News – Monica Groop

The Effect of Weather on Outdoor Furniture

It may seem obvious that outdoor furniture should stand up to the weather. After all, you don’t want the hard job of carrying it out and back in every time it is to be used. And unless it can stay outside all the time, you will end up not wanting to use it at all because the job is so onerous. If the furniture is to be located on a grassy area it is even more important that it is weatherproof.

When something heavy is left on grass it will sink in and reach the soil underneath, which is often quite damp. This will rot the legs of most timber furniture, because even if it is painted, that constant wear on the base of the legs will soon penetrate the paint and the moisture will seep up into the inside of the wood. The end result will be the paint is compromised and the timber will rot from the ground up.

At least, this is what happens with softwoods, especially anything left untreated. However, certain hardwood decking will stay strong and in their natural state for many years even though they are outside in the weather. Think of all those heavy beams used for piers or boat masts. They get wet all the time, but they last for many years. Boat wood furniture is therefore ideal for any external design or renovation that needs furniture.

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5 Tips For Keeping Your Residential Lift Looking Great

As with any significant investment in your home, if you have a residential lift we presume you want it to look great for as long as possible. One advantage you have is, unlike a commercial lift which may see hundreds of people using it every day, your home lift may only be used on a handful of occasions within the same period of time.

Nevertheless, if you do not take the appropriate steps to care for and maintain your residential lift, it will soon start looking far from new, and the risk is that it will start developing aesthetic problems that either cannot be rectified or which require a large amount of money to fix. So, to help you avoid those costs, and to help keep your residential lift looking great for as long as possible, here are 5 tips that we strongly encourage you to follow.

Regular Maintenance

It might seem strange that we talk about the maintenance of your home lifts first, rather than some of the tasks to keep it clean. However, as any technician, engineer or mechanic will tell you, if you want something to look as good as new for as long as possible, then you must maintain it properly.

By ensuring regular maintenance of your home lift, it means that it will function properly and the chances of any kind of fault developing such as it getting stuck are minimised. Repair work on lifts can occasionally mean they suffer from superficial damage, so the fewer the faults and repairs, the better.

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How to Ensure Scaffolding Safety at the Building Site

One thing every company that uses scaffolding should be concerned about is safety at the building site. When employees are using scaffolding, their risks increase due to the working conditions being more dangerous. They are usually up high, so any fall is more likely to have disastrous consequences. The working space is limited which restricts their movements to some extent and this can also contribute to injuries or falls. So how do you ensure scaffolding safety at the building site?

- Make sure all employees have proper training for working on scaffolding. This training should be ongoing, not done once and never again. People forget things and situations change. Training should be done so staff can keep up with the latest safety developments.
- Never allow an untrained person to go up on scaffolding. It is quite easy to forget who has had training and who hasn’t. Keeping on top of details like this will ensure a better quality of safety for all concerned.

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How to Choose a Colour Scheme For Your New Home

Colour is a big part of design, whether you’re getting a new landscape design or doing an internal renovation, it can seem a bit overwhelming to choose a colour palette for the whole house. Having the same neutral colours for every room is what you find in rentals. When it comes to your own home, you want something a little more distinctive and up-market than that. Here are some tips on how to choose colours that go well together without being bland and boring.

Walk through the home with a pen and paper and jot down which other parts of the home can be seen from each room. This will ensure the colours chosen for each room will go well together with the colours that can be seen from there. Using a rough sketch of the floor plan is an easy way to keep track of it. It is not only the adjoining rooms that may be seen but places like the hall through to the kitchen.
Choose a colour for the room that is the biggest and most central to the whole house. Feeling stressed? Choose a soft, neutral hue for this room and that will make it easier to choose colours for the other rooms. But if you love colour and want to have at least one room painted in bold colours, start from that room. Then looking out from that room, choose somewhat softer colours for the rooms or spaces you can see from there. That’s not to say you can’t use bold colours next to each other, but there is an element of risk in doing so. You don’t want the colours to clash.
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How to Design the Perfect Bathroom Vanity

Ask any cabinet maker from colraycabinets.com.au, and they will tell you that the bathroom is the most important room in the house, next to the kitchen. Shouldn’t it be one you’re proud of and one that you’re not ashamed for guests to visit? Designing the perfect bathroom vanity can undoubtedly assist, and here’s how to do it.

Take a Critical Look At Your Bathroom

If you have been thinking about renovating your bathroom, then chances are you don’t like what you see. But what is it about your bathroom that you don’t like? Is it the lack of storage? The dated or damaged vanity? Or maybe it’s the inferior quality cabinetry that doesn’t seem to withstand daily use?

Once you can identify what you don’t like about your bathroom, you can start thinking about what you want your new bathroom to have.

Come Up with Ideas

Realising why you don’t like your current bathroom is half the battle. The other half is coming up with solutions to those problems. For example, suppose a lack of cabinetry is to blame. In that case, it makes sense to include more cabinetry and a new vanity in your bathroom renovation.

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How to Set Up a Perfect Home Office?

