All posts in Home Improvement

Stop slips, trips in the home with a focus on safety

by kendrahandke on February 2, 2010 in Home Improvement with No comments

Most of us have, at one point, slipped in the shower, stumbled on the stairs or taken a tumble on the terrace, and you’re not alone. In fact, more than 5.1 million people report accidents and, tragically, nearly 6,000 die every year from accidental falls in the home.

Stairways, slick surfaces and uneven footing can create unexpected, but easily prevented, danger zones. With some simple safety precautions, you can help avoid slips and falls and keep your family safe.

Clear the stairs

Whether your home has interior, exterior or basement stairs, it’s important to make them as safe as possible.  Here are some tips for stair safety from The Home Safety Council.

· Check to make sure railings and banisters are secure. Wood glue like EcoGlue Premium Wood can secure loose balusters or handrails.

· Add lighting at each end of the staircase.

· Keep clutter off the steps.

· Use safety gates at the top and bottom if there are small children in the house.

· Paint the bottom stair of basement steps white so it’s easier to see.

Create safe surfaces

Some surfaces are more prone to be slippery, especially when wet. Tile in the bathroom, wood on the deck and cement around a pool can be hazardous.

One of our new products, Amazing GOOP Anti-Skid Epoxy, sprays feet-friendly grit on potentially slippery surfaces to increase safety. It comes in an aerosol can, which is perfect for covering small areas around the home and covers up to 15 sq. ft.  Because it’s an epoxy, it is also extremely durable and chemical resistant.

Be tacky

Loose mats, small rugs and loose tiles or cement can all create unexpected perils.

In the bathroom, make sure all bath mats have nonskid backing. Coatings like Amazing GOOP Anti-Skid Bath, Tub & Tile creates a crystal clear finish with an acrylic coating and helps with firm footing on tiles and in the shower or bath. It’s a nice choice because it won’t detract from the look, but will add a peace of mind.

Small rugs around the house should also be tacked down with tape – or not used at all, especially around stairs.

Finally, don’t forget your home’s exterior. Walkways with loose or broken tiles, bricks or stones can create problems. Sometimes just pounding the loose stone back into place works great if the base is on dirt. You can use a level to ensure each piece is even. If the loose pieces aren’t on dirt, Amazing EcoGlue Extreme will tack them back in place with an instant and permanent hold on cement, concrete, metal or other surface.

It doesn’t take much time, effort or even money to make your home safe for your family. Common sense and simple precautions will keep you on your feet and free from slips, trips and tumbles.

New Home? Basic DIY Skills You Need

by eclectic on August 23, 2009 in DIY, Home Improvement with No comments

Moving into a new (or new-to-you) house can be exciting. But it can also mean needing some basic DIY skills that you may not have ever learned.

We asked some experienced new homeowners and renters about what DIY and home maintenance tips they think are most important. What do new homeowners or young people living their first house need to know? We asked Twitter and got these responses:

  • Basic plumbing: know how to unstop a toilet, unclog a drain, fix a basic leak.
  • How to (and when to) change the air filter in a house with central air and heat.
  • Hone your stud-finding abilities and be able to find a stud in the wall to hang hooks, pictures and shelves.
  • A clean caulk can keep out significant water damage. Knowing how to seal joints in the kitchen and bath is a top skill.
  • Grow some basic landscaping skills: know what the tools are for, figure out what plants to plant and gauge how much to water to use.
  • Build your toolkit and put together a great go-to box of tools with all the basics. But what should go it?
  • Know when to bring in a professional: some DIY is not amateur-friendly, know when to fold ‘em

Having some basic home maintenance and DIY skills can save you a lot of money. In fact, the most common statistic we found is that, for every $1 that is spent on maintenance, up to $100 of repairs are avoided.

We’ll cover some of these skills in more detail in the next few posts, but in the meantime, here are some terrific resources so you can get started building your DIY skills.

If you have a skill that you’d add to the list, please feel free! We’ll see if we can address it in a future post.

Pick Doable DIY Projects

by eclectic on July 14, 2009 in DIY, Home Improvement with No comments

It’s summer and that means it’s time to start some home improvement projects. Lucky for you, there are abundant resources available for doable DIY projects. Avoid a DIY disaster with tips we found that help you choose your projects wisely and plan carefully.

Step one: Do your research!

Interior designers suggest searching the Internet for step-by-step videos for a particular project. A video will help you visualize the project and decide if the project is doable. Research also will give you a realistic idea of how long a project will take.

Research the necessary tools for the job. Many tools may only be needed once for a specific cost. Research tool rental costs to reduce DIY expenses.

