Answer: Whenever a problem occurs with blistering and peeling of paint, a high moisture level is usually to blame. There are several solutions, which, depending on the severity of the moisture problems, could be utilized to fix the problem:

You can strip off all the clapboards and/or shingles and install a new vapor barrier. Then, install new clapboards and/or shingles and oil prime the new siding.

You can use paint shavers and sanders to completely remove ALL of the old paint from the clapboards or shingles. Then, completely oil prime the area with special oil primer and repaint the siding.

You can scrape and then feather sand the area. Afterwards, install a specialized venting product to pull back the affected areas and allow the moisture to escape.

The first step, before any of the above actions are taken, is to have a professional come out and perform a preliminary moisture check of the affected areas. They will then be able to advise you on what corrective measures will be best for your unique situation.

Answer: That’s a great question and, in a nutshell, the answer is “yes!” There are alternatives to Pergo that not only look great, but are more “wallet-friendly.” As a matter of fact, we recently helped a homeowner in Chestnut Hill find her dream flooring, while still allowing her to keep some money in the bank.

Like you, she was interested in Pergo floors and wanted them installed throughout her newly purchased condo. Since her old condo association wouldn’t let her make any changes, she was eager to create her dream home, but we wanted to make sure she was getting the best value too. We showed her some samples of alternatives to Pergo and she ended up liking one that looked very similar but costs far less. We ended up installing Traffic Master Floor Laminate, which is a bit thinner than the Pergo, but is indistinguishable in it looks. This saved the homeowner literally thousands of dollars, and the results are beautiful. See for yourself in these photos of the job:

In the end, this customer was thrilled with the results of her project and finally has her dream home; and that’s what Tom Curren Companies is all about. So, if you need to get those living room/dining room floors installed, or just need some advice, give us a call and we’ll be right over to lend a hand.

However, I also believe that designers — both residential and commercial — and their clients can and should break from the mantra, “When in doubt, choose a neutral.” We can stray from the traditional neutral safety net and embrace the “new neutrals”: values of yellow, orange, red, blue, green and purple. There are ways to appropriately use just about any color of the spectrum in place of the standard neutrals.

When selecting an interior color for his vintage 1922 home, Al Bragalone, principal of MNID & Associates in Seattle, Wash., chose a vibrant yellow glaze. “Due to the lack of light and the overcast days in Seattle, I needed retinal stimulation. I wanted a very bright and exciting color to provide that,” says Bragalone.

For the rest of the interior, Bragalone layered colors and textures that worked with the wall color. Silks offered a similar reflective quality to the glaze, while different values of complementary colors — including teals, fuchsias and corals — along with lots of warm, polished woodwork, anchored the overall look.

Layering multiple colors in a space is easy with a neutral palette, but becomes a little more challenging when your base is more colorful. A common problem: competing values of the same color. “Often, clients can’t tell what’s wrong with their space, but they know it doesn’t feel right,” says St. Louis–based interior designer Kimberly Reuther. The solution: “Balancing colors will help make the whole room feel cohesive rather than overwhelming. If the largest piece in the room — be it a piece of art, a sofa or the walls — is a bold color, it’s important to balance it with a complementary color or colors: in rugs, chairs, an accent wall or accessories.”

Keep in mind, balancing color does not necessarily mean matching bold for bold. I once walked into a room that had so much going on, and all of equal intensity, it literally gave me a headache. That’s why, when creating more colorful palettes for your clients or for yourself, the tried-and-true standard neutrals still play an important role. Often, incorporating the creams, whites, tans, grays and browns is critical to creating that harmonious balance.

Another thing to remember when using bolder hues is the saturation level. “Many people choose overly intense colors for their walls, especially in kids’ rooms. If there’s no variation in Chroma, the transition between multiple boldly colored rooms can be jarring and tiring for the eyes,” says Reuther. “I recommend using hues that have a gray undertone, which creates a softer, more soothing color palette that’s easier to live with for a longer period of time.”

Bragalone agrees: “When choosing bolder colors for a space or an entire home, it’s important to remember the whole. A color concept has to be consistently and carefully planned and strategically placed. The goal is to create unique vignettes for each space that work with each other rather than fight against each other.”

A few of my favorite colorful pairings include:

• Dovetail (SW 7018) with Solaria (SW 6688) and Honorable Blue (SW 6811) or Tradewind (SW 6218).
• Alchemy (SW 6395) with Gala Pink (SW 6579) or Impulsive Purple (SW 6832).
• Naval (SW 6244) or Indigo (SW 6531) with Outrageous Green (SW 6922) and Forsythia (SW 6907) or Kid’s Stuff (SW 6893).
• Holiday Turquoise (SW 0075) and Chartreuse (SW 0073).
• Raucous Orange (SW 6883) and Quietude (SW 6212).

