ABC’s of Fine Design

I learned a lot in my class this term. One thing I found interesting is that Air conditioners don’t actually cool your home like a refrigerator would cool, they just condition the air to a lower temperature. It’s complex and hard to explain but it was still very interesting.

After learning that I started to understand how they could make a Portable Air Conditioner that can be used anywhere. My mother just ordered one for her classroom as they get way to hot during the spring. They have no cross ventilation so she was able to get approval for one. That is a nice thing about these small conditioners you can use them anywhere. I am always thinking about working on homes in hot areas. A portable air conditioner would be a great way to keep things cool until you got the main one set up. The best part is you can then take it with you.

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One thing about design that is always fun is finding good reliable plumbing contractors. I have heard many horror stories from homeowners, designers and my teachers about plumbers that don’t do there job. They either say it can’t be done, because they themselves cant do it or they do the job badly and expect you to pay them to come back and fix it.

One story that I’ve heard from my favorite teacher about 20 times is the story about the toilet from Europe. The plumber she hired kept telling her that it can’t be installed. When she asked why he told her that the toilet was broken and would not fit the pipe. Of course having been in the industry for a while she went over to look at the toilet. It was fine, the only problem was it was from Europe and needed a special hookup. The plumber still insisted that it could not be done and was fired. She hired another plumber the next day and it was completed by the end of the day.

The moral of the story? Ask questions before you hire someone, do some research and find out if they can actually do the job you want them to. There are many websites where you can find this information. One being plumbing networks, they have a huge database of plumbers in almost any area you can imagine. They even came up with some in my small, small town. They came up with many many more when I searched for plumbers in Ann Arbor MI.

This is a huge problem in design as you don’t always get to work with the same people you have worked with before, sometimes your across the country or in another country altogether.  Sometimes you just have no idea who your hiring but if you do some research you should be fine.

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Basements are a big deal right now, many people love the idea of a finished basement, they want that extra space not for storage, but for living. They make great family or entertainment rooms or if you have outside access you can even stick some bedrooms down there, but before you do all of that finish work you want to make sure you have all those cracks filled in so they don’t leak on you and ruin your hard work.

Basement contractors are easy to find, but you need to know what your doing when looking for one. Check around and do some research, many contractors will do more then just seal cracks, some will waterproof the entire basement, fix imperfection’s in the basement walls so that your job is easier or they may even help with bowing walls. Since these effect how your drywall goes up, make sure they do check this.

You can find many of these contractors online. You can even read reviews about there products and services. Again do your research before deciding on any contractor or service for your home. Make sure they offer what you want and have a warranty too.

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Step One
Purchase a large bucket of premixed drywall joint compound from your local home improvement center, lumberyard or hardware store. (A 4 gallon pail will cost you about $15.) Also pick up a wide-bladed taping knife or straight-edged trowel (8 to 12 inches wide–—less than $10) for spreading a thin coat of the compound on the wall.

Step Two
Remove everything from the walls including switch plates and receptacle covers. Clear furniture away from the wall to be textured and cover it. Spread drop cloths on the floor.

Step Three
Strip any wallpaper before texturing. The high moisture content of the drywall compound can cause wallpaper to loosen–—and leave you with a time-consuming mess.

Step Four
Start by edging all along the baseboard, corners and ceilings with a thin layer of the compound. About 1/8 of an inch is fine unless you want a very rough texture, in which case you will want to go thicker. You don’t have to be exact–—after all, a varied texture is what you’re looking for.

Step Five
Cover only a small area at one time until you figure out how fast you can work. Drywall compound stays workable for a fairly long time, but don’t get carried away with how much area you try to cover at once.

Step Six
Create texture in a wide assortment of ways: use old paintbrushes, wallpaper brushes or sponges to stroke or swirl texture on the wet surface; use your fingers to make all kind of designs; use stencils to apply pre-created designs. One fun idea is to have your children make hand prints and footprints in the wet surface. Anything goes.

Step Seven
Alternate between applying the compound and texturing it until the entire wall is covered.

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