With the changing times, the question arises: why is our generation so different from all other generations when we think about the home office? The answer is that the routines have changed drastically. Our ancestors have to spend their 8 hours of working in an office. They must travel through various transports to reach their office and on the same vehicles after work.

But if we talk about our generation, the paradigm has shifted drastically. We don’t want to get stuck in traffic, weather, and all other hindrances to work as we can work from home. Many have not renewed their office leases, called in the removalists, shed some excess office equipment, and set up offices in their familiar surroundings – at home.

According to a survey, more people are working from home than ever. Regardless of what we do, our generation has figured out how to accomplish our daily tasks from home. The advancement of technology has gifted us with this comfort, and we can even work in our pajamas.

Advantages of Working from Home

We can save time traveling.
We can work efficiently because of the environment and comfort.
The office talks are long forgotten at home.

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The Ultimate Guide to Choosing the Right Timber for Your Project

Hey there, DIY enthusiasts and woodworking newbies! Pull up a chair, grab a cup of coffee, and let’s chat about one of my favorite topics – timber. Whether you’re looking to build a deck that’ll be the envy of the neighborhood or craft a coffee table that’ll become a family heirloom, choosing the right timber is crucial. So, let’s dive in and demystify the world of wood!

Why Timber Choice Matters

Before we get into the nitty-gritty, let’s talk about why picking the right timber is so important. I remember my first major woodworking project – a bookshelf for my daughter’s room. I was so excited that I rushed out and bought the first wood I saw without much thought, even though I should have considered some building supplies. Let’s just say, that bookshelf ended up being more of a “learning experience” than a functional piece of furniture!

The right timber can make your project sing. It affects everything from the look and feel of your finished piece to how long it’ll last. Plus, working with the wrong wood can turn a fun project into a frustrating ordeal faster than you can say “knotty pine.”

Understanding Wood Types

Alright, let’s start with the basics. In the world of timber, we’ve got two main categories: hardwoods and softwoods. Now, don’t let the names fool you – they’re not always about how hard or soft the wood actually is!

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How to Remove Stains from the Carpet

Spills happen in most households and if you have carpet, along with pets or toddlers it is highly likely that you will eventually get a spill of something on the carpet. Even adults can spill things such as wine or coffee. It only takes a moment of inattention and the deed it done. It is what happens afterwards that is important. Treating the spill properly will hopefully remove the stain. Simply blotting it will only remove moisture and leave the stain there, so when it is time to move and then when the removalists are gone you will be left with very hard to remove stains.

To treat a stain on the carpet it is important to know what caused the stain and what type of carpet you have. The first is usually easier to identify than the second, especially if you are renting. However, no matter what type of carpet you have, it is important to mop up that spill as soon as possible. Mopping it up properly will prevent it from spreading and may even stop it from penetrating to the under-felt, which will make the job done by Carpet Cleaning Scarborough easier later on.

How to remove the moisture

First up, blot the stain with paper towelling or a white towel. Do not scrub or rub the area as this will damage the carpet fibres and spread the stain. Even when blotting, surround the edges of the spill with the paper towel and press towards the centre to keep it contained. Continue to press with clean sheets of paper until most the moisture has come out. There will still be a stain, especially if what spilled has deep colour, like wine or coffee.

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Electrical Safety Tips for Home Renovators

Home renovators often become their own renovating expert due to necessity. There are many jobs that a handyman can do around the home and when they get to work, it can certainly save money on the cost of renovations. However, any professional experienced electrical contractor will tell you that doing work you are not qualified for is not only dangerous, it can end up costing you more. Here are some electrical safety tips for you if you are planning to renovate your home.

Do not bend any electrical lead or wiring, it could get damaged and become unsafe.
Don’t leave electrical leads lying around the floor where you or others can trip over them.
Don’t leave extension leads or power boards out in the hot sun or rain.
Don’t use them unless they are rated for home renovations.
Never piggy back double adaptors on any kind of power board or power point.
Become familiar with your fuse box in case the power goes out. Some use a trip wire to prevent burning if too many appliances are on at one time. Knowing how to flick the trip switch back on can save the cost of an electrician’s visit.
Be aware that most electrical work should be done by trained electricians.
Know what is okay for you to do.

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Why Professionally Cleaned Carpets Can Help You Sell Your Home

Selling your home can be stressful, and one of the most significant stress points is fearing that you cannot sell your home; however, have you ever considered that something as simple as having professional carpet cleaners come to your home could make the difference?

Now, we will state right away that if you price your home at too high an asking price or your home is in poor condition, no amount of carpet cleaning, professional or otherwise, is likely to convince a seller to buy it. But, if you have priced sensibly, and your home is well-maintained, any buyer viewing who also sees that your carpets look almost like new thanks to them being professionally cleaned could be moved closer to a decision to buy your home.

So, let us look closely at why that might be and examine precisely why professionally cleaned carpets can help you sell your home.

Carpets Take Up A Large Proportion Of What Buyers See When They View

Small details can come into play when a potential buyer views a house. However, it will be the more significant element that they will pay the most attention to. For example, when they look at the cleanliness and condition of the carpets on almost every square inch of the floor, this will have a far more significant influence on their decision than the kitchen taps.

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