My cat needs a house.

I love my cat and because I love him so much, he is very spoiled. One day, I found out that he is sleeping at the top of our refrigerator. Of course, I found it very inappropriate. Though I take him to bath everyday but I believe that he has lots of germs as well.

The next day, I decided to build him his own house where he could sleep. I don’t have him to stay at the ref all the time because it is not a good idea (aside from the infestation of his feathers that would cause germs to scatter).

As a result, I don’t have anything to do but to take pictures of him. This now explains.

Repairing Flat Roofs

Roofs that are flat or nearly flat usually are built up with as many as five alternating layers of roofing felt and hot tar or asphalt, fastened to the wood sheathing. This built-up roofing is often topped with a protective covering of gravel, pebbles or marble chips, or with a final layer of mineral-surfaces roll roofing; the light-colored stones or minerals help reflect the sun’s rays from the dark, heat-absorbent surface.

A built-up roof should last from 10 to 20 years, before the sun’s heat dries out the tar or asphalt and cracks develop over the entire surface. You can extend its life considerably by coating it with an asphalt-aluminum roof paint that shows the drying process and forms a stronger and more reflective surface.

When the roof does eventually fail, do not try to replace it yourself- that job calls for special equipment and the expertise of a professional roofer. But you can and should repair minor damages. Inspect the roof at least once a year for blisters, cracks, tears and storm damage. Blisters, which indicate the underlying layers of from the wood sheathing, should be treated immediately before they break open and admit rain water.

As you treat a blister, examine its interior. If it is dry, the blister is probably caused by poorly adhering or dried-out asphalt cement, and a simple patch can be an adequate repair. Interior moisture is a design that water has leaked into the roofing and seeped along the sheathing to a point underneath the blister. Locate the point of leakage – possibly in losses flashings at adjoining walls or around chimneys and vent pipes. It a substantial amount of water has penetrated the roofing, causing a large section to buckle or blister, cut out and patch the entire area.

Insulating a Finished Attic

Insulating a finished attic is no more complicated than working in an unfinished one, except for getting to the places you must insulate. You will have to cut out passageways in the ceiling and side –or knee – walls.

Once you have gained access thought the knee walls to the outer unfinished attic floor, you insulate for unfinished attic floors. Batts also are installed behind knee walls and on top of the level ceiling. Batts cannot be used for the sloping sections of ceilings because roofing nails are likely to rip them. Instead, throw loose fill into this space from above the flat ceiling. This can only be done after installing the batts behind the knee wall so the tops of the batts will keep the loose fill from falling behind the knee wall. If your attic space is too small to maneuver in, blow in loose fill.

A well insulated attic room.

Batts should be installed in all the outer attic space you can get to: above the flat attic ceiling, behind the low knee walls, and between the joists of the attic floor beyond the knee walls. Then loose fill can be dropped down the hard-to-reach sloped ceiling. Unless you left passageways to the outer attic when you finished the room, cut access panels on the ceiling and knee walls.

Where to insulate a house?

Houses come in infinitude of shapes and sizes, but all of them incorporate some of the elements of the dwelling at right. The overall rule in insulating a house is simple: insulation should be present at any surface separating living spaces form unheated areas, since that is where heat loss occurs – and also where the sun’s heat can make unwelcome entry in the summer. All exterior walls should be insulated, not neglecting any wall of a split-level house that rises above an adjacent roof. Any wall between a heated room and unheated area such as a garage, utility room or open porch also demands insulation, as do floors separating living spaces from such unheated areas. And do not overlook the overhanging portion of a room cantilevered out from the rest of the house.

If the house has unheated cellar or crawl space, the floors above must be insulated. In the case of a finished basement, the below-ground walls require insulation. Similarly, the floor of an unheated attic calls for insulation, whereas finished room in a heated attic must have an insulated ceiling and knee walls as well as production for the ceilings and walls of all dormers.

The Dos and Don’ts in Roofing Work

Working on a pitched roof is potentially dangerous, if you fear heights or if your roof is steeply pitched, the job is best left to a professional. But you can make repairs safely by taking these common-sense precautions.

