How Does a New Patio Door Save You Money?

Posted on December 30, 2021 by Laura

Many people think of patio doors as a sliding piece of framed glass; one goes behind another to allow a person to walk in and out of the house at ground level or deck level. While those are still being made (although with far better glass: double and triple pane Low E glass), there are so many more choices. Patio doors, in lieu of a better name, are your threshold to the outdoors and can be multi-light French style or contemporary double doors. They can “open out” or “open in”, not just slide. The choices in styles and uses are many.

Replacing those old sliders can be a worthwhile investment in both the aesthetics of your home and money saved on your heating and cooling bill. Today’s glass technology allows for less heat loss in the winter and sun conservation. In the summer it screens out the heat and keeps the cool air in. A quality window installer will know which glass rating is perfect for the area of the country you live in. In a particular zone where the winters are very cold and the summers are mild a rating that conserves heat and takes advantage of sun is the main concern. In a southern climate the main concern would be to keep out the sun and its UV rays to reduce cooling requirements. When the expanse of glass is the largest source of sunlight in the home, especially when south-facing, the winter’s low-angled sun can provide significant beneficial heating. The early Dutch settlers in the Northeast realized this fact and that is why period Dutch colonial homes are often perpendicular to the direction of the road they are on, always front facing south.

Talk with several door and window replacement installers when selecting patio doors for your home. You will get sound advice on the different benefits of metal, wood and vinyl. They will assist you in picking the proper glass rating for your region and the look and function that best suits your home. Remember that there is so much more to an exterior deck door than just a slider to the deck or sun porch. It can allow the exterior landscape and the interior blend seamlessly into a single environment. For example, in the winter it can ensure a cozy, warm sunlit space to sit and enjoy the frigid but scenic snowscape just a few feet away.…

Roman Window Blinds – Simply Elegant

Posted on December 27, 2021 by Laura

Roman Window Blinds – Simply Elegant

Roman Window blinds are a perfect fit for a comfortable, relaxed lifestyle. The bottom hem even falls in a single relaxed swag; if it is a wider shade, it will have more curves to it. It consists of a piece of pleated fabric that is mounted at the top of a window. When the shade’s string is pulled, the fabric folds up in regular intervals.

Roman shades, as they are known, are a very good way to add elegance to all of your windows, regardless of the particular room in your home. Installation is not difficult and they are simple to open and close. They are unique in that they combine a modern and traditional look through their utter simplicity. Different thicknesses are available: very sheer to completely opaque.

The colors and fabrications available give you the versatility to coordinate your blind to any wall treatments or trim in the room. You have the option of a flat fold type or a sculpted design, depending on your decorating needs.

The current styles and fads in window treatments come and go, but these types of shades seem to always be in vogue. You hang them either inside or outside the frame of your window, and you achieve a fitted, streamlined look. This is what gives them the versatility to fit with any décor. Plain window blinds can be quite institutional, but these have a texture and interest that adds a warm, relaxing feel to each of your rooms, regardless of the decorating choice.

If you want to update a room quickly and cheaply, new window treatments are the best plan. Roman window blinds are a great way to do this because there are so many options:

· Sheer, elegant chiffons

· Heavy Velvet

· Bamboo

· Wood

· Suede

· Canvas

· More…..

Traditional Roman shades have folds or large pleats that overlap when you lower the shade. But, there are variations on this style. Flat blinds do not have any folds when lowered. Both of these types can vary quite a lot depending on the fabric of choice. These are pragmatic window treatments, being simple and useful, yet so very elegant as an accent. You can filter bright sunlight or nosy neighbors! The versatility of these window treatments also allows you to create a uniformed look for all windows, giving a streamlined curb appeal to your house.…

Helpful Tips To Help You Rid Your Home Of Pests

Posted on December 25, 2021 by Laura

Are you fed up with pests running around your home? Perhaps exterminators come to your home from time to time but you even enlist the help of an exterminator only to have pests? Maybe you want to stop paying them for their services. Keep reading to find how you can take get rid of pests yourself.

Hairspray is great for eliminating bees and other stinging insects.

A human that looks for termites may only be able to give you a partial diagnosis of your house is safe. Trained termite sniffing dogs are able to check out your entire home. Dogs will immediately pick up the methane gas produced when wood is eaten by termites.

