Why Choose Wood and How To Do It

By: Sarah Miller

Wood, as a durable material, does more good than just staying in our rainforests and providing homes for the animals in the wild. Wood provides lumber that is used for building homes and installation; hobbies such as sculpting and making furniture and a whole lot more. Techniques involving with woodworking as an art are carving, sawing, sanding, painting, laminating and finishing. So why choose wood? Lumber is readily available and it's a replaceable resource which can figure into plenty of resale value.

This material never goes out of style. Some materials like vinyl may be pretty and are prominent on the market; however it is costly and lacks artistic detail. Using metal would mean having lack of strength causing it to dent, and in time it may rust. Wood, as a choice, offers a sophisticated and personal look. Each section is as exclusive as ones fingerprints. Each variety has a diverse feel and a clear-cut personality. From an entirely aesthetic point of view, nothing matches the elegance and appeal that wood offers. Synthetic materials mimic wood, but they can only try. How can the quality, intensity and beauty be captured? Unprocessed, untreated, natural or organic wood has massive ecological benefits against building materials that exist today. Wood is a hundred percent biodegradable, it functions as an excellent insulator, it is easier to process and uses a reduced amount of energy to manage than does steel, aluminum, concrete or plastic.

Many high class efficient construction techniques exist today. Conventionally, the use of wood framing isn't the most efficient in house production. Although it is undeniable that it has certain advantages. Constructing homes using wood is also inexpensive and cost-effective. What's more is that experienced contractors aren't difficult to find when building framed walls. In choosing the right flooring for a house, would you rather choose carpet, tile or wood? What are the advantages of having carpet? Sure it is slip resistant, comes in beautiful colors, and has a nice feel on the toes. Carpet may be all that but it can cause allergies especially with children. Given its texture, it traps in bacteria, dust and mold. Tile is easy to clean, but it can have a cold feel when walking barefoot.

Hardwood is pretty easy to maintain and can cut down the number of allergy causing particles inside the home. Stepping on to any flooring made out of wood will make you appreciate the welcoming tones and shades. Using wood isn't the only thing there is. The most important part is how to choose the material carefully for the purpose of protecting it from termites and from rotting. Outdoor decks or those used for landscaping are mostly unprotected and are housed by termites and therefore will decay. There are types of woods that are naturally resistant. These types include the cedar, cyprus and redwood. Problems with pest infestation is the result of a wood with soil contact. Treated wood made of composite materials is advisable when constructing wooden decks or porches or anything that may come in contact with soil. There are lumbers that are pressure-treated and are very much resistant to termites, other insects and rotting.

They are processed with a sequence of pressure cycles forcing the wood preservative deep into the pores of the wood, therefore developing a chemical barricade against insects and decay. There is available treated wood that has been observed to be successful with its performance. Its durability depends on its location and its use. The use of treated wood is determined by the retention of the wood, or the quantity of wood preservative placed. The lowest retention property (0.15 plus water repellant) mostly are used for gazebos, fence boards, hand rails, trellises, and decks. Retention property of 0.25 is used for trim and fascia, framing, flooring and sill plates. A retention property of 0.40 is mostly used with deck fence posts, deck support posts, and landscaping. Lastly, retention property of 0.60 is used for making permanent wood foundation and building poles.

About The Author
The above article was written by Sarah Miller on behalf of a buzzing online Home Improvement community where homeowners easily and painlessly find the right contractor for their home improvement projects and in turn, contractors can find the right Home Improvement Leads! Also check out the http://quotecity.com/ Blog for more related Home Improvement Articles and Ideas.

Chinese Good Luck Symbols

- Part 2, Attract Love, Romance With Feng Shui

By: Keiko Entwistle

What Chinese feng shuisymbols attract love and romance ?
In feng shuicompass school method, Southwest is the place for love, romance, marriage and family . and it is believed that an image of a couple in the Southwest side of your home or room can attract love, romance and happy marriage.
I have very good experience using this area for my relationship.
What I did was to display the image, picture of my favorite type of person on the wall at the Southwest area of my room .
Also an image of a love couple, of a dream house surrounded by a beautiful flower garden. Also a pair of rose quartz figurines. In the southeast corner of my room, I placed a small plant with red ribbon around the plant's bowl which was given by my friend as a wedding favor.
As a result, when I was single , I had so many opportunities to meet people who look like the image picture of my favorite person.
Here are some Chinese feng shuisymbols for love, romance and happy marriage and also mystical symbols to increase your love opportunity.

