AH Crafts Home Improvement And Interior Design Site

Timeless beauty, clean lines, strength and durability as well as the ease of cleaning and the classic look make hardwood flooring the perfect choice for your home.
No matter what your personal style is, there is a flooring choice for you because of the unlimited selection available. But before you rush out shopping for your hardwood flooring, keep these tips in mind.

Set a budget for yourself. Having a wide variety of flooring to choose from is great, but the downside is that it is easy to get overwhelmed quickly, and this makes you very susceptible to overspending. Remember to balance style with quality with your budget when you make your final choice.

Tip #1
You will be wise to match the room with your choice of flooring, whether hardwood or otherwise. For example, do not try to put hardwood flooring in a bathroom, due to the high levels of moisture a bathroom receives.

Tip #2
Different areas of the house demand different types of wood. For example, wood floors that have very light or very dark finishes typically do not fare well in the kitchen.

Tip #3
Choose a hardwood flooring that has an appropriate finish to match your lifestyle. A sitting room that is seldom used will let you get away with a lighter finish. However a hallway or living room will get continual traffic and requires a choice that offers a tougher finish that can stand up to a lot of wear and tear.

Tip #4
Consider installation – doing it yourself or having a professional installer do it for you? Many people successfully install their own flooring, but only after they have done their homework. It is often easer to hire a professional, but do you due diligence when selecting a hardwood flooring installer. You will want to be absolutely sure that it will be installed correctly.

Tip #5
Choosing the color and style of the floor can be the fun part. Choose a hardwood that fits your personal taste and your lifestyle. The comparatively high cost of the flooring and installation demands choosing a wood that will not go out of style quickly.

Spring cleaning has started. It’s time to get the dirt from the winter off and start clean. I’ve found 5 all natural cleaners I can’t live without while cleaning the house. These cleaners are much safer for us and our environment. I don’t have to spray the cleaner and run of out of the room. My house smells clean and fresh with no artificial smells.

1. Natural glass cleaner
• Biodegradable ingredients • Non-alkaline
• No phosphates or ammonia
• Contains natural ingredients (like white distilled vinegar) instead of caustic chemicals
• Uses a concentrated formula, so there is less waste going to recycle centers. The concentrated, biodegradable formula is effective on a multitude of surfaces, including:

• Glass • Windows • Aluminum • Stainless steel
• Chrome • Mirrors • Appliances

2. Natural floor/rug cleaner.
• Versatile cleaner replaces need for other, more dangerous cleaners
• No chlorine, ammonia or other caustic chemicals
• No toxic or unpleasant fumes—even when mixed with other EcoSense cleaners

Mixes Well With Others

Unlike many grocery store cleaners, you don’t have to worry about toxic fumes or dangerous reactions when you mix EcoSense cleaners with one another—in fact, it’s encouraged! A mix will tackle even the grimiest barbecue grills, and for taking out greasy stains on clothes.
• No-wax floors • Oven tops • Ventilation hoods
• Lawn mowers • Bicycle parts • Cement pads
• Barbecue grills • Car engines • Garage floors
• Decks • Outdoor furniture
3. Natural disinfectant.
When used as directed it effectively eliminates 99.99% of:

• Salmonella choleraesuis • Staphylococcus aureus (Staph)
• Pseudomonas aeruginosa • Mycobacterium tuberculosis (TB)
• Trichophyton mentagrophytes • HIV-1 (the AIDS virus)
(athlete’s foot fungus)

It’s effective on hard, nonporous surfaces, including:

• Countertops • Sinks • Garbage cans • Toilet seats
• Pet habitats • Prostheses & orthotics • Sports equipment
• Children’s toys • Changing tables • High chairs
• Food preparation surfaces
• Any other surface where bacteria or unpleasant odors are a concern

The patented broad-spectrum, disinfectant formula is EPA-approved for use in a wide variety of residential, commercial, and medical facilities, including:

• Day cares • Schools • Nurseries • Hospitals
• Nursing home • Food storage areas • Zoos & kennels
• Veterinary offices • Kitchens • Restaurants & bars
• Cafeterias • Fitness gyms and Spas • Hotels & motels
• Medical and dental offices • Health professional, chiropractic, &
physiotherapy clinics

4. Natural all purpose cleaner
• No chlorine bleach, ammonia or other caustic chemicals
• No abrasive cleaners that can pit or scratch surfaces
• Leaves behind no sticky residues, is effective on a lot more than just kitchen counters. Put its natural cleansing power to work on

• Countertops • Appliances • Pots & pans
• Lamps • Crafts • Cabinets
• Car interiors • Light fixtures • Artificial plants
• Computers • Walls • Whiteboards