People that struggle with flying pests need to repair the screens inside their homes. Screens on doors and windows keep most crawling bugs out. Fix all the gaps in screens to seal off pests.

If your pipes are leaking, fix it promptly. Pests need water to live and thrive. They can actually sense a drip from far distance. Don’t let your neglect be the home.

Seal any cracks and crevices throughout your home right away. These cracks can often function as entry points for pests that are looking for a way into your home.

If there are rats and mice in your area, do not plant trees close to your house. This makes an easy way for rodents to climb up and then enter your home using the attic or attic. A good rule of thumb is to plant trees about 15 feet from your house.

It is empowering when you educate yourself. Take action in planning your attack against those bugs. You should feel better about controlling pests now. Use these tips to rid your home of these pests right away! You simply do not have to tolerate them.

Wood Sash Window Advantages

Posted on December 23, 2021 by Laura

Wood Sash Window Advantages

Wood sash windows have again been catapulted into the interior designers’ limelight of attention, and have been getting rave reviews ever since. Now the fact remains that the homeowners with wooden window frames are much better off than those with the contemporary PVC or plastic windows installed. While the former send out a much more regal ambiance and countenance, plastic windows seem to be flimsy and not worth to be used as a focal point for great interior decor.

However, there are more advantages associated with timber doors and windows than you can imagine. Let’s explore the same.

Look Better: Wooden window frames certainly complement great interior decor much better than their PVC or plastic counterparts. Moreover, they can be used to help garner attention towards the antique furniture sets or drapery in the rooms, which PVC frames can hardly match. And as experts would agree, a polished timber frame is a glorious sight, by far completely unmatched.

Thermally Superior: If you were in a region that had as much snowfall as the Antarctic (that’s only a hyper-inflated comparison though!), thermally superior frames should be an automatic choice. This is exactly where wood sash windows pip their plastic counterparts – as well as other contemporary metal frames that may have come up of late. Add to this some sturdy blinds, and you will not need an air conditioner to temper the ambiance in your rooms, quite literally!

Worth the Money: Yes, they are more expensive than the modern frames. But they are well worth the money that is pumped into their installation, maintenance and styling. In fact, it is often said that homes without a wood sash window is often like the King’s Palace without the famed dining halls – i.e. the aristocratic air in the interior decor is completely amiss.

Timeless in the Fashion Quotient: For what you know, PVC or plastic frames may soon run out of fashion and may be replaced by some metallic alloy in the near future. However, wood sash windows are seemingly timeless in their fashion quotient, with them staying imperial in countenance over the centuries. And the fact that they are as sturdy as any other metal frame, only strengthens their bid for a place in your homes!

However, before installing such timber frames in your home or office space, make sure that you know the exact reasons you are doing the same for. Energy efficiency, better interior decor etc can be all be a reason to install wooden framed panes.

And whatever you do, never try and compromise on the quality of such sliding wood windows to be installed in exchange for the budget price. For, unless you are completely sure of the quality that such a dealer can provide, you will inevitably be handed material that is inferior but cheap.

The best option today is to have these wood window frames installed with the help of professionals, who would be the best judge of the material as …

What Are Venetian Blinds?

Posted on December 17, 2021 by Laura

What Are Venetian Blinds?

Venetian blinds are composed of many horizontal slats of wood, metal or plastic. These slats are attached together with thin strips of cloth called tapes or by cords. Having them attached this way allows the blinds to be open and shut together. Additionally, they can move almost 180 degrees in rotation allowing sunlight in partially or not at all.

You can lift horizontal blinds up or lower them through the use of a pulley system on the side of the blinds. It’s an ingenious way to change the mood of a room or leave you in darkness if you choose, such as when sleeping longer and avoiding morning sun in the room and also for security so that others cannot look into your home or space.

The first venetian blinds were patented by Mr. Edward Beran in 1769 but the French had already invented them long before Mr. Beran’s patent. It has been said that the Venetians brought the idea to Venice from Persia. In French, the name for Venetian blinds is “persiennes”. Here in the US, Philadelphia is one of the first cities to use blinds in buildings and churches.