Step two: Time to get started!

Outdoor projects

There are many doable outdoor DIY projects for the inexperienced. Staining a deck or laying a stone walkway are both simple outdoor projects that experts suggest for home-improvement novices. The DIY Network suggests building an outdoor patio as a simple addition to a yard.

Spruce up dreary gray concrete surfaces with acid stains, acrylic stains, epoxy paints, and scoring techniques. Water based concrete stains are a popular eco-friendly solution for coloring concrete surfaces. These stains act like a dye and come in a wide array of colors. For example, SoyCrete is green building compliant, non-hazardous, and acid free concrete stain.

Painting

Painting is a simple, affordable way to improve your home. To make a paint-job look professional and clean, sand surfaces before painting. This doable DIY task gets tricky when attempting to paint the ceiling. Some designers suggest a laminate plank system for ceilings. The laminate planks can be affixed to any ceiling with hooks and screws, which gives your home a sleek, professional look.

Lighting

Upgrade your lighting fixtures by adding decorative trim to lamp shades. Plain drum shades and pendant light kits are available at home good stores. Avoid a DIY disaster by leaving technical electricity work to the experts!

Wallpaper and Upholstery

Experts advise starting small when it comes to wall covering. If you’re nervous about applying wallpaper, save money and time by prepping the walls. To prep the walls, start by sanding, remove the dust with a damp cloth, and then prime with wallpaper primer. If you work up the courage to apply the wallpaper, start small and take your time.

To read more about doable DIY projects see the full article: Want to fix up the house? Pick doable DIY tasks.

DIY Links We Like

by eclectic on July 7, 2009 in Crafts, DIY, Home Improvement, repair with No comments

We know you enjoy DIY – building, crafting, repairing – and sometimes finding interesting, useful and inspirational things online can be very time consuming.

Since we’ve been reading and sharing a variety of projects, innovative ideas and just cool stuff on Twitter, we thought compiling them for you here would be fun, too.  You can join us anytime on Twitter, by the way. @amazinggoop for DIY and craft tweets and @EPI_Industrial for builders and contractors.

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DIY Gardening: Build a Rain Barrel

It’s gardening season and your plants are thirsty. Make your own rain barrel with used plastic containers. Rain barrels are an efficient, cost effective way homeowners can collect and recycle a valuable resource.

33 Clever, Time-Saving, Money-Saving Reader Tips

Readers contributed bunches of tips that speed repairs and save money. You can find the best of the tips from This Old House. Our favorites were tip number 16, place a bag in a paint tray to decrease the mess, and number 30, unclog hairy drains with Nair hair remover. We’d also add #34: Use a good adhesive.

How to Build a Patio Planter

From our buddy, Danny Lipford, learn how to build a wood patio planter with simple instructions. Summer heat doesn’t mean boring entryways. Add simple late summer or fall plants for a lovely addition to your patio. You can make it even simpler, by using EcoGlue Green Solutions Premium Wood Adhesive.

50 Nifty Tricks for Big DIY Savings

Shrink household expenses with 50 simple ideas. Some of the tricks may help you save $500. Some of the tips include shortening your dryer-vent hose and making your own cleaning solutions. And… Of course, add a tube of GOOP to your toolbox for on-the-spot repairs to save some coin, too.

How to Make an Herb Garden from Recycled Plastic Bottles

Reuse plastic bottles and create a fresh herb garden. This clever project would be great to do with your kids and watch your garden grow. Of course, we recommend EcoGlue for the glue used in this project. The steps are easy and you can have fresh basil before you know it.

19 fresh ideas for outdoor rooms

It doesn’t take much to improve a porch, patio or garden. Here are some easy and inexpensive updates for outdoor spaces. One of our favorites is fresh idea number 8: Create a new outdoor room with a simple change in flooring.

How to Decorate a Table with Bamboo Veneer Flowers

Spruce up a coffee table with an organic, floral twist. This article will show you how to make your own pattern from photos of flowers and apply them with bamboo veneer.

Mosaic Birdhouses

Learn how to make stunning mosaic birdhouses that will brighten your yard and make a stylish home for the birds in your yard. This article provide seven easy construction steps and materials. We’ve provided several mosaic projects on An Eclectic Blog and know that EcoGlue or Amazing GOOP both work well.

Preparing for Hurricane Season

by eclectic on June 18, 2009 in DIY, Home Improvement, Uncategorized with 1 Comment

Hurricane season is approaching and weather agencies anticipate several named hurricanes in 2009.

