Top Ten Questions for Professional Floor Service

If you are ready to hire a professional service for your floor work, then you need to do some homework. You should always investigate any company you are entrusting with your business or home floors. You want them to be professional, have a good reputation, provide references, and be economical. So be sure and check out three or four services to compare them and allow you to have enough choices to compare.

In order to get professional quality service for your hard surface floors, the professional janitorial floor company should be asking you some questions. Professional floor technicians have to know your floors, your business and your objective.

These are some questions a professional janitorial service should ask you:

1. What type and age are your floors?

2. What type of business and traffic is on this floor?

3. What are the main problems with this floor?

4. Have you liked or disliked anything done in the past?

5. Are you concerned with appearance, durability, slipping or static?

6. What do you want the final product to look like, high gloss, matte?

7. Will you need regular floor maintenance, like spray buffing or scrub and recoat?

8. Will the floor techs need to move furniture?

9. Do you need this to be completed by a certain date?

10. Are you working with a certain budget?

A professional floor company should come to you and evaluate your floor and discuss the ideal floor care for your situation. They will then take your information back their office and consult with floor technicians to come up with the best procedure and price. Many professionals will take before and after shots to show off their expert work. A manager should give a final inspection and give you a follow up call to see if everything turned out the way you wanted. Honestly express your opinion on the quality of work. Professional janitorial floor companies will appreciate the feedback and use it as an opportunity to improve their service.

Here are questions you should ask before hiring a professional janitorial floor service:

1. Do you service our area of town?

2. What are your payment terms?

3. How long have you been in business?

4. Are you licensed and insured?

5. Do you guarantee your work?

6. Who do I speak with if I am unhappy with the services?

7. Can you provide references?

8. Will you give a free estimate of the price and how much time it will take?

9. Do you have solutions for all types of budgets?

10. Do you provide a floor maintenance program?

With these questions answered, you should be at ease with whomever you choose as your professional janitorial floor service. If the professional janitorial floor service did everything they said in a timely manner and you were happy, please let them know and give them a good referral.

–This article may be freely reprinted or distributed in its entirety in any e-zine, newsletter, blog or website. The author’s name, bio and website links must remain intact and be included with every reproduction.–

Stud Wall Design For a Quiet Living Space

Stud wall design plays an important role in noise transmission from room to room in your home. Staggered stud wall design can help soundproof any area of your home.

Construction begins with a wider than normal top and bottom beam, usually a 2 x 6 or a 2 x 8 instead of a 2 x 4. 2 X 4 studs are screwed in an alternating pattern along the base plate. The studs are spaced 16 inches on center across the beam and two 2×2’s are security each end to support the weight of drywall. This creates form of discontinuous construction. This prevents noise from being conducted from one sheet of drywall, through the studs, and into the next room.

Metal studs can also be used in place of timber to further reduce the conduction of sound vibrations. You may also consider increasing the amount of dead space within the walls to accommodate larger amounts of thick insulating material to help absorb sound. All seams in the drywall must also be properly sealed in order to block out unwanted noise.

Finishing the wall with denser materials such as brick, sheetrock, or plaster can also significantly reduce the noise level that is transmitted from room to room. Double layers of sheetrock can be used with an adhesive layer of glue or silicon caulking in between. By alternating seems out of wall covering, the soundproofing qualities of a room are greatly increased.

Special order thicker doors such as those used in commercial applications may also be needed to prevent sound from being transmitted. Common interior doors are lightweight and have a hollow center. Heavier commercial-grade doors block sound more efficiently. If you are installing double layers of drywall or sheetrock, you may also have to special order thicker doorjambs to accommodate the increased width.

Discontinuous stud wall design is ideal for walls separating the garage and the living space of your home, as well as typically noisy areas such as children’s playrooms and laundry rooms. Incorporating discontinuous stud wall design into areas such as your home office and bedroom can enrich your levels of rest and productivity by keeping out unwanted noise.

