African Violets

African violets are great house plants since they do not need direct sunlight. They are easy to maintain in almost any house. They can be place on the floor or hung from the ceiling. In low lighting, the leaves turn a deep dark green, which is ideal. If the lighting gets too bright, the greens turn pale and may turn yellow. If this happens then just move the plants away from the lights.

Boston Fern

Boston ferns can grow H-U-G-E and that is why some homeowner’s love them. Place them on the patio and they flourish. The deep colors and jagged leaves add beauty to any room. If you want to plant to grow indoors, you need to watch humidity levels during the winter months. Boston ferns require a fair amount of humidity to grow. Without proper humidity, they have a tendency to shed their leaves. If your fern starts shedding leaves, then place some water in a saucer with some rocks.

Spider Plant

Not only are spider plants a safe choice for your home but they are easy to share. They are best when hung from the ceiling as the “spiders” shoot off and hang down. These offshoots are great to cut off and give to friends. Simply cut off the offshoot and place in a glass of water to root-out. When the roots get long enough to plant, you can place in its own pot to start a completely new spider plant. If you want your spider plant to remain full and robust, cut off the new “spiders” as they appear.

Christmas Cactus

The Christmas cactus blooms in pink, fuchsia, white and yellow. Cacti give a unique look to a house. With the easy care and longevity, the Christmas cactus can be passed down from generation to generation. However, if you want them to bloom around Christmas time they do take a little extra care. I know what you are thinking. It’s a cactus. Won’t it hurt my cat? Nope, the Christmas cactus is perfectly safe to have around pets.

When it comes to your pets, you can never be too safe. The ASPCA has a complete list of hazardous house plants to avoid and you should look it over to keep your pets safe. Cat lovers may also want to consider planting a cat garden as an alternative. Cats like to nibble on house plants and if they have a healthy alternative, they are more likely to nibble on what is acceptable.

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Types of shower enclosures

The type of shower enclosure you choose should depend greatly on how spacious your bathroom is. Shower enclosures with bi-fold doors save space. These types are usually adjustable. The door opens and closes in a way that doesn’t intrude into the room. This shower enclosure is very ideal for tight spaces.

If you have a bigger bathroom space, then choose a ‘quadrant’ shower enclosure. Such a design can be placed in any spacious shower corner. These types typically feature curved pivot doors and attractive aluminum frames. Quadrant shower enclosures are very stylish and chic. They can add instant elegance to big bathrooms.

Modular shower enclosures

As a general rule, you should always purchase shower enclosures that come as modular systems, so that you can easily adjust them to fit a compact bathroom in a small city apartment or a sprawling bathroom in a large country house. Modular shower enclosures are actually quite common these days. Just visit any home depot shop to talk to an authorized representative. They usually accommodate requests for custom made shower enclosures (for a higher price, of course). They will typically visit your home to do the measurements and will install the enclosure free of charge once it is done.

Shower enclosure materials

Also be sure to choose only the best materials for your shower enclosure. The most common ones are toughened safety glass and fiberglass. Frames come in different materials and designs, too. Mid-range shower enclosures have aluminum frames, while luxury shower enclosures have chrome, silver or gold frames.

Enclosures provides detailed information on Enclosures, Shower Enclosures, Patio Enclosures, Subwoofer Enclosures and more. Enclosures is affiliated with Canopy Tents [http://www.i-Canopy.com].

Bifold Shower Door sizes available vary from 700, 760, 800, 900 through to 1000mm, so the amount of space the enclosure occupies can be easily customised to any sized bathroom. Bifold Shower frame colours are generally white, silver or chrome with clear glass. The variety of frame options, along with the Bi Fold Shower Door’s compact and simple design, allows the enclosure to blend into most bathroom design schemes, large or small.

Some popular suppliers of BiFold Shower Door and trays in the UK are Manhattan Showers, April Shower Doors and The London Water Closet Company (LWCC). These distributors’ products can be found in local bathroom stores across the UK or bathroom shops online.

Popular Products on the Market

Manhattan’s standard Bi Fold Shower Door is a single-folding door enclosure. The Bifold comes in a choice of four configurations: recessed, door, one side and three sided option. Various sizes range from 700 x 700 through to 1000 x 1000. The Manhattan Bi Fold Shower Door can be installed with a Duralite® tray, which has superior durability and fast draining abilities. The tray has a patented concealed waste, draining water at a speed of 24 litres per minute. The trays have a smooth tread and are also extremely easy to clean (with a handy removable hair trap).