Never work in wet, windy or cold weather. Roofing materials can become dangerously slippery when wet, and asphalt shingles are brittle when cold, crumbling underfoot.

Wear sneakers or shoes that have slip-resistant soels, and choose loose-fitting clothes so that you can move about freely.

Use an access ladder that extends above the eave so that you need never step over the top of the ladder. Keep your hips between the rails as you climb, and never lean over the side of the ladder to work on the roof.

Enlist a helper to steady the ladder as you climb and to feed you tools and materials once you are up there.

On a steep roof, use a roofing ladder with wood or metal brackets that hook over the roof ridge. These ladders not only provide secure hand and footholds, but distribute your weight over the shingles. On brittle roofing materials such as slate, tile or asbestos use a “chicken ladder”, a 1-by-12-inch board with 1-by-2-inch horizontal wood cleats.

Installing Sweeps

I do these two main things when installing sweeps. First, you have to cup sweep to door width and screw it across the bottom edge on the outdoor side so it fits snugly against the threshold when the door is shut, yet allows the door to open and close smoothly. Most sweeps have slots, so positioning is easily adjusted. Second, you have to adjust the width of the sweep to the thickness of your door by slipping the movable piece into the appropriate groove on the channel base. Cut the sweep to the width of the door. The swing the door open and slide the sweep under the bottom of the door. Close the door, let the sweep drop against the threshold, then drive the attachment screws in their slots partway. Adjust positioning initial the sweep drop is snug, but not so tight that the door will not work smoothly. Tighten the screws.

With these two simple steps in installing sweeps, I make it sure that my house will be protected against leaks.

Using a caulking gun

Hold the gun at a 45 degree angle to the surface and squeeze the trigger with a steady pressure. Keep the gun slightly slanted in the direction your are moving and draw it along slowly so that the sealant not only fills the crack but also overlaps the edges.

To get a smooth bead, fill a single seam in one stroke if you can. Pressure inside the cartridge will keep pushing out the sealant after you release the trigger; to avoid getting a lumpy bead, where several strokes and continue to move the gun as you slowly squeeze the trigger for the next stroke. When you want to stop the flow of sealant altogether, disengage the trigger by turning the plunger so that the teeth point upward and then pull the rod back an inch or so.

Exterior Waterproofing

If simple remedies, such as grading surface soil or patching interior walls, fail to cure a wet basement, you must block moisture outside the basement wall. No amount of interior patching will stop penetration caused by the power of substantial subsurface water pressure, nor will it plug leaks through cracks opened when the roots of a tree penetrate.

To waterproof a basement wall from the outside, you must excavate at least part of the foundation of the house, a heavy job you may want to have done. You also may prefer hiring a professional if basement walls must be resurfaced with concrete. But the rest of the job is fairly simple to do yourself.

Some cracks are shallow enough to block by simply excavating the upper part of the basement wall to a depth of about 2 feet and waterproofing with asphalt foundation coating and polyethylene plastic sheeting. If the leak is lower down, there is no alternative to excavating the entire basement wall down to the footing. Once the digging is dine, you should waterproof the wall with concrete and also lay drain tiles, which collect subsurface water and carry it away from the house. The tiles - made like storm-sewer piping, but generally perforated - are available in several materials in various lengths with connectors and elbow fittings. Tiles that are asphalt impregnated and rigid plastic types are the easiest to use.

Weather-stripping Doors

The big leak in most houses are around doors. They lack the twofold edge enclosures of double-hung windows, so an open crack is inevitable. Any of various type of weather stripping can fill the crack, but it can't do so effectively unless the door fits properly. If weather stripping is attached to a binding door, it may make the door impossible to open or close. So the first step in weather-proofing a door is to adjust hinges, and sand or place edges until it opens and closes smoothly, leaving a narrow, uniform space between edge and jamb.

Generally, you can see how the door fits by looking at the edges all around. To find invisible binds, slide thin cardboard between the closed door and the jamb, or rub colored chalk on the door edge - it will rub off on the jamb at binds.

