Secrets of great Exteriour

People focus more on interior design rather then exterior design. But how your house and garden will look outside is also important. Just imagine spending your summer morning in your beautiful backyard drinking coffee. Or entertaining your guests next to your swimming pool. All those things need to be planned in advance, and here are some useful tips.

1. Color of the exterior walls

Paint It White

If you're looking for high contrast with a classic spin, you can't go wrong with bright, white trim. Although it's one of the best choices when it comes to sun fading, it also tends to get dirty quick.

Or Black

Black is the most effective way to add drama to your exterior. Since black is a neutral, it works well with just about every color in the spectrum. Keep in mind, though, that black can quickly turn yellow-green when coated with a layer of springtime pollen. In order to keep it true to its color, you'll need to hose down your trim and shutters if you live in areas highly affected by pollen.

1. Roof

From natural materials like slate and wood to manmade products such as asphalt, sheet metal, and plastic polymers; there are more types and styles of roofing to choose from today than ever before. While each has its advantages and shortcomings, they all can add a distinctive design element to your home. So which one is right for you? Asphalt shingles are the most popular type of roofing for homes, comprising over 80% of residential roofing market so that would be a good choice.

1. Traditional windows

The loss of traditional windows from our older buildings poses one of the major threats to our heritage. Traditional windows and their glazing make a hugely

important contribution to the value and significance of historic areas. They are an integral part of the design of older buildings and can be important artefacts in their own right, often made with great skill and ingenuity with materials of a higher quality than are generally available today. Furthermore, the distinctive appearance of antique hand-made glass is not easily imitated in modern glazing.

The windows might look old, and they are old, more then one century old. But they look so much better then new, replaced windows that will fall apart in a decade or two.

People think that with replacement of old windows they will solve the problem, but the problem doesn't get solved. But the windows that are 100 years old turn out to serve better then new ones that are not even 10 years old.

1. Dress Up Your Walkway

Transform your front walk into a stylish statement by edging it in easy-care plants such as variegated host a and boxwood. Conjure even more magic by putting a gentle curve in the path; it will offer your walkway with a soft, gentle look.Test Garden Tip: Choose an interesting material to make the trip to your front door even more memorable. Bricks, flagstone, and pavers all lend more charm than traditional cement.Dress up your front yard with a mailbox garden.

1. Leave Space to Entertain

Another great way to give your yard a more welcoming feel is to add a patio. Just like the front porches of days gone by, you can sit back and wave to neighbors while enjoying a cold glass of lemonade on a summer evening. Test Garden Tip: Decorate your front yard patio with a skirt of flowers or a small hedge to help it seem more intimate and enclosed -- without making an unfriendly barrier. Learn how to conserve water with your landscape design.

Source: wood window restoration  / appearance management

Many people still consider renting or even buying a carpet cleaning machine a better option than hiring out professionals to do the job. This may be true when seen from a strictly expenditure-oriented point of view:  it will cost you noticeably less to rent a carpet cleaning machine from Home Depot and buy some cleaning agents. On the other hand, when you count in time spent – time that you most likely don’t have too much to spare – as well as other more obvious costs like damaged furniture or strained muscles, hiring out a professional looks like an increasingly appealing option even when all you need is to clean the traffic areas around your house, not to mention when you are in charge of maintenance of a larger office or housing space.



Today’s professional high–pressure carpet cleaning equipment is much more eco-friendly, efficient and gentle than entry-level options, and the cost of buying such a machine has skyrocketed, ditto for renting costs. The matter of fact is that situation today is such that if you want professional-level carpet cleaning, your choice is to hire professionals or invest a substantial amount in professional-level carpet cleaning equipment.  True, this is easier than ever thanks to online vendors as well as the producers in search of profit pushing into new market segments and hither-to untargeted demographics such as individual buyers.