Pair of love birds ( or mandarin ducks )
Love birds symbolize happy marriage and couple. Placing pair figurines show that you are not alone, you always have a partner in your life.
Dragon & phoenix couple
Dragon & Phoenix couple image represents emperor and empress ( husband & wife ) which symbolizes happy marriage with a lot of wealth, and brings luxury ife.
Peach tree
Peach tree symbolizes longevity in Chinese tradition, however in my experience, displaying a peach tree image or peach flowers brought great love opportunities. I was placing fake peaches ( fruit ) in the Southwest corner of my room.
Pink flowers & plants
Placing live pink color flowers in the southeast corner of your house is believed to bring alot of new relationship opportunities. Also placing alot of plants in the southeast corner can get the same. Basically, according to feng shuicompass school method, southwest is the place for relationship & family, and southeast is for wealth , but I realized this area ( southeast) also has the power to increase new relationship opportunities when you place colorful flowers or plants with red ribbon.
Flower design blanket and curtain,
Colorful flower design symbolizes love and romance. Avoid to use dark color flowers such as blue flowers.
Rose quartz happy buddha
Rose quartz symbolizes love, romance and good relationship. Happy buddha ( laughing buddha) also is called " Hotei " symbolizes joy and happiness. The combination of rose quartz and happy buddha are a powerful good luck symbol for love opportunity & marriage.

Phoenix , horse, bird
If you want to bring popularity into your life, displaying the image of phoenix or galopping horse or bird at the south corner of your home can help .
Chinese double happiness symbol
Double happiness is an excellent feng shuisymbol for wedding luck.
The meaning of the word is " Joy, Happiness " in Chinese and it is written twice.
If you wish to find romance and a future partner, great to placethe double happiness symbol in the southwest corner of your house or room or carry it in your handbag or purse.
Wedding favors
Wedding favors are a very powerful item when you receive it from your friend or family who are full of happiness at the wedding party. Place the wedding favor in the southwest or southeast corner of your house or room.
Joining happy events is always good luck, unless you don't get negative mind when you are by yourself.
Crystals
Natural crystal quartz is extremely effective to activate earth energy of southwest corner and it will attract romance into your life. Especially when you place crystal ( or hang it ) by the window which catches sunlight , it will expand yang energy around the space.
Travel to good direction for love
To go traveling in the love direction ( you will need to check this, because every year, every month , it's different. ) can bring you love luck , during traveling and in your close future. If you want to change your love luck, this is also very effective.

About The Author
Keiko Entwistle is an asian astrologer using her original taoism methods that she learned in Japan. She runs feng shuiand good luck Chinese symbol charms website http://www.mercurytreasures.com.

Rise and Run

Simplifying Stair Rise And Run Calculations

By: Mike Merisko

When I first started my career in carpentry, building a set of stairs seemed like a complicated and daunting task. We're not talking finished oak, curved or spiral staircases. I'm talking about your normal carpet covered straight run staircases or porch and deck staircases.
My first stair building experience sort of took the mystery out of it all. I didn't have to do much figuring because it was a deck replacement job. All I did was save the old stringers from the demo of the old deck. In doing so it all started to make sense to me. How the stairs were attached, the width of the treads, and how high each step was became less of a secret to me.
Anyone with the courage to take on this job needs only patience, basic math, a framing square and the ability to stand back and look at the big picture.

The first thing I look at is how high it is to the top of the landing or deck the stairs will be rising to. A comfortable step is in the 7 to 8 inch range. With this in mind I divide the height to the landing by seven. If the height to the landing is 70" then it will take 10 rises to get to the top of the landing. I used 70" to simplify this example. Ninety-nine times out of a hundred it will be 7" and some odd fraction. For instance if the height was 73 1/2", the rise would be 7 1/2".
When building stairs there is always one less tread than there is risers. In this case with 10 risers, that means there are 9 treads. When cutting my stringers, I like to make the cuts for my treads 10" long. At this dimension I can use a 2x12 for treads without ripping them to a narrower width. This gives me a nosing or overhang of 1 1/4". It also makes it easier to figure out how much room the stairs will require. In this case 9 treads X 10" = 90". The total run of the stairs is 90".
An example of how easy this works are stairs that go from the 1st floor to the 2nd floor of a house with an eight foot ceiling. This takes 14 risers at 7 and 5/8 inches (I've cut so many of these it is forever imbedded in my mind). This means there are 13 treads. Thirteen times ten is 130". I always made my stairwell opening 120". This lets 10" of the stringer (a full tread) sit on the deck or concrete floor. It also leaves plenty of headroom for the stairs below if there is a basement. The same well opening above (120") also gives you enough headroom.
This can seem like an overwhelming project. Like any other project, if you take the time and patience and a little thought you can acquire the ability.
(c) 2005 Mike Merisko http://www.sawkerfs.com/