Home Related Questions and Answers

Monday, December 24, 2012

Define Home Furnishing?

Q. How can you define "Home Furnishing"? Most internet dictionaries redirect this to furnishing and I can't find any definitions for it..thanks.

A. My opinion is anything that goes inside the home. This includes carpets, furniture and wall decor.

Can I claim my grandmother who is 70 year old and lives in a nursing home as a dependent?

Q. My grandmother is 70 and lives in a nursing home, I furnish all of the support for her, I paid over $12,000 for the nursing home, bought her a wheelchair, paid for her doctor's fees. Can I claim her as a dependent and deduct those expenses?

A. Yes. Provided, as it is very likely, that she ...

1) does not earn more than $3,650 gross income. In this case, if only social security, that does not count as gross income.

2) Including all her income, such as pensions and social security, you still provide over 50% support. As you say, you furnish all support.

You can deduct medical expenses on your tax return for a dependent, but not the entire cost of the nursing home. Ask them for a breakdown of the expenses, the room and board portion will not count. The other expenses, wheelchair, doctor fees, medications, etc. do count.

What are the chances of me not getting the job because of training (call centre sales agent/telemarketing))?

Q. I was called back from a services call centre job for a home furnishing company and they were hiring quite a few summer students. Since they called me for training it means that they want me there right? And does that mean the chance of me failing the training is small? My duties are answering calls for the company and solving issues as well as try to sell products. Also, anybody been through training for call centre jobs or telemarketing? How hard is the training?

A. Depending on the company. The training for one was 2 weeks long and you read off of a sheet. The CSR's at my company go through 12 weeks of training but it's for medical and they need to know more than just how to do returns.

How do you remove rust from patio furniture?

Q. i have iron patio furniture and it is rusting...how do i remove the rust and how do i keep the rust off.

A. Sand to remove the loose scaley rust then use the 3 step system by KBS Coatings.
http://www.kbs-coatings.com/KBS-3-Part-System.aspx

What is the market like for wood patio furniture ?

Q. I'm starting a business in Va. making wood patio furniture. I have a number of designs and want opinions on how popular you think this would be. These projects would be of the pre made style that you put together yourself, shiped as a diy project complete with Instructions, parts & pictures for east assembly. Can also provide product in any color you want. Will post pictures at a future date.

A. I want to agree with # 1 though not in a crude way,,,no real offense to him.

Your TARGET MARKET might be narrow at first, and KIT stuff is usually not directed at those who want upscale, and instant. No offense meant to them either. I know a few, very well off people who get their hands dirty.

WOOD is a great premise, and certainly you might also appeal to the Corona, Beach Crowd, who might still want casual, affordable, aesthetically more pleasing than Poly webbing, steel framed, fold up chairs, but again, you should do some market research as to who might actually NOT want to go to a Discount chain, spend $8 and be sitting on a beach or patio within 25 minutes of the purchase.

Sell me a decently constructed Adierondacks Chair, even unfinished but assembled, in Ash, Poplar, Birch, and you can charge me $100 more than I'd pay for a Center Field, Nylon Sling Chair,,,even with two cup holders.

I suspect you have researched some or all of the sceanrios, such as cost to produce, PROFIT, shipping/handling, Venoors, quality control and service call backs should a screw or allen wrench be left out of the package, etc. etc.

Steven Wolf

Oh throw in a fold out/down, foot rest...LOL.

How do I stop my two 9 year old dogs from urinating on the patio furniture?

Q. The dogs are males, they are Cocker mix (probably cockapoo) and they urinate on patio furniture and on the potted plants all the time.

A. And have been doing this for 9 years, and it's suddenly a problem now??
You just have to train them to not pee there.. Which is going to be a little tough, as it's gone on a long time now. Try taking them out and past the patio and blocking the patio so that they can't get to it to pee..

Edit: NO don't rub their nose in it, this is a STUPID suggestion, this is old time training crap that doesn't work. You only suceed in teaching the dogs that you are mean, and pee in general is bad.. You don't want them afraid to pee, you just want them to pee in a more appropriate place.. Don't slap their nose or rub their nose in pee.. This is not positive training, this is ABUSE!

How do I convert a fan light kit to a ceiling light?

Q. I want to use a fan light kit as a ceiling light. What do I need to do to make sure this works out?

A. I may be reading this wrong. I am certainly reading it differently than others. You want to use light kit made for a ceiling fan as a ceiling light, without a ceiling fan.

The problem here lies in the way the two are made to mount. A ceiling light has a bracket and matching holes and/or bolts to work with an electrical box. A ceiling fan light kit is made to attach to the bottom of the ceiling fan and generally has a hub base with holes on the side to attach it to the fan assembly.

I have never seen an adapter to make them work, although I am sure there is one. You will not find anything like that at Lowes or Home Depot, although they may be able to order one. Check out your local electric supply shops, the ones the electrical contractors use, Price may make it less practical.

Can you paint a ceiling light fixture? I want the actual glass globe painted - is this possible?

