Home Improvement Tips from the Pros

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February 14, 2017 Quote.com Home Improvement Blog quotes Peter Di Natale in "Home Improvement Tips from the Pros":

WANT TO KEEP IT GREEN?
 
If you’re among the millions of people looking for environmentally friendly home renovation techniques, here are a few ideas. Reclaimed materials are getting popular. We once worked on a home that turned logs recovered from the bottom of a lake into flooring for the kitchen. Another recent project included installing wall tile made from petrified forest wood to cover the feature wall behind the vanity in a master bath. In rural areas, there are opportunities to get reclaimed wood-siding from old barns. The barn’s insides offer great material to work with. They can have beautiful patinas, and using them gives a re-birth to what otherwise would be discarded material.
 
Sometimes you don’t have to look beyond our own yard or acreage. If there are stones and big rocks on your property, then you can craft them into stone walls and patios, and reduce or even avoid the cost of going to a quarry. If you have stone laying around, it might be easily collected and re-used.
 
REDOING YOUR BATHROOM? DON’T SLIP UP.
 
One of the biggest traps is flat surfaces, above and below. First, you want to rule out wood on bathroom floors altogether to avoid potential warping and mold from any moisture that gets in there. Because of that advice, a lot of people ask for polished marble or other smooth stone for their bathroom floors. But even a little shower water or sink spillover can make the floor slippery or even hazardous. We usually suggest granite, slate, or textured tile. We’ve found smaller tiles or mosaics work well and are effective at eliminating slipping and sliding. Porous floor tiles can also have sealant applied for maximum protection. Now for countertops, vanities, and sink tops, it’s actually the opposite. Composite and original honed stone and other permeable countertops have been popular for a while in kitchens, but they’re very problematic in bathrooms.
 
PREPARE YOUR HOME FOR BAD WEATHER: THE CLIMATE TIMES THEY ARE A CHANGING
 
A lot of property owners wait until it’s too late to prepare for storms and other events that can leave expensive or lasting damage. As construction managers, we’re obligated to give our best advice to make sure that doesn’t happen. You must think top to bottom, from the roof to the basement. On the roof, bad storms or even just heavy rains are a recipe for disaster if gutters are clogged with leaves. Anything that deals with water must be looked at and, when possible, thought through in advance. And if the storm already passed, don’t think the danger is over if damage isn’t noticed immediately. The best thing to do is check all gutters twice a year for leaf and dirt build-up and cracks or dents in the gutters. Check them early spring just after flowers bud and fall off the trees and the leaves pop, and late fall after leaves come down naturally. And especially check right after a big weather event and that includes flat roof drains.

 

 

Copyright 2012. Peter Di Natale & Associates Inc., 3154 Route 9, Suite No. 2, Cold Spring, New York 10516, T (845) 265-3101

 

 

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