Manhattan also offers the “Double Bifold”, which of course, is a double-folding door enclosure. Like the standard Bifold, the Double Bi Fold configuration options include; recessed, door and one side and three sided option. It comes in a choice of two sizes: 1200mm or 1400mm, with a matching 760mm, 800mm & 900mm side panels.

Both the Manhattan Bifolds come in a choice of white, silver or chrome frame and matching handle colours, all of which can be customised to the layout of the bathroom. Manhattan Shower Doors have a smooth running sliding door, which measures 1830mm high (excluding tray) and all Manhattan Shower doors also include a combination lifetime guarantee when purchased with a Manhattan Duralite® shower tray.

April Showers offers a Bifold Shower Door in its Identiti range. The Bi Fold has clear glass, which fits elegantly into almost any bathroom style. The quality and price make this one of the most competitive Bi Fold Shower Door buys on the market.

Shower Trays

There are two main types of shower tray to suit the various Bifold Shower Door enclosures: slimline and standard. The minimalist slimline is generally between 40-45mm high and the standard tray is around 100-110mm in height and made of a stone resin mix. Sometimes, it is necessary to source shower trays from the manufacturer of the shower enclosure you choose, as some require a bespoke tray.

About the Author: High Flying Media Ltd – Lindy Holman

For more information on choosing a Bi Fold Shower Door for your bathroom, visit BathroomTrade.co.uk, the online Bathroom Store. Visit today for free help and advice on all shower doors and other bathroom products.

Faux marble is a cheap alternative to the real kind, since it can imitate the noblest of finishes effectively for a fraction of the cost. It is also available as a finished product, but the do-it-yourself or custom-made options are usually far more rewarding.

The most effective way of creating a faux marble effect is by applying alternating layers of carefully selected paint and tinted glaze on a white or otherwise lightly colored baseboard; that way the natural veins and grain of marble are simulated. The process, also known as ‘marbleizing’, can be used on walls and furniture. Though it is quite time-consuming, the effect can be quite fabulous and well worth the time and effort.

To achieve a convincing marble effect, one must choose a color scheme that closely imitates the natural version. The most effective shade combinations are gray/white with dark gray/black streaks, pink with peach streaks and eggshell or off-white with yellow/gray and green streaks. These are the usual color combinations of natural marble.

The different layers of paint are glazed over at regular intervals till the desired effect emerges. There are many variations of the process. Some use feathers for achieving a natural streaking effect, some employ candle wax. This is a creative process – have fun!

Faux marble can be bought or made at home; either way, it will add a sophisticated, colorful element to your home.

Wood Flooring provides detailed information about wood flooring, laminate wood flooring, hard wood flooring, engineered wood flooring and more. Wood Flooring is the sister site of How To Clean Marble.

If you have a screened-in patio or room, a cat door leading out to that area will allow an indoor cat to get a taste of the outdoors without putting him in harm’s way. You will be surprised how much time your indoor cat will spend out there.

Some cats will figure out the cat door right away, coming in and out like it was nothing. Others are a little timid when it actually comes to using the cat door for the very first time. Fortunately, there are some things you, the cat owner, can do to get him over those fears, and using his new entryway regularly and without hesitation. If you already have a cat or dog that uses a door to go outside, then your new cat will learn from the other pet very quickly, and you will have to do nothing.

After you install a cat door, leave it be for a few days so your cat gets used to seeing it. Cats do not like change, so he needs to see this contraption and wonder about it for a little while.

If within a few days your cat has not started to use the door, then tape the flap up so he can look directly out and see what awaits him. Make sure you tape the flap securely, because if it ever falls down and slaps him on the face, it will take a much longer time before he uses the cat door.

Once he begins to associate the fact that he can conveniently go outside on his own time through this magical opening, put the flap down. Then put some butter or margarine on the bottom of the flap, and entice him with some treats, praising him on the other side. You can also drag toys through the opening by tying them to some string and encouraging him to chase them.

Keep repeating these lessons in short intervals for several days, until your cat gets the hang of it. Just be patient, as he will eventually get to the point of using the door.

Greg has been writing articles for over 4 years. His newest interest is in home appliances and products. Please visit his latest website that discusses and reviews cookware such as all clad sale items and the best in All Clad copper core cookware and related products that every kitchen needs.

And there’s good reason for the popularity – aside from relaxing and enjoying the sunshine and stars with the comforts of indoors. Adding a sunroom or patio enclosure can extend your living area, often at less than half the cost of a standard home addition.

