As a home owner/renter you can increase the efficiency of your heating system by doing a few fall tune-ups. The heating unit itself should not be tampered with. If you feel that your heating system is not performing to past standards call a licensed heating specialist. Gas, electric, and oil burning units carry high voltage and could impose a serious injury or health hazard. This is just a preview...Read the rest... Read More →

Kitchen Design for a Room That Can’t Be a Kitchen Kitchen designers worth their salt are dedicated to the idea that through the course of their work they will create a functional and appealing room. In a new home a well-designed kitchen is pretty standard issue. But that’s not the way it was a hundred years ago. The kitchen then was usually barebones functional and more often than not equipped for no more than one cook at a time. This is just a preview...Read the rest... Read More →

Here are some do’s and don’ts to help keep your hardwood floor looking like new: This is just a preview...Read the rest... Read More →

Nelson Hardwood floors have come a long way in the last quarter century. We are now seeing hardwood floors in kitchens, baths, and utility rooms. In choosing a floor, you need to know what types of wood you have to work with. This is just a preview...Read the rest... Read More →

You may be able to sell it without an agent. When my wife and I were about to sell our home in Southwest Portland a few months ago, we decided that before we hired a realtor, we would try for a few weeks to sell the house ourselves. It cost us about $150 to buy several “For Sale by Owner” (FSBO) signs and advertise in the Oregonian classifieds for four consecutive Sundays. And $150, we felt, was worth risking to possibly save ourselves... more

The average U.S. household spends over $1,300 per year on their home utility bills for heating or cooling. Unfortunately, a large part of that energy is wasted unnecessarily. We Americans waste, through poorly insulated windows and doors, about as much energy as we get from the Alaskan pipeline every year. The typical home loses over 25% of its heat through its windows. However, by using a few simple inexpensive energy-efficient... more

Retro Fit Radiant Heating Into Your Older Home Imagine yourself curled up at home on a typical cold, rainy Northwest autumn afternoon. You put your feet to the floor, expecting the usual bone-chilling arctic freeze. Instead, your toes touch a warm surface that radiates gentle heat up toward your limbs like asphalt on a summer night. This is just a preview...Read the rest... Read More →

Combining the high heat of an oven with the low temperatures of a refrigerator would have a negative effect on both. Not the case. This appliance can even be temporarily used as a convenient second refrigerator for short-term storage of food and beverages. This is just a preview...Read the rest... Read More →