Indy Total Construction

If you are ripping out worn out carpeting and find hardwood flooring underneath your first impulse may be to lay new carpet over the wood since refinishing hardwood floors may seem like something that is out of your reach. Many homes have hardwood flooring because in the 60’s it was considered luxury for a room to be carpeted wall to wall, which of course has change quite a bit since then given most homes are now carpeted.

Despite this fact, tastes have changed once again over the last forty years and now hardwood floors are quite desirable and in fashion for quality homes. The good news is that almost anyone is capable of refinishing their own hardwood floors if they are willing to put some time and muscle into it.

Before you can started however, you may want to access the space you are trying to restore because past fifty square feet of wood and you may want to purchase or hire an orbital sander since the sanding process can get tedious. The sander itself is not as costly as you may think, since it only costs a bit over one hundred pounds at a hardware store and can be a great investment if you frequently start DIY projects in your home.

Before you can start sanding you will notice that a thick wax coating is revealed that is followed underneath by a coat of some type of varnish or polyurethane once the carpet is off. In order to get the wax off completely it is a good idea to hire a heavy duty wax stripper and then you can simply place acetone or a lacquer thinner onto the wood surface to start the next step.

At this point you should look over the wood to see if there are any old nails or carpet tacks sticking up and remove them. Nails can easily ruin a sanding pad, hurt your hand, or tear the sandpaper so you need to make sure that you take out everything and fill in the holes left behind with wood filler that is a close match to the color of the hardwood flooring.

Now you can grab you your sander or a piece of 200 grit sandpaper and start evening out the surface. Once the process is complete use a damp cloth to remove as much dust as possible from the wood and then let it dry. Repeat again and wipe this time with a tack rag which will pick up the finer particles of dust (you can pick up a tack rag from a local hardware store).

When the floor is clean, apply three fresh coats of polyurethane letting each layer dry completely and sanding in between layers to keep the surface flat. You will also need to wipe with a damp cloth and tack rag each time. At this point you can simply choose a finish and you will be all done with a great new wood floor.

When something goes wrong with your plumbing the results can be quite expensive, but with some DIY plumbing knowledge you can prevent these repairs from becoming necessary by taking care of your homes plumbing yourself.
First of all, when the end of autumn comes around you should disconnect all outside hoses around your home because it will stop pipes from freezing and you will not need to worry about water damage. On the other hand, you can take some time to purchase hose bibs that prevent freezing and not worry about this DIY plumbing prevention task.

Next, you should pay some attention to your water heater and make sure that is completely lagged so that you don’t have to worry about a burst tank and you can tick that off your list of DIY plumbing jobs.

While on a winter holiday make sure that you leave your water heater seating on ‘pilot’ or a ‘holiday’ setting if it has one. This will help prevent damage while you are away. Also take care that you leave the heating system at least at 13C – 55F, because even though you may not be home to need the heat, you want to make sure that your pipes do not freeze.

In addition, you should also take care to drain out the water heater completely at least once a year if not twice. While this is not a particularly gratifying DIY plumbing task, it will flush out the sediment that gathers on the bottom of the water heater that if left unattended will start to corrode through the bottom of the tank costing you a hefty repair bill.

Finally, invest in placing some strainers and drain catchers so that small items, objects, and hair do not get down into your pipes by accident. These items can cause clogs that are expensive to fix and can be prevented with just a few minutes of time if put catchers in place.

Many people like the idea of DIY home improvements because they help trim the budget for many household maintenance jobs. If you like the idea of fixing items around the home without the need of a repairman you will first need to prepare your garage or toolbox since there are a few essentials that you will have to purchase from the DIY store if they are not in your possession.

Topping the list of items that you will almost always need for DIY home improvements are adhesives and lubricants. Adhesives are used to hold certain materials together either temporarily until a better fix can be made or in some cases as a final repair.

One of the basic adhesives that you will need to place in your toolbox is white glue because it is a versatile adhesive and can be used on a variety of materials including wood, cardboard, paper, cloth, leather, and a handful additional materials. For fine wood work however you should keep the other basic adhesive on hand: carpenter’s glue.
As mentioned, you will also need lubricants around while attempting some DIY home improvements because they are the best fix for a door that is jammed, a squeaky hinge, or a nut/bolt that will not come unscrewed despite your best efforts.

