Lets face it… the water we use in our home today, needs to be filtered. Filtered water not only taste better, it is safer for our family to drink.

The next step may be to consider installing a whole house water filter. Every ounce of water entering your home would be filtered. But what are the benefits of installing a whole house water filter?

There are many, as I will explain.

The sole purpose of installing whole house water filters is to insure that not only is the water we drink safe, but also the water that we cook with, clean with and bathe in are of the utmost quality.

Many people have taken the next step to increasing the quality of their water and its’ use in every aspect of their daily lives.They have achieved this by installing a whole house water filter. I will explain some of the benefits of why this investment may be right for you.

First of all, it’s obvious that we want our drinking water to be clean, great tasting and safe. But it is the other places in our home that a whole house water filter may be of benefit to us.

What about our showers? Studies show that our bodies absorb more chlorine and other chemicals through our skin and inhalation during a shower, than drinking water from the tap.
Chlorine in our shower water can have a drying effect on skin and hair.
Our pores open up during a shower, making the absorption of chemicals into our skin easier.

Because of chemicals vaporizing during a shower, more chemicals enter the air in our homes during a shower than from any other source. Is a whole house water filter starting to make sense?

I even read a report that chlorine may be a cause of breast cancer. The report stated that women with breast cancer were found to have 50-60 percent more chlorine in their breast tissue than women with healthy breasts. Showering in chlorine free water reduces the risk of respiratory problems, due to the inhalation of chlorine while taking a shower. I guess you didn’t realize chlorine did more than make your water taste like a swimming pool.

The benefits of a whole house water filter goes beyond the bathroom.
What about cooking?

Cooking in filtered water just makes sense. Wouldn’t you think that food would taste better if it were cooked in clean clear water that is void of chlorine and all the other chemicals that threaten our water?

I have personally tested the difference in taste when making coffee using filtered verses non-filtered water. You can honestly taste the difference. Well known coffee shops wouldn’t think of making their signature coffee with non-filtered pool water. Why should we feel any different about making our morning cup of coffee.

Chlorine and other chemicals that are removed as they enter our homes won’t be imbedded in our clothes when we wash them. And when we use our dishwashers, because of the higher temperature of the water, chlorine can enter the air, just like when we are taking a shower.

In conclusion, I’ll bet you never thought about the water you use for purposes other than drinking, was so important. Because of the increasing abundance of chemicals and other impurities in our water supplies, whole house water filters are becoming even more important in promoting a good healthy lifestyle. Consider installing one in your home today!

When it comes to water purification, one of the most frequently asked questions is how does reverse osmosis work. For the home, you can choose an under the sink system just for the kitchen or you can choose a whole house reverse osmosis system. But, before you buy one, there are some things that you should consider.

First, let’s answer the question how does reverse osmosis work. Simply put, water is forced through a membrane in order to filter out contaminants. Reverse osmosis is commonly used in large water treatment facilities.

It works well to filter out large particles, like garbage and other pollutants that end in the water supply, but it is not possible to remove all chemical contaminants by this method. Reverse osmosis does not remove bacteria or microbes, which is why chlorine is added; to kill some of the germs and bacteria.

In some of the better public water supplies, additional systems, like activated carbon filters are used to trap some of the organic chemicals. UV lamps may be used to further disinfect the water. In other words, the real answer to how does reverse osmosis work to purify water is “not very well”, if you are concerned about chemical contaminants.

Depending on where you live, your tap water has probably already undergone reverse osmosis to some extent. Adding whole house reverse osmosis will do nothing to improve the taste, smell or appearance of the water that comes from your tap.

Reverse osmosis alone is not enough to insure that the water in your home is safe for drinking. If you put a reverse osmosis filter in your fish tank, your fish would become ill and probably die. If you have fish, you know that carbon filtration systems are needed to protect them. So, why would you drink water that your fish cannot live in?

The EPA allows levels of chlorine in tap water that exceed the maximum safe levels for swimming pools. Chlorine and other chemicals in tap water are believed to increase the risk of cancer and have been linked to a variety of other health conditions. Whole house reverse osmosis does nothing to remove those chemicals.

