Star-Herald Home improvement 2013

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Trash the carpet, go for wood floors instead

By BART SCHANEMAN Assistant Editor

Old, dusty carpet can harbor decades worth of filth.

Dirt. Dust. Pet excrement.

Worse stuff that even the best vacuum will never get clean. Plus, unclean carpet can cause respiratory problems.

Not to mention it often looks hideous. Calico patterned. Lime green. Bright orange shag. C’mon — it’s 2013.

As the trend in interior design moves away from wall-to-wall carpet, new homeowners are looking underneath the shag to expose the floorboards.

According to Lonnie Rein, sales associate at Carr-Trumbull Lumber in Scottsbluff, people have three main options when it comes to flooring options.

The first option, to tear out the carpet and expose the original hardwood floor, might be the choice of purist renovators. But it might also be the most difficult.

Rein said there are many factors to consider when deciding to restore the origi-

nal floor. Not the least of these is the damage done to the floor over the years. Carpet installation and everyday use typically leaves the floor in need of care.

“Most of the old wood floors I’ve seen in my time have had abuse done to them,” Rein said.

The tacks and nails from carpet leave holes in the wood, so people usually end up sanding the floor. Rein said the challenge then becomes finding and operating a sander.

“That’s probably not a doit-yourself project,” he said.

“The ordinary homeowner would shy away from the use of a sander.”

After the sanding, the process continues with layers of stain and varnish.

The second option is to cover the floors with prefinished hardwood or laminate flooring. This process involves similar sur face preparation, without the sanding. A pad is usually laid under the flooring as a sound dampener.

Homeowners can choose floors of different thickness, with a three-quarter inch See FLOORING, page 3B

By JOE DUTTON Staff Reporter

Photo by Bart Schaneman

A few options for laminate flooring at Carr-Trumbull Lumber.

Getting the green ready for cool weather

By CHABELLA GUZMAN Staff Reporter

Cooler weather means the end of summer, but also an opportunity to make an addition to the yard and prepare it for the fall and winter.

A watering system for yards cannot only save water but time for a homeowner.

Todd Robertus, owner of Roanco, a family business his father Clarence began in 1960, has put in sprinkler sys-

Money saving tips to help prepare your home for fall/winter

tems for xeroscaping to horse barns.

“Usually when we design for a yard we take into account what they want and the amount of water for an area,” he said.

He said sometimes a homeowner doesn’t think about watering plants and trees, but just the grass.

“A lot of times a sprinkler doesn’t reach or can’t go around to the trees and plants,” Robertus said.

The drip line is a common way to fix the problem, he said.

While watering the lawn is always important there are other tips to keeping lush lawn from year to year and that includes getting it ready for the dormant season of fall and winter.

“A fall fertilization is valuable for relieving the stresses of summer,” said John A. Thomas, cropping system Extension educator in Box Butte County.

He said perennial weed control can also be done in the fall, since lawns See YARD, page 2B

Valley residents can help prepare their homes for fall and winter this year by taking a few simple steps to get ready for the impending cooler temperatures.

Doing a thorough inspection of your home inside and out before the leaves and snow start to blow can help save money on energy costs and protect from expensive repairs later on with a few simple steps.

Seal it up.

Examining and touching up the caulking around windows, doors and areas inside and out of the home can help reduce unwanted drafts. Sealing open areas around the bathroom, under the kitchen sink and other areas that have a gap where a pipe or vent goes through a wall can ultimately save you money on heating costs.

Adding a waterproof sealant to the deck before the cooler temperatures set in can help prevent wood damage during the fluctuating temperatures of fall and winter. This adds to the longevity of the deck and will help maintain it year-round from unwanted moisture in places it shouldn’t be.

Inspecting driveways and walkways for cracks and sealing them with cement or caulking can help prevent water from entering the crevices, ultimately creating larger cracks next spring. This will also help with smoother removal of snow when shoveling.

Clean it out.

Fall can wreak havoc on

gutters and drainage spouts. Inspecting and cleaning them periodically can help prevent costly damage later in the wintertime. Gutters will often gather fallen leaves and twigs in the fall, making it prone to clogs and breakage from the weight during winter.

Garden hoses and faucets should also be cleaned out and drained of excess water before temperatures drop below 32 degrees. By removing the hose from the faucet during winter months, this will prevent freezing of the pipes that could eventually burst causing a flood and a costly plumbing bill.

Inspecting any outside water pipes and insulating them before they are exposed to freezing temperatures can also prevent breakage. Draining the remaining water out of the hose and keeping it out of the elements can also extend the life of the hose.

