Categories Uncategorized

Tips to Choose the Best Paint Color for Your Next House Painting Job

Tips to Choose the Best Paint Color for Your Next House Painting Job

When it comes to house painting, there is really no such thing as a wrong choice of color. However, with all the different options available, narrowing down your choices might not be that easy. 

Thankfully, painting your home is relatively cheaper than other types of renovations. You also don’t need to worry if you make the wrong decision because you can just change it if you like. 

But still, it would be better if you choose the right color from the start. Here are some tips to help you get started:

Will You Sell Your Home Soon?

If you are painting your house to sell it soon, it is best to stick to more neutral colors like off-white or white. This way, the potential buyer can easily paint the walls with their preferred color once they move in. 

Decorate from Light to Dark

Use light colors for your ceiling, medium colors for your walls, and darker colors for the floor. You can refer to the color wheel to help you choose the paint shades that best complement each other and belong to the same color family. 

Start Painting Your Home’s Main Areas

Choose the main color for the bigger areas of your house such as your dining room, living room, and kitchen. From there, you can match other parts of your home with complementary colors and different shades. 

Try to match the color with the biggest pattern in the space like furniture, painting, or rug. If you are not a big fan of many colors, you can settle for a more neutral color such as beige to make the rest of the colors in the rooms as the primary focal points. 

Let Your Personality Shine Through

If you want to paint your home with no intentions of selling it, don’t miss the chance to use paint colors that will exude your unique style and personality. 

Settle for Gray If You are Unsure 

One of the best go-to neutrals also happens to be among the trendiest colors right now. You cannot simply go wrong with gray. This shade lets other colors appear cool or warm. It also goes well with bold and pastel colors alike. 

Use the Color Wheel as Your Guide

The color wheel arranges colors according to their chromatic relationship. The primary colors are blue, red, and yellow. Combining any of them will form secondary colors like orange and purple. Colors next to each other on the color wheel like purple and blue are analogous to one another and will let one shade to stand out even more. 

Colors that are on the opposite sides of the color wheel like red and green are complementary to each other and will also play off well with one another. Sticking to the same shades of color can help you achieve a soothing and subtle look. 

Painting your home with cool colors like greens, purples, and blues can make small rooms seem airier and larger, while colors like oranges, yellows, and reds can liven up the appearance of a room. 

Use these tips to choose the right colors for your upcoming house painting project! 

Categories Uncategorized

How to Add Artificial Turf to a Mature Garden

How to Add Artificial Turf to a Mature Garden 

Nothing beats that calming feeling of gazing at a garden that matured over time. The elegance and stunning beauty that established flowers and plants exude together with the rockeries, smart designs, and borders all help form a place of tradition and sheer tranquility. While maintenance of a mature garden can take quite some time, you can expect great rewards in return. However, things are not always perfect and some problems can occur in your garden. 

The flowers and plants in your mature garden can grow and bloom well. However, the story is different when it comes to your lawn. It is simply because the lawn’s conditions must be right or else, it will end up patchy or worse, it can die. This can have a significant effect on the overall look and appeal of your garden. 

If you have ever experienced this, you will know how frustrating it can be. Of course, it is always possible for you to lay new seed, feed your lawn, kill off weeds, and do everything in your power to revive your garden. But your time will only be wasted because whether you like it or not, the problem will happen once again. 

Don’t despair just yet, though. You still got a choice and this choice is going to make a big difference and improve your garden for the better. 

This choice is none other than using artificial turf for your mature garden. 

Improve Your Mature Garden with Artificial Turf

There are times when real lawns don’t work and this is where artificial turf can come in handy. Just because you have a matured garden that is already established doesn’t mean that you can only use natural grass, all the more so when it isn’t suitable in the first place. Artificial turf works fine with mature gardens for several reasons. 

When you use artificial turf in your mature garden, this can give it the much-needed facelift. Artificial grass fits right into place and brings all the garden elements together in such a way that natural grass cannot. 

Mature gardens will need lots of work and it means you need to take care of all the flowers, shrubs, and plants and this in itself can be a tedious task. Through adding artificial turf, there is no longer a need for you to worry about maneuvering that lawnmower ever again. No more moving every week or so during summer months and at the same time, weeds won’t be infesting your mature garden. 

Artificial turf also looks great throughout the year. The smart appearance and lush green color can make your lawn look perfectly manicured. Your guests won’t even be able to spot the difference as it looks as great as real grass. 

When summer months come, you don’t have to water artificial turf just so it will continue to look good. The installation is also simple and fast when done by the experts. This means that your mature garden will continue looking lush and healthy with the help of something modern like artificial turf. Give it a try today!