If you are wondering how does reverse osmosis work, you are probably interested in safer, better tasting drinking water. Whole house reverse osmosis will not provide that. A better choice is a combination purification process, available from only a few companies.

The best purification processes combine carbon filtration, ion exchange and sub-micron filtration. Carbon filtration removes odors and improves taste, as well as things you cannot see or smell. Ion exchange softens the water by replacing some minerals with others and balancing the trace mineral content. Sub-micron filtration is something like whole house reverse osmosis systems, except that microscopic contaminants are removed from the water.

If you have your own water purification system, you replace the filters regularly. Your local water treatment facility simply adds more chemicals to keep the filters clean and prevent them from rotting. They are not routinely replaced.

A home water purification system is a great idea, but whole house reverse osmosis alone is not really the best choice. Hopefully, we’ve answered your questions about how does reverse osmosis work and given you something to think about.

A tankless hot water heater is an efficient way to heat water, they are fitted with an electric, gas, or propane-heating device. These heaters are compact in size and virtually eliminates costly standby losses, they can provide warm water at remote points of use and less water is wasted while waiting for warm water to reach a remote faucet. Tankless heaters are compact in size and virtually eliminate the wasted energy of heating a large volume of water.

The tankless hot water heater is available at the homeowner’s request, in other words, the heated water is available on call with no limitations as to the quantity you can use. For the environmentally conscious, they use far less energy and natural gas then traditional hot water heaters. Home owners can see a typical savings of up to 50 – 60 percent on their gas bill after a tankless water heater is installed. A tankless water heater is more affordable than before ($500) and significantly reduces your water heating bill.

The tankless hot water heater is gaining in popularity as more people realize that they can save them money over the long run. Unlike a typical storage tank type hot water heater, tankless water heaters do not work by maintaining a tank of water at a consistent, high temperature. They are more efficient than traditional gas or electric heaters, and can cut your related energy costs by up to 50%. And this applies to Gas Tank style hot water heaters as well.

Demand water heaters are available in propane, natural gas, or electric models. They come in a variety of sizes for different applications, such as a whole-house water heater, a hot water source for a remote bathroom or hot tub, or as a boiler to provide hot water for a home heating system. Demand water heaters do cost more than conventional storage tank-type units. The appeal of demand water heaters is not only the elimination of the tank standby losses and the resulting lower operating costs, but also the fact that the heater delivers hot water continuously.

Storage tank heaters last 10 to 15 years but most tankless models have easily replaceable parts that can extend their life by many years more. Storage-type hot water heaters lose heat all day long consuming more energy than any other job in the home except space heating.

Tankless hot water heater systems only use energy to heat water when there is a demand for it, providing instantaneous hot water whereas conventional tank systems use energy to keep the water in the storage tank hot so that it is available when needed. These hot water heaters (also called “demand” or “instantaneous”) are far more energy efficient because they heat water only when you need it.

Ragging is a faux finish technique that uses a rag to produce a mottled decorative effect. Ragging can be done negatively where the rag is use to remove the glaze, or ragging can be done positively where the rag is use to apply the glaze to the wall. Either way you choose to do it, ragging is a simple faux finish that most DIY’ers can pull off without too much trouble.

Positive Ragging

The easier of the two ragging methods, usually done with latex glaze and paint. Positive ragging technique consists on a base coat and one or two (or more if desired) colors to be ragged on over the base coat with a paint and glaze mix.

Choosing colors

A simple color scheme consisting of using two or three colors in the same color family. For instance, you might choose two or three hues of beige, one for the base coat and the other two to be ragged on with a paint/ glaze mix. You can make the base coat the darkest of the three or the lightest of the three colors, each way will have a slightly different look. You can finish the whole thing off with a thin white wash ragging to blend and soften all the colors together if you wish. Try out your colors choices on a piece of illustration board and make a sample of your finish before beginning on the actual room itself.

Base Coat, Glaze and Ragging Technique

With ragging on, your base coat will show and play a big part in the overall finish. The base coat should be a flat or satin latex paint. Paint the whole room with the base coat and allow it to dry.