Cleaning and inspecting the fireplace is crucial in keeping a home safe when extra heat is needed within the home. The fireplace flue is a good place to start by making sure it opens and closes properly. This can help prevent the potential dangers of carbon monoxide vapors to fill up in the home.

Having your chimney cleaned and inspected by a professional can also help in accident prevention. The chimneysweeper can unclog any blockage that could also lead to inadequate ventilation above the flue or a fire in the upper chimney.

See MONEY, page 3B

308-632-2143 800-446-7147 www.carrtrumbull.com

1310 Circle Drive, Scottsbluff Mon–Fri 7:30 AM – 5:30 PM Sat 8 AM – 2 PM *Sale runs thru 10/28/13

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Home Improvement

2B SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2013

Star-Herald

Photo by Logan Allen

Julie Morrison, owner of Julie’s Antiques, has restored much of the antique furniture at her store in downtown Gering.

To bring this desk back from years of neglect, she stripped the varnish, sanded it, went over it again with steel wool, stained it and applied a new varnish.

How to maintain antique furniture

By LOGAN ALLEN Staff Reporter

Antiques add character to any home.

They are the artifacts of people’s lives that survive longer than the people who actually used them, gathering stories with each year and each change of hands, reminding us of where we came from and how far we’ve come.

Julie Morrison, owner of Julie’s Antiques in downtown Gering, has been sanding, staining, stripping and varnishing furniture to sell at her store for over 40 years, and she has a few tips to keep antiques looking good for years to come.

Knowing where to place an antique in a house is just as important as knowing how to maintain it. Morrison recommends never placing antique wooden furniture where it will be exposed to direct sunlight.

“If you leave a piece sitting in front of a window, where the sun beats in all the time, it will dry the wood out so badly, and you take the chance that the wood is going to split or fade,” she said.

She compared the effect to driftwood on the beach. Excess sunlight will bleach the wood, damaging it so that even a new coat of varnish won’t bring back its original splendor.

To clean much of the furniture in her store, sometimes she’ll use a mixture of turpentine and mineral spirits or an ammonia wash. But most often a simple wipe down with a soft cloth dampened with wa-

ter works well to wipe away dust, instead of applying more layers of wax.

“With the old stuff that’s all black, basically it’s that old lacquer that has turned that piece of furniture black,” she said.

“They used to lacquer, lacquer, lacquer that furniture to keep it shiny. So it’s not the wood itself. Once you get all of that old lacquer off, then you have a beautiful piece of furniture, and you don’t want to use all that lacquer on there anymore.”

Polishing sprays, like Old English, are popular products to remove dust and make old furniture shine, but Morrison has found they can make the surface of the furniture “gummy.”

“Any of the sprays lay on the top and just sit there, so I don’t think anything like that is the best idea either,” she said.

Precautions also need to be taken when storing antique furniture. Providing the appropriate temperature can mean the difference between having something that some day your great-grandchildren will enjoy and something that will end up in a landfill.

If the storage space gets too hot or too cold, pieces won’t maintain structure very well.

“If you have very valuable antiques, you need to keep them in a climate-controlled environment. You need to put it in a storage place similar to the temperature of your home, because if you set it in a storage unit with no heating and no cooling, it’s just not good. It gets damp, and the doors could warp,” she said.

The right tool for your remodeling project...

Photo by Chabella Guzman

Roanco owner Todd Robertus rides the Vibor plow that pulls the pipe underground about 16 inches deep, allowing the grass to heal quickly.

Holding the pipe is foreman Jesus Apodaca.

is us!

Find out what a Home Equity Line of Credit can do for you.

Stop in or call any of our lenders to learn more.

YARD: Getting the green ready for cooler weather Continued from page 1 are mostly cool season and weeds can be managed and controlled.

Homeowners should water lawns as long as the grass is active, which can be up through October if the fall is warm.

Thomas said not to cut grass too short when going into the winter months.

Make sure there is at least three inches on the grass.

“Don’t leave it too long. If you let it go too much, heavy grass residue will create problems, as it gets going next year,” he said.

With trees a homeowner should stop fertilizing them going into winter, Thomas said.

“Trees need to harden off,” he said. “Now is a good time to trim dying limbs or prune trees and cut off water sprouts or suckers.”

Mulching around the tree is also recommended, he added, so the grass doesn’t get too close to a tree, as they would be in competition for water.