Q. I'm looking to paint the ceiling light fixture in my baby's bedroom. I am doing a Dr. Seuss theme and I haven't been able to find a ceiling light fixture and that's what I want. So, I want to know if it's possible to do and if so what type of paint is safe to use (non toxic, non flammable and so on) to paint Dr. Seuss characters on it. Any ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

A. Seems like a bad idea. It will block the light and, if you ever want to change the theme, you will have to buy a new light. Just paint the ceiling around the light.

How can I add a pull chain to a ceiling light fixture?

Q. The previous owners of the house put a ceiling light and a fan with a light kit on the same wall switch. I'd like to have the fan on without the lights. I can use the pull chain on the light kit to kill the light on the fan, but the ceiling light is controlled by the switch. Is there a kit available that will allow me to add a pull chain to that ceiling light, as well?

A. I would check in the electrical department of a big home improvement store like Home Depot or Lowes. They could give you the right advice based on the type of light your are talking about.

How do I find an apprenticeship for a general contractor.?

Q. I want to be a home contractor though. Build houses and such. I have looked and craigslist and searched the web, but I guess perhaps the best thing would to be contact other companies who build homes and see if they have any entry positions? also What kind of schooling is required to be a general contractor, I want to eventually be in the supervisory position once Ive learned everything.

A. 1. You should possess a degree or basic qualification in construction, civil engineering or related subjects.

http://ezinearticles.com/?Basic-Qualifications-of-a-General-Contractor&id=5393201

2. You should approach a construction company for apprenticeship.

.

Is it legal for a home improvement contractor to walk off the job?

Q. We hired a home improvement contractor for a major landscaping job. He completed about 80% of the work but then disappeared. Right before he disappeared, he asked if we minded paying him for the work he already completed. He seemed nice so we agreed. Then, he vanished, even though he signed a contract with us saying that he was supposed to do our driveway (which he didn't -- and now it is near winter and we have no driveway). Can he legally do this? (walk off a job even though the work in the contract is incomplete)

A. Never Pay until the job is DONE.

Never

No matter HOW NICE he seems.

Of course if he is contractually obligated to finish the job - but Now YOU have got to compel him to do it. (and you've lost hour hammer)

(no pun on the contracting thing)

It will probably be cost effective to hire someone to finish the job... and consider this a lesson learned.

I assume you've called him to ask "what's up"? And I also assume he's UNAVAILABLE, right?

Do you select your friends by their work skills?

Q. You know, slowly befriend a home contractor, drywall install/finish person, mechanic, electrician, pool installer, appliance repair person, plumber, HVAC person, landscaping person, mover person, computer specialist, etc.?

When something at home goes amiss, you just pick up the phone and get the work done for free or at a reduced rate?

A. Let's just say that if I ever want someone to help me sniff strangers butts and inhale paint fumes - I'm pretty well covered.

How To Remove Scratch of a Refinished floors?

Q. I recently had my 50+ years old pine hardwood floors refinished with 3 coats of oil based. Looks really nice and shiny. Now I made a light/clear scratch from moving furniture and I can't get it off by using an eraser or water+soap. Any other ways to remove a simple clear scratch/scuff from the top coat? Thank you!

A. Try a little bleach, don't pour it directly on the floor, put some on a towel, or sponge and a little elbow grease.

What do I do to fix a hardwood floor after refinishing problem?

Q. We sanded our hardwood floor to refinish it. All of a sudden, the nails showed up - we couldn't really see them before sanding, now we have black nail heads on nice brown hardwood. How do we fix it so the nails don't show so drastically?

A. All you can do now is use a nail punch and counter sink the nails and then fill the holes with a putty. Use a putty you can stain by using some of the stain you used for the hardwood. Then just touch up with the same urethane.
Any questions you can e mail me through my avatar. GL

is fine sanding the same as screening a wood floor?

Q. I am tackling a floor refinish on my old oak wood floors soon. I bought a house and found worn (but good shape) old oak wood floors under the carpet. I am planning on screening and re-staining and finishing the floors. will something like 200-grit sandpaper have the same effect as a screening pad? Which option would you suggest?

A. If you were just going to apply another coat of clear finish (polyurethane), then screening is fine. You want to re stain, so you have to remove all the clear finish first. You need to be more aggressive than 200 grit.

How long do fleas live in an environment without a host?

Q. No pets now in home. Only two adults highly allergic to flea bites. The home is without fleas except for one room where we put diatomaceous earth and sprayed, but due to storage of furniture and boxes, we could not get the poison into all of the areas of the room. We will probably have to brave the fleas and go back in to spray, but how long will they live if we just leave the door closed?