Costs less than conventional addition

A sunroom addition can range from $12,000 to $70,000, depending on models and features, compared to $30,000 to $80,000 for a conventional room addition. And sunrooms and patio enclosures can often be built where underground obstacles, or building codes and zoning ordinances, restrict conventional backyard additions.

Then consider that adding a sunroom has one of the highest returns-on-investment of all home improvements, and it’s no wonder that America’s going sunroom-crazy. Some sources estimate that you’ll recoup between 65-95% of your investment when adding a sunroom, depending on your geographic location and features included.

A sunroom helps sell your home faster and for more money

Because of all the financial and usage benefits, sunrooms are the third most popular amenity requested in homes over $250,000, according to a recent survey in Builder Magazine. And homes with a properly designed sunroom tend to sell faster and for far more money than those without.

According to some estimates, the average cost to install a sunroom on an existing home is between $125 and $150 per square foot. This includes the room itself, installation and related construction work, such as foundations, floors and tear-out work. Keep in mind that these are averages, and final costs can vary dramatically based on where you live, contractors, complexity of the project, quality of products and the need for extra construction work on your existing home to accommodate the addition. Adding a sunroom or patio enclosure to a new home will be significantly less expensive.

Inform your insurance company

You will need a building permit for your sunroom or patio enclosure, so you need to ensure that your sunroom or patio enclosure contractor is licensed. Discuss with your contractor who will obtain the permit, and ensure that you have one before any work begins. Then once your sunroom or patio enclosure is complete, inform your house insurance company of the addition to arrange adequate coverage. And keep in mind that a sunroom is usually not considered to be a square footage addition to your home, but a patio addition. Check the local bylaws to be sure.

Stu Silverman is a home improvement advice columnist and freelance writer for http://www.Contractors.com and http://www.ContractorGuide.com. You can find this and many other articles in the Additions category of ContractorGuide.com

An nice choice for a spa-pool liner is one that is made from fiberglass or acrylic, or an even better choice is a hot tub made from high density polyethylene that works and combines properties that make the spa both durable and lightweight.

Of these three choices in shell construction, high density polyethlene is the better alternative. The spa liner is made from a continuous mold which means the possibility of cracks or leaks is virtually non-existent. High density polyethlene hot tubs are more scratch resistant than are fiberglass tubs. Sometimes a spa-pool is made up of both materials. While this is one way to build a shell for a tub it tends to be more expensive than ones that are just made from high density polyethylene, acrylic or fiberglass. Buy a tub that is cost effective and made of high density polyethylene.

What type of seating area are you looking for? No matter what your choice, be it a two-seater, three-seater or a greater size spa, make sure that you will be able to comfortably sit in the hot tub (with or without other people) and not feel squeezed. You should be able to stretch out once you are in the tub. Another thing to look for is slanted seating which will put your back at a more comfortable and better angle.

A multitude of jet configurations can be installed in a spa. The more a tub has, the more it will cost to buy. There are two different kinds of jets. One blows air (known as the air jets) which allows for the circulation of warm water. The other type using the water jets, is the one that pushes the water into the tub and is what allows for the massaging feeling that attracted you to buy the tub for in the first place.

Experienced spa enthusiasts feel believe that a combination of air jets and water jets makes for the best hot tub experience. The former keeps the body loosened up while the latter massages and is soothing to the mind and body. Find yourself discount hot tubs that incorporate all these features.

The water in a tub needs to be heated. Purchasing a cover (unless your hot tub spa came with a cover) to keep the heat in the water can help you to conserve the heat. Treat yourself to a high-tech discount spa.

Additionally, it is smart to buy a hot tub that includes all of the electric equipment in one. That means the heater, pumps and spa controls. Your hot water spa will be the most efficient without having to travel a long distance.

Author Bio: George Evergeht is a published author and writes for a variety of internet sites, magazines and newscasts as well as for http://www.hottubshomespa.com

Some of the most popular brands of suction side pool cleaners include such names as Aquabug, Kreepy Krauly, Ranger, E-Z Vac and Polaris just to name a few. While they do an adequate job of cleaning in non heavy use situations, if malfunctioning in any one of a number of areas their effectiveness will become degraded.

Moving Through Your System

The first place to check if a suction side pool filter isn’t doing its job correctly, is the pump basket and the filter. Make sure that both are clean and not clogged with debris. More often that not, this will be the source of your problem. However; if both the filter and the pumps debris basket are clean, you then have to work your way progressively through your system.

