Articles on Your Home and Garden

Archive for November, 2011

The Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) 1995 aims to reduce discrimination and ensures that disabled people have civil rights in the areas of: employment, education, access to goods, facilities and services, and buying or renting property. The Act requires public bodies to promote equality of opportunity for disabled people including considering the safe escape of disabled people in emergency situations.

Disability Rights Commission estimates that 11 million people in the UK have some kind of disability. This may impact on their ability to leave a building speedily in the event of fire or make them totally dependent on others to escape. Installing an evacuation chair will help your company meet the duty of care under Health and Safety Discrimination legislation and also meet the requirements of the Regulatory Reform ( Fire Safety) order 2005.

Most lightweight evacuation chairs are a cost effective solution suitable for light / emergency use and can be neatly folded away in very little space. Tracked evacuation chairs may be used by a single user to aid the evacuation of those in need of assistance over stairs with an even, controlled descent with no heavy lifting or manual handling necessary. Evacuation chairs are used in all public buildings such as office blocks, hospitals, hotels, shopping centres, and department stores.

The Disability Rights Commission state ‘There is no document which states that disabled people should be left in a building to wait for emergency services during a fire Situation – all people should be evacuated if there is a fire’. Apart from the clear risk to life, employers and those in charge of a building who leave disabled persons in a fire refuge could also be guilty of discrimination.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/2295417

Worktops are an essential part of a kitchen’s interior. You can see worktops at many places like hotels, private homes, restaurants etc. It is a horizontal surface in the kitchen which can be used to cut vegetables and prepare food. Your kitchen worktops need to be durable and pleasing. They should also be scratch resistant and easy to clean

Worktops are made from various materials like granite, limestone, marble, soapstone or wood, stainless steel and many more. The type of material used determines the cost of the worktop.

Granite worktops are waterproof and stain-resistant. Granite comes in a wide variety of colours and patterns with looks that will blend with and compliment any kitchen or bathroom decor. Worktops can be expensive as the granite is cut to size in a factory from templates taken in the kitchen once the new kitchen units have been fitted. You also need temporary worktops whilst the granite worktops are manufactured. Granite can crack, especially from thermal shock, and it can also absorb stains if not treated with the proper protection products.

Laminate worktops are easy to cut to size on site, to shape, to fit and maintain. They are easy to work with and will retain their color and surface for years. They can resist fairly high temperature and so contact with warm items will not cause any problem. Always clean laminate using water and mild detergents. They are available in huge variety of sizes. Laminated kitchen worktops have the advantage of being totally impervious to moisture on the horizontal surface, although of course care must be taken at joints and edges.

Read more on Kitchen Worktops: http://www.sooperarticles.com/home-improvement-articles/kitchen-improvements-articles/kitchen-worktops-648675.html

Are you planning on a cosy and romantic dinner with your partner? Or is it time for yet another fun-filled and happy family get-together? Whichever it is, one common item in both is the sweet and intoxicating wine of any flavour. For any happy occasion or a dinner, both formal or casual, wine has always been a part of the Western culture. To make a toast, to propose, to announce, wine is indispensible. It is no big secret that the taste of wine increases as it grows older. Both the making and the storing of wine are therefore important. While not everybody would be expert in the making part of it, most people would be storing the wine in their home. It is for those that wine coolers are made for.

Just as in the case of its preparation, storing of wine in the right way is also crucial to retain its aroma and its taste. Wine requires certain conditions to increase the speed of its ageing and taste. First, it has to be kept at a stable temperature, away from sunlight. When stored in the room temperature, its ageing is accelerated. It is to maintain this temperature stability that a wine cooler is used.

Not everybody can afford to have a proper wine cellar in their home, especially if they are staying in a small apartment in a thickly populated urban part of the town. Wine coolers are the perfect solution for they help you in storing the wine at the right and consistent conditions till you serve it for your guests or yourself. They come in different types and sizes, ensuring the preservation of your precious wine to almost a year. They are electronic units that can retain the humidity and temperature so that the wine remains intact for a long time without the need for a proper cellar.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6677536

A very pleasant unsolicited phone call this morning from Charles Simpkin at Chelsea’s famous Bluebird Café. Back in 2009 we persuaded Charles to replace the glass-fronted patio heaters in the courtyard with some new Heliosa 11 patio heaters.  The elements in the old heaters were lasting only a few months, so the Bluebird was spending hundreds of pounds each year replacing them.

Since fitting the new heaters they have run faultlessly, delivering warmth for diners in all weathers. “All in all, a fantastic product” enthuses Charles, “slim, good looking and they have literally saved us thousands of pounds”.