Some leading manufacturers of venetian blinds are:

Levolor

Silent Gliss

Design Blinds

Helioscreen

Vertilux

Maxim

Markilux

EcoSystem

Their versatility coupled with the wide array of colors and materials make them an extremely popular window covering for homes, offices and anywhere else you can find a window. Venetian blinds are also available in many sizes from wide slats to the popular mini-blinds.…

How To Replace Window Glass And Where To Position The Packers

Posted on December 13, 2021 by Laura

How To Replace Window Glass And Where To Position The Packers

Glazing packers are required to position the Double Glazed unit properly into the window frame – when we lift the new Double Glazed unit into position, there will be a small gap all around the unit and to enable it to sit properly within the window frame, you need to pack in between the new Double Glazed unit and the window frame when replacing the window glass. Importantly, the packers raise the unit up so that it will never be sitting in water.

The frame is designed such that the water can ingress into the window frame and there are seep holes in the frame where this water is allowed to escape.

For security reasons – plastic is flexible and if someone tries to break into a property via the window, there are certain precautionary measures that can be taken to ensure the windows are as secure as possible.

The secret also lies in the way the hidden packers are positioned within the window frame. To make the window more secure, you can pack certain areas at the sides or top and bottom of the window glass unit.

On a top hung window the window glass would be sat on a couple of glazing packs to lift the glass unit up and this prevents the window being sat in any water. There would also be packers over the top too to prevent the plastic flexing if anyone was to try to break in by prizing open the window with a crow bar.

On a side hung window, the packers would be positioned on the bottom hinge side corner and the top opposing corner. This process is known as ‘toe and heeling’ and creates a situation like you get on a ledged and braced garden gate. In this situation, the window glass unit is braced by creating a triangular effect thus helping to prevent the side opener from sagging over time.

On completion of the ‘toe and healing’ process on a side hung window, you then need to pack both sides of the window glass unit again to prevent any flex in the frame in case anyone tried to break in by prizing the frame with a crow bar.

It is also good practice on a side hung opener to finally place packs in the remaining corners of the opener to completely secure the frame and make it rigid.

Please Note – as a door hangs in a similar way to a side opening window, you must install the glazing packs in the same way as described above for a side hung opening window.

It is however, always recommended that you use a qualified Window fitter to replace your Double Glazed (DG) panes. Even though a straightforward task, if you do it on your own, you undertake the task at your own risk.…

How to Replace True Divided Light Window Glass

Posted on December 9, 2021 by Laura

How to Replace True Divided Light Window Glass

A friend of ours owns an older home that is full of charm and character that only older homes exhibit. Having an older home presents some different maintenance challenges, like to one she asked about last week end. She asked how to go about fixing a broken window pane in the storm door on the rear of her house.

Our friend was in luck, she actually has an old wooden storm door, which actually can be repaired without a lot of trouble. The glass in her door is divided into nine pieces, each of these pieces or sections is separated by wooden trim. This style of door is known as a true divide light panel. Not all doors are built this way, some will have one piece of glass that covers the entire window opening and instead of having wooden dividers between each section, the molding is applied over the glass. A duplicate set of applied molding is applied to the other side of the glass giving an appearance of being true divided light.

On a door or window that has true divided light panels, the glass for each section can be removed and replaced individually, and here is the process for doing just that. On the inside of the panel the glass is normally held in place with a putty that is known as glazing compound. On the outside of the glass, the widow trim will hold the glass in place. The first step to removing the broken piece of glass is to remove the glazing compound. The best tool for this is a heat gun, which looks like a hair dryer on steroids. The heat gun is an industrial version, which has a much higher heat setting than your hair dryer, but the concept is the same.

The first thing you will need to do is to put on a pair of good work gloves. I would recommend leather. Cotton or garden gloves will not protect you from the sharp edges of the glass that you are working on, so spend the extra couple of bucks and get a good pair of leather gloves. The second thing to do and just as important as the work gloves, it’s to put on a good pair of safety glasses. These will protect your eyes from any shards of glass that may fly up.

Now with a stiff putty knife in hand, take your heat gun and heat up the glazing compound. It will take a couple of minutes to get the compound soft enough so that you can peel it away from the glass. I like to take one added precaution before I get working on the broken glass pane. If the glass is just cracked, I like to run painters tape over the glass in a crisscross pattern. Put the tape on both sides of the glass. This will help to keep the glass in one piece until you ready to remove it. If the glass is already broken …

High Quality Window Manufacturers

Posted on December 4, 2021 by Laura

High Quality Window Manufacturers

High quality window manufacturing has become a key role of some UK based window manufacturers. There are numerous methods for and benefits of manufacturing high quality products, many of which are explained below.