Glaze is added to the ragged on layers to give the paint some transparency and to help the paint hold a pattern. You can use the same sheen for your ragging as you did for your base coat or use a slightly higher sheen to give the technique some shimmer and a bit more interest. For instance, if you used a flat for a base coat you could use satin for one of your ragged on colors and semi gloss for a second ragged on color.

Ragging on is done by dipping the rag directly into the paint and ringing the rag to remove the excess paint. After dabbing the rag against a roller grid, you take the rag to the wall and begin applying the paint to the wall with the rag in a patting fashion. Turn the rag as you go to avoid repetitious patterns from the rag. Rag the paint on in a random manner, stepping back from time to time to check the overall balance of the technique. Don’t fill in too much with the first color, leave a lot of open base coat showing for your second layer and ragging color. Apply the second layer of ragging after the first layer has dried. Your goal is a graded mottled look that is well balanced and pleasing.

To learn more about both ragging on and ragging off techniques see this URL:

http://www.paintinganddecoratingconcourse.com/articles/Faux-Positive-Ragging.html

Faux finishing is the term which broadly applies to most decorative painting techniques. Faux finishes can generally be divided into four categories: Wall finishes, Specialty Finishes, Marbleizing, and Wood Graining. Common wall finishes are: sponge painting, ragging , color washing etc… Specialty finishes would consist of techniques like crackle, or metallic and patina finishes which are used on small items like picture frames or vases etc… Marbleizing is the art of replicating marble on surfaces , while Wood Graining is the art of replicating various woods on any surface of choice.

Wood Graining Basics

Wood graining requires the use of a “glaze”. Glaze (in the world of faux finishing) is a translucent paint base that can be tinted to a desired color needed for the faux finish. A good faux finish glaze will have the ability to hold a pattern without creating a noticeable texture (such as a texture paint would), and be translucent allowing the various layers of glaze to interact with each other. A favorite glaze of mine is Modern Masters Tintable Glaze.

Start with a base coat

A “base coat” is a solid colored background upon which the wood graining technique will be applied. Base coats are usually various shades of “buff” ranging from gold buffs to warmer orange buff colors, other base coat colors are variations of red or coral for Mahogany to light shades of cream for Maple and other light woods.

The key to good graining is to do it in layers

A common method of wood graining is to put down a first “background” layer consisting of wood pores or cell structure over which a second primary grain layer is applied.

The background layer

There are a lot of different variations of background grain that the wood grainer employs depending on the wood he is trying to replicate. One common background graining method is known as “flogging” , which is done by lightly patting the wood graining glaze with the flat edge of the bristles of a Flogger brush. It is not absolutely necessary to use a special Flogger brush (although they do a better job), you can substitute a standard paint brush for flogging. More about flogging a background grain can be found at: http://www.paintinganddecoratingconcourse.com/articles/woodgraining-flogging.html

The primary grain

Once the background layer has dried thoroughly, you can lay down the primary grain. Common tools used to put down the primary grain are the “rockers” or wood graining tools that you see at many paint or hardware stores. Other tools are wood graining pads and wood graining rollers, both of which are commercially available – but harder to find than the standard rocker.

Liner brushes and dragging brushes

Individual grain lines can be drawn on with the skillful use of lining brushes or can be created “negatively” by dragging through the glaze with special wood graining brushes. Common “chip” brushes can serve as a suitable substitute for expensive wood graining brushes in most situations.

With a little practice, wood graining can and should look like real wood, both up close and at a distance. Practice the wood graining techniques on artist illustration board until the techniques are mastered and then move on to small projects at first, advancing on to larger items such as doors and trim as your experience and skill level improve.

Painted stripes are a popular faux finish used in a variety of interior settings. Stripes are versatile and range in size from pinstripes to wide 6″ or larger stripes. Soft almost mono tone stripes have a classy look to them as does a shimmer stripe done with varnish or paints of different sheens.

Laying out your stripes

You stripe a room in the same way that you would hang wallpaper. Start in an inconspicuous corner and work your way around the room from that point. Your starting point will be your finishing point after you circle your way around the room.

Size of stripes

A simple way to stripe is to do so in standard masking tape widths. I often do 2″ stripes, which is a standard masking tape width.

