Creative Blogs

One of the biggest challenges that homeowners face is removing old linoleum. It’s a daunting task, but there are tricks you can use to make the job a little easier. The level of difficulty really depends on several underlying factors, like the type of adhesive and the age of the linoleum. If you’re putting down a new floor it may be easier just to leave the linoleum intact, especially if it’s solidly bound and not cracked or heaving. If it needs to go, you’re in for a big job.

It would be great if the linoleum and adhesive lifted together, but that’s usually not the case. Taking up the old flooring is usually the easiest part of the job, and the real work begins when you’re faced with a layer of adhesive. Concrete floors can withstand heavy scraping, but wood floors require a more gentle touch. Many home renovators use razor blades or scrapers to take up the old adhesive. Be prepared to stock up on supplies. The adhesive can be so tough that it actually snaps metal blades.

If you try to remove everything at once, you’re in for an ever bigger and messier job. Try cutting the linoleum into sections or strips. Then, peel the smaller pieces away. Using this method, you should be able to remove most of the surface layer of linoleum along with a good portion of the backing. It’s also easier to get at the underlying adhesive when you use this method.

When the top layer is removed and you’re down to bits of adhesive, it’s time to get scraping. There are a few options to clean away the old glue. According to consumer reviews, Krud Kutter and other chemical solvents can make the job easier. If you decide to use any of these products, make sure that you read the instructions carefully. Be sure to wear gloves and a ventilation mask. Work one small area at a time before moving on to the next.

Other home repairers report success with using nothing more advanced than boiling or very hot water. The water can be poured directly on the backing and adhesive, a small area at a time, left to soak, and then scraped up. Alternatively, you can fold an old towel and lay it on top of a section of adhesive, pour boiling water over it, let it set, remove and then scrape.

Direct heat is a great way to soften old linoleum adhesive. Find an inconspicuous area of flooring, and use a hair dryer and putty knife to scrape away the glue. On hardwood floors, you must push the scraper in the same direction as the natural grain of the wood, or you’ll be left with a damaged floor. Keep a durable pan nearby to hold the scrapings, and be sure that it won’t melt or burn if it comes in contact with the heat source or hot materials.

A heat gun can be a great tool in removing old linoleum adhesive. You’ll need to be careful not to scorch or char the wood. It’s also important to know that this method can cause softened adhesive or mastic to creep into any of the natural crevices and the cracks between floorboards. Work a very small area, with a constantly moving heat source. Scrape as quickly as possible for best results.

It’s almost impossible to remove every bit of old adhesive from a hardwood floor, and excessive scraping will most certainly damage the wood. Remove as much as the adhesive as you can by using these methods, and then clean the floors. Take a look and consider your nest step. A light sanding may be in order, or you can try scrubbing the remaining residue away with rags and solvent. Turpentine and mineral spirits can get the job done. If you’re planning to lay a new covering over your cleaned wood floor, do yourself a big favor and remember to seal the wood before applying the new adhesive.

Here’s a collection of cat facts about one of the most important elements of cat behavior to understand, social behavior and interaction. I’ve tried to include facts that I think are helpful.

If there’s one trait that most cat lovers enjoy, it’s the independent nature of their feline friends. We usually feel honored when a cat gives us the time of day. A cat that asks for a head rub or a belly scratch is too much to resist.

If you often wonder what your cat is thinking, you’re not alone. Cats are mysterious creatures and we’re often not sure why they behave the way they do.

As pet owners, one of our tasks is to learn how to better care for our cats. Below is a list of interesting cat facts that may help bring you and your little cat buddy closer together.

1. Leave me alone. Unlike dogs, domestic cats do not form packs. When forced to live closer to other cats than they normally would in the wild, cats will often time share their territory when possible.

2. Kitten’s get their friendly traits from their father’s genes (mostly), and their mother’s teachings.

3. A kitten’s socialization process is most important when she is between two and seven weeks old.

4. Cats can go through a second socialization process when recovering from a trauma. This can go two ways, resulting in either more friendliness, or less friendliness than before the trauma.