Many areas of the country are still rebuilding and repairing damaged buildings and properties from the recent ruthless hurricane seasons. Preparation, however, can make a tremendous difference in protecting your home.

Rooftops

Prepare your roof for hurricane-force winds, which can tear away roofing materials. Well-installed roofs also will prevent the damage from changing pressures caused by hurricanes.

Ray Rosewell, CEO of DaVinci Roofscapes says pressure that escapes into the home through the roof can cause walls and windows of a home to actually blow out. Hurricane winds also cause damage by lifting shingles from the roof and hurling various debris onto the roof. Experts recommend high wind roofing materials for hurricane inflicted areas.

Windows and doors

Broken windows and doors can also allow hurricane winds to rip through your home. Similar to roof leaks, the high winds that come through doors and windows cause a build-up of pressure, which can blow out the roof and walls of a home.

Impact resistant windows will help prevent these blow-outs. Many impact resistant windows are built with reinforced glass and are designed to withstand flying debris. Storm shutters and shades also offer protection against hurricane winds.

Companies such as Wayne-Dalton introduced Fabric Shield storm panels. Hurricane fabrics are durable and can be used several times without replacement.

Protecting valuables

Protect valuable items in the home with watertight products. Products such as Pelican Cases are polycarbonate cases designed to resist weights up to 5,000 pounds. Protect electronic documents by backing them up on external hard drives and other data storage devices and storing them outside the home.

General Repairs

If you’re in hurricane-prone areas, arm yourself with a tube of EcoGlue Extreme, to make on-the-spot fixes of damaged or broken fixtures around the exterior or interior of your home. Check for loose siding, tiles, window or door jambs, for example, and glue them in place.

For more information about hurricane preparation, please visit:

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Smart Tips for Using Contractor Referral Websites

by eclectic on June 7, 2009 in Home Improvement with No comments

Choosing a good contractor is a topic we’ve discussed before. With a majority of Internet users searching for information online to help make decisions about everything from shoes to medical care to home improvement products and professionals, referral websites can substitute or complement personal referrals.

You’ll find two types of referral Web sites: homeowner-to-homeowner and professional-to-homeowner.

The Queen of the homeowner-to-homeowner sites is Angie’s List. Members of Angie’s List pay a fee of about $50 a year to have access to reviews and ratings from fellow homeowners. Since 1995, when it launched, the site has grown to more than 300 categories. Providers are “graded” with letter grades on areas such as price, quality of work and professionalism.

As a member, you can search for a professional by zip code and check out ratings from other homeowners and read about their experiences. Angie’s List users take the responsibility of their contributions seriously. Everyone understands that the community depends on each member reviewing their experiences.

Angie’s list does not allow contractors to buy a place on the site or be featured above another.

A professional-to-homeowner site like Contractors.com provides a more traditi0nal referral service, but really serve a complementary role to a site like Angie’s List. On Contractors.com you submit a project and a team of former contractors reviews it for accuracy. The team then submits to licensed and insured contractors in your area.

Within about 24 hours, you’ll hear from up to three contractors interested in bidding on your project. This service is free to homeowners, it’s the contractors that pay the fees. Contractors pay for leads and can also pay for premium listings. Contractors.com also includes homeowner-generated reviews.

Regardless of which site you use to help make decisions about your home, we have a few general tips to consider.

  • A legitimate contractor will want to see a larger project in person before giving you a quote.
  • The best sites will offer support over the phone. Contractors.com will help keep contractors communicating with homeowners and Angie’s List will even step in to resolve disputes.

This Old House has a terrific article on the topic of using contractor referral sites. If you have experience with one of these services (or another), please let us know!

Spring Has Sprung & Outdoor Entertaining Season Begins

by eclectic on April 20, 2009 in DIY, Home Improvement with 1 Comment
In Eugene, Oregon (where Eclectic Products Inc. is based), we’re enjoying one of the first beautiful weekends of the year. The weather is absolutely stunning. With the gorgeous blue skies and cherry blossoms in bloom, we come to the stark realization that our patio spaces aren’t as ready for spring to arrive as we are.

However, with a little attention, you can be ready for outdoor entertaining season. Here are our favorite tips:

  • Repair patio furniture umbrellas, retractable awnings and upholstery right away. Of course we like Amazing GOOP for these tasks because it dries flexibly – perfect for cloth repairs.
  • No deck, but you want an outdoor entertaining space? Try a “paver patio.” It’s a weekend warrior type project, but totally doable. Add a fire pit, and your yard will be the place to be on warm summer nights.
  • Seal your concrete surfaces like driveways. Spring is an ideal time, according to HGTV‘s spring maintenance checklist.  This video will give you the step-by-step.
  • Like it or not, we’re still in for some more rain, so check the rain gutters in case they are loose or leaky. Make sure, too, that the downspouts point away from the foundation.