Number of colors

You can do your stripes in two, three or more colors, but if you are new to the striping technique I would recommend just two colors.

Two color striping is done by first painting the walls in total in one of your stripe colors and then masking off and painting to obtain the second stripe. In practical terms if you are painting 2″ stripes, you would paint your room in the first stripe color, then apply masking tape at 2″ intervals (a word on how to mask straight lines – see below) throughout the whole room. Once the masking tape is in place you paint the walls again with the second stripe color. When each section or wall is done, remove the masking tape to reveal your two color striping.

Masking tape

You must use easy release blue tape for your stripes. A good tape for striping is 3M’s #2080 blue tape which is a smooth , easy release tape which will make it possible to get clean lines with a minimum of bleeding under the tape. Rub down the edge of the tape to ensure a good tight bond which the paint won’t bleed under. When pulling the tape off , pull gently at a 45 degree angle from the surface.

How to lay down straight stripes

The best way – or perhaps I should say the easiest way is to use a laser level. Center the level, level it properly, line your tape up with the vertical laser line working your way down the wall moving the laser level as you work your way around the room..

Not everyone has a laser level, for those who don’t, a 4′ bubble type level works fine. If you use a standard bubble level you will need to put pencil marks on the wall to line up the tape. Keep the pencil marks light and don’t cover them with the tape as you lay the tape down. Remember if the marks show when the tape is down, they will be painted over. If the marks don’t show (because the tape is covering the lines) then you will not be painting over the marks and they will show when you remove the tape.

Reasonable expectations

With striping you can get some ridging at the tape edge especially if you put on a heavy coat of paint or apply multiple coats for your stripes. When it comes time to repaint down the road, you will probably need to do some sanding or skim coating with spackle to smooth out any paint ridge lines so that they don’t show through the next coat of paint. Like wallpaper removal, some faux finishes may require some extra surface preparation when it comes time to recoat.

For people with the luxury of having a landscape area, there is such an abundance of ideas out there as to how you can improve the space which you have. There are tips on the television as well as in magazines etc, but still some people lack any creativity or they simply do not know what to do.

One great idea that improves the landscape and which is quite popular, is installing a pond area. Ponds can be a beautiful feature to have in any garden, starting from a basic one to the more luxurious types and they also come in all shapes and sizes to cater for everyone’s needs and tastes. They can offer such joy and they will enrich a person’s life as well as adding to the value of a home. The calming sound of the trickling water or the suns reflection across the rippling water really does make having a pond truly worth while.

Also, the great thing is that they can be enjoyed by absolutely everyone and they are relatively easy to install. Once you have a pond you can add extra features to them such as plants and outdoor ornaments and you will notice a dramatic effect straight away to your landscape.

It is Important to Plan When You Are Landscaping Your Pond

Planning is always a great idea rather than just rushing in and getting the first pond which you see. Research is important otherwise you could buy a pond which is too big and it may throw the landscape completely of balance. So, what you need to do is to measure the area that you want the pond to be placed in and mark off the area to get a rough idea of what it may look like.

When it comes to getting a pond, there are many pond kits available out there that make things a lot easier when it comes to installing one. If you are feeling extremely creative and you have the supplies, you can also make your own pond from scratch. However, it is important to remember that to make a good looking pond; you need quality components as well as a good design.

Finishing Off the Pond Landscaping Area

Once the pond has been installed, there are lots of things which you can do to add the finishing touches and to make the pond look really impressive. You may want to decorate the pond with bricks, slab stones or basically whatever you want. Then you can add plants all around and even little pebbles, so it really does depend upon the individual.

Some people even like to add fish to their ponds which can make really good viewing. Just remember not to overdo it on the decorating side of the pond as adding too many features could make it look over crowded and it could jeopardize the overall look of it.

Fireplaces are traditionally inside additions. Bringing a pleasant ambiance to any room, fireplaces are the romantic touch a home needs. But, it is the brain child of a few pioneers who have incorporated a fireplace into the outside setting as well. It must be done right, or it’s merely a glorified grill.