5. Domestic cats have a limited set of body language skills. This is because their ancestors were solitary animals.

6. Cats leave distinctive scent marks which, if you had the right nose, would tell you a story. This is how they make up for a limited set of body language skills. That and the fact that they are sneaky and quick!

7. Your cat will leave her mark by rubbing her scent glands all over her territory. She’ll also rub it on you and other animals in the house, creating a communal scent and indicating that these animals are part of her social group.

8. When you scratch your cat’s back, you’ll notice that she will raise her back end up so as to better scent your hand. She’ll also very often stiffen her tail while keeping it bent.

9. The tail up is a sign of happiness. It is also used as a greeting. If people had tails they could raise, cats would like us more.

10. When the front paws are curled up and tucked in, and the back legs are outstretched to the side, your cat is relaxed and secure.

Did you find these cat facts interesting? I hope at least some of them surprise you a bit. If you take a minute to read between the lines, most of them will allow you to better understand how your cat communicates.

For ancestors who lived during the 20th century, postcards are a delightful way to learn more about their lives and communities. Picture postcards were very popular worldwide by the dawn of the 20th century due to their novelty and the fact that postage was cheap. From automobiles to street scenes and hairstyles to people, postcards provide intriguing glimpses into the past.

Emily is now using postcards to locate descendants of her great grandmothers who married and settled in Virginia before 1893. “From the postcards relatives sent her great grandparents we know where her family was before marriage and other little details about their life at that time,” she says.

It does get a little touchy when trying to separate the differences between the postal historian and the philatelist. Postal history and philately have crossed over blurred lines since stamp collecting began. Generally a philatelist is concerned how a stamp is used, condition of the stamp and the way it is canceled. A cancel is the method of obliterating the stamp to prevent reuse.

A postal historian collects for the way a stamp is used and postmarked. A postmark is the way to determine the place and date the post card was sent from although postmarks are often used as cancellations.

How awesome would it be to find a hand written letter from a grandparent forty years after they have passed away. Think about the anticipation at your family reunion when you and all your relatives open the letters your ancestors wrote one hundred years earlier. That would be incredible information and exciting too.

A postal historian will sometimes use collateral material for exhibiting in their albums, displays or at competitive exhibitions. In addition, a real photo town view, especially of a “ghost” town, will be used as collateral along with a postmark from that town. This forms a pleasing combination for many postal historians. What is even better is when the town view is postmarked in the same town as in the view. This is an awesome find!

Similarly, roadside cards depicted diners and restaurants, gas stations, hotels and motels and shops. Perhaps your ancestors frequented a particular eatery or stayed at a certain hotel during their travels. The ideas of tracing your family is endless and can be a great way to share with your family your history. What a legacy to pass down to your children and grandchildren. These type items are interesting even to people outside the family.

Collect what you like and how you like to collect! You can find them everywhere especially in old attics, garage sales and flea markets, antique shops and stamp shops, gas stations and hotels. Collecting Post Cards is a great hobby and one that can be passed on from generation to generation to share your past travels, interests and history with your family.

You’ve heard all the nasty rumors about child care, but you have to get back to work and you have no choice. But did you know there are benefits to sending your child to daycare If you consider some of these benefits, it will help you come to terms with your own decision whether you have a choice or not.

If you can understand some of the ways children benefit from childcare, you will feel you are helping your child grow into a well rounded, happy child instead of punishing the both of you by sticking him in daycare.

Today, child care abounds. There is full-time, part-time, drop-in and day care centers. Child care doesn’t have to mean you’re away from your child all day from morning to night, missing the milestones we all enjoy. Depending on your child care needs, and your work situation, sometimes child care can be very minimal. Maybe several hours a week will be all you need from an in-home child care provider, with a backup of drop-in child care for those emergency or unplanned occasions; a drop-in child care provider can be a lifesaver.

Children benefit from childcare by learning self-control, how to get along with others, and how to share. They are initiated into the world of friendship. Without daycare, he only knows you; you are his whole world. What a shock to find one day around his 4th birthday he will have to start school and will be away from you at great lengths during the day. Children benefit from childcare by expanding their world to include people other than their parents.