For artificial grass in Durham Region see Durham Artificial Grass in Hampton

Categories Contractors in Durham

Cool Off With United Trades

 

Thanks to Justin @ United Trades Bowmanville

What to Do With Your Air Conditioning When You Go on Vacation?

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If you will go on a vacation, your goal is probably to relax and travel, and lowering your utility bills might not really cross your mind. However, did you know that you can adjust your thermostat before leaving and remove a big chunk out of your electric bill even as you get your well-deserved break?

How High Could You Really Go?

Probably the most crucial thing to consider when you adjust the thermostat when you go on a vacation is if any of your pets will stay at home. Your pets also need fresh air just like you do, not to mention that they are prone to heat-related problems. This is why it is a must to keep your AC on. However, unless your pet suffers from a medical condition which will put them at higher risk, it is best to set your thermostat to as much as 80 degrees Fahrenheit. You can draw you shades in windows that face the sun to help your home stay cool during daytime.

If there are no pets to be left behind, you can always set your thermostat higher, but it must not be turned off completely. Your house can transform into a sauna if there is stagnant air in the midst of summer, which can possibly cause serious damage to wallpaper, sheetrock, drywall, and wood. This can lead to accelerated wear in the compressor of your refrigerator and can even lead to a breakdown. Delicate houseplants, artwork, wine bottles, makeup, and other items in your household can become a victim of steamy days.

For you to avoid it, just set your thermostat to 85 degrees. For those who live in particularly humid climate, you could set the temperature several degrees lower for your AC to run a bit more often. This is because your AC not just cools the air for it also gets rid of humidity as well. Too much humidity can cause the formation of mildew or mold while you are away.

How About for Winter Vacations?

If your trip is scheduled for winter or late fall, similar basic principles are also applied. A house with pets has to stay warm in an empty house although the most comfortable is 65 degrees. An empty house could be set to as low as 50 degrees. A primary concern with very low temperatures is frozen water pipes and not deterioration of home items. If you got pipes which can go beyond the treated air in your house, you can take several steps to prevent any freezing.

Other Options

There is nothing wrong if you adjust the temperature upon walking out your door and lowering it once you get back, but you are still going to arrive at an overly hot house. When there is someone who can feed your pets or collect your mail, you can request them to reduce the temperature on your date of return to avoid it. However, a more convenient way for ensuring a comfortable homecoming is to make use of a smart or programmable thermostat. There are thermostats that will let you program a lower temperature for a certain date in the future.

Categories Moving

Why You Should Always Hire Hills Moving for Your Residential Moving Needs?

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Hills Moving Cube Van

Moving is considered as one of the troublesome instances when professional and experience know how can mean the difference between a bad move and a good move. If you’re planning to move in the future or today, you might find yourself wondering if you should hire a moving company like Hills Moving or move through the DIY approach. When deciding between a DIY move or using the expertise of professional movers, consider these following:

Safety

The best thing about professional movers like Hills Moving is that they are trained in using the most efficient and appropriate moving techniques to ensure that your personal belongings are packed properly, delivered promptly and safely shipped to your new place unbroken and intact. The use of the right padding and wrapping prevents the items to shift inside the box during transportation, proper maneuvering through steep staircases and narrow corridors, securing items in a moving truck, proper loading of the items, and competitive driving skills would account for the household item’s safety.

Experience

Some indisputable facts suggest that hiring the services of Hills Moving is the most beneficial option when moving to a new place.

Efficiency

Professional movers like Hills Moving work with great agility and speed to load and pack your household items, maximizing the moving container’s capacity. Both space and time will be saved when using the experience and skill of the movers.

Proper Packing Supplies

Hills Moving only use brand new moving boxes, anti-static peanuts, bubble wrap, and so, which offers maximum protection fragile as well as costly belongings. This option might be costlier than using the old newspaper and towels, yet the undamaged or unbroken condition of your professions is absolutely worth it.

Proper Equipment

Another thing that guarantees the successful outcome of your move once you take advantage of the services of a professional moving company is the use of advanced equipment in the process of relocation.

Proper Moving Vehicle

Once you hire Hills Moving, a top Durham Mover, they’ll send the best kind and size moving vehicles that will accommodate all of your personal belongings. Through DIY move, you will have to spend more time finding the right size of moving truck you should rent and only to know it isn’t what you’re needed and lose hours trying to fit your couch in the pick-up truck of your friend.

Convenience and Time

Gaining extra time and avoiding the hassles and stress usually associated with the moving process is by far essential reasons to hire professional movers. Movers like Hills Moving would take care of all heavy lifting as well as moving tasks during the day of the move, providing you more time to address some other issues that reduce the risks of injury and property damage or accidents.

Aside from the perks mentioned above, hiring Hills Moving as your professional moving company will give you peace of mind and help you relieve stress and you can’t put a price tag on this.

