Jul 31

And you thought your family and children were so safe inside the home environment cozily protected from potent health hazards! But did you know that the source of asthma, lead poisoning, and many such types of chronic health conditions could lie within your home environs?

According to recent survey it has been revealed that your family especially the kids are threatened with major health risks if the design/architecture, built and maintenance of your home is improper.

So while planning out a new home or a home remodeling/renovation make sure that your home planner or design architect makes use of healthier home building techniques and technology. This shall ensure that your family and kids residing in such healthy homes are much more healthier and safer!

You might incur higher expenses while constructing a healthy and environmental friendly home as compared to normal homes. But the health and life of your children and family is supposed to be of utmost importance above anything else!

So while you are busy with your home plans or home renovation ideas spare a thought on the following points to build a healthier and safer home.

< >Budget your home plans keeping in mind that you have to use non-toxic or less toxic building materials that are a bit more expensive than general building materials.

General building and construction materials (particularly glues, paints, varnishes, insulators, etc.) are usually loaded with toxic volatile organic compounds (VOCs) such as urea, formaldehyde, lead, asbestos, carbon monoxide, etc. derived from petroleum. If inhaled continuously these toxins accumulate in the body leading to serious health problems.

< > While constructing cabinets and countertops or for sheathing, sub-flooring and roof decking the ideal choice is solid wood but if it is too expensive go in for exterior grade plywood only instead of particleboard/fiberboard that contains toxic glue mixed with wood chips.

< > Avoid vinyl and wall-to-wall carpet flooring. Vinyl floors contain poly vinyl chloride (PVC) a harmful chemical while fully carpeted floors accumulates dust, dust mites, molds, etc. all of which are potent causative agents of allergy, asthma and other chronic respiratory problems. Instead use healthier floor alternatives as cork, solid wood, marmoleum, tiles, bamboo, and so on.

< > Always make use of strictly low-odor and non-toxic paints containing highly reduced amounts of VOCs such as paints comprising of just clay and pigments. Paints are usually loaded with high quantities of lead. Avoid using such paints completely.

< > Avoid using resins and glues that contain formaldehyde especially urea formaldehyde.

< > To build the foundation, walls and roof panels of a healthy home make use of thick, natural, hygroscopic and breathable plasters and stuccoes such as clay-treated wood chip placed over sand and fine gravel instead of using foam boards or poly vapor barriers. This renders efficient indoor humidity control thus preventing the formation of molds. In this way you can also avoid the accumulation of harmful radon gas inside your home.

< > Avoid building bedrooms/living rooms over the garage space of your house. Toxic gasoline fumes can outgas from the fuel tank of your car and infiltrate into the bedrooms.

< > Install carbon monoxide testers/detectors especially near furnaces, fireplaces, and garage areas of your home. Radon testers must be essentially placed in the basement areas of your home as this harmful radioactive gas occurring in soil can seep into your home through the foundation.

< > For construction of a healthy home only hire registered professional home planners and home builders/contractors who have the required knowledge of building and planning healthier homes based on strict building guidelines.

Article by: Regal Services Editorial. Regal Services offers Best Cad Conversion Services. For your Paper to Cad Conversion services, trust Regal for an error-free and affordable service.

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Jul 31

When you install stained-glass windows, you will feel like you are living in another world. Air of your house will be kaleidoscopically colorful, when sun will glance at your place. There will be no grey sky and sad mood already!

Any room requires its own color filling. We are used that as a rule carpets, wall-papers, pictures, posters fulfill this function. But even our ancestors knew that stained glass could make the most modest interior fascinating. It turns out, that these colorful glasses, attributes of Gothic cathedrals and art exhibitions, are quite appropriate in our houses and apartments.

Fine art fine arts inform: stained glass window is a decorative composition of color glass or other materials, which let pass light. Stained glass art is one of the most conservative. A beautiful toy made of pieces of color glass, braided with metal, still charms us, although it was invented centuries ago.

There are several stained glass techniques In classic stained glass window pieces of color glasses, cut according to a certain drawing, are combined with a lead, copper or brass profile between each other.

In these stained glass windows plot is on the second place. The main in them is material, i.e. glasses, which are chosen the way they would give that very colour spectrum while peek-a-boo. And then sun beams, being refracted, make glass burning with bright sun colors.

Typesetting stained glass window will really serve you during whole life. While draw one (varnished pseudo-stained glass window) will last much less, as even most persistent colors become fading in 6-7 years. But there are situation, when typesetting stained glass window looks heavy and bulky and suits not every room or furniture. Thus, instead of boring transparent glasses you can insert those draw stained glass windows in doors of your sideboards and cupboards, they will look lighter by sight.

In the end of a century before last a new technology in style Tiffany was invented, named in honor of its creator (a jeweler, who is also known for his wonderful stained glass table lamps). According to this technology, every glass plate was set in foil and glasses were soldered together. Refusal of a hard frame allows using these items not only as elements of dcor in embrasures, but also as shades for lamps or decoration for ceilings.

Besides classic, there are several modern techniques of making stained glass windows. One of them is according to American technology SGO. A steadfast surface is applied on a transparent sheet silicate glass, this surface adds color and structure to a future stained glass window. This technology has several pluses, which contribute to its popularity.

Firstly, application of sheet glass makes possible using of such stained glass windows in insulating glass units with observation of all technological norms. Agree, sometimes it is just vitally important to close unattractive view.

Secondly, not only silicate, but also acrylic glass can be a base for such stained glass window, and this reduces its weight significantly, and thus widens opportunities of usage.

And, thirdly, such stained glass window is twice cheaper, than a classic one.

Technology of making fusing stained glass windows in home conditions is complicated, as this process means fusing of a future stained glass window, composed on pieces of color glass, glass granules, charge, in a special stove at the temperature up to 850 C. Such stained glass windows have different form, thickness and texture. And this allows using them as effective elements of interior: in the form of partitions, blocks in wall, as tabletop.

There is also casting technology. In this technology they use metallic forms with relief hollows, in which melted color glass is poured.

But, unlike stained-glass windows in fusing style, draw and texture on stained-glass window in casting style are restricted by that metallic form, of which it is produced.

If doors, windows, ceilings of color glasses are not appropriate for you at all, you can limit yourself with a small mini-stained-glass window on your window.

The way stained-glass windows are made

Materials, necessary in work:

Stained glass

Soldering tin

Leaden profile

Chopping-knife

Steel-wheel glass cutter

Soldering iron

Scale

Base-support (you can use veneer)

You can buy stained glass and profile in artistic shops, specializing in selling materials for making stained glass windows.

Lets examine production of stained glass window of bought stained glass.

Firstly you should make a full-scale draft of a future stained glass window.

Then choose glasses, considering thickness of profile, and cut fragments of necessary form.

Cut glass is broken off without tension. Put glass under rib of a bar and then you can break it off accurately and precisely with two fingers.

Put T-shaped profile between glass fragments, and frame a window with P-shape profile, which serves also as frame.

Leaded profile can be cut off with a knife easily.

Another variant, when instead of profile they use soldering tin (stannic wire 2-3 mm thick in diameter).

Tabs for scaffolding are made of thin wire and soldered your stained-glass window is ready.

Yana Mikheeva is the creator of All about women site, it is an on-line resource for women and about women. Here you can find articles on various subjects, such as: diets, receipts, health, cellulite, figure, aromatherapy, wholesome food, psychology of relationships, pregnancy, parenting, fashion and many others. She also has Blog for women.

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