Many lubricants are packaged in cans with a straw that can be attached for a fine stream of the substance that you can direct efficiently. There are different types of lubricants on the market however and you should keep in mind that if you are working with any material that is made out of rubber, vinyl, or wood you will need a lubricant that contains a large percentage of silicon to protect the material.

1. Stress

Getting stressed out? Stress is a contributing factor to a lot of household injuries, and possible damages. For example, below is sign #2, –a direct contributing reason to get stressed out. Signs 3 and  4 are direct possible results of being too stressed out to do your project efficiently. So before you start freaking out, relax, and call a friend, or a professional, to lighten the load.

2. Excessive Complaints from Neighbors/Family

Sometimes, you have to speed things up, because noise or other inconveniences caused by your project, are driving the people around you insane. Most neighbors are understanding, –for about a week. Your family on the other hand, well, –they probably won’t last that long. So before things get too crazy, consider the length of the project, and how to minimize the noise, –even if it means assistance from professionals.

3. Accidental Damage

A big sign, probably the second biggest, –you’re breaking stuff! If you’ve damaged your own property to the point where you have to put your project on hold, so that you can pay to fix what you’ve damaged, –then it’s time to call in some help.

4. Injury

The biggest sign in the list, and the most important. If you hurt yourself, then it’s time to take a break. Even if it’s just a small scrape or cut, –because sometimes an injury or careless mistake, is a sign that you’re stressed. If you throw your back out, or get a more serious cut or abrasion, first, get some medical attention. Then call someone to help out, –and don’t go back to the project until the doctor says it’s okay.

10. Self-Designing a Room –With all Matching Furniture

When you purchase a complete bedroom furnishing set, your house will start looking like it’s a showroom. In addition to being boring, and extremely visually hefty, it’s an indication that you do not care about an individual sense of fashion since you have let others perform your decorating job, by letting some place such as a furniture store create it for you.

9. Doing Your Landscaping Using Artificial Flowers

Typically, fake flowers are no good as they are inexpensive and cannot ever touch the prettiness of real ones. And putting artificial flowers outside? That is a definite no no.

8. Organizing all your Knick-knacks On One Shelf

There isn’t anything bad about having small decorations, particularly if they’re works of art or you picked them up on a trip. Yet, if you’ve got an entire wall dedicated to these small things which aren’t of any real use, they will look disorganized, sloppy, and tacky. If you’re not willing to give up some of these one hundred or so small knickknacks, switch them every once in a while, so that only some of them are out at the same time.

7. Actually Using Slipcovers

Plastic slipcovers, which were made to keep the material of home furnishings safe, might have experienced some popularity in the sixties, yet slipcovers weren’t ever okay. They’re ugly and squeaky, in addition to not being comfortable. Once in a while a person will be wearing some clothes for comfort rather than style, or he or she might spill something all over his or her clothing, yet this isn’t a reason for donning a parka for the entire day.

6. Theme Rooms

If your home is near the beach, it’s okay to have a few accessories in a couple of places, and it’s even more okay if you have a real antique wheel from a boat. Yet, designing a theme into a whole area is totally tacky. And, it is even more terrible if your ocean themed room is really somewhere in Missouri.

5.Toilet Seats With Patterns

If you desire to make your bathroom a bit more fashionable, do a bit of painting in it and hang pieces of art and curtains. Yet, let the toilet alone; maintain a basic, white toilet and leave it precisely as the maker created it. Do not even consider purchasing any fancy type of toilet, that you can find available for sale on various Internet store websites, such as amazon.

4. Leaving Cables and Cords Out

In addition to being a fire hazard, having a lot of cords laying around looks terrible. Whenever you can, utilize wireless items, and if you must, stop playing games.

3. Artificial Wall Treatments

Tuscany and the buildings in it are gorgeous. Yet, unless you really are a citizen of Italy, fake exposed brick and color washing will not trick anybody that comes to visit your house. Clean white walls provide as much relaxation as these do, and you may as simply provide your lover with a picture in a frame of your vacation of choice.

