Ralph Lauren & Behr Paint Coupons (10% Off Discount)

We recently had a visitor to the site looking for Ralph Lauren Paint Coupons, and we daily get a couple of folks looking for Behr Paint Coupons.  I’ve scoured the web and found no such coupons available (save for several expired or VERY time-limited Behr Coupons).  Perhaps Mr. Lauren & Mr. Behr are just a little stingy on the discounts…

In any event, if you’re looking for these coupons, your best bet is to get a Home Depot coupon (available at a few links below).  Alternatively, you can use a Lowes coupon or any other home improvement store coupon, as Home Depot honors competitors’ coupons.  Lowes does as well, good to know only if you’re interested in buying something other than Ralph Lauren or Behr Paint, both of which are only sold at Home Depot.

Editors note: Home Depot no longer carries Ralph Lauren paint, replacing it with Martha Stewart and Glidden lines. Between these two choices, we’ve found Glidden to be a superior paint; however, none of them are as good as Ralph Lauren.

Here’s a few links to check out.  Hope this helps you out!

• Our Home Depot Coupon page - You can sign up for Home Depot Moving and get 10% off…
• 10% off to Lowes (a free one and places where you can buy them)…

What do you think? If you find additional coupons for Ralph Lauren Paint or Behr Paint, please leave a comment below with the links in them.  Also, leave a comment if any of these coupons expire.

Update: Ryan over at The Military Wallet let us know that Home Depot and Lowes offer Military Discounts of up to 10% off, which could be used to cheapen your Behr or Ralph Lauren purchase if you’re a member of the armed services.

Image courtesy of Incase Designs.

Before & After: Milwaukee Bungalow Kitchen Remodel from Beth @ A Cotterpin House

This week’s Before and After is brought to you by Beth @ A Cotterpin House.

Beth and husband recently renovated the kitchen in their 1929 midwestern style bungalow.  They’ve created a beautiful space on a tight budget of only $6000, managing to install fantastic granite tile countertops and a great looking backsplash (two of our favorite parts of their remodel).

As a result of  Beth’s submission, OPC will make a $25.00 donation to Habitat for Humanity in her honor. (See below – Habitat is receiving matching donations through June 30, making OPC’s contribution in honor of Beth worth $50.00 to the organization.)

Also, Beth’s article is now entered into our Before and After contest for $50.00 to the home improvement store of her choice.  We’ll select a winner by community vote in October.

Before & After: Bungalow Kitchen Remodel by Beth

Our house was built in 1929 in Milwaukee, and is your typical Midwestern bungalow – small, compact, but efficient.  Everything you could need is all on the first floor, with extra storage upstairs.  We moved in two years ago (almost to the day!) and loved the character and charm of both the house and neighborhood.  The house has had only two previous owners- which was turned out to be both good and bad.  Good in that the owners prior to us took good care of the house because they spent so much time here- but bad that they hadn’t changed anything since 1960.

The kitchen was the main example-  with two doorways leading into the kitchen, there was no room for the extra counter space we needed, and no ideal place for the refrigerator.  The wall with the stove was too short to hold both appliances and the opposite wall had two doorways.  The only solution was to place the refrigerator in front of the the double windows looking out over the garden- which cut on the light quite a bit. The counter was also too short, and pitched forward, so anything round placed on the surface would roll to the floor.  Finally, the linoleum- which held up great for 48 years- was a horrible orange pattern.

On a limited budget of $6000, my husband and I knew we would have to do much of the work ourselves.  Luckily, my father and brother-in-law were both great help in installation.

In total, we pulled out flooring, built a half wall to move our sink, put down Pergo flooring, ran electric lines for extra lighting and a new garbage disposal, ripped out cabinets, installed new cabinets, installed large granite tiles for our counter tops, installed back splash, and painted on our own.  The only professional help we’ve gotten so far was the plumbing lines for moving the sink.  It took a bit longer than we expected (it usually does)- but we’re happy how it turned out, and that we stayed in our budget!

Before Pictures:

After Pictures:

Thanks from OPC

Beth, thanks for submitting an article to us & supporting a great cause. Your kitchen remodel is fabulous!

Habitat for Humanity Quick Fact

Habitat’s busiest building season is the Summer.

To encourage donations in early Summer 2008, Habitat has sponsors committed to matching every donation, dollar for dollar, through June 30, 2008. For every $1.00 donated, Habitat will receivee $2.00, up to a total of $3,000,000.

From Habitat’s site:

We are working harder than ever in these days of warm temperatures to build as many houses as we can. That’s why, as part of the 2008 Habitat Challenge Campaign, every donation we receive will be matched dollar-for-dollar, up to our $3 million campaign goal.

That means that your support right now can help double the resources we have available to serve families in need of a decent, affordable place to live. That’s right! DOUBLE! But only until midnight EDT June 30, so don’t delay.

If you’ve been considering donating, now is the time.  There’s only 2 days left to take advantage of the matching donation event.