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Home Improvement

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SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2013 3B

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Photo by Brandon Nelson

Depending on an individual’s fitness goals, a simple home gym can facilitate an effective workout routine for a relatively low cost. For example, outfitting a home space with a barbell and a place to do pull-ups opens up the possibility to perform minimalist-style, bodyweight workouts, such as pull-up, pushup, sit-up and squat regimens.

Building a home gym on a budget

By BRANDON NELSON Staff Reporter

Building a home gym can be expensive, but options do exist for those looking to get fit on a budget.

Even within the confines of a small garage, an effective workout routine can be established around a few, simple pieces of equipment.

In the past year, Dan Ojeda of Scottsbluff worked alongside a few friends to convert his 30-by-30 foot detached garage into a functioning exercise facility, complete with weight equipment, a station for pull-ups, a dip station and a small, open space behind the facility that can be used for extra workspace.

“Once we had all the pieces, we spent about a week putting it all together,” Ojeda said.

Their home gym has grown over time and even though they have amassed a fair amount of equipment, Konnie Einfalt, one of the contributors to Ojeda’s gym, said a single barbell and a place to do pull-ups opens up possibilities for a wide range of minimalist-type core strength and conditioning workout programs.

“It depends on what type of fitness you’re going for, but you really can do a lot with a little,” she said. ““Even with a small amount of equipment, you can do all types of lifts and squats and lots of variations of pull-ups. There are also countless

bodyweight workouts you can do with no equipment at all.”

The group’s workouts aim to improve overall fitness and are centered on rudimentary, natural movements, such as pull-ups, pushups, sit-ups, squatting regimens and various lifting motions. Einfalt added that she finds many of the workouts online.

The group covered the garage floor with a few durable, rubber horse stall mats and fashioned the pull-up bar station out of 1-inch black pipe, 4-by-4 inch posts and anchor plates. The climbing rope anchors and the dip station, or parallel bars, were also made from piping and the group acquired a couple of used tires, which are incorporated into their workouts, for free through Panhandle Coop.

“We actually used a lot of plumbing material and you can find those horse stall mats at Murdoch’s,” Ojeda said.

To save a little more, much of the weight equipment in Ojeda’s garage is used. Gym equipment makes regular appearances at garage sales and Ojeda said sometimes it can be found for pennies on the dollar.

“A lot of the equipment we have is nonmechanical equipment, so you don’t really worry about things being worn out from being used. If you’re not real concerned about brand, you can save a lot of money that way,” he said.

FLOORING: Trash the carpet, go for wooden floors instead Continued from page 1 prefinished hardwood costing about $5 per square foot.

The thinner, one-quarter inch laminate flooring costs between $1.50 and $2.50 per square foot.

The thinner flooring is more susceptible to damage, Rein said. But it’s probably the easiest to do yourself.

The third option is the newest — porcelain tile flooring that is designed to look like wood. It’s hand-scraped to give it a wood grain texture. It sells for $4.50-$9 per square foot.

So there are three choices to get rid of that dirty, filthcollecting carpet. Get busy tearing it up and don’t look back.

MONEY: Saving tips to help prepare your home for fall/winter Keep warm without breaking the bank.

As temperatures drop, the heating bill tends to rise, and taking certain precautions can help heat the home safely and efficiently.

Along with a chimney inspection, a heating and air conditioning professional should examine the furnace before use. Having a well-maintained fur nace can save up to 5 percent in heating costs. Furnace filters should also be changed every month to help promote healthy air circulation.

Installing a programmable thermostat can also be a huge help with energy savings. This will allow the homeowner to automatically let the furnace temperatures drop while the home is unoccupied or during nighttime hours. Temperatures can also be raised again to their comfort standards when needed, helping save up to 15 percent on energy costs.

Installing proper insulation in the attic and crawlspace areas can help reduce heating bills even

more. As heat rises in the home, the warm air is often lost in those areas and the insulation helps keep the warm air down inside the home, preventing an expensive energy bill.

Adding insulation or a thermal blanket around the hot water heater can also help keep the water warmer longer and save on energy. Reducing the hot water temperature to the “normal” setting, or 120-degrees Fahrenheit, can save up to 11 percent of water heating costs.

Installing and checking the batteries in carbon monoxide detectors and smoke alarms can also help provide for a safe home. Inspecting fire extinguishers and recharging or replacing them can help diver t harmful situations quickly should they arise.

Owning a home is a large investment for anyone and by following these steps to seal and pr otect your home, it will lead to extra spending money and increased safety, efficiency and warmth within the home for years to come.

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