Hesitant of … Then Try

Red … Rookwood Terra Cotta (SW 2803)    

Orange … Tatami Tan (SW 6116)                

Yellow … Anjou Pear (SW 6381)                  

Blue … Moody Blue (SW 6221)                    

Green … Wheat Grass (SW 6408)               

Purple … Swanky Gray (SW 6261)              

Kelley Stratton has been active in the interior design industry for more than 10 years. After graduating from the Interior Designers Institute in Newport Beach, Calif., Kelley specialized in residential and model homes, and has worked on projects spanning the country. Kelley is the owner of Salt Interiors, publishes their popular blog, and has written design articles for the Examiner.

© 2012 by the Sherwin Williams Company. Used with permission.

Radiant floor heating has been used since the time of the Roman Empire and, although it is an ancient technology, is more efficient than modern forced-air furnace units. Hot air rises, and hot air pumped into a room rises quickly, often making the head warmer than the feet (which most people find uncomfortable). A radiant-floor heating system warms the air near the floor by pumping a heated fluid through pipes beneath the surface. Radiant floor heating systems are most popular in bathrooms where you are more likely to be barefoot.

Another ancient technology making a comeback is geothermal heat exchange. Geothermal temperature control is based on the relatively stable and constant temperature of the earth, no matter what the season. The system pumps a heat-exchanging fluid through pipes that are buried in the ground beneath the frost line. Here, the relatively warm winter earth is used as a heat source and the cool summer earth is used as a heat sink. This technology uses minimal electricity, and homeowners can realize savings anywhere from 30 to 70 percent over conventional air-exchange systems.

Several natural solutions can be employed to keep a house temperate. Installing retractable awnings on the southern exposure of a house shades the windows during the summer months; these can be retracted to allow the winter sun to warm the house naturally. Planting deciduous trees on the south and west sides of the house serves a similar function, providing cool summer shade until the leaves fall and allowing the sun to warm the house in winter.

In preparing for the upcoming summer months, now is a good time to consider installing an attic or whole-house fan. These fans provide an easy way to move hot air out so that the air conditioning unit can work more efficiently. Attic fans are mounted on the roof or in the gables of an attic and move hot air out. Where as a whole-house fan draws air from the interior of the home into the attic, displacing the super-heated attic air with cooler interior air and drawing even cooler air into the home from below. Depending on the season and the climate, whole-house fans can augment a central air-conditioning system or replace it entirely.

Not every solution will work in every home. Check with your local contractor to determine what technologies will work best for you.

Women Working for Oceans is a community of local women who are concerned about the health and safety of the world’s oceans. Founded one year ago, in partnership with The New England Aquarium, W2O already has over 200 active participants and counting. Their mission is to inform individuals about the challenges facing oceans and inspire action to ensure a healthy, sustainable, blue planet for tomorrow. By building awareness of issues, such as the impending Massachusetts Plastic Reduction Bill, sustainable seafood, and climate change, W2O is making great strides toward ensuring that future generations are able to enjoy a healthy system of oceans, and the best part is – you too can be a part of it!

In addition to building awareness of issues impacting the oceans, W20 also runs two events per year to educate the public about critical threats to the health of the oceans and to inspire advocacy and action. Their next event, “Plastics in the Ocean and Plastics in You”, will take place on Tuesday, April 10, 2012 from 11:30 am – 2:00 pm at the New England Aquarium Simons IMAX Theatre. Keynote speakers, Dianna Cohen of the Plastic Pollution Coalition, and Kathleen Frith, Harvard Medical School alumna and Managing Director of the Center for Health and the Global Environment, will be discussing plastics in the oceans and how it affects our lives. The presentation will last for one hour and should not be missed! Although seats for the luncheon are quickly selling out, guests can still attend the presentation and learn about these important issues.

For more information about this event, or about Women Working for Oceans, you can visit their website womenworkingforoceans.org. Here, you will also find helpful information about sustainable living, responsible restaurants, informative blog articles and plenty of other information. You can also show your support by liking W2O on Facebook by clicking here.