Manufacturing high in quality windows can be a key selling point for customers looking for quality, long lasting products. Making this option available to your customers provides a highly valuable image of your company.

If you manufacture timber or PVC based window products there are a number of important factors you must consider for the design and manufacture of high quality window products. Selecting durable materials from reputable sources is key to manufacturing this type of product.

For timber window products, there are a wide variety of timber species to choose from. While there are many benefits surrounding the use of softwoods, hardwoods tend to provide a more structurally sound product creating the ultimate high quality timber window. Be sure to research the most appropriate finishing methods to protect any manufactured timber products exposed to the elements.

There are many PVC profile manufacturers based in the UK and on an international scale. Some manufacturers of PVC window profile products are renowned for their quality and innovative products. Although a premium will be paid for high quality profile systems, these can play an integral part in the manufacture of high quality windows.

Many UK window manufacturers put a high level of research into choosing the correct timber species or PVC profile system. It’s not only important to research the quality of the initial material or profile but to research the ethics of your supplier. The presence of quality accreditations can indicate a reputable supplier of high in quality products.

To manufacture quality windows it’s also important to design your products utilising high in quality ironmongery. Not only can the correct ironmongery options increase the quality of your product, they can also increase the security of the windows you manufacture. Many homeowners are looking for high quality and high security window products and choosing the correct ironmongery products can provide these features to your customers.

Once a window manufacturer is confident of the high level of quality present in their window products, they may decide to pursue accreditation prospects. Achieving industry specific accreditations relating to the quality of window products can provide a valuable image to customers, helping to increase business and company reputation.…

Why Choose Wood Sash Windows Over PVC Windows

Posted on December 1, 2021 by Laura

Why Choose Wood Sash Windows Over PVC Windows

Wood sash windows have fallen off the popularity charts, but not off the charts themselves as of now. However, the trend of having PVC and plastic frames installed in your homes may backfire on the interior d?ï¿½cor part as well as other issues that you consider them better at. So is there any reason there are still takers for timber windows online or offline? Well, as it pans out, there are reasons aplenty.

So let’s discuss on the junctures that wood windows pawn PVC or contemporary metal window frames in general!

Appearance – Appearance is a segment where wooden windows pip every other frame material by miles. In fact, it is a known fact that timber windows were used in royal palaces as well as the regal homes to make them look better and more aristocratic in appearance than the middle class homes of yesteryears.

The appearance factor is another issue that crops up when an interior designer looks at the face value of the home. So if you have had wood windows installed, you know the resale value of your home can be a notch higher than when otherwise.

Comfort – For the comfort factor, it is always the wood window that takes the laurels off the stage. How? First up, wooden sash windows are much better off from a secure point of view. When installed and maintained by professionals, they can be as hard to break in as any gadget-protected modern door or allied frames.

Finally, comfort is the mainstay of timber frames. Why? Because they do not tend to rattle or send in freak scars through jagged edges when rusty or old.

Installation Ease – Once installed by a professional carpenter or sliding sash window expert, these window frames can be a lot less trouble than the fidgety and fickle PVC window frames. In fact, weather-borne issues like rusting or jaded fallouts of frames are unthinkable in the case of wooden windows. And this is why, despite all of the hype on PVC and plastic windows, wood windows are still one of the main priorities for interior designers worldwide.

Cost-effectiveness – Yes, wood sash window frames are expensive. However, behind the cloak of cost-effectiveness, PVC windows and plastic windows are often marketed off even though being much more vulnerable to damage and destruction than wood sash windows.

So, when you have installed a timber sliding window pane, you need not worry about replacement or major upgrades within a short span of time, which is not so in the case of PVC windows or plastic window frames. In fact, the cost effectiveness that is often marketed as an USP is the downfall of such contemporary window frames – mostly because they are fragile and need replacement often within months of having installed a new one!

So you see, wood sash windows can have a long lasting effect on your interior d?ï¿½cor as well as the overall ambiance of the house, …