When choosing the products which you will used for refinishing your furniture, you should go with environmentally friendly products. A lot of refinishing will be done outdoors, and environmentally friendly products will reduce the impact that refinishing will have on the planet. You should choose products which highlight the beauty of the wood, such as natural finishes. More drab or dull looking woods and furniture pieces can benefit from a gloss finish. Natural products also restore the natural beauty of wood. There is a lot of work involved in refinishing furniture, but it is worth the effort in cost savings. It should be remembered that good things take time, but they are very much worth the effort.

Head to a home improvement store and talk with trained professionals who will help you choose the products that will enable you to make the best of your furniture. Try to choose non caustic chemicals and select natural products for the task at hand. If you do go with harsh chemicals, be sure not to smoke and work outdoors or in a heavily ventilated area. If you decide to use power tools, make sure you observe the proper safety, such as using earplugs, and having a fire extinguisher at hand. If you are going to change the sandpaper on a sander, make sure to unplug the device. The furniture should also be cleaned with a wax or wood cleaner, such that you can determine whether a piece is worth saving.

Determining how to remove the finish first depend on identifying the finish that was previously used.

Determination of the prior finish is achieved via these steps:

1 - Take a cotton ball and load it with alcohol.

2 - Put this on a concealed area of the furniture and leave for about ten minutes. If the finish dissolves, then it is likely shellac.

3 - If the shellac does not dissolve, try lacquer thinner. If this works, then the finish is lacquer.

4 - Should these steps fail, you are likely dealing with a varnish or synthetic finish. If the finish is worn or faded, it may just suffice it to apply the same finish again.

Should you decide to perform a full finish, you should strip the furniture and begin a sanding process to take off some thin layers of the wood. Be sure to change out the sandpaper frequently, to ensure the best finish. An orbital sander can make short work of the sanding task, while a sanding block can be used for tight areas. After the surface is prepped, it is short work to follow the directions and apply the new stain, making sure to paint and even coat. After you are finished with the stain, you have to apply a sealer to the piece of furniture.

Photo Credits: 1

Originally posted 2009-01-28 05:44:52. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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Let's start with picking the right kind of wood for your deck. If you love redwood or cedar, keep in mind that these woods are going to need to be sealed more often. Pine is the most durable, but then again, it will end up looking the roughest over time. The key is finding the right kind of sealant that is rated for your area. If you get a lot of rain, look for a heavy duty waterproofing sealant. If sun is the main issue, look for a sealant that is fade resistant. When you apply the sealant to your deck, make sure that you use enough and let it dry completely between coats for the best effect.

Now, let's move onto maintenance. The first step you're going to need is powerwashing on a regular basis. Don't blast off your sealant with too much pressure, but make sure that you do keep your deck clean. Light woods in particular will need some extra care to make sure they don't end up looking dingy. Aim for washing it at least once a month and more often in areas that are prone to more wind and dirt.

If your deck is already in trouble, don't worry! Fixing it is a snap. Most people can do this on their own and will not need the help of a professional. First, you'll need to completely clean off your deck and then sweep it to make sure that all dust and debris has been removed. If the wood is cracked, misshapen or overly rough, you're going to need to sand down these spots. This has the added benefit of revealing the healthy wood under the surface.

Once you're ready with either clean or sanded wood, you can either restain your deck or add new sealant and keep it the same color as it already is. Once again, allow for enough drying time in between coats and do it on a day where there is no wind to avoid bubbles in the finish. After the stain is dry, apply a least a few coats of sealant to give it a great shine and protect it from water.

If your deck never got these benefits in the first place, it's not too late to seal it for the first time. Clean it, sand it, stain it and then seal it. It will look like new in just a few hours. Decks do best when they are regularly cared for, so make sure that you schedule more than enough time in to do your part.

Photo Credits: 1

Originally posted 2008-11-19 05:02:13. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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1. Refreshing a kitchen.

If you don’t have the time or money to do a complete remodel on your kitchen, refreshing it can be just as good. Purchase some paint that is rated for use on metal and use it to completely paint your stove, built in oven or any other metal based appliances. This is a great way to turn an old, tired color scheme into something brand new for less than $20. You can also repaint your kitchen cabinets, or even add stencils to give them more visual interest. Adding a new light fixture is another little touch that can have a big impact on your kitchen.

2. Redo your bathroom floor.

Bathroom floors take a lot of abuse and it doesn’t take long before they end up looking a little dingy. If you have a carpeted bathroom, you may also be dealing with mold or mildew. You can easily add a new floor to your bathroom using either laminate wood flooring, or even peel and stick tiles. Since bathrooms are not typically very large, this is a project that you can usually accomplish for less than $100. If you do change to a hard floor after having carpet, don’t forget to put down some rugs to minimize the risk of slipping.