Discontinuous stud wall design used in conjunction with double layers of dry wall provides an adequate level of soundproofing for a fraction of the cost of using specially design soundproofing materials. The level of soundproofing achieved by changing the design of the stud walls and selecting denser building materials is usually adequate for the purposes of most homeowners.

Rose Gardening Tips – Learn 3 Simple Rose Gardening Tips

Rose gardening is a dreamy hobby because rose is a type of flower that carries a lot of meanings according to its color. If you want to become a proud gardener, one of the ways that you can do that is by having a garden full of blooming roses. One off-topic tip for male gardeners, if you are good with rose gardening, you might get the attention of romantic females out there.

Rose gardening basics is easy and have been covered almost everywhere. What we will look into with this rose gardening tips article are some essential tips for those who are getting into it. Keep in mind that it is not hard to plant roses in your garden. The hard part is to get them blooming healthily during the spring and early summer. Let’s dive into the tips I have prepared for you.

Color of Roses to Plant

Color of roses are vibrant and may cause immediate visual effect once it blooms. With this in mind, you may want to properly plot the the color scheme of your garden so that roses with the color of your choice will fit in without becoming an eyesore. You may want to “highlight” the existence of your roses by planting those of bright colors such as red and yellow.

If you prefer a green and peaceful garden, you can always opt for roses with soft colors such as pink and white. The prices of roses with different colors will not have much difference. However, some colors may have a higher price due to the higher demand.

Indoor or Outdoor for Roses

Good question there. Roses prefer spots that are exposed to at least 4 hours of sunlight. They usually don’t grow very well when placed under a shady spot. Different places may have different temperatures and sunlight exposure which may or may not be suitable for rose gardening.

You may want to test the suitability of spots that you have prepared for your roses by testing them out in containers. This will reduce your effort of trying to remove them if roses are not suitable for your garden.

Rose Caring Tips

No rose gardening tips will be complete unless they have included rose caring tips because roses are fragile plants. Pests can cause problems to your rose gardens and you must watch out for caterpillars, bugs and parasites that love roses. An organic gardening ways to counter this is to add a predator of these pests into the food chain of your garden.

Hollywood Siren Fashion Style – Barbara Stanwyck, How to Dress in Vintage Style Dresses

Barbara Stanwyck is one of my all time favorite actresses. Her legendary upbringing, hard-boiled personality and the longevity of her career, makes her a true Hollywood legend. Born in 1906 and orphaned at early age, from her humble foster family upbringing, she somehow managed to steer her path to destiny. Following the footsteps of her sister as a show girl, she was a chorus girl and dancer in the Ziegfeld Follies and numerous other shows. “I just wanted to survive and eat and have a nice coat”, Stanwyck said.

After a brief stint on Broadway, she landed herself roles in Hollywood. Frank Capra’s choice of using Stanwyck in ‘Ladies of Leisure’ promised a steady stream of film roles, which helped in crafting her skill for strong characters in movies. She was often seen as the glamorous, courageous and perfect femme fatale. Often fighting to be equal with her male leads, her personality shone and offered a modern take on the female persona for movies at the time. I especially love her in ‘All about Eve’, as the crook who lures her man into confusion. Her strong spirit and infectious laugh certainly makes this movie unforgettable. I especially love her voice, husky and controlled, has a calm demeanour on the surface, and storm stored under.

Stanwyck had a figure like a model. Tall and athletic, she often wore gowns that showed off her endless legs, with cropped tops just cut above her rib cage. These looks are surprisingly on the radar at the moment. As we have seen, the designers are moving our waist lines upwards, so we can certainly imitate Stanwyck’s style with ease. Wear one of the cropped tee shirts we’ve featured, teamed with a high-waisted pencil skirt and you will find how flattering this look can be. Or a high waisted maxi skirt for a modern touch, teamed with platforms shoes, gives you an ease of casual glamour.

Often the smallest part of our torso is our waist, so this should be used to best show off our assets, which is evident in countless old movies. So go on, be a style icon and you will be discover your inner siren too!