Experienced facility managers, property managers, office managers and executive housekeepers generally consider professional carpet cleaning a superior choice over renting out equipment and using their own staff to carry out the necessary cleaning. This is in part due to the increased frequency of cleaning that is demanded by higher level of foot traffic in commercial buildings or business facilities. But in larger part, this is a purely cost-sensitive choice, since intangible costs of inexpert carpet cleaning add up much more quickly than they do in an individual home.

If you are still considering renting or buying carpet cleaning equipment in order to do the job yourself, there are several things you should be aware of.

First, do your research thoroughly. Check out all available rental units in your area and compare their prices and reviews online. Be aware that, in our experience, cheaper, low-end equipment  will not clean your carpet thoroughly and may actually even end up damaging it. Unfortunately, this is as often as not simply due to unskilled handling.The deciding factor should be whether the equipment has enough vacuum power to allow the carpet to dry within 12 hours of cleaning. Avoid units that don’t have the power to extract the cleaning solution from the carpet fast enough, as this is the second chief cause of carpet damage.The first cause is, of course, untrained steam cleaning, which in most cases boils down to over-wetting the carpet (there was a pun there somewhere –  if you noticed you are probably a carpet cleaning pro yourself). Protracted dampness can lead to mildew growth or cause a separation of the backing, ruining your carpet beyond repair.

A DIY approach means spending what could amount to thousands of dollars for your carpets to be cleaned – and using up a lot of time, to boot. On the other hand, hiring professionals will mean one less thing for you to worry about, especially if your carpets require cleaning on a more regular basis than the standard warranty-recommended 12 to 18 months.

And if you are still unsure whether you should hire a pro or just do it yourself, why don’t you give us a call or drop us a line? We can give you more in-depth advice as well as a quote, so you can do the math yourself. Just don’t forget to factor in the time it would take you to do it alone. And of course, the bumps and sore muscles.
Source   Commercial Carpet Cleaning CITY OF TAMPA

In this text we focus on how to handle carpet cleaning in a commercial or residential facility. But the advice it contains can easily be applied to any facility that includes carpeting. Read these guidelines carefully and if you realize that you already know all of this, good for you. If you learn something that helps you do your job well, that is even better. First plan your budget. The first order of business is money and money is what you need to save. Yes, your budget is usually a given and you are expected to make the best out of it, but your input is also welcome when the budget is being determined, since you will be the one who knows how far it can be stretched in practice and what are the key expenses it is being used up on. And the best advice for making your input relevant and therefore more likely to be accepted and incorporated into the next budget is simple – know what your carpeting expenses will be in advance. Now, if you look at carpet cleaning as a reactive process, you will not get as far in this business as you may like to. The only way to achieve this is to find a professional, reputable carpet cleaning company and sign a contract for regular carpet upkeep with them. This will mean not only that your carpet cleaning expenses are fixed and known in advance it will almost certainly mean that they will be lower than if you are doing only “reactive cleaning”. Next, find a professional carpet cleaning company and stick with it.

The most important thing to do in order to secure regular maintenance is to find experienced cleaning professionals. The most important mark of such a company is the very fact that they offer regular maintenance as a part of their service. In order to determine the best choice from the many competing service providers, you will have to know more about them. First, check their record, not only to confirm their quality of service and their capabilities, but also to see if they are a good fit for your business. Search their portfolio for clients whom you know and can trust and look for recommendations from satisfied customers – preferably from those whose carpet cleaning needs are comparable to your own in terms of size and scope. Also, they should offer a free survey of the facility, so that they can ascertain the level of effort required to maintain it and to provide you with service that is suitable to the specifics of the space in question. A company that offers all this and uses professional level equipment and cleaning solutions has all the makings of a long-term partner and is your best ally in the difficult task ahead of you. Furthermore, be in the thick of it and know your stuff. The one thing that separates a successful facility manager from an average one is simple: those truly professional facility managers aspire to know their facility inside and out, down to the smallest details. How long ago was it purchased? What is its declared life cycle? What material is it made of? How was it maintained before your tenure as a facility manager? But it is not enough to know all the facts about the carpeting itself . The thing that is arguably even more important is to know how much and in what way it is being used. In practice, this means that you should have a clear grasp of what areas are most frequently walked upon or which areas are more prone to stains. This means that those things are the most important facets of your job as a facility manager.