Your Next Step

Next, check the throat of the cleaner itself to see if it has become clogged by something that is too large to pass through it. Another place to check for obstructions is anywhere that the hose connects to anything, as debris can be caught by a coupling. If that isn’t the source of your problem then move on to the next step.

Check The Hose

That is to carefully check the entire hose for cracks or holes. Start by bringing the hose up out of the water and lay it across a patio or deck with the end in the pool. Then connect it to a pressure coupling and turn the water on. Over at the end in the pool, place your hand over it to clog it slightly and then look to see if water is gushing from any leaks in the hose.

Written by Francesca Conquesa. Find the best information on Automatic pool cleaners as well as Commercial inground pool automatic cleaners

Anybody can build a home sauna. First, take a moment to decide on the best location. Most people who build a home sauna do so outside, on a deck or a patio. That way it will be convenient and easy to use. But wherever it goes, you need to make sure it is not located somewhere that is unwieldy or dangerous. Also, when you place your home built sauna, make sure a draining facility and water supply are close at hand, since you will have to hook the sauna up to your home plumbing.

Once you have committed to building a home sauna you have to think about the design that you want. The size and shape of your sauna are incredibly important decisions. You can also build a home sauna from scratch or prefabricated. Prefabricated saunas minimize the amount of work that you have to put into building it.

If you would like to do some of the work yourself, a sauna kit might be the perfect solution. It contains all the materials and tools that you need to build a home sauna. The kit includes wood and stones, together with instructions on how to put the sauna together, in order to streamline the construction process.

Saunas work by helping you to sweat more and more. This heat not only relaxes your muscles but some really harmful substances are also removed from your skin through sweating. This will make your skin healthy and bring back your lost glow. But this is just a secondary benefit. The main advantage of using sauna is that it makes you healthier over time and decreases your chances of falling ill.

Far infrared saunas can even help you lose weight! How? Just one session can be be quite a cardio workout and burn up to 600 calories. In addition, you can reduce stress and anxiety, improving both your physical and mental health. With all these benefits, it’s no wonder that so many people are building home saunas.

First you need to find a place to build your home made sauna. The place the majority of people build a home sauna is on a deck or patio. That may not be the best option for you though, just make sure it is not in a hazardous location. . A basic sauna consists of a wooden shed with benches, warmed by a unit of heat. Far infrared saunas are ideal because they safely heat the area without worry of ultraviolet rays or burns to your skin. It is well known that Saunas could help in disease and illness recovery.

The first thing we need to do is to emphasise the horizontal dimension, since the enclosing walls already strongly define the vertical. In such a tiny space, likely to have limited exposure to the sun because of the shading effect of the walls around it, we must avoid (as much as possible) dark tones and all clutter. Light and geometry will save us. We begin by defining a straight path of two foot width across the center of the yard. Whether it is ten feet long or six feet long will depend on the orientation of the yard to the sun, as we aim for the best fit to a north-south orientation that we can get. The path is paved in a lightly toned color, with materials chosen according to budget. We now have at our disposal two areas for development, each of twenty or twenty-four square feet (depending on the length of the path).

Against the walls, on the perimeter of the courtyard, I will plant shrubs that will grow to an eventual height of no more than five feet. My plantings also have due regard to drains and other services. Exact species will depend on the sun/shade mix they receive, but will include specimens such as chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa), golden leaf dogwood (Cornus alba aurea), and burning bush (Euonymus). I am looking for shrubs that will provide fall color following summer flowering. I will prune if necessary, to limit growth to the five-foot mark. I do not wish the eye to be drawn upwards: I want it to concentrate on the horizontal.

My plantings will be massed, succession and geometric. I divide each of the two major areas into successive diamonds – a diamond with a distance of about one foot across its widest point, and sides perhaps eighteen inches long in the centre, then progressively larger diamonds moving towards the walls and the central path. I fill most of these diamonds with mass drifts of perennials and annuals – low growing pansies, violas, impatiens nearest to the path, taller salvia, asters and chrysanthemums next, and so on successively, ending with Japanese anenomes, hydrangeas and alstremerias along the back. In amongst these plants I place spring flowering bulbs: gladiolus, freesia, ranunculus and the like. My aim is to always have colour on display to draw the eye down, away from the enclosing walls, to give a sense of meadow space, but with an imposed order.

Article from Steve Boulden. Steve is the creator of The Landscape Design Site which offers free garden designs, patio ideas, and pictures. For even more landscaping and garden design ideas, visit http://www.the-landscape-design-site.com/patio.