Real Home ImprovementThe Home Improvement Blog with real advice

Carpets lose their new appeal fast, and if you have children then you know full well that ‘take off your shoes at the door’ does not compute, and your dog and cat don’t speak English anyway. So what can you do at home about your stained carpet?

Contracted carpet cleaners found in the Yellow Pages are expensive, and at-home carpet cleaners are very good at removing tough stains, but what if you really only need to clean one spot of your carpet and want to do so without a large price tag? Well here is how to clean carpets without a carpet cleaners with cheap ingredients, all that is required is a little bit of elbow grease and scrubbing to reap the benefits.

1. Get a spray bottle or if you don’t own one use a cleaned out window or kitchen cleaner bottle and mix up equal parts of vinegar with water, and then spray on to the affected area. Allow the spray to settle in for around 8 – 10 minutes and take a towel, wet it, and scrub the carpet where you sprayed it.

2. If vinegar and water does not do the full trick, and some dirt still remains, then club soda is a fantastic purchase that works well all on its own. It is important that at no time you soak your carpet with club soda, and to just apply enough so that the area is covered. Leave to fizzle away for 5 – 10 minutes and then dab it dry with a tea towel or strong kitchen roll.

3. Traditionally, another great way to clean stains from carpets is to mix equal parts of salt, borax and vinegar. This will form into a paste, to which you just rub in to the affected area. Once dry, all you need to do vacuum the residue up to leave your carpet as good as new. This method is very effective, but make sure not to over do it with the vinegar as it stinks.

4. For stains that have just happened and are still wet, the best way to deal with them is to get a clean dish cloth and apply some washing up soap, such as fairy, and then apply water and rub the washing up soap into the dish cloth until it bubbles. Apply the dish cloth to the stain and then scrub.

5. If your carpets look clean but smell a little bit, then to deodorize them all that is needed is some baking soda which you can sprinkle on to the carpet. You can leave it for only 5 minutes for it to make a difference, but I prefer to leave it on for around 15 as it tends to be much more effective. Make sure to vacuum it up afterwards!

Get Underfloor Heating

Underfloor Heating is one of the most saught after perks to modern housing. It comes readily installed in new builds, but for those of you who have a home over 10 years old then chances are given the latest craze of underfloor heating imports that you do not have it. Perfect in all the bathrooms in your house, and most effective on tiled floooring, electric underfloor heating is an excellent way to improve the value of your home.

Get double glazing

Double glazing is a triple whammy because it makes your home completely secure, helps you save energy and money from your bills and also improves the overall (dependant on how much you pay) value on your home. Pretty much all flats you can rent including student accomodation use double glazing as a selling point of their homes. This is because it is modern, in most cases environmentally friendly and also cheaper in the long run than single glazed windows.

Apply a lick of paint

Those white and cream walls that you painted a year ago ain’t so white anymore – in fact as an example take a new white shirt and hold it against the wall and guarenteed your walls will not be that bright white colour. Of course, this home improvement blog isn’t recommending that you completely paint your whole house white! Ohhhh no, in fact paint it how you like – because personality to your home is key. Neutral colours are the best though.

So there we go – three simple (and 2 in cases pricey) ways of increasing the value of your home. All comments are welcome.

Metal Sheds

Living areas are for guests or friends the most important room of your house as it is what they will most probably spend the most time in (bedroom excluded as they will be asleep). Having a modern living space is one thing, and an eclectic one another, however for a living space to feel ‘homely’ then your best bet is to try and make one which is as cozy as possible to both you and your guests.

First of all it is important to decide for yourself how your living room is designed out right – so is it modern? With glass tables a corner sofa and 42″ LCD TV, or is it traditional with a big fabric lounging sofa wooden beams and traditional furniture? Your home might also be eclectic though with a mixture of both elements.

After you have decided this then there are a range of things you can do to make your living room more cozy. One of the best things for this is to use light dimmers to create a mood straight away and to also, where applicable, have a fireplace which is scuffed full of photographs and little ornaments which you may or may not have. Although more homely than cozy, this tip is built on the principle that your home should splash out your personality and not other peoples.

Scatter cushions and bean bags are also a great way to invite guests in to your home, and bean bags are actually highly looked upon by people as they usually associate them with childhood (thus bringing them at ease in a sense, a bit like a child does when they are content). Bean bags can be picked up at any home improvement store or there are a range of stores online which specialise in them.