Source:   Carpet Cleaning Tampa

When it comes to designing your small house keep the design simple if you are planning on building on a tight budget or have limited experience. Avoid things like dormer windows and complex roof lines. Avoid complex walls, wide window and door openings, porches, and excessive ornamental features.

Raise the roof

When Mark Egerstrom and Brian Grosdidier bought their 600-square-foot cottage on a tiny West Hollywood lot, years of neglect had stripped away all its original 1920s charm. “There were aluminum windows, torn-off siding … there was literally a crack pipe in the closet,” says Mark, an interior architect. “But it was an amazing location”—near the Pacific Design Center—“and a great deal.” Mark, who oversaw the two-year remodel, opened up the formerly choppy floor plan, adding glass walls, a loft room, and a roof deck “backyard” on top of it all. With its square footage doubled to a still-modest 1,200 square feet, the two-bedroom house now feels more like a hunting lodge than a cottage, thanks to the warm wood-and-neutrals palette and a few design tricks Mark had up his sleeve.

Choose Sharp Colors

One of the best ways to expand a space is with very clear colors, says designer Mark McCauley, ASID, author of   Interior Design for Idiots . "Choose a palette of sharper colors as opposed to duller ones. Sharp as in bright chintzes mixed with colorful plaids or really hot reds and electric blues, yellows and greens (with plenty of air between the pieces). Color combinations with negative space in between will enhance the space's clarity and openness." Just as different wall colors can divide your apartment into different work areas, different shades of the same color can unite all the rooms, as can a pattern that's repeated. "In a small space, in particular, these little touches — the pillow that matches the lampshade fabric, the style of the mirror that echoes a side table — can all add up to a cohesive space," McCauley says.

Define your spaces

On the wall: A bright, geometric painting by Brian anchors the part of the great room that serves as the dining room. In a house this small, it gets plenty of use: Mark and Brian eat at the table nearly every night.
On the ceiling: Recessed light boxes create the illusion of skylights.
On the floor: Despite their dark color, a glass-topped table and spidery chairs keep the space light and airy.

Use your light wells

A door in the far shower wall leads to a small patio bounded by the wooden fence that surrounds the property. In addition to letting lots of natural light into the bathroom.

Window types for tiny houses

Choice of windows and their installation is another one of the most crucial parts when it comes to building a small house. There are several ways how to differentiate between window types – based on material, glass or window styles. Aspects playing role are the durability, endurance, insulation properties, qualities related to air circulation, breeze or rain and of course the financial costs. In case of tiny homes it is also very important whether you have a house on wheels and travel with it or not. In any case it is crucial to get the precise information from your manufacturer, as window terminology tends to vary. But if you are buying a small house with long history, it often better to do   historic wood window restoration   then replace.

What is a A frame house?

An A-Frame house is one in which the sidewalls and roof junctions are omitted, with a gable roof continuing to ground level on two sides, thus forming a structure that is triangular or A-shaped. This type of house became popular following WWII and is typically used for vacation and second homes, particularly in snowy climates, where its form sheds snow easily. Features include: a steeply sloping gable roof, front and rear gables, deep-set eaves, large window openings on the front and rear facades, and a small living space.

Source:   Appearance Management Tampa   /   Pinup Houses   /   HGTV   /   Sunset

Carpet is everywhere! People who understand carpet know that its immense success and consumer acceptance is not due to chance. Few construction materials offer the advantages that carpet does. Carpet is colorful, comfortable and yet easy to maintain. Even though it appears expensive, it is often the most economical choice for floor covering. Carpet and rugs found on the floors of residences and commercial buildings still represent a substantial investment. In light of this, is it not wise to maintain them correctly?