Most often a door sticks because loosened hinge screws made it sag. Tighten the screws. If the screws will not hold, replace them with longer ones or stuff the screw holes with toothpicks. If screw-tightening does not solve the problem, try shifting the door by spacing hinge leaves with thin material or plane off the door edge at the binds. If the entire latch side binds, remove the door and plane the hinge side - so you will have to move the lock - then reset the hinges.

Sealants

Most of the newer and more efficient sealants are usually applied with a caulking gun. The most popular type uses individual cartridges that are thrown away when empty. Getting a smooth flow of sealant - a proper bead - may require practice. So if you are doing the hob for the first time, make a few trial strokes.

While a caulking gun is best for most jobs, some small repairs are more conveniently done in other ways: caulks that are squeezed like toothpaste from a collapsible tube glazing compound that is pressed into cracks with your fingers, ropelike strands that are pushed into place and filler that must be tamped into openings. Whatever you use, thoroughly clean the area around a crack, removing old sealant and chipped paint with a wood chisel or puttyknife. Wipe the crack with turpentine, the use a stiff brush to get rid of remaining dirt. Do not try to caulk when temperatures are below 50 degrees Fahrenheit - the sealant will be too hard to handle easily and it will not stick to the cold surfaces.

Weatherproofing gliding windows

Most new types of wood gliding windows come with weather stripping built in between the frame and the sash. Older types, however, may need sealing. If both sashes move, treat the windows as if it were a double-hung window tuned on its side.

For windows with one gliding sash, treat only the movable part. Install a strip of spring metal in the side channel that receives the movable sash, lining up the nailing flange along the inside edge. Then nail vinyl or rubber gasket along the exterior top bottom and outer edges of the gliding sash. The outer strip will fit snugly against the rail of the inside sash where the window sections meet.

Most metal gliding windows have rubber weather stripping in the tracks of each sash but, like wood gliders, should be sealed where the sashes meet. Attach the gasket with vinyl-to-metal adhesive.

Sealing wood casements.

Many new styles of wood casements have their own built-in-weather-proofing. If yours do not, nail spring metal stripping to the frame. For casements that open outward, the railing flange should be placed along the outside edge of the frame. Reverse the position of the nailing flange for windows that open inward.

You can also install felt or adhesive-backed foam stripping on the inside of the frame, but such material tend to loosen after a few months of frequent opening and closing of the windows.

These same procedures apply to awning-type windows which are really sidewise casements.

Installing Weatherproof Thresholds

Installing weatherproof thresholds are just 3 steps away:

First, shield the floor or carpet around the door with pieces of cardboard secured by masking tape. Try to remove the threshold with a pry bar. If it does not lift up easily, cut through at each end with a backsaw and force up the center piece.

Second, knocking out end pieces. If the new threshold is the same height as one old one, tap out the ends with a mallet and chisel. Otherwise, saw through the door stops to heighten the opening and release the end pieces as well. Clean the still with turpentine.

Third, cut the threshold to fit tightly against both sides of the jamb. Position the threshold so that the flap side of the plastic seal is toward the outdoors. Lift up the plastic flap and insert screws through the holes in the strip underneath.

Weather- stripping to Block the Drafts

The crack around doors and windows are the main cause of air leakage in most homes. In fact, in many houses, window sashes and doors are grooved to interlock with metal flanges around the frames. If a house lacks this sort of built-in weather stripping, chances are it will easily gets the damage.

Actually, there are some simple tests to determine your weather-stripping needs. On a cool, windy day, feel for air door and window cracks. Another method is to hold a tissue next to the crack to see if it flutters. Or, shine a flashlight along door and window edges from the outside at night while someone inside watches to see if light penetrates.

Once you know your trouble spots, you can select the weather-stripping best suited to the job.

Weatherproofing for your house.