2. Vertical Blinds

In the eighties, these blinds were extremely popular, yet they have a really commercial appearance and, above all, aren’t fashionable. In sum, they will turn your house into something from the past, and not a good past. If you desire to prevent the sun from getting into your eyes, yet continue to be able to look outside, buy a few sheer cotton panels to do so.

1. Compulsively Collecting Pillows

When you’ve got too many cushions on your couch, it prevents you from being able to sit on the couch, and it is unnecessary to inform you that this is a huge design error!

Whether you are looking to remodel your kitchen for yourself or for resale, there are a few helpful tips that can spice up your kitchen.

1. Check for coupons to Home Depot on auction sites like Ebay. Many times, you can find coupons that give you 10-20% off items. One caveat is that you need to check the feedback of the seller first to make sure they are honest about the coupons.

2. When searching for contractors to remodel your kitchen, give craigslist.org a try. You can post an ad yourself, asking for contractors, or you can find ads from the contractors themselves, showcasing their skills.

3. Change out the wallpaper in your kitchen. It is not as difficult as you would imagine. You will need to buy a scoring tool called a Paper Tiger and use it to press gently on your walls. Next, combine 3 parts water with 1 part fabric softener and place into a spray bottle. Spray the walls and let it soak in for a few minutes. The paper should peel right off. If not, repeat the process.

4. If you are picking new granite or Corian countertops, steer clear of dark, solid colors. Stains and dirt show up on them easily. Stick with lighter colors that will mask any imperfections.

5. A good choice for flooring material in your kitchen is porcelain tile because they are durable and easy to clean. The ones with a non slip texture are even better. Pick a dark grout color so that dirt does not show.

6. A quick and relatively inexpensive way to get rid of unsightly Formica counters is to install granite tiles over them.

7. Lighting is very important yet often overlooked. Position your brightest lights above your largest countertop spaces and your island. This prevents shadows on your counters and showcases the beauty of your counters. You can also install accent lighting in numerous places such as under cabinets or along walls. Be creative.

Do you find yourself thinking of ways you might make money online? If you have a talent for creating craft items, Etsy could be the perfect meeting of your talents and your desire to make some extra cash. My friend has a passion for making jewelry. She was able to transform her passion into a steady source of income. She started out making jewelry for friends and family. Then one day at the mall, a woman asked where my friend had bought her necklace.

She told the woman she’d made it herself, and the woman offered cash on the spot to buy the necklace. My friend knew she could make another one just like it, so she gladly handed it over. A few weeks later, another woman asked about a bracelet my friend was wearing. This woman told my friend about Etsy. That evening, my friend sat down and spent some time at the Etsy website. Figuring that she had nothing to lose, she listed a few pieces of jewelry she had on hand. She did not realize what an enormous impact these few listings would have on her life. Thanks to Etsy, she was able to start her business.

Eventually, she was able to quit her job and focus on the business. If you have a penchant for crafts, Etsy is the perfect marketplace for them. The site offers jewelry, purses, ceramics, woodwork, quilts, beads and more. Because the items are all handcrafted, the selection is unlike anything you’ll see in a store. The opportunity to shop for unique items draws buyers from near and far. The site is user friendly, too, and doesn’t require a degree in rocket science to list your items. Etsy is the perfect marketplace for artists, designers and crafters.

Painting the living room or laying down a new tile floor in the bath may appear simple, but the reality is that it’s not nearly as easy as it looks. This is where home improvement TV shows have carved out a terrific niche. These programs offer detailed instruction on how to accomplish these tasks correctly. They also shed light on common mistakes and dish up advice on how to avoid the same pitfalls.

For larger endeavors in the area of home improvement, shows like “Holmes Homes” on HGTV are incredibly helpful. ”Divine Design” lays out great tips for smaller decorating projects and things like painting. The DIY network offers an array of programming, much of which is geared to specific projects. Even better, a lot of cable providers now offer these programs “on demand” so you can zero in on just the right show for your planned project. When you sit down to watch one of these “how to” shows, have a notebook and pen nearby. Jot notes on tools, products, recommended brands and, most importantly, the instructions. Skipping even the smallest detail could have a negative affect on the project’s outcome. When watching these programs, remember: TiVo or DVR is your partner. Having the ability to pause the program or rewind lets you make sure you have all the necessary details.