The results of a long term study done by the National Institute of Health showed that those children who spent a great amount of time in a lower quality daycare displayed more instances of aggressive behavior and demands for constant, individual attention, a trend that continued through the sixth grade. This behavior may stem from the need to compete for attention from a very young age, and is displayed in children of large families as well.

Those children who are quiet and well behaved are set to the side while the teachers struggle to deal with the children who are not so self sufficient; is it any wonder, then, that this often results in these children learning to emulate the less than savory behavior of their peers, whom they see receiving the individual attention they crave?

The key to a positive day care experience is to carefully screen any day care before a child is enrolled. The school should have a low staff to child ratio, with one adult to every two or three children at the infant level, gradually rising as the child increases in age but still sufficient for individual attention.

The teachers should display a genuine love for the children, with experience and training in child development and psychology, allowing them to quickly detect a problem with a student before it becomes uncontrollable. Parents should remain in contact with the child’s teacher, receiving progress reports and observing classroom behavior on a regular basis. Any instance in which a parent is deliberately left “out of the loop” in their child’s education, even at this early stage, is cause for concern, and should be considered an immediate warning sign that all is not as it should be. In this case knowledge is power, and allows a child to quickly be removed from an unsuitable situation before damage is done that is irreversible.

A general contractor is the main contractor you have to hire for a major renovation project. The general contractor though, has other subcontractors that he oversees for the renovation of your home. The repair and maintenance contractors you need are very different from the general contractor.

Typically the General Contractor does not provide the labor to build the house. The laborers come from the subcontractors or the trades. This may include carpenters for roughens, excavators, flooring, painting, concrete sub, plumber, electrician, roofer, and the finish carpenter.

There’s a lot to learn about which products to use and what procedures best meet your individual needs. Because of this lack of knowledge, homeowners can easily be taken advantage of by people calling themselves home improvement contractors. Therefore, it’s absolutely vital to know that you can rely on the contractor you choose to give you good advice about those products and procedures that may be new to you. Being able to trust your contractor with your vision may not always prove easy. The key is to find the right contractor for your renovation from the beginning. Determining the reliability, reputation and experience of the contractor may take some time but will be time well spent!

Hiring an unlicensed contractor is inadvisable. When his bid comes under the others for your renovation your thrilled, but when the work is done you discover mediocre materials and shabby workmanship. Then of course the contractor is nowhere to be found and you discover why;unlicensed. You also discover you can be held reliable for on the job injuries or insurance. Not complying with city or county codes and correcting problems are all your responsibility when not dealing with a licensed contractor. You can even be held for his illegal acts. Hiring an unlicensed contractor is risky business to say the least.

There is nothing wrong with interviewing candidates so set up times to go over the plans you have and see if you and the contractor are on the same page and he will be willing to work with your ideas and at the same time, offer some helpful ones of his own. Do not go overboard with the quotes because it can get way too confusing when trying to make a decision. Write down questions ahead of time. Being prepared helps you to not forget things that are important to your project.

The contractor should be willing to listen to you and offers the pros and cons of your design for your specific house. It’s important to have good communication between you and your contractor eliminating hopefully any friction if the unexpected is to arise which in renovation, the surprises are likely.

It’s usually easy to tell the unlicensed contractors or scam artist or possibly someone who is just trying to get in your home. Use wisdom and do your homework to avoid the following pitfalls.

1. Unlicensed contractors often go door-to-door claiming they “just finished a job down the street and we’re in the neighborhood and noticed your roof needs patching.” 2. They may rush you and twist their words stating, “If you act now, you’ll get a special price.” 3. Unlicensed contractors either neglect to pull construction permits or they ask you to do it for them. If you do this, you are assuming liability for the project as well as the contractor’s mistakes. 4. Some states require contractors to list their license numbers on their vehicles, their estimates and their advertising. If a contractor has not done that, this is usually a bad sign. 5. If you see a license number in an ad, and it has a different number of letters, numerals and digits than all the other licenses, this probably means it is a bogus license number. 6. Be wary if a contractor provides only a PO box or cell number. That may mean he does not have credibility in the community and could skip town when people start to complain. 7. Unlicensed contractors often ask for a lot of money up front if not the whole amount. Consider this a red flag and try not to pay any money in advance. If you must, keep the amount to a minimum.