The Heliosa 11 patio heater is supplied with two mounting bracket, one for fitting to a wall, the other for mounting under parasols and awnings. The Heliosa 11 is IPX5 rated which means it can be left permanently outside and is completely weathersafe.

See the Heliosa 11 patio heater at www.sunswitch.net/products-patio/Heliosa-11-patio-heater.html – or at Bluebird, King’s Road, Chelsea.

Heliosa 11 patio heater available in black or white

Heliosa 11 patio heaters under parasols

For any landlord or tenant damp problems are the most annoying ones and, at the same time, the most common and repeating ones too. Water leaking and condensation are the two major reasons for damp problems in most places. They can occur in all parts of the house, however, the most often attacked places are the basement and roof. However, this doesn’t mean that there are no damp problems in other parts of the house. Ignoring the first signs of dampness is the worst step you could take here as increased and continued dampness can affect your health.

The initial signs of dampness in a building are the wet patches on the walls and mould or puddles on window seals and walls. It is common scene where people ignore removing the dirt on the roof of the building and let dirt accumulate on the gutters and holes that otherwise would have allowed the water to pass. Continued presence of water in these places affect the roof, making the water pass through the bricks creating dampness. The best remedy is of course removing all the dirt from these gutters and paths to let water pass through. Cleaning once in a while is in fact prevention of the dampness and as you know prevention is always better than cure.

Water in the basement is even more dangerous for it can affect the foundation of the house. The reason of the dampness could be again dirt or clog accumulating in the gutters and downspouts of the house. After a heavy rain the water seeps into the basement and refuses to leave as the ways out are covered with dirt. Cleaning the basement and the gutters is the best remedy in this case too.

While treating the dampness in your property, diagnosing the right cause is crucial. Treatment has to be for the core reason of the dampness and not for the obvious dampness seen on the walls. Just like in the case of diseases affecting human being, dampness on the house can also be effectively removed if detected on time. However, if it has gone beyond control it is better that you consult a professional.

The advantage of entrusting professional specialists for removing the dampness is that they would be aware of most damp problems that affect a house and the remedies to remove it with minimal damage to the house. While saving your efforts and time it makes sure that the dampness is removed completely making your shelter damp proof again.

Article Source: http://www.homedesignhelp.com

Rendering is done for a house constructed or renovated to give its walls a finished appearance. It has been done in different ways in different countries since centuries. Though not considered a part of beautifying the house, it is exactly what rendering does. Rendering is done by mixing cement, lime plaster and sand and giving a coating of that mixture to surfaces of cement, brick or mud. Rendering is given to both the exterior and interior walls of a house.

Before the mixture is applied any old rendering is scraped away. When coating the walls with the rendering mixture two coatings are provided. While the first coating is to cover the cement or mud surface, the second coating gives the finish that the rendering is meant to provide. The surface where the rendering is applied is even more roughed to improve adhesion. After coating the surfaces with the mixture different finishes are given so that the walls have a unique look. Mostly this depends on the look that the property owners would want to give the walls. This can be different looks like coarse, smooth, textured, etc. After applying the rendering it takes around 28 days for it to dry, especially if it is the traditional rendering.

While earlier rendering was just the mixing of cement, sand and lime plaster, today there other are types of rendering that provides an even better appearance to the walls. Acrylic rendering is one such example where a polymer additive is included in the mixture. This adds the water resistance as well as durability of the mixture. They are premixed and provide a smoother look to the walls. They are also more flexible to add different textures; some even have a glistening finish. Also, they have anti fungal properties that make the walls stay without deterioration for a long time.  And the acrylic rendering require just 2 days for drying.
Once the walls are rendered there is usually no further need for painting, however, this depends on what people wish for their walls. Sometimes they are left plain or sometimes painted. To bring differences to the walls various tools like sponges and brushes are used over the coating and given different finishes like sand stone, marble, stone chip, lime wash or clay.

Today, it is quite easy to find rendering service providers. If earlier you had to wait for a long time to get hold of an experienced rendering provider, today it is quite easy as you can find them online. You could easily look up these services and send your enquiry immediately. Also, you can expect quality service with guarantee and often even post finish maintenance. So if you are planning for a renovation of your walls rendering of walls could be a wise decision.

Article Source: http://homedesignhelp.com/homedesign/rendering-walls-%E2%80%93-inexpensive-way-of-beautifying-your-home/

After the grapes are harvested and the wine is made, the experts and merchants will taste the wine that is only 6 to 8 months old. The wine would still be in the barrel during this time and the winemaker would have made a sample to taste. Merchants would decide after tasting whether to purchase the wine or not. Once a merchant decides to buy, he would pay for it immediately without waiting for the wine to complete its maturing time.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of en primeur?