Further, HGTV, DIY Network and similar channels have Websites that offer even more details about the projects seen on TV. Be sure to make the most of this resource. In the past, TV has served mostly as a form of entertainment. Today, thanks to great programming and added technology, you can watch and learn, and take on a project without hiring a contractor.

I’ve been a plumber for several years and cannot tell you how many times I have walked into home improvement stores like Lowes or Home Depot only to find a customer, despondent about a leak that their toilet has sprung. As a plumber I would always suggest hiring a professional rather than doing it yourself, but in tough economic times, sometimes homeowners have to take matters into their own hands. Let me provide you with some insight into why your toilet might be malfunctioning.

Most toilet leaks come from a few common causes. Your toilet may suffer from one or it may have a combination of problems. One of the most common sources of leaks for toilets is the wax seal. The wax seal is a gasket made of wax that is on the bottom of a toilet, where it rests on the floor. Often, water on the floor or on the ceiling below the toilet is a sure sign that you have a problem with the wax seal. To fix this problem you need a new wax ring and T-bolts which you can find at your local hardware store.

First, turn off the water supply to the toilet. Next, flush the toilet and soak up as much of the water as possible from the toilet bowl itself. After you do that, loosen the T-bolts, disconnect the supply tubes, and lift the toilet off the floor. Position the toilet so that it is upside down and proceed to scrape off the wax seal from the bottom of the toilet as well as from the floor. After you have done this, place in the new wax seal and connect everything back up the way it was and install the new T-bolts. Turn the T-bolts 5 and 1/4 turns being careful not to over tighten the bolts. Turn the water on and flush the toilet.

Inspect the toilet, the floor, and the ceiling below for leaks. While labor intensive, performing this repair yourself would save you a couple of hundred dollars easily on plumber costs. The second most common leak source is caused by flowing over the overflow tube. If you have this problem, you will need a new fill valve. There are two types of fill valves. One has a big floating ball and arm, and the other has a float on the valve itself. Bother are interchangeable. You will need to buy a new fill valve at your local plumbing supply store.

Begin by turning off the water and disconnecting the splash tube. Flush the toilet and soak up all the water from the tank. Unscrew the nut under the fill valve on the outside of the toilet tank and remove the old fill valve. Install the new valve, making sure the height is correct. Put the valve into the hole in the bottom of the tank, tightening the nut on the outside as you go. Replace the supply tube and turn the water back on. Flush the toilet and check for leaks. Finally, take the tube that comes with the new valve and connect it from the valve to the overflow tube.

Another problem that frequently makes a toilet leak is a leak from the connection between the tank and the toilet bowl. In this case, you will need to purchase a new spud washer and new tank bolts. Occasionally, this problem arises from a cracked toilet bowl in which case you will need a new toilet. In order to determine this, the first thing that you need to do is to find out where the leak originates. Ask yourself if it leaks all the time or only when someone flushes the toilet. If it leaks all the time rather than only when someone flushes it, this is a sure sign that the tank or the bowl is cracked.

Examine each closely looking for hairline cracks where water may seep from. If you do find a crack, you are out of luck and will have to replace the toilet completely. Otherwise, this is probably a problem with the spud washer. To change this, you will once again need to shut off the water supply and flush the toilet. Next, loosen the bolts that connect the tank to the bowl. There are usually two or three of these depending on the model.

After that, remove the supply tube. Pick up the tank and remove it and the washer that is at the bottom of the tank. It is usually made of rubber and will have a spongy feel to it. Replace this washer with the spud washer you bought and place the tank back onto the bowl. Place the new bolts in and tighten gently, but do not over tighten. Replace the supply tube and turn the water back on. Again, check for leaks. Occasionally leaks originate from the supply tube. To fix this, you simply need to purchase a new supply tube and switch it out with the old one.

