Categories Living-Room

Trim Your Room to Perfection with Plain Cove Molding

Cove molding isn’t a necessity of life, and many houses are built without the benefit of having cove, crown or cornice molding installed. But installing cove molding adds architectural interest, visual continuity, and improves your home’s insulation. Cove molding joins walls and ceilings with a clean, simple line, creating a seamless transition that works to define a room. Installing cove molding is a relatively simple home improvement project that can add to the beauty and value of your home.

Cove molding is a “Plain Jane” when compared to the ornate cornices and stylish crown moldings that are available in wood, plaster, vinyl and even foam. But when cove molding is installed to join walls to a ceiling, it smoothes out the harsh lines between wall and ceiling and lets the eye continue to move fluidly throughout the room bringing uninterrupted attention to the focal points of the room.

Smaller rooms require thinner trim, and you can tame down an over-sized room with wide, thick molding and prominent cornices. If you have an uneven ceiling, you can find foam replicas of cornices and molding that are adhered with a latex adhesive caulk or nailed down or plaster cornices that are adhered with gypsum adhesive.

Leveling and measuring to ensure exactness are the greatest challenges when installing cove molding. Measure the gaps between the wall and ceiling, and make sure you use a carpenter’s level. You will also want to locate the studs in the room before you start the job. Nailing the molding into the studs keeps the molding firmly attached. When you start installing the cove molding, start in one corner of the room and work your way towards the least noticeable part of the room.

For wood molding, attach it with 2” finish nails. To save yourself from trying to extract needle-thin finish nails, drive the nails in only partially before you countersink them. You should not only double-check your measurements with a level, but you should also get off your ladder or chair, and make sure that the trim is aligned straight. (It wouldn’t hurt to ask for a second opinion.) Once you are confident that the molding is level, countersink the finishing nails, and if you’d like, fill in the nail heads with matching putty. To keep the trim sealed tight, fill in any gaps above or below the lines with sandable and paintable silicone adhesive. You can smooth out the silicone with your fingertip.

Sometimes even the simplest home improvement can make a pronounced difference. If your room needs fluidity, subtle architectural interest, or a tad more insulation – installing cove molding could be the simple home improvement project needed to trim your room to perfection.

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Categories DIY Tips

Another issue for avoiding repairs

For example, at higher latitudes, even a clean rain gutter can suddenly build up an ice dam in winter, forcing melt water into unprotected roofing, resulting in leaks or even flooding inside walls or rooms. This can be prevented by installing moisture barrier beneath the roofing tiles. A wary home-owner should be alert to the conditions that can result in larger problems and take remedial action before damage or injury occurs. It may be easier to tack down a bit of worn carpet than repair a large patch damaged by prolonged misuse.

Another example is to seek out the source of unusual noises or smells when mechanical, electrical or plumbing systems are operating—sometimes they indicate incipient problems. One should avoid overloading or otherwise misusing systems, and a recurring overload may indicate time for an upgrade.

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Categories Exterior Renovation

Examples of home maintenance

That should be regularly forecast and budgeted include repainting or staining outdoor wood or metal, repainting masonry, waterproofing masonry, cleaning out septic systems, replacing sacrificial electrodes in water heaters, replacing old washing machine hoses (preferably with stainless steel hoses less likely to burst and cause a flood), and other home improvements such as replacement of obsolete or ageing systems with limited useful lifetimes (water heaters, wood stoves, pumps, and asphaltic or wooden roof shingles and siding.

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Categories Home Maintenance

Periodic maintenance also falls under

These are inspections, adjustments, cleaning, or replacements that should be done regularly to ensure proper functioning of all the systems in a house, and to avoid costly emergencies. Examples include annual testing and adjustment of alarm systems, central heating or cooling systems (electrodes, thermocouples, and fuel filters), replacement of water treatment components or air-handling filters, purging of heating radiators and water tanks, defrosting a freezer, vacuum refrigerator coils, refilling dry floor-drain traps with water, cleaning out rain gutters, down spouts and drains, touching up worn house paint and weather seals, and cleaning accumulated creosote out of chimney flues, which may be best left to a chimney sweep.

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Categories Exterior Renovation

Perhaps the most perplexing repairs

In today’s era of built-in obsolescence for many products, it is often more convenient to replace something rather than attempt to repair it. A repairman is faced with the tasks of accurately identifying the problem, then finding the materials, supplies, tools and skills necessary to sufficiently effect the repair. Some things, such as broken windows, appliances or furniture can be carried to a repair shop, but there are many repairs that can be performed easily enough, such as patching holes in plaster and drywall, cleaning stains, repairing cracked windows and their screens, or replacing a broken electrical switch or outlet.

Other repairs may have some urgency, such as a broken water pipes, broken doors, latches or windows, or a leaky roof or water tank, and this factor can certainly justify calling for professional help. A home handyman may become adept at dealing with such immediate repairs, to avoid further damage or loss, until a professional can be summoned.

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