Archive for September, 2010
Floor lamps are the latest bright idea in design with great new styles. Whatever lighting solution you need to enhance your indoor or outdoor living, choose stylish lamps you can illuminate any room with a touch of charm. Wrought iron table lamps & floor lamps are among the most popular lighting.
Halogen torchiere floor lamps, freestanding lamps with open, shallow bowl tops that provide indirect “up lighting,” have become increasingly popular since their introduction in the United States in 1983. These lamps use halogen tubular bulbs, which get much hotter than standard light bulbs. Since the tops are open, flammable items such as curtains can easily ignite through direct contact with the halogen bulb.
Most regular torchiere floor lamps use halogen bulbs that burn at temperatures exceeding 1,200 degrees hot enough to fry an egg in 30 seconds! This is well above the combustion temperatures for paper, wood and fabric, which range from 350-500 degrees F. The Consumer Products Safety Commission has attributed at least 31 deaths, 114 injuries and at least 350 fires resulting in $2 million in property damage to these lamps.
But Energy Star labeled torchiere floor lamps use compact fluorescent bulbs that burn much cooler, last 5 times longer and use 80% less energy. For example, an Energy Star torchiere uses a 56-watt fluorescent bulb, which gives the same amount of light as a 300-watt halogen bulb. Energy Star torchieres have full range or 3 ways dimming, come in a variety of styles and have a two-year warranty.
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It was the perfect spot. Our California ranch style house had a large picture window in the front room. The window extended from a few inches above the floor to only a few inches below the cathedral ceiling. The walls and ceiling were redwood stained knotty pine and the floor was a matching hardwood. The window looked out over a flower bed, shrubs and the expanse of front lawn. It was the perfect window to be replaced with a bay window.
The window was nearly square. It was 72 X 72 inches. We considered a bow window, but elected to install a bay window instead. We just felt that our particular house looked better with three panel bay window rather than the multiple panel bow windows. Our intent was to fill the seat board of the bay with potted plants we had sitting in front of the current picture window. The new arrangement would give us a little more space in the room and improve the overall appearance of the house. It was time to go shopping.
Scratch vs. Pre-built
When we first got the idea of installing the new window, I began gathering plans for building a bay window. Thumbing through books and magazines, and the Internet search engines, I found several plans for building a bay window from scratch. I also found that undertaking such a project was going to be unnecessary. Most of the major window manufacturers, such as Pella, Milgard and Anderson make both completely pre-assembled bay windows as well as pre-built components for bay windows.
These days very few contractors will take on the project of building a bay or bow window from scratch. It simply isn’t practical when for the same or less money they can install a high quality pre-built window. If the contractors use pre-built windows or components for new house construction or renovation projects, then we could do the same for our remodeling project, we reasoned.
Installing a bay window can easily be a do-it-yourselfer project. Before you go the diy route, however, you may want to line up a contractor to help out if necessary. This is not going to be a job that you can complete during a Saturday afternoon. Chances are you are not going to finish it in a weekend, for that matter.
You are also going to want to line up some help. Bay windows and window components are heavy. At least they are too heavy for one person to manage.
Be sure and check out the weather forecast, including the long range forecast. Installing the window means opening a hole into your home. It can take a couple of days to get the new window in place and sealed. The last thing you want is for rain to come pouring in on your floor, walls or furniture.
Be sure and check your city or community construction codes. There may be special local requirements, such as having safety glass in low profile windows. You are probably going to need a building permit anyway, so that is also a good time to check the codes.
Tools and Materials Needed
The tools you will need for this project include a tape measure, a framing square that you can also use as a straight edge, a circular saw or miter saw, crow bars, drill and bits, level, stapler, utility knife, tin snips and a caulking gun.
The materials you will need include the bay window unit, the support brackets, nails, roofing paper, shingles, roofing nails, exterior grade silicone caulking and fiberglass insulation. You will also need 1X6 inch boards for the window skirting. If you are enlarging an existing window, or if you are installing the window in a space that was previously the wall, you will also need 2X4s for cripple studs and additional framing.
Basic Installation Steps
1.Establish window position in the wall. Remove the existing window. Measuring the bay window, mark on the exterior of the house the opening needed for the new window. Using your circular saw, cut the required opening.
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Gardens Swing as a gift
I read a description for an American eagle garden swing. The words simply captured me and made me feel that this was the exact gift that I needed for my wife’s upcoming birthday – I went out and bought a brand new swing the next day. Not the American eagle though, but a “Santa Fe Rails” Metal Art Railroad Swing. It is strange what happens when you take a seat in it – it is like your mind wanders off in the second you sit back and relax. An amazing gift for your heart and soul.
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You can make fixing wall cladding and ceiling cladding easier and do work of better quality by following certain standard procedures. We look at certain key procedures in the following sections. There is no attempt to include all the finer points. Instead the aim is to give an overview and indicate some key points that need attention.
The first step is to fix the bottom and top edge pieces, by screwing them to the wall. Next comes the task of sliding the cladding sheets into these pieces. Once the sheet is in place, the horizontal joints are attached to the vertical ends of the sheets and screwed into the wall. Next comes fixing internal and external angles at corners, and around doors and windows.
We look at these fixing steps in a little more detail below.
Top and Bottom Edges
All four edges of all sheets must be secured to the wall. In most cases, J edges, H joints and internal/external angles can do the job. Where necessary, Maxbash Skirting can be used at the bottom instead of a J edge. For very uneven walls, two-piece joints can be used between sheets.
Where only wall cladding is being installed, the top edges can also be secured using a J edge. If ceiling cladding is also being installed, you might prefer trapping the top of the wall cladding sheets with the ceiling. Alternatively, a 2-piece internal corner is used as a coving.
Good quality silicone beading is used between the wall and J edge/Maxbash skirting to seal them permanently to the wall and floor.
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