Like all textile materials, the beauty and life of a carpet depends largely on the care that it is given. Proper maintenance can add years of attractive life. Specific maintenance procedures for carpet are determined by where the carpet is installed. In general, proper maintenance involves regular vacuuming and periodic cleaning by methods such as hot water extraction, shampooing, bonnet cleaning, foam cleaning, etc

Regular maintenance of your carpet will help make deep cleaning it easier. Carpets need to be vacuumed once a week and more often in areas that are prone to dirt. This will prolong the life of your carpet and prevent a build-up of dirt. Spills, spots, and stains are unavoidable Removal of spots, spills and stains should be a part of your carpet cleaning. Some of these advises can be also applied in   commercial carpet cleaning , fabric panels cleaning and commercial upholstery cleaning programs.

Regular vacuuming is essential as it removes particulate soil that damages the fibers. Vacuuming maintains the surface appearance of a carpet and keeps the level of soil in the pile at an acceptable level. Vacuuming should be done at least once every two weeks, preferably once each week and even twice per week in soiled or heavily trafficked areas. It is important to use a well-maintained, good quality vacuum. Vacuuming removes only particulate soil and surface dirt; therefore, other methods of cleaning are periodically required to improve the appearance of the carpet. Wet cleaning methods are better for removing oils, greases and other forms of matter that cause soiling on carpet. These methods are mostly used by professional cleaners and trained personnel, but smaller, less powerful units, can also be rented for use by customers.

Here’s rule no. 1 regarding spots and spills on your carpeting: Clean them immediately. If you catch the spill when it’s fresh, you’e got a good chance of removing it totally. Consider these tips, too:

 Carefully blot or scrape the entire area before applying any cleaning solution. Remove as much of the spill as possible.

 Before using any cleaning solution, test your carpet in an inconspicuous area to make sure the cleaner won’t damage or discolor it. Test the cleaning agents that you keep on hand before you have to use them to make sure they will not harm your carpet.

 Do not rub the spill — that might spread the problem to a larger area.

 When you apply spot cleaner, work from the outside of the stain toward the inside to avoid spreading the stain. After applying a cleaning solution, blot up all the moisture.

 A clean white bath towel is unsurpassed for drying carpet and brushing the nap back up to a standing position.

 If you feel that there is still too much moisture after blotting the carpet, place a 3/4-inch- thick stack of white towels over the spot and weigh them down with a heavy object. Like most decisions, the choice between having a carpet cleaned professionally and D-I- Y cleaning is based frequently on financial considerations. Electing to use a rental unit rather than a professional cleaner may be penny wise and pound foolish. Before deciding to do it yourself, several points should be considered.

Contrary to common belief, carpet cleaning is an intricate process. When spots, stains and traffic patterns have made carpet unsightly, cleaning by D-I- Y methods may not enhance the appearance to the desired level. Consumers in most cases have had little or no previous experience operating the machines.Therefore, there is a good possibility of misuse and/or overuse. Machines can be rented for D-I- Y cleaning that utilize one of the various methods already mentioned (shampooing, hot water extraction, dry absorbent compound, etc.). Shampooing machines, for example, leave some residue on the carpet. If the carpet is shampooed many times the residue can accumulate leading to various problems, such as severe foaming on later cleaning, stickiness etc.

The obvious conclusion is that carpet cleaning by D-I- Y methods is not a substitute for professional cleaning. It can, at best, merely postpone the need or reduce the frequency of professional cleanings. Rental units lack adequate power, and consumers usually lack the expertise to succeed in properly maintaining carpet and prolonging its attractive life.

