inch per foot down to where you want the drain to end. This provides a path for the rain water to run along uninterrupted.

For safety reasons and to prevent erosion, large gravel is often used to fill in the trenches. The water simply flows through the pores created by the piled stones. This fill materials provides structure to the trench so that it doesn’t collapse inward. 

Sophisticated French Drains

Modern French drains include a 4 inch diameter perforated drainage pipe. This component is laid down on top of the first 2 inches of gravel in the trench. The holes in the pipe face downward. The pipe is then completely covered with 4 to 6 inches of gravel.

The top layer of gravel is covered with a fabric liner. Then, top soil can be added as a finishing touch. In this way a seamless landscape is created and the French drain is hidden from sight.

This approach can allow the drain to remain working for decades because it will not easily get clogged. If it does get clogged, a plumper’s pipe snake will easily fix the problem. A properly built French drain should last a lifetime.