A. meptastic is right, is not the live ones, it is the eggs that hatch and the cycle does not need hosts to feed on to keep producing

those fleas are prolly living in your boxes and fabric furniture
The average life span of an adult flea is probably about 6 weeks - but fleas can live as long as a year under certain conditions. A female flea can lay 20 to 28 eggs a day. She may lay several hundred eggs over her life span. These eggs fall off the pet and develop where they land. They are small and can even develop in the cracks in wood floors or other small crevices. A larvae hatches from the flea egg. It takes as few as 9 days to as long as 200 days to go through its growth stages. At this time is forms a pupae and waits for the right time to hatch. Fleas prefer temperatures of 65 to 80 degrees and humidity of 75 to 85 per cent. This range determines the period of time that fleas are a problem in your particular area. For some areas of the country, this is all year. In others, the flea season is relatively short. It is estimated that for every adult flea found on the pet, there are about 10 developing fleas in the pet's environment.

In other words, you need Orkin to come in a take care of this, and then come back every two weeks for a couple months to go ove the room again. If you vacum, you can get eggs in the works of your cleaner, emptying the bag wont help rid the fleas and then if you vacum into another room it just spreads them back into a new area.

Where can I find cheap storage furniture besides IKEA?

Q. I need this storage for clothes, so links and suggestions for dressers, wardrobes, etc. are all welcome. Thanks :)

A. In St. Louis we have a place called weekends only and Value City. This is a good place. Target has good items. Try Walmart, Linens and Things, and K-Mart. Under bed boxes are good. Look in the sale adds this week. Furniture stores have a discount section in the back.

When making storage furniture does it have much use of computer aided design/manufacture?

Q. I am making a small wooden storage box in my d.t class at school and i need to find out whether or not it uses cad/cam. Thank you :)

A. I don't know what D.T. class is. If you have easy access to CAD/CAM (computer aided drafting/computer aided manufacturing) and you know how to use it, then draw your design with details on size 'c' format. This way you can show the details, and B/M on one sheet. Include on this drawing a final 3D assy. in the upper right hand corner. It is always nice to use and store a professional drawing.
And, if you want to make changes to the project, very easy for additions or revisions. For record keeping you'll have a disk instead of a paper copy and future projects can all be stored one this one disk. A nice way to go.

Sunday, December 23, 2012

Any site for bathroom design?

Q. hi, is there any good website to browse for small bathroom designs photos? coz we need to re-model our bathroom...thanks!

A. http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images?_adv_prop=image&fr=ush-ans&va=bathroom+design&sz=
here's 1 **

I need wall color ideas for my bathroom?

Q. I'm going to paint the walls tomorrow and I still haven't got a clue what color I want! I don't mind going with bold colors like black or bright red, I just want it to look professional. Also, does anyone know of any easy techniques I can use to get an interesting texture on the walls? I'm up for any of your ideas. Include any accent colors or other bathroom design ideas. Keep in mind I've already put in new light fixtures, which are a soft yellow color.
Thanks in advance!

A. Why not try a really modern look for your bathroom, using black and lime-green. If your suite and tiles are white, this will keep the room fresh and bright, and won't look too dark. If I was using these 2 colors, I would use black as the main color, and lime green as the accent.

Black can be a difficult color to paint with, so you may want to try a dark brown or a dark gray instead, both of which will give dramatic, but sophisticated results.

With bold colors, plain flat walls would look best I think, but if you want to add some texture to your walls, a really easy way of doing it, is to just mix some builder's sand in with your paint. It comes out quite heavily textured with little lumps and bumps in it (sorry, it's quite hard to describe).

Bring out the lime-green accent with matching towels, shower curtain, bathmat etc. Some gorgeous green plants, and especially those long stalks of bamboo, would look great

Does anyone know where I can find design ideas for decorating a small toilet and bathroom on a budget?

Q. I have a small bathroom and toilet which I would like to decorate myself but have absolutely no design ideas. I am looking for some simple, attractive designs but everything on the web seems to be too plush and costly. Does anyone have any ideas as to where I can view photos of simple bathroom designs? I am looking mainly for ideas for decoration rather than replacement bathroom furniture. Alternatively, are there any people out there with good design skills who would be willing to offer me some design suggestions?

A. Check out ratemyspace.hgtv.com for some great ideas for small bathrooms.

Here are a couple small bathrooms that I thought were great.

http://ratemyspace.hgtv.com/SNC/ViewItem.aspx?pguid=6db6be3f-1720-4ba3-a081-999042c09b6b&itemguid=9dd68ca0-225e-4217-bad6-2143bf0d862e

http://ratemyspace.hgtv.com/SNC/ViewItem.aspx?pguid=6db6be3f-1720-4ba3-a081-999042c09b6b&itemguid=57100798-8c30-49bc-be2c-c30e8e7e6837

http://ratemyspace.hgtv.com/SNC/ViewItem.aspx?pguid=6db6be3f-1720-4ba3-a081-999042c09b6b&itemguid=6d880e5b-6be8-4242-afbf-d7af8f547ea5

Check places like Target, Bed Bath and Beyond, Linens and Things, Pottery Barn Outlet for your accessories. Bed Bath and Beyond has 20% off coupons quite often and wait for Target to have a sale. Good luck and have fun with it!