You can contribute online right now, using Habitat’s online donation form.

Submit Your Own Article for the Event!

Article submissions can be sent in virtually any format to oneprojectcloser@gmail.com.

You can also show your support for Before and After supporting Habitat by displaying a one of these Before and After graphics in your sidebar.

What do you think? Let Beth know what you think about her project… And let us know if there’s any way we can make the event even better!

Home Depot to Recycle CFLs Across the Nation

There’s been a lot of buzz around the home improvement blogosphere about the dangers associated with improperly disposing CFLs.  Most of us know by now that CFLs contain a small amount of mecury, a toxin that causes all sorts of bad problems, all rooted in mercury poisoning.

The NY Times reported this week that Home Depot will now offer CFL recycling at all of its 1900+ stores across the United States.

Home Depot is to be commended for taking action on this important issue as the US moves towards energy efficient lighting.  From the article:

Home Depot’s program, which will accept any maker’s bulbs, will bring relatively convenient recycling within reach of most households. Mr. Jarvis estimated that 75 percent of the nation’s homes are within 10 miles of a Home Depot.

I suspect that with Home Depot’s move on this issue, other retailers will follow.  According to the times, Walmart has already sponsored take-back events, where people in the community can safely return used CFLs.  Home Depot is the first very large retailer to provide a 365 day program.  With 2x the stores, I think Walmart will be looking to follow suit.  After all, there’s big money in bulbs.

What do you think? Do you recycle CFLs?  Where?

Image courtesy of herms671.

Metal Gauged Spreader Alternative for Self Leveling Mortar Over Radiant Heating Wires

If you’re pondering how to get self leveling mortar to spread evenly over electric radiant heating wire (or, in fact, any other fragile surface), this article might give you just the help you were looking for.

We recently faced this problem in our basement, where we’re laying a retro-fit electric radiant heating system over a concrete slab. The instructions on the side of the self leveling underlayment we chose indicated that you need to drag a guaged spreader through the underlayment as you pour it in order to ensure that it spreads out evenly over the surface. The problem with this approach is that the spreader is highly likely to pull up the heating wires while you’re dragging it over the surface. In a worst case scenario, the spreader might even cut/knick a heating wire, which would render the heating mat useless.

You might be thinking to yourself, “But isn’t this stuff to supposed to be self leveling? Why do we even need to drag a spreader through it?” That’s a good question. The answer is that even though it’s called self leveling mortar (or underlayment, or cement), it really is only self leveling to a point. The reason it doesn’t completely self level has to do with other forces present in the material that make it tend to hold together rather than spread out completely. The best way to visualize the problem is to picture pouring a moderately thick pancake batter into a large pan. The batter is self leveling to a point, but not entirely. Now, if you drag a fork back and forth through the batter, you can eventually get it to cover the entire pan bottom. The same concept holds true for spreading self leveling mortar over a substrate.  If you drag a spreader through the mortar, you will eventually spread it out sufficiently to cover the entire floor.

In order to preserve the heating mat, a metal guaged spreader is simply not an option.  So we considered attaching a squeegee to the end of an extendable pole and using that to spread out the mortar.  The squeegee is flexible, and not likely to damage the wires.  This was somewhat successful; however, it still left high and low points in the surface.  The reason?  It’s a little easier to conceptualize from the pancake analogy:  If you used a spatula instead of a fork to spread out the batter in the pan, the likelihood of pushing the pancake mix into one area (thus creating a hill and a valley) is much higher.  The squeegee acted like a spatula.  It was better at spreading out the mortar, but it still created a slightly uneven surface.

Finally, we arrived at the conclusion you see in the picture at the top-right of this article – a squeegee with gaps cut into the rubber to create teeth.  When we poured the self leveling mortar over the next area of radiant heating wires, we dragged the modified squeegee back and forth over the mortar as we poured.  The holes between the teeth prevented the squeegee from pulling too much or too little mortar into one area.  The result: a perfectly level floor, even over a very large 250 sq. ft. area.

Note that in our example, the radiant heating wires were actually hot glued to the slab at short intervals.  This created a strong bond between the heating wire and the slab, and was necessary to ensure the heating wire didn’t come up as we were dragging our improvised spreader across it.

Using this squeegee method is only one part of achieving a level floor.  For more information, see my article on achieving level floors using a self leveling mortar.

What do you think? Was this article helpful?  Have you had any successes or failures with self leveling mortars?

HVAC Maintenance Cost Worth It: A Contractor’s Recommendations

Fred ran a post about a great experience with a local HVAC contractor earlier this month. One reader, Scott, had a few questions about annual maintenance and warranties. He was curious if they were really worthwhile. A buddy of mine has been in the HVAC business for some time. Here is what he told me.

Is HVAC Annual Maintenance Worth the Cost?

A maintenance contract is key to keep your HVAC system working properly. It extends the life of your equipment and ensures your unit will operate efficiently.