Oshawa Movers – Hills Moving from hillsmoving1 on Vimeo.

Categories Uncategorized

Why Hire Ductwise Duct Cleaning?


Air ducts perform different functions in your home. These do not only help with proper temperature control, for at the same time, they can also help keep air circulate all over your building. It helps with the overall quality of air and prevents any damp conditions which can lead to a buildup of moisture and cause mildew. Since this is not something that you can do on your own, it is important that you hire experts to handle the job for you. This is where Ductwise Duct Cleaning can help you out.
There are many reasons why you should hire Ductwise Duct Cleaning that will make you enjoy the perks of quality air duct cleaning.



Thoroughness
A lot of people know that they need clean air ducts, but most of the time, they just choose to do it on their own. For example, there are also people who just remove the covers of the duct and the vacuum as far inside as they can. Sadly, doing this will not be able to get really deep into the duct. That is why if you like to clean the ducts all the way inside, you can count on Ductwise Duct Cleaning to perform thorough and intensive air duct cleaning.
Improved Air Quality
There are several health hazards which can accumulate in your air ducts, including mildew, pollutants, and mold. If you don’t like these to come out in places where you and your entire family can easily breathe them in, you might want to schedule cleaning with Ductwise Duct Cleaning. It can help prevent numerous respiratory diseases, wherein some could get quite serious. This can also help with more common and general health conditions like allergies. With lesser dust mites and mold spores to breathe in, all the people inside your house will have remarkably healthier bodies and lungs.



Potential Energy Efficiency
Remember that not only your body will thank you when your ducts are kept clean because your wallet will also do the same thing. When the ducts are cleaner, air will flow much easily through them. It means that it will take lesser energy for it to pump the air. In turn, it will mean that the air duct cleaning services of Ductwise Duct Cleaning can save you money when it comes to your energy bills.


Infestation Control
There are certain situations that you will not want to touch. For example, most homes are infested with different animals, from rodents to insects. After animal control has removed these offending creatures, you will then have to deal with the waste or nests that they have left behind, something that could also be unhealthy for you to deal with on your own. Expert professionals from Ductwise Duct Cleaning will be able to handle this in a safe and effective way with no need to cause any serious health hazards.
These are just some of the many reasons why you might want to consider hiring the services of Ductwise Duct Cleaning ( Facebook Page). Through the help of these professionals, you can be sure that your house will stay safe and clean at all times.

Categories Realtor

Finding the Right Realtor to Help You Find Your Dream Home

Everyone of us get real excited, when it comes to buying our dream home!  Are you worried about finding the right Realtor who could help you throughout the way?  Yes? Fret not! We have highlighted important steps that will help you find the right one.

Let us be honest, when we are looking out for a Realtor, we expect the best. However, we often end up being confused with many people and agencies advertising their services.

Nevertheless, the below mentioned guidelines will help you know more about Realtors whilst helping you understand, if their services are worth the penny spent

1. Before you consider hiring an agent have a word with his earlier clients

A person who is into the business for a long time willingly shares his recent client data. This not only helps you validate his earlier records, it also instills confidence in his capabilities.

A recent study has shown that many people ignore this basic step and are attracted by the realtor’s sweet talk. If you come across such people, it is always good to steer clear.  Here is some help in finding a sincere realtor.

2. Having the licenses checked is always advisable

Licensing plays an important role in any industry. Real Estate is no different. It is always a good practice to check credentials thoroughly before arriving at a decision.

3. Check two or more realtors before arriving at a decision

It is always good to have a handy list of businesses you intend to deal with. It not only helps you compare their various services and prices, it will also help you to better negotiate.

4. Understand how long have they been in the business

No matter how long we are into our professions, experience counts. Are we on the same line of understanding? Yes! Check out for the specialized training’s that will help your chosen realtor win you over.

5. Understand the service portfolio of a realtor

Did you know there are specialized realtors who offer different services under their umbrella. For instance, if you plan to hire an agency to look into your needs, a firm can coincide in having the buyer and seller on the same platform.

5. Ask questions

Questions are necessary. They help us arrive at better decisions. No matter how silly might a question seem to be, asking it will always help you stay better informed.

Once you believe to have ticked the above checklist and finalized the realtor, it is advisable to discuss the terms and conditions before signing the dotted line.

These necessary steps will assist you in finding the right realtor to help you find your dream home

Categories Contractors in Durham

Build or Buy Your New Home

When you start to look at homes, you need to be open to the number of options available for getting a home. The most popular question with all homeowners is whether to build your own home or buy a house. With the prices of buying a new home keep increasing and mortgage rates continue going down, the timing could be ideal to buy a pre-existing or a new home. Putting into consideration all the costs of securing a new home, which one is better: buying or building?