In this text we focus on how to handle carpet cleaning in a commercial or residential facility. But the advice it contains can easily be applied to any facility that includes carpeting. Read these guidelines carefully and if you realize that you already know all of this, good for you. If you learn something that helps you do your job well, that is even better. First plan your budget. The first order of business is money and money is what you need to save. Yes, your budget is usually a given and you are expected to make the best out of it, but your input is also welcome when the budget is being determined, since you will be the one who knows how far it can be stretched in practice and what are the key expenses it is being used up on. And the best advice for making your input relevant and therefore more likely to be accepted and incorporated into the next budget is simple – know what your carpeting expenses will be in advance. Now, if you look at carpet cleaning as a reactive process, you will not get as far in this business as you may like to. The only way to achieve this is to find a professional, reputable carpet cleaning company and sign a contract for regular carpet upkeep with them. This will mean not only that your carpet cleaning expenses are fixed and known in advance it will almost certainly mean that they will be lower than if you are doing only “reactive cleaning”. Next, find a professional carpet cleaning company and stick with it.

The most important thing to do in order to secure regular maintenance is to find experienced cleaning professionals. The most important mark of such a company is the very fact that they offer regular maintenance as a part of their service. In order to determine the best choice from the many competing service providers, you will have to know more about them. First, check their record, not only to confirm their quality of service and their capabilities, but also to see if they are a good fit for your business. Search their portfolio for clients whom you know and can trust and look for recommendations from satisfied customers – preferably from those whose carpet cleaning needs are comparable to your own in terms of size and scope. Also, they should offer a free survey of the facility, so that they can ascertain the level of effort required to maintain it and to provide you with service that is suitable to the specifics of the space in question. A company that offers all this and uses professional level equipment and cleaning solutions has all the makings of a long-term partner and is your best ally in the difficult task ahead of you. Furthermore, be in the thick of it and know your stuff. The one thing that separates a successful facility manager from an average one is simple: those truly professional facility managers aspire to know their facility inside and out, down to the smallest details. How long ago was it purchased? What is its declared life cycle? What material is it made of? How was it maintained before your tenure as a facility manager? But it is not enough to know all the facts about the carpeting itself . The thing that is arguably even more important is to know how much and in what way it is being used. In practice, this means that you should have a clear grasp of what areas are most frequently walked upon or which areas are more prone to stains. This means that those things are the most important facets of your job as a facility manager.

Source:   Carpet Cleaning Tampa

When I told friends and family that I was interested in purchasing a historic home, one of the comments I heard most often was: Get ready to spend a lot on your energy bill each month!

In particular, the folks I talked to warned me about the windows of my historic home. I can't tell you how many times I was told to replace my windows - as soon as I moved in - to something modern and energy efficient.

I knew from the start that replacing my windows with today's metal and synthetic windows was not in my future, but I wanted to offer more than just a simple counterargument.

So, I started my own little investigation.

I wanted to preserve as much as history in the building as possible, but I also didn't want to spend an arm and a leg heating and cooling my home.

It's not good for my wallet. It's not good for the environment. So how could I make the point that I could keep my existing   historic windows   and be energy efficient? Here's what I learned from my research.

Windows account for only 10-20% of energy loss in a typical building. That pales in comparison to the amount of lost energy through attics and roofs. Today's double-paned and triple-paned windows promise to retain more energy than the windows of yore; but here's the truth (forgive me if this gets slightly complicated; I just really think it's important to spell out):

Once a single-pane historic window is properly restored and weather stripped, it can exceed the 2012 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) requirement of 0.2 CFM. Add a storm window into the mix and suddenly an old historic window can reach a performance of 0.05 CFM, which is nearly 4x more efficient than what the code requires.

Blaming windows for energy loss is just wrong, regardless of the type of home you live in. But for historic homes, this false claim is even more striking. And, it's just unfounded.

Historic Window Restoration - what does that really mean?

Before I even bought my historic home, I learned never to utter the term replacement Preservationists cringe at that word - even I cringe at it now.

When I hear the word replacement, I think about my windows being violently gutted from my home. In their place I see a cookie-cutter fabricated window that doesn't have any charm.