A house is built to provide shelter from the elements in order to protect the house against these bad elements - unwanted air, water, heat and cold, even animals and insects, weatherproofing is the remedy. For battling against these elements is fought with a varies arsenal of materials and equipment. There are plugs, and sealers, pumps and vents, insulation, awnings and tinted plastic, plus special techniques and equipment for emergencies such as storms, earthquakes, canes and floods.

Therefore, houses should demand and weatherproofing to have sound and comfortable living.

Bird Feeder Station

Numerous birds love to land at the porch of our house. Instead of driving then away, I think to shelter with a home. I bought The Ultimate Bird Feeder Station. It serves them now as their favorite place.

What is the best thing about this feeder station is that it has 2 hanging feeders - 1 mesh sided for peanuts and 1 for seeds (both 6 1/2 x 2 1/4/) with 4 feeding ports. It has 3 hook support for round mesh fat feeders, planter base (9"dia and 6 1/4"high), coated steel construction-waterproof, strong and good looking which the unit measures 47" from the base to the top of the lamp. And it is easy to assemble.

This bird feeder station lets us enjoy the pleasure of watching wild birds. This is perfectly terrific for teaching children to love birds and understand nature.

Home tips on sanitation.

Sanitation means the practice of measures to create an environment conducive to good health. It includes personal hygiene, keeping food, equipment and the work area clean. ON the other hand, unsanitary practices and improper food handling may result to food contamination, poisoning and even death.

Thus, keeping the equipment clean safeguards one's health. These practices are very essential:

1. Use clean and dry rags to wipe and clean equipment.

2. Air dry equipment to prevent rust corrosion and accumulation of dust.

3. Wash and dry the utensils before the storing them.

4. Clean and store away the mixer and other hand tools after use and dry very well before storing. Wash the detachable parts with soap or detergent and dry well before storing.

5. Remove grease, oil and other matter that have hardened on equipment with a brush or cloth dipped in light detergent solution.

6. Brush cloth is more appropriate to use than a steel brush in removing a flour and powder utensils.

7. Use a stiff brush or steel wool and hot detergent in water to clean pots, pans and other equipment.

8. Rinse the utensils in a very hot clean water to sterilize them.

9. Clean the refrigerator with soap water.

10. Pans with food that stick on them are best soaked in clod water before washing.

Floor Tile Choices

Revered for its water-resistance, ease of maintenance and durability, tile has been the flooring of choice in America baths since indoor plumbing was invented. Over the part decade, those attributes have helped propel tile beyond the bath to those kitchen, laundry room, foyer, great room, dining room, basement and even the back porch. Between 1995 and 2005, says the Tile Council of North America, U.S. ceramic tile sales grew two and a half times from 1.29 to 3.26 billion square feet.

Many of the top-selling styles mimic natural stone, with travertine, limestone and marble look-alike among the favorites. And that underscores a second expansive trend - increasing demand for real stone flooring.

While tile versus stone was once an either/or proposition, today they're being combined to create one-of-a-kind floors. Cutting-edge manufacturer are taking advantage of the trend by offering mosaics of "natural stone mixed with ceramic, metal-glazed ceramic and glass," says Kathy hays, proprietress of Unique Tile on Baxter Avenue.

When properly installed and maintained, the tile or stone floor you select today will still be around when your great-grandchildren are grown. That's why, hays suggests that homeowners "kick up" their selections by purchasing better grades and paying more attention to pattern, texture, movement and coloration. "Put more money into it to get the looks and the wear," she advices. "The biggest mistake people make is getting too basic with their floors."

How to keep bugs away.

I hate bugs. Inevitably, they are ruining my home. They are in our dining room, kitchen and every where in my house. I don't want to be harsh with animals but these insects are making me extremely sick and disgusted. Just last night, I was soundly has a restful sleep but I was awaken, bugs bite me on the left leg. I was totally mad and I was not able to go back to sleep. It is very horrible!

As a result, I hurriedly buy Ortho Home Defense Max the next morning. I spread it anywhere in my home, to the area where most bugs live. Happily, I was able to sleep soundly the succeeding nights. Bugs are totally gone. Ortho Home Defense max keeps them out from my house.

Absolutely, perfect!