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Pull out shelves have become a home improvement option that not only makes it easier to organize your kitchen and pantry cabinet and also greatly improve the access to those deep pantry shelves and base kitchen cabinets. But adding pull out shelves in your kitchen and pantry cabinets can add value to kitchen remodeling or improve home re-sellability.
Having a garden and putting by our own food is the ideal for which many of us strive. It’s the optimal way to save money on groceries. The food source doesn’t get any more local, the cost is low, the flavor is incredible and the carbon footprint is not much more than a muddy footprint on your doormat.
Electrical problems come fully equipped with more than their fair share of stress — and with good reason. We all know what electricity on the loose is capable of, so utmost caution should be used whenever approaching a repair situation that involves electrical current. But that doesn’t mean that every electrical crisis needs to be left to the pros—especially at the hefty hourly rate a licensed electrician charges. Many small electrical problems can be easily handled by the homeowner equipped with a modest number of specialized tools and a modicum of sense.
The toughest part of replacing a kitchen faucet is removing the old one. Unexpected problems always pop up—corroded pipes, difficult-to-reach nuts and poor access to fittings. Otherwise, installing a new kitchen faucet isn’t tough at all. Actually, the directions that come with your new faucet are probably all you’ll need to do that part of the job. Barring unforeseen problems, you could be washing up under the faucet in an hour or so. In this article walk you through a basic replacement process and tell you how to get through those tough parts.
Does your home contain contaminated Chinese Drywall? This testing advice from the New York Times can help a homeowner determine if he or she is one of the thousands in over 30 states with the poisonous plasterboard.
Some ways to tell if you have Chinese Drywall in your home:
– Sulfuric smell. (Also a sign that you have descended into the less-favorable Afterworld. It’s best to inspect for fire, brimstone and the tortured souls of the eternally damned to eliminate this possibility)
Almost all Americans use household cleaning products — from dish detergents to bathroom cleaners and floor polish to scouring pads. Most of us are exposed to cleaners on a daily basis, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) [source: Davies]. Even if we don’t use cleaners, it’s likely we’re regularly come into contact with them at work, school or elsewhere.
Unfortunately, cleaners often contain harsh chemicals that can be harmful to our health and planet. Health effects associated with cleaning products include asthma, contact dermatitis, burns to the skin and eyes and inflammation or fluid in the lungs. Long-term repercussions may include reproductive problems, cancer, heart disease and other health issues.
Even if your water is purified by your water company, by the time it comes through your faucet, it may have accumulated bacteria and lead from the pipes through which it is carried.
Some cities, like Boston, still have lead pipes in service lines. Some PVC pipes made before 1977 may leach vinyl chloride, a carcinogen, into water as well, as was discovered in Troy, Kansas in 1998. Within your own home, you may have lead pipes or pipes soldered with lead.
If you’re looking for simple ways to save energy at home, your refrigerator is a good place to start. That’s because your fridge is one of your home’s single biggest electricity users (other members of this club include your air conditioner and your water heater.) But with a few simple steps you can make your current refrigerator more efficient — and when it’s time to buy a new fridge, these resources can help you make a smart choice.
1. Build a clothesline
Next to your refrigerator, your dryer is likely the biggest energy-guzzling appliance in your house. And while we wouldn’t ask you to store your food in a vintage icebox, an old-fashioned clothesline is actually a pretty good idea. (If that sounds too retro, think of it as a “solar dryer” instead.)
You can buy a pulley kit like the one pictured here at the hardware store. Or you can order the components online. But it’s easy to make a traditional clothesline yourself, using 4×4 or 6×6 pressure-treated posts for the uprights and 2×8s for the cross arms (which don’t need to be pressure-treated). Simply notch the posts to receive the cross arms, set them in concrete, and run the lines on eye hooks between them. A 4- or 5-foot cross arm should give you enough room for five lengths of line, nicely spaced.
Lumber: $42
Hardware: $10
100 feet of line + 100 wood clothespins: $17
Total: $69
There’s a reason so many builders are leaning green these days.
After all, who doesn’t want a home that’s healthier, keeps energy costs and greenhouse gas emissions in check, and doesn’tsquander water and other natural resources? But you don’thave to buildfrom scratch to turn your not-so-newhouse into a dwelling that’s eco-friendly and more economical to run.
Whether you own or rent, the following 45 simple ideas can help you save money (and the planet) today. Read more…
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