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Effective tools for a DIY enthusiast

Effective tools for a DIY enthusiast

Certain things are more comforting for a ‘Do It Yourself’ enthusiast than completing a home renovation project without any professional assistance. DIY lovers, although enthusiastic about completing a project all by themselves require proper tools and resources to effectively complete the job at hand. A trip to the local hardware store can get you access to a number of different tools and equipment; however, selecting the right ones can be a difficult job.

Bathroom renovation is one of the most complex DIY jobs since any complications in tiling or waterproofing can result in significant damage to the surrounding areas. It is for this reason that tools such as Pro Pan, ready to tile shower pans and Quick Kirb are widely used in a bathroom renovation job. Pro Pan and ready to tile shower pans come with a standard slope of 1/4” inch per foot, thereby ensuring a perfectly sloped shower floor. Further, Kirb perfect offers an easy solution to building a shower curb, thereby ensuring that water does not spill outside the shower area.

Tiling & grouting is another job that can create a problem for people who prefer to complete their home renovation job themselves without any professional help. Tiles have to be placed at an equal distance to smooth transitions. Further, the grouting job has to be completed in an effective manner so as to ensure proper sealing, and that the water does not seep through the grout. This job can be effectively completed by using tile spacers and grout caulk thinset. Further, DIY enthusiasts can also find a variety of tile trims that can add an appealing look to the tiling of a room.

One of the common problems faced by people while installing stone or ceramic tiles is that of lippage. This not only disrupts the aesthetics of the room but can also result in cracks in the tiled floor. This problem can be easily solved by using the revolutionary Tuscan leveling system. Using this system will ensure a perfectly level tiled floor and will also make the tiling job easy and convenient.

Be it a job for carpentry, landscaping, or plumbing, a number of DIY enthusiasts find it difficult to find that perfect level pitch. An effective slope level indicator can prove to be more than handy in measuring and correcting the slope level of a place. Such slope levels are ideal for use by roofers, contractors, carpenters, engineers and most importantly by ‘Do It Yourself’ enthusiasts.

Finally, safety is an issue that concerns most people before they embark on their DIY endeavor. Certain safety tools such as a face mask, gloves, knee pads and clean up bags are essential in order to successfully complete a home renovation project.

Therefore, it is prominent that there are a variety of choices of tools for a DIY enthusiast to select from in order to successfully complete a home improvement project. Proper tools and equipment will not only help in timely completion of a job but will also ensure that it is completed in an effective and proper manner.

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How to Achieve Lippage Free Tile Floors and Walls

For many homeowners, once fall hits, it becomes prime time to shift their focus from the outdoors to indoors – primarily to their interior design, or lack of it, in some cases. With cooler weather, you’ll be spending more and more time inside, and who wouldn’t want to make their interiors as stylish and welcoming as possible when the weather outside is anything but? Plus, with all that time spent cooped up indoors, you might as well make the most of it and add value to your home at the same time!

A much overlooked aspect of almost every home is the floors. While they cover less area, and aren’t quite as visible or immediately noticeable as your walls, they make just as much of an impact on the overall look and feel of a home. They also take much more of a beating than walls do, particularly in heavily trafficked areas like an entryway or the kitchen. That’s why more and more homeowners are looking to implement stable, stylish, and durable materials for their flooring in these areas, such as tile. With tile, you don’t have the same concerns as you would with carpet or hardwood, and the floors will be significantly easier to clean and care for.

However, many homeowners view the installation of an attractive tile floor as a costly and labor intensive practice, particularly if they’re doing it on their own. That’s where the ATR Tile Leveling system comes in handy. Not only does it help you to get the job done easily, it requires no additional tools, and it uses only 1/3 of the spacer a normal system would take in order to do the same job. The system also cuts the installation time by 75 percent when compared to more traditional methods. For those who want a relatively quick project that isn’t going to take weeks upon weeks to complete, but had previously counted tile out, your answer is in the ATR Tile Leveling system.