3. Refinish your front porch.

This is another high traffic area that gets a lot of abuse, but there are several inexpensive ways that you can give it a whole new look. Repair or replace any older wrought iron, and add a brand new mailbox to the front of your home. A new set of house numbers can also add a nice quick touch to the front of your home. You can power wash a concrete porch, or even get concrete paint to give it a whole new color. Bricks can also be cleaned or even painted to given them a quick refresh.

4. Change out your home’s electric outlets and switch faceplates.

This is a very easy fix that won’t cost a lot of money. If you don’t feel like replacing all of them, they can be painted and you can add designs with small stencils.

Take a look at your home and see what other small projects you can tackle. By continually making small changes to your home, over the long term you can end up with a house that has been completely redone – on your time and on your budget. This is the easiest way to remodel any home.

Photo Credits: 1

Originally posted 2008-10-07 05:07:36. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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One of the biggest boosts to a home's value is remodeling. And no remodeling project adds value like the kitchen, and to a lesser degree, the bath. So if you redo your kitchen cabinets, you can increase the value of your home as well as improve the appearance of the room.

It's affordable to have the refacing done by professionals, especially since you're saving thousands by refacing kitchen cabinets instead of refinishing or replacing. But there are materials available that let you do the project on your own, which will save you even more money.

When refacing kitchen cabinets, you have more options than ever before. Not only will you change the entire look of the cabinetry, you can improve your storage at the same time with shelves, rolling or sliding drawers and other great organizational features.

For professional refacing, they'll come out and measure your cabinetry and then set about creating custom-built doors and drawer fronts. For the DIYer, you can purchase the drawer fronts, doors and other facings to reface the cabinets yourself at less cost.

If you want to tackle refacing kitchen cabinets yourself but you're unsure about many of the changes, then try giving your cabinets an updated look with things like molding or new hardware. You can even purchase wood veneers. These veneers are applied with heat and give the cabinets the look of wood. You can then stain it just like regular wood.

And of course, since you're replacing your cabinet doors when you're refacing kitchen cabinets, you'll want to make the most dramatic difference here. You can choose doors in three different finishes from most companies: rigid thermofoils or RTF, wood, or plastic laminate. Wood is a classic choice, because then you can refinish it later and paint or stain if when it starts to look worn. RTF is the surface of fiberboard that can be made to look like a smooth, painted surface. Plastic laminate is popular and comes in many different colors but it's more expensive than RTF and not as durable.

You can also choose a different style of door. A flat-panel door is simple, while a slab is just flat and has no raised or recessed design. A framed glass door will be a drastic difference from years of dark or dingy cabinets.
Another thing you can do when refacing kitchen cabinets to make a dramatic difference is to switch from visible hinges to concealed or vice versa, as well as change out the knobs and drawer pulls.

Photo Credits: Greg_e

Originally posted 2009-09-12 12:20:19. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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1. Remove the draw pulls knobs, hinges and other hardware.

2. With 100-grit sandpaper and a random orbital sander, sand the cabinet frames and doors. Use about 60-grit sandpaper for small areas. Be sure to retain sharp edges and don't sand down any detail or round off edges or corners.

3. Using wood putty, overfill any dings, nicks and dents then smooth it over with a flat surface like an edger or a flat tool. Once it's dry, sand it until smooth and the clean the wood with a damp cloth. After it's dry, you're ready to refinish kitchen cabinets with paint or stain.

4. You'll either want to apply stain at this point, if you want a wood look, or you'll use a primer to prepare for painting. Choose an oil-based primer. And don't scrimp on the brand. Spending more on great quality primer is worth it when you won't have deal with cabinets that are peeling or flaking down the road. If you have stained cabinets, particular from anything oily, and it won't come off, opt for a primer that doubles as a sealer to keep the stains from seeping through and showing in your paint job. Oil-based primer is more expensive and much messier to use, but oil-based primers and paints are much more durable than latex.

5. Using oil-based paint and long, smooth strokes, apply one coat of your choice of paint, starting at the backs of the kitchen cabinets to avoid dragging your arm through wet paint later. Choose an oil-based paint in semi-gloss or full-gloss to get a professional looking finished result. Let dry and apply a second coat.

6. Depending on the look you're going for, you can paint the trim and molding a different color than the base of the cabinets or the doors. If the doors have framing molding and they're square, then painting the open area on the doors can give a dramatic look, especially if it's vastly different that the framing molding.

7. Once everything is dry, reattach the cabinet doors and then reattach the draw pulls and knobs. While your cabinets will look brand new even with old pulls and knobs, now is the perfect time to make the change to really put the finishing touches on your cabinets.

If you've wondered whether you should refinish kitchen cabinets or reface, your budget and the type of cabinets you have may be guide. Refinishing might cost about $200 where refacing runs around a minimum of $1,000. If you don't have wood cabinets, you have to reface or replace. But if you opt to refinish kitchen cabinets you should be able to restore them to their natural beauty.

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Originally posted 2009-09-15 03:33:12. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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