She also often donned with long beaded gowns made of silk with bias cut details, we shouldn’t be shy of elegant evening dress. We would love to picture ourselves as a film siren wearing evening gowns. But then of course we can dress in figure hugging maxi dresses, to achieve a casual look.

Smart Home Roofing Techniques For Maximum Protection

The home roofing job is the most critical of them all. Proper protection for your house depends on the right roofing techniques. You need to choose the right roofing materials for the particular climatic condition you have in your area of living. The well-made roof gives you the right stability and protection from all-weather related hazards. You can contact a professional roofing expert for proper home construction works. You should pick the right roofing designs like ridged, reinforced, hip, and corrugated metal roofing for perfect functionality and protection. The cost for roofing depends on the materials and the service charges of the technicians.

A planned design of roofs

You need a proper plan before you can start the new sheeting project for your home. An architect or a construction firm can provide you a constructive roofing plan. You can also appoint an all-inclusive service provider for roofing and remodeling. The roof should be designed to protect the interior and outside walls from direct UV rays of Sun. The aerodynamic roofing designs help the home in standing still during a major storm. The ridged roofing design is the most traditional roof of all times. It gives you proper protection from storm, heavy rain and shade from the sun.

The materials you need

There are a number of choices for you in choosing the right roofing materials. You can choose iron and steel sheets, aluminum sheets, wooden and metallic shingles, vinyl sheets, earthen tiles, and concrete blocks. You can choose any of them according to the functionality and your budget. You need to keep in mind that the roof is a protective covering for your home. The materials should be stable enough in enduring natural hazards. You can choose steel sheets over the iron because iron can get rusted within a few months of mounting.

Save your roofing cost

You can save on your roofing job by following some simple guidelines. You need to determine the right quantity of materials you need for roofing. A professional roofing expert can help in this job by proving you a quotation. You can save money by searching online for the cheapest roofing service provider in your area. You must see the past projects of such as roofers before appointing. The technicians must carry the required tools with them. In case they need some extra tools for the roofing job, then you go for the rentals. This way, you can save a lot of money on the construction process.

What To Look For In Contemporary Home Furniture

Few things are as exciting as building or buying a new home. However, if anything can give the experience a run for its money it is the process of selecting out furniture. See, when you adorn a room with your furnishing selections, it is a chance to give that space a personality of its own. You are essentially setting the tone and the look of your house from day to day. While choosing the furniture of your dreams may seem like a lot of pressure, it’s actually a rather fun process, so long as you keep the following key factors in mind: style, size, price and stability.

Style is important when setting the look and tone of a room. While this is your opportunity to be creative and inventive, you do need to ask yourself what you will be using the room for, and whether or not you want to go with something trendy or opt instead for the more timeless contemporary home furniture. Contemporary home furniture style will be “in” no matter what the season or the decade. It typically plays it safe on patterns while focusing on comfort. Companies such as Cardis Furniture attempt to design furnishings that can stand the test of time.

Once you’ve decided on the style of furniture that you want, it’s time to focus on size. The “right size” may not be the same for everyone. It largely depends on the dimensions of your room, so make sure that you know those before making a purchase that can easily climb into the thousands of dollars. Nothing is more frustrating than buying a beautiful set of contemporary home furniture only to find out too late that it doesn’t fit the designated area.

Price is yet another factor that you won’t wish to ignore. Just because something is cheap, that doesn’t make it a good value. Likewise, just because something is expensive, that doesn’t mean it will meet the look and feel of your home or deliver the comfort you expect for the cost. Test out furniture before you purchase, and seek more than one opinion on price. There is generally wiggle room in furniture pricing, so having a number of options will help you to save money.

Finally, stability is of the utmost importance to overall value. A piece of furniture that stands up over time quickly falls in overall cost because the longer that you have it and use it, the less that it costs you per years of ownership. The longer that you hold on to a piece’s quality, the greater the value over time. So before determining the right look for your home, investigate the purchase with regard to these areas. Before long, you could have not only the home of your dreams but also the furniture to go along with it.

All About Die Cutting Machines

Die cutting machines help with embossing, engraving and cutting of cards, papers, fabric and thin pieces of metal. With the unit, you are able to easily add dimension and texture to any fabric without using scissors.