The ATR system allows you to not only get the tile floors or walls you want, but makes it much easier and quicker to do so. It only takes three easy steps and afterwards, you’re done! The first step is to spread the mortar over the area you want to tile, then put the tile in place. After this, you’ll need to screw the provided spindle into the spacing plate, which you’ll then need to slide under the tile before placing the adjacent tiles down. From there it’s as easy as screwing in the spindle until all the tiles are aligned and level. Afterwards, you simply let the mortar dry before you screw it out. (For a visual demonstration of this straightforward process you can check out this video).

Think of all the possibilities and looks you can create by easily installing tile. This glossy glass tile would create a fantastic backsplash in a modern kitchen, particularly since it’s moisture impervious, resists fading, and is fire resistant. And these aqua pebble glass mosaic tiles would give any bathroom a tranquil, spa-like atmosphere. For a chic and classic entryway, the classic (but far from boring) tumbled travertine octagonal tiles make the right statement to welcome guests to your home. The possibilities are really endless with such an easy, cost efficient, and time saving installation system at your disposal.

Spencer Blohm is a freelance lifestyle and pop culture blogger for www.albertaenergyproviders.ca. When he’s not busy working he’s usually plotting his next home improvement project.

ATR Leveling System – Upcoming update Feb 1st 2014

ATR Leveling System -Upcoming update Feb 1st 2014

We at ATR are excited and glad to announce after a long year of re-development, further testing and improvements, ATR will soon be introducing the new innovated Spindle and Spacing Plate designs

NEW Spindles

The new spindle features a new screw element with a larger head and grip element,4 segment viewing windows for easier viewing access and much more robust which means you will get more uses and will save you long term expenses

NEW Spacing Plates – available by the end of March 2014

Soon to be released the new 3mm Spacing plate. This 3mm spacing plate design may also be substituted for the use of laying on Floors and Walls. Available in Cross plates, T shape plates and Edge plates. The new spacing plate features a dome look effect to the underside for tightening spindle to it’s desired strength locked position and to eliminate anymore future concerns of the screw tip penetrating through! This was never the situation but more of an allusion.

This unique innovated ATR patent system will work with any type of tile, thickness up to 18mm excluding un-even stone type like Slate or as such composites, for more handy information on any of our products visit www.atrleveling.com

(latest video 04/07/2013) new video coming soon
Video taken by Professional Tile setter Salvatore DiBlasi

The Must-Have Flooring Tools

Best Flooring tools for sale

There has been an increasing trend among homeowners to opt for the ‘Do it Yourself’ task regarding home renovation. Some of these DIY home renovation tasks include flooring, painting and grouting, among many others. These DIY tasks not only demand homeowners to possess a particular skill set, but also require them to have requisite tools.

Possessing adequate tools is necessary to accomplish the task properly. Having necessary tools not only reduce the efforts and stress, but also ensure perfection in job. Moreover, a badly done home renovation defeats the sole purpose of doing DIY, which is to save money. This is so because a badly done DIY task would result in incur of expenses for repair and correction. Hence, homeowners who wish to indulge in DIY home tasks should have all the necessary tools required for successful completion of the job.

One of the most commonly chosen DIY tasks by homeowners is flooring and that too tiling of the floor in particular. While installing tiles at home, one of the most common problems faced by them is lippage. This problem occurs when the tiles are not uniformly set to form one flat surface. As a result, the aesthetics of the house is adversely affected and also lippage may result in cracking or breaking of the tiles. For this, homeowners can opt for the Tuscan Leveling System which ensures that the tiling is done perfectly without any lippage. This leveling system has been designed for DIY enthusiasts and can be used by homeowners with any skill set. Another tool that proves useful while tiling is the tile spacer that facilitates straight grout lines. The uniform finish renders a neat look which enhances the appearance of the place.