En primeur benefits the producer as well as the consumer. For the winemaker, it brings some good sales and cash early helping him to invest in more production of wine. In the case of the consumer, it saves him money as the wine is not as costly as when it is bottled and marketed. Moreover, it gives the consumer a chance to get hold of some quality wine that may be otherwise sold in very limited quantities. Also, the consumer could get the wine in any amount that he wants, not the default quantity that the winemakers decide.

However, en primeur has its negative side as well. As the consumer pays the amount earlier even if the wine loses its quality as it ages, though the popular saying is quite the opposite, he or she doesn’t get the money back. Also, in case you weren’t able to buy the wine through en primeur, you might not get the wine later as other consumers would have got it through the same method.

En primeur happens once in a year normally and is an attraction for wine lovers all over. You get to hear the opinions of the members of the wine trade organisation as well the critics. If you are new to the wine industry a visit to an en primeur could get you some good ideas about the wines served to be tried.

Investing in en primeur with Bancroft Wines is an opportunity to buy wines at their first release price to maximise the investment potential.

Article Source: http://lifestyle.ezinemark.com/en-primeur-some-facts-7d3133651fc2.html

The last stop on our textile research trip took us to a place once known as Turkey. Here we ran into the occupying tribe of Seljek people. They were proud and inquisitive, a mix which gave the impression of shyness on their part but may have been a customary act for first acquaintance. These people had the faces of their Asian ancestors. We could manage a little of their speech which seemed to please them; at least, they smiled but that might have been in amusement. In any case they took us to their looms which were made of roughhewn wood burnished with use.

We called their textiles Oushak rugs but the word Oushak didn’t seem to be recognised. Perhaps over time we have lost their name for these rugs or perhaps the word is a bastardisation of their language. These rugs defied the coarseness of their looms with a refinement that was still prized into the 18th century. Some of the colours used – brick red, deep blue and gold – were used by royalty and so many of these weavers would probably have had royal sponsorship.

We have seen in the 20th century surviving rugs with colours that had mellowed with time into the soft colours of summer fruit. Those we saw on the looms carried the distinctive ovoids and star shaped design motifs with vine like outlines and the delicate tracery of leaves and flowers. We could also still see the characteristic loose knotting which gives the textiles such suppleness, also the long pile which adds to the softness under foot.

This was one of my favourite moments of our journey.

In travelling back to Sweden in the 17th century I found people wearing long-piled and rather plain wraps around their shoulders. These were also used as coverlets on the beds. We noted these rough weaves and moved on but in moving forward in time my colleagues and I noticed a European influence in the texture and pattern on textiles later often used on the floor.

Flatweaves

These rugs called Ryas were, as time went on and as we later saw, becoming more of a truly Scandinavian tradition. In the beginning a rough wrap then a woman’s trousseau then, when Scandinavian beds were covered in European quilts, a treasured tradition to hang on the wall.

In our travels we actually met Marta Maas- Fjetterestom who, when we arrived in 1930, was already changing the homely textiles into flatweaves of some note, giving them artistic merit and reputation way beyond the borders of Scandinavia. The designs that were once flowers and vignettes from everyday life became simple geometric patterns of contemporary design and quality that were sought after internationally. We admired these greatly and I was tempted to buy some there and then to bring back with me but this is completely against the law of time travel. We must even remember not to speak to the time natives so as not to influence them. It would be pointless our machines having a filter system that removes all dust and particles that are not of our time and blowing them back out into the present century’s atmosphere if we then changed the course of history by changing the mind set of an individual.

We spent some time in Yorks, then called New York, and were especially drawn to the showrooms of a Ms Doris Leslie Blau. The woman herself was not to be seen but the workers there were very well informed about the history of rugs and carpets. We did wonder if we could skip travelling any further and just use these people as a resource. Of course we couldn’t as we would get no respect for second hand history.

As I have said in other notes, the 21st century has a completely eclectic taste in rugs but I have my preferences. I would choose for my own small home from a selection of allover rugs with flower motives. Firstly I would enjoy the sense of flora being in my home but then it may make me sad to always be remembering how few of the more exotic flowers are left in the wild but we are working hard to propagate them; secondly these rugs are a very practical choice in any room as the repetitive design does not dictate where one places the furniture.

So as Mr Nader Bolour talked us through their collection, I was taking particular note of the antique Persian, Tabriz rugs, as well as the Turkish, Indian and Chinese, all which have good examples of allover rugs. But we found more among the, what was at that time, ‘vintage’ European rugs. There was one designer who stood out for that period: Art Deco designer Paule Leleu who was well known for her repeat patterns of diamond and floral designs.

We were also shown photographs (they imagined we were interior designers, perhaps it was our clothes) of rooms decorated in various styles: Art Deco through to red brick cottage types, all in which these rugs suited perfectly.