Happy Spring! If you have any other tips (or questions), please leave them in the comments.

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The Best Remodeling Projects in a Tight Economy

by eclectic on March 26, 2009 in DIY, Green, Home Improvement with No comments

Many families are spending money on smart remodeling and home improvements rather than embarking on major renovations or moving to a new home. What are the best projects to spend your time and money on?

  • Projects that improve energy efficiency. Sealing windows, replacing siding or improving your home insulation will add value and reduce your energy bills, even in the short term. Often your local utility will provide rebates or incentives for projects like these, so check with them to find out more.
  • Pared-back kitchen or bathroom remodels. According to the National Association of the Remodeling Industry, focusing on cosmetic improvements will cost you less, but still have a good return on the investment, even in the short run.
  • Think green! According to a study by McGraw-Hill, people will pay a premium of up to $20,000 for a “green home.” Spend your remodeling dollars in ways that make your existing home more environmentally sustainable. Even the DIY products you use on project can make a difference. The Wall Street Journal offers several ideas for greening your home.
  • Maintain and repair. Look for opportunities to make simple repairs to maintain your home and prevent expensive problems later. ServiceMagic recommends getting a home inspection. While not the most glamorous of tips, knowing if problems loom can give you an opportunity to head off disaster.

What other tips would you share? What projects are you taking on (or putting off) right now?

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Choosing a Contractor: Do Your Homework

by eclectic on November 15, 2008 in Home Improvement with 1 Comment

748869_95153572Choosing a contractor for a remodel or addition can be stressful. We’ve all heard horror stories about contractors that do shoddy work, overcharge and abandon projects before completed.

How can you avoid such fate? Short answer is do your homework.

  • Have a clear idea of what you want and do enough research to know how to get there. When you can clearly articulate what you want the outcome to be, you will reduce the chance of misunderstanding or confusion about the expected results.If you have specific materials or products that you want the contractor to use – say for example, green building materials – make those clear as early in the process as possible. You can also look for contractors with particular areas of expertise.
  • Get three bids. Three bids will give you a sense of what this kind of work is going for in your market. But don’t jump right to the lowest bid. Consumer Reports surveys show that people who hired the lowest bidder generally got poorer work.
  • If you’ve worked with a contractor before, surveys show that if you do again you’ll be happier and have fewer cost and time overruns than those who hired someone new. If you haven’t worked with a contractor before, ask friends for names of people who have done work for them.
  • Always get references. Reputable contractors will be happy to provide names and contact info. Many sources suggest calling older references as well as recent projects and going to see the work in person.
  • Make sure your contractor is legit. Check for proper licensing and insurance. The contractor should be licensed to do work in your state and carry liability and worker’s comp insurance.

You can get customer reviews on Angie’s List. Worth checking to see what kind of grade your contractor gets from previous customers who might not show up on the reference list.

Adding on Home Space While Managing Costs

by eclectic on October 31, 2008 in Home Improvement with No comments
Haven Homes

Haven Homes

An unsteady housing market doesn’t keep your family from growing and needing more space, but it could keep you from buying a new home. Adding onto your house instead could have a unique advantage over navigating real estate in your city.

Technology and materials have also changed your options for creating custom home additions more quickly and easily than ever before.

Enter the modular home addition.

We’re not talking double-wide trailers, here, modular additions are factory built to about 80 or 90 percent completion and then shipped to the home site where the addition is finished by a qualified builder.

A recent article in Money Magazine explains it this way:

Unlike a contractor who builds your addition on your property, a factory assembles it to your exact specifications, then transports it to your home on the back of a flatbed truck. While the addition is being built, a local contractor prepares your house by pouring footings and opening up walls or removing the roof. The next day, your addition arrives and a crane sets it in place. Because the module comes with the roof, siding, windows, insulation, wallboard, wiring and plumbing all in place, the contractor can make it weather-tight within a day or two and complete the connections and final details two to four weeks after the job begins (that’s a quarter of the time an on-site builder needs).

Modular additions can cost 20% less and the quality will beat the average contractor’s results. The finish work is done at the home site. Many of these additions (and even complete homes) are eco-friendly. Combine the manufacturing process with eco-friendly finishing work like using EcoGlue Extreme to for sealing and adhesives (extremely low VOCs and no solvents!).

To learn more, visit these manufacturers:

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