With a nice patio extending your house into the yard, it’s a perfect addition when a fireplace accompanies your outdoor leisure. Like a fire on a camping trip, people love the crackling of the fire and the warmth it throws. When the fireplace meets with the theme of the patio, it seems like one structure. A fireplace simply grows out of the ground and the chimney extends itself into the sky.

An impressive patio fireplace I once observed was made from a white rock that matched the patio theme. The same rock made the walls of the patio where benches lined the outer edges. The fireplace itself was square with an opening on the inside and outside of the fire area so that warmth could be enjoyed on either side.

The fireplace is rather large and does indeed have a grill insert for accommodating patio cookouts. It also has a tuner that could hold a pig for a roast. But when I asked the homeowners how much it all cost them, they just shook their heads. I didn’t want to know.

I’ve seen brick outdoor fireplaces that matched the brick patio. I’ve also seen brick fireplaces to accompany the wooden deck. The wood was treated with a fire retardant and it really did look rather distinct. The structure for that particular fireplace was built to the ground so that a solid base existed. But, there was also a patio area on ground level and the fireplace had two different openings.

These are really nice structures that add class to any patio or deck. They may take awhile to build and they might cost a little money. But, it’s worth it to have the added comfort and style you want.

If your pocket book can’t quite handle the structure of the fireplace on the patio or the deck, there is an alternative you might like. There are ventless gel fireplaces that are made for the patio. An iron stand holds the chimney in its place so that you can enjoy the fire wherever you place it. A whole assortment of patio products are offered for an outdoor fireplace experience you’ll just love.

When you begin to let your imagination run wild, you see the many possibilities that exist. A fireplace on the patio might be the last thing you would have ever thought about. But now that the thought is in your head, I’d be willing to bet that you’ll look into it. It’s very captivating. And with the ventless gel, money won’t be your holdup.

Are you thinking about installing a lawn sprinkler system, and just not sure if you can do it? Well, you’re certainly not alone as sprinkler systems are more popular than ever these days. Regardless of whether you’re considering a Rainbird sprinkler system, Hunter sprinkler system, or any other lawn sprinkler, being able to do-it-yourself can seem like a daunting task. Here is a quick rundown on installing a lawn sprinkler system.

To get started you’re going to need to know the measurements of your yard and the area where you plan on watering. Layout where you would like to place your sprinkler heads. You’ll also want to think about where you’re going to locate the valve boxes.

Don’t think your plan needs to be drawn up like a professional landscaper would do, but you’ll want to write in as many details as you can. You’ll need to know this in order to buy your lawn sprinkler supplies. You need to know the answers to questions like; how many sprinkler heads do I need? How much pipe will I need? By sketching out a plan you’ll have the answers you need.

Next, you will need to have your utility companies come out and locate underground utility lines. I can’t stress the importance of this step enough. If you don’t do this and you dig up a line, you’re responsible for all damages that occur. It doesn’t cost a dime to have this done, and it could easily prevent you from rupturing a gas line or other utility. Be smart and have this done for you when installing a lawn sprinkler system.

Your next step after knowing where your utility lines are laid out is to begin digging for your sprinkler water lines. You can use a can of spray paint to mark out the grid system and help you know where to dig. When it comes to digging, you can either dig out the lines by hand with a shovel, or you can use a trenching machine. I don’t think I need to tell you how much hard work it will be to dig out the lines by hand. You can easily rent out a trencher at your local rental store on a per day basis. It’s relatively inexpensive, and the time and labor it will save you is well worth the extra expense. Unless you’re just wanting to get a good workout in, go the trenching route.

Once you’ve laid out the pipe you can begin connecting it all together. Attach the sprinkler heads and connect the pipe to your various valve boxes and you’re basically ready to go.

When looking at how to install a lawn sprinkler system, the biggest issues are time and patience. It will probably take the average do it yourselfer about a week to accomplish, unless you have a crew of family and friends helping you. It will also depend on your landscape. How big is your yard? What type of soil do you have? If it’s clay then things will take a little longer, especially if digging by hand.

Installing a lawn sprinkler system is not that difficult, and you’ll enjoy the results of your efforts for many years to come.

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