Now lets talk colours: Cool light colors naturally enlarge the look of a space, and warm hues make a large space feel cozy and welcoming. Instead of painting or papering a living room in neutral or cool light colors, consult the warmer side of the color wheel and choose a color or a grouping of colors that will make the room feel warm and inviting. A rich shade of orange, amber or gold will help draw the walls inward while providing a cozy atmosphere to you and guests. Visit a local home improvement store, and take home sample jars of paint that will enable you to choose just the right colors to make your living room look as warm as it naturally feels.

Other ways in which you can make your living room more cozy are to have a fish tank, have a comfy and bouncy carpet, a fruit bowl ith plenty to offer, a magazine deck for all your newspapers and last but not least mirrors to put a visual perspective on how you look in your room.

Metal Sheds

Painting can be a gruelling and time consuming task. With many people skipping it and paying for a professional because they find it too boring, painting your interior walls can also be an expensive way of improving the value of your home.

But what if you are not actually looking for a professional and want to get stuck in your self? What if it is your first time painting interior walls and you want to get it just right? Well alas my friends, as Real Home Improvement has you covered!

Below is a list of the equipment you are going to need in order to fully create beautifully painted walls:

- Suitable interior paint of a colour you like

- Small brush (for cutting in)

- Large Brush (or a roller and tray)

- Fine sand paper (for if you paint something by mistake and need to take it off when dried)

- Damp cloth

- Masking Tape

And thats it! The equipment listed above is on an as needed basis, with sand paper not really being ‘required’ but recommended as an extra tool for removing dried paint.

First step

The first step to painting your interior walls properly is to prepare the wall first using a damp cloth or sugar soap which you can mix at home or buy from any megastore. This is to remove and dirt, grime, debris or cobwebs from the surface before any paint is applied. It is also hugely important that you move any furniture away from the wall being painted, although if you can not do this then cover all your furniture which might become damaged with dust sheets to protect them from your fingers or the odd splatter of paint flying from your brush. On sensitive or particular areas such as door frames use masking tape to cover the edges to create a clean straight look to your finish.

Second Step

The base coat you apply to your wall is the most important as it sets the overall tone of the higher layers. Using a big brush, or as many people pot for a roller, swiper up and down in the same direction until the wall is completely covered and leave to dry. Note: It is very important that your first layer is not too thick and you make sure that there are no ‘loose’ fibres from your paintbrush stuck to the wall. Leave the wall to dry for approximately 90 minutes (unless otherwise specified) and go make yourself a cup of tea, or better, grab a beer (just joking, RHI can not be held responsible for you painting drunk ).

Third Step

Once your wall has dried and its first coat is there for all its glory, it is important to step back and decide whether or whether not you will need to apply one or two more coats to get the finish you need (this will save you money or time). If you are happy to proceed, then again take your roller to your wall and paint away, paying particular attention not to get paint on the ceiling. After the second coat is on, you can now set to work with a smaller brush cutting in on the ceiling (squaring the finish off).

Whether you are replacing or re-fitting a loose brick or building a wall in your garden or house, laying a brick is a simple process and one which this article hopes to tone your skills. Remember that paying particular attention to basic principles will help you succeed with your project.

Gather your materials

It is important with any task that you gather all your required materials before hand; this is called proper preperation. To lay brick generally you need bricklayer trowels and bricklayer pointers, a bricklayer hammer, chisels, a bubble measurer and a mixing board. You will also need bricks .

Make your foundation

You should pour a concrete foundation if the place you are laying a brick or building the wall does not have an existing slab, brickledge or footing to work on. Your foundation must be level and below the grade of the finished ground so that the brick you have just layed is all you see when your wall is finished, it is hugely important that you also use a bubble leveler to make sure that your foundation is 100% flat.

Mix your masonry cement or mortar properly

This can be done in a wheelbarrow for small projects, or a mortar box if you don’t have access to a mortar mixer or cement mixer. Basically, to mix the mortar, you will use a ratio of three parts masonry sand (builders sand, if it is very clean), to one part masonry cement. Add water to the dry materials and mix to a consistancy like pudding. Too dry, and it will be difficult to “set” the brick in the mortar bed, too wet and the brick will sag.

Space and lay your mortar

Start at a corner, and using the trowel, scoop up mortar and place a 4 to 6 inch wide band on the footing or slab about 1 inch thick. Set a brick down in this “bed” of mortar, and tap it down with the handle of your trowel, until it is level, parallel to the line of your wall, and the edge is plumb. Repeat with 6 or 8 brick, using the edge of the trowel to cut away the excess mortar that is shoved out from under the brick as you go.

Place your brick

Place your brick on the mortar you have just spaced and layed, and push down on it so that any excess cement / mortar pretrudus from the side. Now take one of your tools and remove the excess cement at the sides, and place your bubble level on top of the brick to make sure the cement has leveled itself.

Patchett Joinery