Building a Home

Since new homes are very expensive, you might think of buying a pre-existing home. However, you might find out that you can save a lot by building your own home.

PROS

There are many benefits of building your own home. You’ll need to know a few things in order to get the best house that meets your needs.

  • Discounts on material – You can enjoy very attractive builders discount from suppliers like your local lumberyard. You can save a lot for lighting fixtures and about 10% from lumber.
  • Everything in the house is new – shifting into an existing home could come with some hidden costs like upgrading that may not be obvious during the purchase.
  • Design Control – You design a new home from scratch, therefore you are at an advantage. One expense you might be spared could be remodeling a bathroom.
  • Yearly savings – If you have a new cooling and heating system, you can save a lot every year in repairs. If you buy an existing house you may spend up to $7,000 for a new air conditioning system.
  • Great entertainment – it is easier to hold large parties in a new home than an old because you have an open floor plan that accommodates large groups. You have easy access to rooms and enjoy the space you value.

CONS 

Even when you build your own home it’s not a guarantee that everything will be perfect. Building your own home can come with unexpected costs.

  • Time factor – it is a long time to wait to complete your own home and things can happen while you are waiting to move in.
  • Taste limitations – You can be limited in the design of the house you want due to your price range. You’ll discover that making various changes upgrading the property can be very expensive from the builder.
  • Loan payments and permits
  • Temporary housing expenses as you wait to move.

Buying Your House

Buying is always an attractive option and there is a huge market of homes that aren’t new construction.

PROS

  • Opportunity to upgrade your house over time
  • You can move in quickly
  • You get to have a ready neighborhood
  • You can visualize the layout of the house easily

CONS

  • It’s possible to fall into the hands of quirks when buying
  • The costs of upgrading are very high
  • You will be stuck with the layout and design forever
  • Suffer higher home insurance costs

There is no exact formula to decide whether to buy or build. It is recommended to go through the pros and cons of both process and tally them with your preferences and budget to come with a better conclusion.

For all your contracting need in Durham Region consider Retrofit Renovation Inc

Categories Uncategorized

Looking for Bowmanville New Homes? Here’s Why Moving to Bowmanville is the Best Decision You Can Ever Make

Bowmanville, from being covered with a large expanse of farmland, has now transformed into a lively city with its very own and exceptional downtown core. This is the reason why Bowmanville New Homes are getting more and more in demand these days than ever before.

The city has retained its country appeal, thanks to the rural areas surrounding, with Lake Ontario just at the Bowmanville’s southern tip. Its downtime area serves as a home to a lengthy list of entertainment, restaurants, and retail shops. One of the most famous attractions of Bowmanville is none other than the Bowmanville Zoo. This happens to be the oldest private zoo in Canada which houses many celebrity animals which have been part of several Hollywood films. If you consider yourself an outdoor enthusiast, Darlington Provincial Park is also close by which provides different recreational activities like camping, swimming, fishing, and hiking.

Bowmanville takes pride for being a town that is family friendly, and out of the numerous community events, this serves as the host of three main festivals during warmer months and when the weather turns cooler, 2 big events are held here. Summer, as well as spring events, include Midnight Madness, Fabulous Fifties Festival, and Maple Festival and All That Jazz. The events for fall and winter, on the other hand, include Apple Festival, the Moonlight Magic, as well as Craft Sale which features the Christmas tree’s lighting ceremony. Bowmanville Santa Claus Parade is held also each year on the 3rd Sunday of November ever since 1961.

At downtown Bowmanville, things definitely looked so much better, with its curb bump that’s pedestrian friendly, new brick sidewalks that are interlocking, and the iconic lighting which can make your downtown shopping a sure treat. You could even park for as much as 2 hours for free of charge at all the municipal lots.

The historic downtown of the Bowmanville got everything you could ever ask for, from the designer clothing to the antiques on an easy to access and charming main street. With its town bus service stopping right in the center of the business area where you can find a wide array of services and goods available sold by friendly merchants, there’s no need for you to shop anywhere else.

All in all, Bowmanville is what you can consider as a bedroom community, with the majority of its residents working outside the place and consider commuting to work mostly in Toronto and in nearby Oshawa. They also commute through Highway 401 or take the commuter train called GO Train that leaves from Oshawa. The service is also expanded to Bowmanville. Most of the residents are working with other employers in Oshawa and some places in Durham. The most prominent employers include Lake Ridge Hospital, Ontario Ministry of Revenue, one college and one university in Oshawa. The General Motors Canada located in Ontario is also among the biggest employers of people from Bowmanville.

So, if you are looking for a new house, then, Bowmanville new homes might be exactly what you are searching for.