Another source of leaks in toilets is leaking inside the toilet from the tank to the bowl. The problem stems from the seal inside the tank called a flapper. To diagnose this problem, place a few drops of food coloring into the tank and wait for a couple of hours. After a couple of hours, check the bowl. If you see any of the food coloring in your toilet bowl, you can be assured that you have a leaky flapper.

To fix this, you will need to purchase a universal flapper. Most flappers are the same, although American Standard has their own design. Step one is to turn off the water to the toilet. Next, remove the old flapper by taking the chain off the lever and removing the flapper from two hooks at the bottom of the overflow tube that are attached to the flapper.

Install the new flapper and turn on the water. Try flushing the toilet. If it does not flush or does not flush with enough volume, adjust the chain length from the lever to the flapper. Test flush again. Hopefully with these tips, I have armed you with the knowledge to tackle the most common cause of toilet leaking and have hopefully saved you hundred of dollars in plumber fees.

It is almost the end of the year, a time when many people prepare to do some major cleaning in their homes. They are ready not only to vacuum and dust, but to go through their closets, drawers, and other storage spaces and decide what they want to keep, what they want to toss, and what they want to reorganize.

They also make a mental inventory to help them decide what purchases they will want to make during the new year. However, this kind of in-depth cleaning which is only done once or twice a year can be a daunting, time-consuming, and stressful undertaking. If you are nodding your head in agreement, take heart! What follows are some tried and true tips to make this big task a little bit more manageable. Don’t forget that many hands make light work!

Invite your family to join in. You might divide the house into rooms with each person assigned a different area to work in. Or you may all pitch in together, which can often be fun as you discover items you squirreled away months ago and subsequently forgot about. If your family is hesitant to help, remind them that you all live in the house together! Unless you live alone, every member of family should be involved to some extent. Giving family members a choice about what they want to do can make them more likely to help cheerfully. Perhaps someone wants to wash the windows or organize the garage.

Maybe someone would prefer to clean up the kitchen or sweep the floors. Whatever it is, giving options is likely to increase the level of your family’s participation in the process. Not only will the work go faster, but your family will feel a spirit of togetherness and unity when joining together for the common good of all. Even young children can be involved in some way in this work. Can your little one do some dusting? Help organize her room? Assist you in weeding the garden? Children are often eager to be a part of the real work of adults. Assigning chores to your children not only benefits you, it also is good for them.

Teaching them how to accept and follow through with responsibilities is an invaluable life lesson. Everything from feeding pets to sorting the laundry and folding clothes, or matching socks while others are doing more intensive cleaning, are valuable contributions to the work of the family that children can do. Does your child have his or her own room? Cleaning up the room, putting toys away, or taking out the trash are just some of the ways your child can become involved. Sometimes it can be hard to know where to begin with this big cleaning job.

A good rule of thumb is to start at the top of your house and work your way down. Not only is it a good idea to start at the top of the house, but you will also want to start at the top of each room. This means you clean the ceiling, walls, and windows before doing the furniture or floors. Cleaning in this way will allow dust that falls from the upper areas to collect below before you vacuum the lower parts of the room, including any furniture. If many people are helping you in one room, just remember to do a final vacuum of the furniture and floors when everyone is finished. It’s tempting to be a scavenger and hold onto everything you find.

Don’t do it! If you have not used something for more than a year, it is unlikely you are going to find a use for it now or in the future. Those clothes in your closet that have dust on them because it has been so long since you wore them need to be given away. Bite the bullet and get rid of them. Many people are reluctant to throw away things because they are sure that at some point down the road they will find a use for those items. However, unless you are able to device some kind of accounting or tracking system in which you itemize each of those knick knacks and other objects of interest, chances are you won’t remember that you have them.

Make a pile of those things and have a yard sale. You will make some spending money, and someone else who might have a use for those things now will reap the benefits. Divide and conquer: planning out a strategy for achieving your goals over a period of time will help you accomplish things in a timely manner. Remember you won’t finish this monumental task in one day, even if you have an army of helpers.

Make a realistic schedule for each day which includes what cleaning will be done. Within a week, depending on the size of your house and how many people you have helping you, you will have finished your work. Then you can sit back, look around at your fresh, clean, organized house, and give yourself a pat on the back for a job well done.