Category Archives: Home Improvement

How To Stay Safe In Mind While Installing Composite Cladding?

Composite cladding or composite facings are panels of one or more materials, adhered to one another with adhesive and used as the external surface of a building to improve its aesthetic or fire performance. The term is primarily applied to buildings but can also be used for other items such as tennis racquets and skateboards.

Composite cladding is constructing cladding panels using a combination of materials. The meetings are often produced with two skins: one skin as a decorative panel and the other as a supporting panel. The supportive panel is used to provide physical strength to the exterior surface of the building during installation, while it can be supplied by metal, wood, or plastic materials.

Composite Cladding –

A composite cladding panel usually consists of fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) bonded with the high-performance polymer matrix material. These composite cladding systems were used in hospitals, schools, and other public buildings. More recently, composites have been developed for use in residential applications. Consideration of thermal performance must be taken into account when choosing a material. The composite cladding has become increasingly popular as an alternative to conventional steel and concrete construction due to its environmental credentials, aesthetic appearance, and longevity.

Composite cladding is a relatively new material, and there are several different types of composite cladding materials. It was initially used in commercial buildings and then later used in residential at the beginning of the 21st century. The life cycle of composite cladding is from five to ten years, making it an expensive building material. The composite cladding material can also be recycled in ground fill or made into compost. Safety should always be your number one priority when installing composite cladding. If you take these steps, you’re sure to have a safe and successful installation.

Steps to Stay Safe –

• Wear protective gloves, glasses, and long sleeves to avoid getting composite shards in your skin or eyes.
• Never use anything but the highest quality composite material for an installation.
• Clean your hands before touching the cladding so that oils from your fingers do not affect the surface.
• Keep pets out of the work area because they may inadvertently scratch or chew on your cladding during installation.
• Don’t use any sandpaper or other sharp material to shape your cladding.
• If you have to use a saw, make sure that it is intended for cutting plastic.
• Ensure that you understand if the cladding you’re using is simple or complex to install.
• Ensure that your workplace is lit well enough to see what you’re doing and has appropriate ventilation for fumes.
• Don’t use any torch or open flames while installing your cladding.
• If you have to drill holes in the cladding, make sure that you don’t go through to the other side.
• When using a nail gun, ensure that you are using proper nails and that it is padded so that the pin does not damage your work area.
• Wear appropriate ear protection when using a power tool like a grinder or a drill.
• Ensure that you understand the cladding that you’re using and read the manufacturer’s instructions thoroughly before installation.

The above guidelines should be helpful when installing composite cladding. Because of its fire-resistant properties, composite cladding has become an increasingly popular alternative to conventional steel and concrete construction. Fire resistance is the most important reason to use composite cladding because of its flammability, making it especially useful in fire-prone areas. It was first used as a cladding material for exterior furniture and building facades. Still, due to its durability and recyclability, it has gained popularity in many different construction areas. Composite cladding is very durable and can last for more than a decade.

Using Tile to Spruce up Your Home

Tile can be a visually interesting way to spruce up bland parts of your home, whether you’re looking at making your home more appealing to sell or if you’ve bought a home that literally needs some sparkle. Types of tiles range from ceramic, stone, glass, to linoleum and peel & stick gel tiles. Not all tiles are appropriate for all kinds of treatments however.

Ceramic tiles can be used for countertops, floor, and walls in any room in your home. You can even use ceramic tiles on your patio to add a clean finished look to your outdoor room.

Stone tiles can be solid shapes cut from a variety of different stones such as marble, slate, sandstone, granite, or limestone. Stone tiles can also be made from small stones or pebbles glued to a mesh Backing. Depending on the style of tile and the type of stone, they can be used pretty much anywhere.

Glass tiles look beautiful on a wall, floor, or countertop. They can be used to cover an entire bathroom, shower included. Glass is also a great option for fountains and pools, especially when iridescent tiles are used.

Linoleum tiles are generally used on the floor; they are an eco-friendly product made from all natural materials like linseed oil and ground cork or wood flour and are completely bio-degradable. Linoleum tiles can also be used on the kick space under your counters or as a Backsplash in your kitchen or bathroom. Do not use linoleum on concrete floors where moisture seepage might be an issue.

Gel tiles are a new do-it-yourself decorative tile. While their uses are far less than traditional tiles, they can still be very effective for perking up many areas in your home. You may want to consider them for creating a colourful backsplash in your kitchen or bathroom, or a decorative border or mosaic in any of the rooms in your home. The nice thing about peel & stick gel tiles is that installation is as simple as cleaning your wall, pencilling in your lines to follow, peeling off the back of the tiles and placing them on the wall. These tiles are not designed for showers or countertops.

When you are using a tile such as ceramic, stone, or glass you will need to grout between the tiles to fill in the spaces between the tiles. Different looks can be achieved by using grout that blends in with the tiles or contrasts. Some common contrasts are dark tiles with a light coloured grout or white tiles with black or coloured grout. Be aware that light coloured or white grout can stain.

Tiles have been around as a decorative element since Persia in the mid 1200s BCE, and have been a popular decoration ever since. The ancient Romans even used tiles to spell out their version of “Beware of dog” in the threshold of their homes. For the modern homeowner, many tile projects can be completed by you. There may be classes available at your local home supply store to help you out if you lack in experience or you may want to bring in a professional if you think that your project is too ambitious.

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Why Choose Vinyl For The Floor

Vinyl is considered by many homeowners and builders as the most cost effective flooring material on the market. Because of the material’s low price many make the common mistake of assuming that vinyl has a poorer appearance and quality in comparison to wood and tile, but they are wrong as vinyl can look and last as good and as long as any other flooring material. Even more vinyl has a number of qualities that the other flooring materials don’t have. Vinyl is a very strong and durable material that can withstand severe foot traffic and indoor condition. Another amazing advantage of vinyl is that it requires minimum maintenance efforts. Last but not least the material is waterproof which makes it ideal for the kitchen, bathroom and basement.

Vinyl just like tiles can be found in various shapes and sizes in the stores. Even more there are innumerable patterns and colours in which vinyl is manufactured, which means that one can create countless interesting and unique floor designs with the usage of vinyl. During the last couple of decades the manufacturing of vinyl has improved significantly and today homeowner can find vinyl that mimics several natural flooring materials such as wood, glass and stone. Another astonishing innovation in the production of vinyl is the slip resistance. This makes vinyl one of the safest flooring materials in wet areas like the bathroom due to the fact that it reduces the possibility of a slip to zero.

Even more today vinyl can be placed over any type of floor surface such as concrete, subflooring, tiles and etc. This makes the material one of the easiest to install flooring materials in the world. As you can see vinyl is a flooring material that you should consider seriously when you are scouting the various flooring materials. If you decide to go with vinyl hire a flooring company that offers vinyl flooring services such as vinyl placement, vinyl flooring installation and etc. To find such as company read the vinyl or vinyl tiles flooring section in the local newspapers.