I see the demise of history, and I can barely stomach it.

Restoration, on the other hand, is a far more accurate term to use. Restoring means doing everything you can to repair your existing window, while preserving its original components. From the old-growth wood (which is more rot and insect resistant than any wood available today) to the pulleys, locks and sash cord, every part of a historic window can be restored.

Restoration may sound costly, but it's not.

Historic windows don't have proprietary or complicated parts that may one day no longer be in production. What I love about historic window is the simplicity of the historic window design. These windows can easily be restored many times over - centuries even.

Modern window just cannot replace beautiful historic windows.

I've talked with a few historic homeowners about the cost of maintaining their windows. I wondered if they thought it would be less expensive to just replace these windows with something new?

What I got in response really changed the way I looked at restoration and modern products. The average replacement window lifespan is about 15 years. They often begin breaking long before that. A lot of homeowners aren't done paying off their new windows by the time they have to replace them again.

It becomes like a vicious cycle: replace; get in debt; replace again, add to your debt.

That's no way to live.

Source   repair old window

Carpet budgets are determined only on a first-cost basis. This is understandable if your budget is not really flexible, but you should know that if you only account for first costs, in the long term you will almost certainly end up spending more than you calculated for your carpeting.

Much smarter approach is calculating based on life-cycle costs which include scheduled carpet cleaning and maintenance. If you take long-term factors into account from the get go, you will have a budget that is more reflective of your facilities exact needs. Additional investments, like in regular budgeted carpet cleaning, will help you get the most out of your initial investment, extending carpet life and reducing life-cycle cost.

There are a lot of things to consider when it comes to making an optimal plan for   carpet maintenance  .

1. The first thing is the selection of the carpet itself. Of course, there are numerous manufacturers with products of varying quality, made from different materials. And there is an even larger variation in the types of facilities and spaces which need carpeting. This means there is no quick, one-shot solution for your specific enterprise or facility to choose the best option for its specific needs. Just use your common sense in this one and try think practically.

2. Carpet of higher quality and more frequent cleaning is a must for the places that have a lot of traffic. Locations that need to present your organization in the best possible light should go for aesthetics – stand out patterns or eye-catching designs, according to your taste and representing what the organization stands for.

3. Location dictates what kind of product you need to choose The bottom line is that you need to choose the appropriate product for the appropriate location and try to keep it there as long as possible, in as good a condition as possible. This means you will get the maximum out of its life-cycle while minimizing the possibility of having to replace it early and thus make unexpected dents in your budget. Wrong carpet would just be a waste of time and money.

4. When it comes to choosing the product itself, you should consider the manufacturer, what material was used in making it, as well as color and style.Don’t go for bright and light colors at a location with a lot of foot traffic, like the main entrance to the company HQ. Don’t go with dark colors in places that lack good illumination because damage and stains may remain unnoticed for too long, making the carpet deteriorate quicker, so when you finally discover the damage, your carpet could be beyond repair.

Simple calculation will help you calculate a life cycle of your carpet: add up the initial cost with the cost of maintenance (you can get a quote from us anytime, just call or email us and we will schedule an appraisal) and the cost of carpet removal. Then, divide that number with total years of use, and you will get your life-cycle cost.

This calculation includes all the costs related to carpet: the initial carpet purchase, the removal of the old flooring material, the preparation and installation of the new carpet, the cost of business disruption, disposing of old floor covering, maintenance requirements of the new carpet and associated costs, plus the costs of cleaning. All these must be accounted for in order for you to get the most precise possible estimate of the costs involved with your carpet.

When it comes to years of use is actually a number that you yourself determine, but do make an informed estimate because it will affect your entire calculation. This number means how long you wish for the carpet to last.

Sometimes it is actually a smarter choice to buy a lower-quality product and invest a little more in its maintenance.

Now that you have everything that you need to consider and calculate, try to use it every time you are buying a carpet.

Read more about   Appearance Management