5. Natural all purpose cleaner enhancer
• Biodegradable
• All-Natural
• Contains no caustic chemicals
• Is packaged in a recyclable bottle
Full-strength contains 10% Tree Tea Oil taking advantage of our Oils natural solvent, penetrating, non-caustic and aromatic properties.
• Gum in hair • Permanent Marker • Road Tar
• Tree sap • Crayon • Paint and fingernail polish
• Grease • Pet accidents
Use in a 5:1 water solution for:
• Deodorizing Garbage Cans • Eliminating moldy odors
• Freshening the bathroom • Removing smoke or pet odor from air and furniture • Treating pet accidents
Look at a typical household cleaner and you’re bound to find some rather shocking warnings

“Use in well-ventilated area”
“Avoid direct contact with product”
“Excessive inhalation can cause headache, drowsiness, nausea and lack of coordination.”

With warnings like these, it’s no wonder Poison Control Centers across the nation field over 200,000 calls each year involving household cleaning substances. Ours contains no caustic chemicals and can be mixed with other EcoSense cleaners without fear of formation of harmful gases.

Household chemicals can affect more than just the person using them. According to the EPA, household chemicals and other factors can make the air within a home more seriously polluted than the air in even the largest and most industrialized cities.(1)

Many common household cleaners can contain ammonia, phosphates, chlorine and other known offenders. Ecosense contains no ammonia, no phosphates, no chlorine and is made from all natural, biodegradable products.

1. EPA brochure, “The Inside Story: A Guide to Indoor Air Quality,” (www.epa.gov/iaq/pubs/insidest.html).

The fireplace has long been the favorite spot to gather in the American home. A place for warmth, the fireplace adds ambience, sparking memories that are to be treasured. With all the benefits that a fireplace can bring, there are some major downsides that if not addressed can cause a love for the fireplace to wane.

With soaring energy costs, the chief negative of having a fireplace has to be its inefficiency. When there is a fire burning, the fireplace does indeed radiate warmth in its general vicinity, but it also creates a convection current that can actually pull conditioned air out of the room and up the chimney causing your furnace to work overtime. When the fire is not burning, the fireplace has a damper which is supposed to block inside air from escaping and outside air from invading. The problem is that the damper is usually made of metal (this type of damper technology hasn’t changed in over 100 years!) and has no seal, which means that the damper is incredibly inefficient.

Your home has a dirty little secret – the fireplace that is designed to warm your house is actually doing the opposite and costing you hundreds of dollars in energy costs. Don’t fret – with a little investment of time and money, you can turn that inefficient fireplace into a powerhouse heater that will reduce your energy bills and add even more charm to your existing fireplace.

The following is a list of 4 things that you can do yourself to drastically reduce the heating costs associated with the inefficiency of your fireplace.

1. Top Sealing Dampers replace the fireplace throat damper and are installed at the top of the chimney. The top sealing damper has a seal that acts like a storm door keeping the expensive conditioned air inside the house and the outside air – outside. This principle works year round, whether you’re heating or cooling your house. This product can be purchased online and is easily installed by either a homeowner or a handyman.

2. A fireback is a cast iron plate that is placed at the back of your fireplace. Its purpose is to protect the back wall from fire damage and it usually features a design that adds to the homes decor. The fireback improves the fireplaces efficiency by absorbing the heat from the fire and radiating the heat back into the room.

3. A Fireplace Heater pulls fresh air from the room, circulates it through a chamber that is heated by the fire and then blows the heated air back into the room. These heaters are closed systems so no smoke from the fireplace is invading the home. Depending on which kind you purchase, these heaters can make a significant difference in your homes temperature, even heating a full room on its own. Specific fireplace heaters can be installed with fireplace glass doors which will kick your cost savings up another notch.

4. Fireplace Glass Doors will likely carry the largest investment, but you can reduce some of that cost by doing some of the work yourself. There are a number of fireplace doors that can be purchased online and come with easy to install instructions. The fireplace glass door creates a barrier between the living space and the chimney, thus reducing the area that your furnace will have to heat. This alone is a good reason to install these doors, but it’s not the only reason. Fireplace glass doors offer another level of safety for the home by protecting children and pets from the fire. If you have a wood burning fireplace you will want to purchase the screen mesh that is designed to go with the fireplace glass doors. This will allow you to have the doors open while the fire is burning and still have your home protected from sparks and embers. Fireplace glass doors are now being manufactured with modern designs and really add beauty and charm to the fireplace.
If you’re handy, all of these suggestions are easy to accomplish. In addition, all of the products, while difficult to find locally, can easily be purchased online. If you’re concerned about high energy costs but you want to keep your fireplace, then it’s time to plug up the holes in your monthly energy budget by plugging up the holes in your fireplace.