Factors to consider when buying the machines

For you to buy the right machine you need to consider a number of factors. One of the factors is your budget. Just like any other units, machines from different companies go at different prices. There are those that are expensive while others are cheap. The expensive units tend to have additional features that you can’t find in the cheap versions. Another factor to consider is the use of the machines. If you are going to be using the machines for industrial production you should go with bigger cutters but if you are looking for a machine for home use you should go for a simple portable machine.

You should also consider the type of material that you want to cut. While most of the die cutting machines can cut a wide range of materials, there are some machines that can only cut a specific type. Some can only cut wood, others vinyl, and others chipboard. If you are going to cut only one material you should go for the specialty machine but if you are going to cut a wide range of materials, you should go with the general machines.

The type of machine that you want is another factor to consider. There are two main types of these machines in the market: manual and electronic. Manual machines are usually easy to use but they tend to limit you to the design and terms of function. They also pose danger to small children. Electronic machines, on the other hand, are easy to use and you can use them to create almost any design that you want.

Tips to consider when using the machines

Once you have bought your machine you need to use it properly for you to achieve ideal results. To avoid tearing the material that you are cutting you should use wax paper between the card stocks and die. If you don’t have money to buy extra plates, you should make use of the adjustable dial. This feature allows you to change the distance between the rollers so that you are able to die cut any material without the need of the extra plates. You should also regularly inspect and clean the machines to keep them in top shape.

Southern California Travel – Top Five Places of Things to See and Do When in Southern California

When you travel to Southern California, it’s always wise to keep a checklist of the top places to see and things to do. To better help you plan your next invigorating escape to this amazing destination, here are my picks for top five places and things to see and do when in the Sunshine State.

Hollywood Boulevard: Don’t miss the Walk of Stars, where the most famous actors, actresses, film producers and directors have their very own star decorating this walkway. Other notable sites include the world famous Whiskey A Go Go – where Janis Joplin, Led Zeppelin and Jimi Hendrix performed – the Viper Room, and hundreds of stores and shops that line this amazing, historical street; a must-see when you travel to Southern California.

Pacific Coast Highway: Is a few hundred mile stretch of highway that is one of the most famous and historical highways in the United States. The views that you will see when driving along the Pacific Coast Highway are second-to-none. Stop off at any of the dozens of beaches along the way to lie in the white sand and watch the tide roll in.

San Diego Zoo: One of the largest and most amazing zoos in the entire world awaits you with more animals and exhibits than you will find almost anywhere else in the world. Make sure that you have a park map, sunscreen and some bottled water handy, as this park demands one or two days to really take it all in and see all of the sights.

Santa Monica Pier: This pier sits alongside Boston’s and New York City’s as one of the most famous piers in the entire country. The best time to visit it is at night, when the shops and the trademark Ferris wheel are all lit up brilliantly. One can easily spend hours of time walking from vendor to vendor, people watching, strolling along the beach, or visiting the many different attractions.

Sea World: One of the largest and most exclusive water parks in the world is the place to go if you want to catch one heck of show. Learn about exotic large fishes, and see some pretty fabulous shows. If you get lucky, you can even pet the bottlenose dolphins or offer them a tasty, fishy treat.

Decorative Home Furniture

Looking for the decorative home furniture

You can achieve a dramatic effect with one of the latest pink flamingo lawn ornaments that are coming into fashion after the efforts of a few courageous people. There is no other practical purpose that you can get out of the item other than they look good and will let you enjoy your surroundings without too much worry. It is a great thing to have the item in your home as long as you have chosen carefully. If they are able to blend in then you can congratulate yourself on your fashion sense. The use of the latest pink flamingo lawn ornaments that are coming into fashion after the efforts of a few courageous people is a welcome development.

