With winter fast approaching, many homeowners are looking for ways to cut down on drafts in order to keep warm and maintain a handle on energy costs. One of the fastest, easiest, and cheapest ways for homeowners to cut down on energy consumption, and one of the first Energy Star home renovation recommendations is to seal all windows. Energy Star estimates that homeowners can save as much as 10 percent on their annual heating and cooling bills with an effective sealing and insulating home improvement project.

Having checked their windows for air leaks, homeowners will need to consider a number of factors before heading off to purchase weatherstripping. In order to determine how much weatherstripping a home will need, homeowners will need to measure the perimeters of all windows in the house, and then add approximately 10 percent to their figure to account for waste and cutting mistakes.

With an amount of weatherstripping in mind, homeowners must choose the type of weatherstripping that they wish to use. There are a number of options available, but the most important rule here is one of common sense – homeowners must consider the use of the window which they are sealing when considering a type of weatherstripping for their home improvement project. For example, weatherstripping destined for a window sash must take into consideration the fact that the window still has to be able to freely slide up and down to open and close. Therefore, the weatherstripping must be thin enough … READ MORE >>>

Last time we talked about the importance of purchasing good tools for your painting project. So you’ve gone out and spent $20 on a good brush, and $8 on a good roller. The other tools don’t matter as much, but I still wouldn’t go to your local dollar store to get them. These other tools include a roller cage, a roller tray, and, here it is, a 6 in 1 tool. This last tool is the secret sauce for painting efficiently and keeping your tools clean for the next coat and for months, even years to come. So, like promised, we’ll talk about this amazing tool.

The 6 in 1 tool, made by Richard (there are others, that one is just my favorite), is not a tool that looks like it could make that much of a difference, but trust me on this one – it does. The tool is sort of hard to describe, but it’s got a flat surface on the top, with a point on the right side (I guess it depends which way you hold it though) and another flat spot on the left side. It then has a large round inside curve that comes down to meet the handle. At the bottom of the handle, is a solid piece of metal. Nothing special, that’s all there is to it. But instead of calling it the 6 in 1 tool, I recommend they rename it the 100 in 1 tool. Here’s why.

There doesn’t … READ MORE >>>