Handling Your Own Shower Drain Installation Project
Friday, November 29, 2013
Upgrading a bathroom is one of the more popular home improvement projects. Handling the plumbing for draining your shower can be exceedingly simple unless you go overboard.
Handling Your Own Shower Drain Installation Project
Whether you are a bathtub or shower person, most people look for shower only options when buying a home. This simple fact means more than a few homeowners spend a weekend upgrading or installing showers in their bathrooms. Fortunately for you, it is a fairly simple process.
A collector or pan refers to the horizontal surface located at the bottom of the shower. The collector typically consists of a non-slip surface slightly banked towards the center or wherever the drain is located. Combined with three to four inch walls around the side, the goal of your shower drainage plumbing is to get the water to flow to and down the drain.
You can physically build a collector for your new shower, but you really need to think about it. Do you really want to get into the complications of getting the sloping correct, not to mention making sure every aspect of it is waterproof? And I mean every aspect! It is much easier to simply buy a pre-cast collector online or at your local Lowes, Home Depot or hardware store. Building one might sound like a great idea, but you will probably feel differently after a couple of hours.
Regardless of how you go about getting a pan, you should make every effort to use one that has the drain located in the same spot as the original pan. Moving the drain pipes can be a task, particularly if the builder used a unique framing structure. If you are determined to move the drain, you are going to have to cut back the pipe or lengthen it, which may mean ripping up large chunks of the floor. Put another way, you are going to be looking at a multiple weekend project.
Assuming we have our drain lined up, the actual hook up is fairly simple. The drainage pipe should be facing vertical up to the collector. It will often look like a “U”, which means it acts as a cleanout to keep nasty smells from coming back up from the drain. To connect the drain, you are going to create a water tight connection between a drain cap on the top of the pan and the drainage pipe. Systems vary, but you are typically going to do this by putting a coupling piece on the top of the drainage pipe. This is then covered with gaskets and literally screwed into the drain cap. The drain cap should act as a locknut, to wit, it screws directly onto the coupling.
The tricky part of this process is getting your drain cap to fit into a watertight position in the pan. This is accomplished by backing off the drain cap once you are sure everything fits together. At that point, you put plumbers putty around the underside of the cap and then screw it back on. The putty should form a tight seal between the cap and the shower pan, which keeps water from trickling under it and into the framing under the shower.
Obviously, bathroom showers come in a wide variety of styles these days. If you purchase a collector, they almost always come with plumbing instructions or the store can note anything unusual you should know. It sounds complex, but is typically pretty straight forward. Have fun!
Bifolding Doors & French Doors – Best Door For Home Improvement
Wednesday, November 20, 2013
French doors and bi folding doors are best door for any home improvement projects. But everybody has confusion to choosing between French door and bi folding door which one is best door for them. Here we covered some topics which will be helping you to choose right doors for your home, office, resident, living place. Let’s start with French doors…
If you want a better change and are looking to make exterior appearance of your home look more modern and with looks of modern architecture then French doors best option for that. You could also choose French door as a great partition which can divide your living and dining area into two different rooms with a very eye-catching looks.
French doors established for external right of entry doors. If you have a garden or your home is in front of some beautiful outside scenery or you would like to be connected with the outside world then French door is the right answer.
Bi folding doors are make use of same as use of French doors approach, which is designed to bring the outdoors in. Bi folding doors could be used in any area (corner) of your resident, home & office can be made in such a way that it could suit your interiors of your living & working place, they are very delicately crafted.
Bi folding doors come with the additional features like any where fitted and better view with more light, but not thick like French door.
French doors can not offer exclusive capability in compare with bi folding doors. Bifolding doors have some marvelous benefit they can set the patio and dining area into one. It gives interior to exterior looks outstanding.
Most of the exterior, back, entrances look out in garden, home, living rooms. French doors creates usable space drop, swing inwards or outwards. For example, in the dining area, a set of French doors may hold back the position of a dining table and other furniture dining. When you open French door then you loose some spaces of living place but it’s not happened with bi folding doors, you get maximum interior or exterior space.
Bifolding doors will convert your home in modern living place by given maximum space, natural light and environment. French doors are vital part of any home improvement project. Choice between French doors or bi folding doors remains on individual needs as both of them have their own merits and advantages.
Home Made Foundry, Home Metal Casting, Home Foundry Information
Sunday, November 3, 2013
The Do It Yourself movement is certainly not a new one. The term, DIY was popularized in the 1950s but the concept has been around for ages. The concept behind DIY is undertaking a variety of projects either home improvement, restoration, or arts and craft without the help of paid professionals.
Recently the DIY movement has received a boost of popularity with the aid of the internet. Many are finding that DIY projects are easier to undertake with the help of instructional websites which provide step by step instructions and real advice from people who have actually accomplished the DIY process. Several of these sites provide ideas, photos, message boards, and a sense of community for Do It Yourselfers that was simply not available years ago.
DIY projects can include any number or projects and ideas. Certainly the most common projects include home improvement such as cabinetry or installing plumbing fixtures, but one of the oldest DIY projects has to be metal casting.
The DIY casting movement has been around ever since metal casting itself has been around, which is quite some time. Metal casting is the act of taking molten metal and shaping it with the use of molds into something new. Metal casting has been used in the ancient world for the use of making weapons, jewelry, and even religious icons. Today, DIY metal casting is used to create parts and items for use in a variety of hobbies and restoration projects. This includes home improvement items as well. Metal casting can be used to make door knobs, cabinet handles, and other such items. For hobbyists, small model parts and miniatures can be created. Even artists use metal casting for sculptures and jewelry creation.
Metal casting possesses the true spirit of Do It Yourself. Many metal casters are drawn to the skill because it provides a cheap alternative to purchasing items or having commercial foundries make custom items. Nearly everything used in metal casting can be made by the caster. The furnace, molds, tools, and many others are made by most casters.
Like other DIY projects, the DIY casting movement is being helped along my communities that are found online. These communities act as meeting grounds for casters to share and exchange knowledge and ideas, not to mention blueprints for furnaces and ingredients for casting materials.
Metal casting is the pinnacle of DIY projects as it involves the fabrication of items from metal. After creating a mold of the desired item the caster will melt down iron, brass, or aluminum in a furnace. The molten alloy is poured into the mold and allowed to cool. The cast is removed to reveal a copy of the original pattern. There are several casting methods so undertaking a DIY casting project can be very involved and addicting.
In the spirit of DIY, metal casters strive to make the best for the least. A great source for aluminum is soda cans and many casters gladly travel to scrap yards for iron or brass.
The DIY casting movement is really gaining steam as many realize how cheap and fun this alternative is.
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