The themes that you use for your home will be reflected in the items that you buy from the shop. If you go for the latest pink flamingo lawn ornaments that are coming into fashion after the efforts of a few courageous people, it means that you have taste but also individuality. There are people that cannot abide any things that are ordinary. For them the ordinary equates to the dull tasks of daily life. They look for excitement in items that are unusual and therefore send out a fashion statement. If you one of these people then you can use the latest pink flamingo lawn ornaments that are coming into fashion after the efforts of a few courageous people. It will just fit in with your personality.

There are homes that are just right for the latest pink flamingo lawn ornaments that are coming into fashion after the efforts of a few courageous people. There are some modern homes that will not take any sort of furniture that looks as if it fussy. They are all about minimalist looks and the least amount of decorative elements. If you live in such a home you need to select your furniture carefully. It is important to find things that generally fit in with the vision that you have of your home and its surroundings. It is up to you to consider the merits of the latest pink flamingo lawn ornaments that are coming into fashion after the efforts of a few courageous people.

If you find that this item is right for your home then you can start the process of installing it. It is imperative that the latest pink flamingo lawn ornaments that are coming into fashion after the efforts of a few courageous people are of the highest quality. This means that you have to consider whether you are buying from the right shop. The selection will be based on the prices that are quoted and the quality of the item when it comes through. If the standards are not up to scratch then it is within your rights to send it away. The latest pink flamingo lawn ornaments that are coming into fashion after the efforts of a few courageous people have taken over the market.

New Innovations in Eco-Friendly Roofing

Increasingly, families across the country are turning to environmentally friendly techniques when re-roofing their homes. Although these methods are typically more expensive that traditional options, that hasn’t stopped them from dramatically going up in popularity. Two of the most popular techniques right now are known as solar roofing and green roofing.

Here are discussed some of the Eco-friendly techniques homeowners are using on new projects.

Solar Roofing

Solar roofing is actually something that can easily be done by a lot of homeowners. What many people don’t initially realize, though, that is that there are two kinds of solar roofing techniques.

The first technique people are talking about is a system where the solar panel itself is actually a part of your roof. So there is no roof and solar panel-it is all in one. Unfortunately, the cost of this roofing option is astronomical and cost-prohibitive for most people. The reason it is so expensive is because the system itself is quite intricate, and should something happen to the panel or your roof then the entire system would need to be replaced. So, few people can afford this option at the current time.

Instead, the option that many people are going with is a method of attaching solar panels directly to your current roof. This is the much cheaper option, and it is really done all the time in many parts of the country. When homeowners are looking to get this done, they should be contacting both a solar panel installation company and a traditional roofing contractor. These two companies will then work with each other to devise the right plan for your home based on its size, location, and currently roofing material.

Whether or not these solar panels are cost effective, meanwhile, is another issue. In general, installing solar panels on your roof is not going to be a cost effective option, simply because of the added expenses in terms of maintenance and repair costs. So the solar panels most people install on their homes are not going to pay for themselves anytime soon. However, most people aren’t getting these for purely economical reasons, so that isn’t the only determining factor.

Green Roofing

Another environmentally friendly roofing technique, which is actually more common these days than solar panels, is called green roofing. Green roofing is when people who have flat roofs turn their roofs into a massive planter by growing plant life up there.

As a roofer, you would install certain membranes that encourage plant life to grow, then place the soil and plant multiple layers of trees, grass, and other materials. The soil should be able to hold a variety of natural things thanks to the membranes. Additionally, this is a system that can dramatically increase the insulation on a person’s home-thereby saving money on heating and cooling costs.

Not only on a personal level, but on a global level as well, these homes with green roofs can benefit society. Green roofs can reduce the heat island effect in cities across the county because, from above, they simply look like natural habitats or fields. So the chemical properties of traditional roofs that tend to heat cities and speed global warming are not present in homes with these green, natural roofs.

Unfortunately, few roofing contractors do these types of green roofs at the present time. A select few companies in each large metropolitan city offer these services. However, they are becoming more and more common as green roofs increase in popularity.

Overall, these environmentally friendly roofing systems are growing in popularity each year. While they are certainly not for every homeowner or business owner, thousands of people are highly satisfied with their green roofing systems-and that is a number that is growing all the time.