In addition, homeowners can also purchase the Primo Bucket Brush, which takes the hard work and mess out of cleaning buckets, saving a lot of time, money, and water.The Bucket Brush is designed to use a ½” portable drill to provide the power. Not only does the Bucket Brush save time, it saves the environment. Mixing buckets can now be used over and over again before they ever end-up in landfills.

Homeowners doing flooring on their own must also possess tools like tile cutters, tile saws, diamond hole saws and undercut saws. In addition, they can purchase straight edges, trowels, grout floats, diamond blades and stone fabrication products. The grout grabber tool, polishing pads and Montgomery degree pitch level tool are few of the other tools that homeowners should have.

Besides these specific tools, there are several other tools that the homeowners must possess to ensure proper completion of DIY flooring tasks. The most important among them is the safety gear, which includes knee pads, gloves, eye gear and respiratory mask, among others.

Homeowners should ensure that they possess all the tools before initiating any DIY project. However, before going on a shopping spree to purchase flooring tools, homeowners should first make an itinerary of the tools that are actually required. This would help avoid purchasing something that is not required and also ensure buying tools that are necessary.

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Things to know about before tiling

Tiles are one of the most popular choices for various areas of the house, such as the kitchen and the bathroom. Some of the factors that make tiles so popular include high durability, ease of installation, availability of different designs and the related cost. Tiling is generally considered as an easy Do-It-Yourself project; however, there are a number of factors that you should keep in mind before initiating the tiling process.

The first major decision that you will have to make will be selecting from a wide range of tiles that are available in the market. This decision will be based on two factors, namely the tile material and the tile size. Ceramic, porcelain and stone are the most popular tiling material that is selected by people. A stone tile is renowned for its aesthetic appeal as well as its high durability. On the other hand, porcelain and ceramic tiles are comparatively inexpensive that stone times, and are aesthetically appealing as well.

Tiling size can significantly impact your project by affecting the effort put in by you as well as the end result. Generally, tiles of size 12”x 12” are considered to be ideal for a tiling project; however, these days you can find tiles of varying sizes. 6” x 6” tiles are also popular among homeowners, but they increase the effort required to complete the tiling project. Furthermore, large tiles are quite difficult to set evenly, thereby affecting the final outcome of the project.

After finalizing on the size and material of the tiles, it is important to select the pattern and design on the tiles. Since tiles can significantly affect the visuals of a room, it is important to select tiles that match with the décor of a particular room. For example, light colored tiles are generally preferred in the shower area to create a comfortable environment. On the other hand, the kitchen area should preferably be covered with dark colored tiles.

Next, you should carefully decide whether you want to use epoxy based grout or cement grout. Grouting is an essential aspect of a tiling project since it can ensure that the tiles stay in place for a long duration of time. Although epoxy grouts are highly effective, and errors during the installation process are quite hard to fix once epoxy grout has been installed. Grout color is also essential to ensure that the grouted area blends in with the tile décor.

Finally, you should have the proper tools and equipment to ensure an effective tiling job. Spacers are essential to ensure even spaces between two subsequent tiles. Leveling systems, such as the Tuscan leveling system, ensure that you are able to install tiles without any lippage. Being prepared with such tools beforehand will enable you to install a uniform and highly durable tiled floor.

Thus, it is evident that although tiling is quite a simple task, it is important to consider various factors to ensure maximum effectiveness. In case you are not confident of completing the job yourself, it is advised to hire a professional contractor.

Tag: tuscan leveling system

Effective tools for a DIY enthusiast

How to Achieve Lippage Free Tile Floors and Walls

How to Achieve Lippage Free Tile Floors and Walls

ATR Leveling System – Upcoming update Feb 1st 2014

ATR Leveling System -Upcoming update Feb 1st 2014

NEW Spindles

NEW Spacing Plates – available by the end of March 2014

The Must-Have Flooring Tools

Things to know about before tiling

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