It is a well-known saying that Earth is not inherited from our ancestors, but borrowed from our children. Although there is still progress to be made, by raising awareness in local communities, W2O is helping to ensure that we are leaving a better tomorrow for those who come after us. Thanks to the efforts of W2O, we are leaving a better, healthier ocean for generations to come.

Protecting and beautifying your deck will give this space long lasting protection. Having options to go with the personality of your home is what we’re all about.

Some homeowners would like to be able to see the grain and texture while others want more protection with a pigmented stain. Like many homeowners, they want the deck work completed in one day, and this is possible with the SPF deck staining system. There are many websites, such as www.cabotstain.com, that can assist you in finding the perfect look for your outdoor space.

Wood is precious and very expensive so it is important to take care of it. Waiting too long to recoat your deck will shorten its lifespan. Go ahead and take a look at your deck to see if your space is in need of some spring maintenance to get it ready to be enjoyed all summer long!

Wireless Headphones

Headphones are great for listening to music or cancelling out noise, but the cords themselves can be annoying. Now you can purchase wireless headphones and use a radio frequency transmitter to send sound from the main source to a pair of battery-powered headphones. The transmitter connects to the source’s headphone jack or RCA outputs. These devices let you walk anywhere within a specified range and still get clear sound without the danger or inconvenience of cords. They are great for watching TV without disturbing others or for people who are hard of hearing.

Self Propelled Vacuum

Vacuuming and sweeping can be a tedious chore especially if you have a pet or two. Enter the automatic vacuum! With the touch of a button this flat device will move around your rooms, under furniture, behind cabinets and collect all that dust, dirt and hair. Most will go from carpet to tile to hardwood automatically. Battery lives vary; some vacuums will take themselves back to their docking stations to recharge when needed. They have sensors that keep them from falling down stairs and some even come with settings to create virtual walls so they will not enter certain areas.

The Clapper

Before you laugh, there have been upgrades since the original “clap on, clap off” ads. The basic Clapper plugs into a standard wall socket and turns on/off lamps and other electrical items with the clap of your hands. The Clapper II can be set to two devices – you clap twice to activate one, and clap three times to activate the other. The Clapper can even be used as a theft deterrent by setting it to turn on an appliance when it hears any noise. So a would-be thief could be startled by a blaring radio or bright light.

There are so many high-tech gadgets on the market today – why not try out a few that make sense for your lifestyle and have a little fun?

Many times, our company has been called to repaint a customer’s house, only to discover that what they really needed was simply a good scrubbing to clean off years of accumulated dirt and mildew. The recipe for house washing is a simple process that will leave your home sparkling clean and prolong the life of your existing paint job.

1. The first thing to do is rinse the entire exterior of your home with a garden hose and an attached spray nozzle
2. Next, the house is sprayed with soapy water using a power sprayer; starting at the top of your house and working in sections.
3. After a section has been sprayed, it can be scrubbed by hand or with an extension brush. The sections must be rinsed off before the soap begins to dry on the exterior.
4. After the house has been scrubbed, it can now be misted with a simple mixture of ¼ cup of household bleach per gallon of water. Let the mixture sit for 15 minutes and then rinse with fresh water. This process will kill any remaining mildew.

As a result of power washing, your home will look great and leave you with the most beautiful home in your neighborhood. So, whether you hire us to do the job or choose to do it yourself, be sure to stay ahead of this maintenance project in order to avoid future damage to your home.

Talk to your contractor first. Depending on the size of the project and the contractor, you may be able to get a financing plan directly from them. The size of the loan and interest rates will vary and may be dependent on your credit score. But because your contractor is building his network and partnerships in the industry every day, he may already have a structure in place with lending institutions that can offer monthly payments, deferred payments, zero or low interest, or revolving loans.

HELOC

A home equity line of credit (HELOC) is another option. HELOCs act similar to credit cards in that you are given a ceiling up to which you can borrow, but are only charged interest on the amount you use. Funds are drawn on an as-needed basis, which is helpful for long-term or multiple stage projects. There could be a minimum withdrawal amount, so keep that in mind when planning. The interest rates are adjustable, usually tied to the prime rate. Repayment is generally within eight to ten years.

Energy-efficient mortgages have generally been used on new home construction, but lately are being seen more in home improvements of houses that meet Fannie Mae’s strict energy-efficient standards. If your home is historic, check into your state’s historic preservation office for options outside typical lending companies.

Do not forget personal loans or savings options. Think about your tax return, stocks, bonds, CDs, savings, pensions or retirement account as options to help you get a personal loan that can be used for renovations. Just make sure you research all your options and shop around to various lending companies before making your final decision.