Living Green Home Idea: Water-Based Wood Stain

February 22, 2010

Paints and stains are harsh, often harmful chemicals.  Granted there are a handful of “green” paint products coming out on the market.
But what happens when you need to rejuvenate and protect wood that has braved the elements for years?  It’s hard to find an environmentally friendly product for that job, can you?
Relax – there is a [...]

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This Is Your Garage…On Steroids

February 21, 2010

OKAY. If you want to see amazing garage transformations, check out The Garage Design Center, St. Louis. It’s what your garage would want to look like if it won the Extreme Makeover Home Edition!
Dale Heuvelmann is the owner of The Garage Design Center. He and his gang will be at the St. Louis Builders Home [...]

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Soak Stress Away In an Eco-Friendly Hot Tub

February 20, 2010
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These days, stress is hard to avoid.
It comes at us in many different forms – from work, school, relationships, and just too many things to do and not enough time to do them.  Stress causes sleepless nights.  And that lack of sleep can lead to poor health – including stress-related pain and overall anxiety.
Hydrotherapy has [...]

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LEED Green Building Products Available for Fences and Decks

February 19, 2010

Thanks to advancements in alternative wood products and the use of wood treatments on older wood constructions, your fence and deck options are getting greener. 
Richard Lusa, CEO of Fence Depot, Inc., in St. Louis, MO, says more and more of their products are rated as green building products by the LEED criteria.
Some of the most [...]

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Swap Biodegradable Tableware for the Styrofoam

February 18, 2010
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Of all the baby steps you can take toward a greener lifestyle, this is one of my favorites: Never, ever use Styrofoam.
Much like plastic, Styrofoam never biodegrades or breaks down.  But unlike most plastics, Styrofoam is rarely ever recycled.  It can be done, but it’s difficult and I’ve yet to come across a facility that [...]

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Stay Toasty Warm with Spray Foam Insulation

February 17, 2010

When Rob Palmieri talks about his business, he doesn’t talk a lot about money. Instead, he remembers an elderly widow he went to call on who was living in an old, drafty home. Her husband planned to have their home insulated, but couldn’t get to it before he died.
Now she was living alone in the [...]

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Portland Brings Renewable Energy Technology to the Poorest Parts of the World

February 16, 2010
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Looking at the images of Haiti’s earthquake and the devastation that followed was a wake up call for me.  It’s hard to stay worried about the surcharges on your cell phone bill while you watch a terrified but unwavering husband wait outside the rubble of his home for days to see if his wife will [...]

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Home Electrical Repair Nightmare

February 15, 2010
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There are lots of do-it-yourself jobs around the house or jobs that you might trust to a handyman, but electrical work shouldn’t be one of them.
According to the Electrical Safety Foundation International (ESFI), home electrical problems account for nearly 55,000 home fires every year. These fires cause more than 500 deaths, injure more than 1,400 [...]

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Four Hot Trends in Kitchen Design

February 14, 2010

Quartz Countertops – Sinks need to sit on or in something and the newest trend in countertops is quartz. This natural stone look surface is perfect in kitchens because it’s non-porous – cooking debris and bacteria can’t soak in making quartz totally food safe. Quartz is also easy to maintain, unlike granite, which requires sealing, [...]

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Shopping for the Best Window Replacement Companies

February 14, 2010

One of today’s most popular home improvement projects is energy efficient window replacement. Today’s new replacement windows are better insulated and longer lasting than ever before.
Of course, installing a window involves some serious structural issues, so finding dependable, capable window replacement companies is as important as finding the right windows.
Thomas Construction, located near St. Louis, [...]

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You’re Never Too Young for a Walk In Tub

February 13, 2010
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If you’ve found your dream home and are now in the process of making it your castle for life, a bathroom remodel is likely on your project list. You might even think about upgrading your bathtub. While you’re in the planning stage, consider the advantages of installing a walk-in tub.
Laimonis Magone owns Ella’s Bubbles, a Chicago [...]

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Let the Utility Companies Help You Lower Your Electric Billing

February 12, 2010

Nowhere is energy efficiency more of a trend than in the electric utility industry. The current push is for utilities to find ways to help customers use less energy. This ultimately translates into less demand on natural resources used to fuel the production of electricity. And it helps delay the need to build new power [...]

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There’s More to Energy Efficient Appliances Than An Energy Star Rating

February 11, 2010

These days, all the talk in home appliances is about energy efficiency. It’s an important subject. New appliance lines allow you to lessen your carbon footprint and lower your electric bills.
But the Energy Star label shouldn’t be the only thing you look for. You probably don’t give much thought to how heavily you rely on [...]

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Can Earthworms Replace Your Garbage Man?

February 9, 2010
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Ever stop to think about what it means to throw something away?
Where is “away”?
Just because you throw it away from where you are, does that mean it’s gone?
What if there were no weekly garbage pick up?  If we were responsible for our own waste disposal, would the average American family still throw out more than [...]

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Low-Voltage Landscape Lighting – Beyond Porch Lights

February 8, 2010

Many homeowners have discovered that their front and back yards can be used as outdoor rooms, before and after dark. It follows, then, that a homeowner should take outdoor lighting design as seriously as their interior design.
Low-voltage landscape lighting has become very popular. Jim and Tracy Landsiedel own NiteLites of Cincinnati, OH, which puts them in a [...]

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Five Steps to Attracting Birds to Your Garden

February 7, 2010

Creating a garden that attracts birds is a relatively simple task. It consists of supplying them with three basic elements: food, cover, and water. Most homeowners start with, and sometimes end with, putting out a bird feeder with cheap bird seed. Then they wonder why only a few species of birds show [...]

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Benefits of Fiberglass Replacement Windows

February 6, 2010

As Old Man Winter and his partner Jack Frost plot together to assure a chilling winter season, I can almost hear them laugh as they hurl blustery winds and snowballs at my windows.  I’ve spoken to neighbors that have fiberglass windows and they say they haven’t had any issues with the co-conspired companions this season.   So, [...]

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Choosing the Right Appliance Store for your Kitchen Remodel

February 5, 2010

Remodeling a kitchen requires planning and teamwork. One of the more important decisions you will make, after you set your budget and expectations, is where to purchase top kitchen appliances.
The appliance distributor you choose will ultimately become an important part of the kitchen remodeling team. If you can’t spot the difference between a ringer and [...]

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Invisible Fencing – Keeping Biscuit in His Box

February 4, 2010

The Situation: Fence vs. Invisible Fence
Fences are frowned upon in our neighborhood. Most houses have large backyards that connect to form an open area which can be used as a football field if enough of your neighbors are cooperative. 
We also have a dog. He has no particular talents, and has the IQ of a soup [...]

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LED Lighting – Bright Ideas for the Right Situations

February 3, 2010

LED lighting is the latest bright idea in your local home improvement store. LED light manufacturers tout advantages like energy efficiency and environmentally responsible engineering. A few even insist that their product will last a lifetime.
If you’re thinking, “So what’s the catch?” then good for you. As with most new technologies, LED fixtures have some [...]

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