A typical service contract includes service twice a year. The technician should preform several diagnostics including freon charge, filter change and making sure that all parts are in good repair.

And there are other benefits like discounts on all repairs and parts (% based on level of contract). Also, contract customer calls often receive higher priority over other service calls.

Other Recommendations

Get a good media filtration system installed. The filtration system will keep the equipment cleaner (especially the evaporator coil) preventing future problems and repeated cleanings. Duct cleaning typically costs $225 per system and coil cleaning costs at least $250. A filtration system is a one-time cost of approximately $500. Other benefits include improved indoor air quality and fewer filter changes (once every six months).

What Can the Homeowner Do?

Homeowners can apply “paint on sealer” to all accessible duct joints. This seals their ducts better than tape preventing air leaks and dust problems. It also holds much longer than any tape. Amazon has a great deal for 1 gallon of duct sealant for $19.95.

If a homeowner has a gas furnace for heat and an air conditioning only outdoor condenser, I suggest that they get a winter cover for the unit to protect and extend the life of the unit.

My buddies name is Pat Riley. He agreed to let me post his name and contact info in case anyone has questions or concerns. You can reach Pat at 443-765-1767 or email him at patrickriley1084 at comcast.net. Just put One Project Closer in your subject line.

What do you think? Do you agree with Pat’s suggestions? What’s your experience been?

Image courtesy of Sylvar

Rental License Requirement | Baltimore County, Maryland

Rental properties.  Some swear by the investment; others swear off, due to the horror stories.  Fred and I found ourselves landlords by path of least resistance.  When we were in the very first months of dating, we were both house hunting, and since it was too early to know whether “We” would continue as such (for those who were there, no comments necessary regarding our on-and-off history), we both went ahead and settled on houses of our own.  One month and two miles apart.

So when we DID finally get it together and get married, we owned one more house than we needed.  The market was still on the rise, and we’d realized a tremendous value increase in my townhome.  We decided to hold onto it and rent it for the foreseeable future.  We screened potential renters for a few months (I’ll post THAT whole experience separately), landed with our current renters who just signed on for a 5th year this spring, and never looked back.

Until Baltimore County Council Bill 87-07.  We heard it was coming and received notice in the mail just before leaving for an oversees vacation a few weeks ago.  By July 1, 2008, all landlords of single-to-six-dwelling housing units must now apply for a LICENSE to rent property in our county. (Apartment complexes already had separate legal requirements on the books.)

Why?  Well the up-side is that the Council is trying to address the “slum-lord” mentality in some areas of our county.  With aging structures, some renters are living in substandard conditions.

The down side is that landlords like Fred and me – with our 1989-built townhome – are lumped into a new requirement that costs us an extra $200+ every three years, from now on.

Don’t get me wrong: we fully support requiring landlords to maintain reasonable living conditions for their tenants.  We just believe that the existing rental laws already covered those sufficiently.  In fact, rental laws in Maryland prior to this bill were already MORE in favor of the renters than of the landlords.  For our part, because we love having good renters, we provide them with rent-breaks and upgrades to the home every year they re-sign.

So getting the notice that we had to apply for a “rental license” by July 1 or face $1000 a day (yes, three zeros) fines for failure to comply was a bit of a slap in the face.  We try really hard to be superb landlords – we even give Christmas gifts each year (and last year added a wedding gift on that occasion)!  But we, like the aparently-heartless-ghetto-lords in our county, now have to apply for, and then reapply every three years for, a rental housing license.

Obtaining or renewing a license requires a home inspection (this year’s cost: $150) which is a very quick check on the electrical, plumbing, appliances, smoke detectors, window/door function, and general safety items in the home.  Our inspection (last Wed.) lasted 15 minutes.  Easy money for our inspector, no?  The county also charges an additional license application fee ($50 this year for our single-dwelling); requires the inclusion of photos of the front and rear of the house; and requires completion of an application that also addresses items like lead paint abatement (which doesn’t apply at all in our case).

For us, it’s an extra hassle and an extra expense.  I drove the application packet to the county court house on Thursday because I wasn’t willing to risk a “lost in the mail” situation.  But OF COURSE we passed the inspection and have everything in order.

It’s sad that the county has to mitigate potential retaliation by landlords upon their renters for reporting unliveable or unsafe conditions.  If we were failing to maintain our house, our renters would be completely within their rights to report us.  But we would never get there.  Instead, we now have this additional expense to maintaining the property; and that expense is going to get passed on to our renters.  We’re not interested in losing money just to hold onto a second house we will never otherwise need.

The good news, for any of you who are in our situation and haven’t gotten through the process yet, is that I was able to handle the whole matter in four days.  (And I’m happy to answer questions for any others of you who are down to the last minute with this requirement, since I’ve been through it.)

But the negative side is that it makes leasing a property in our county more work and more expensive.  We’re not charging our renters for my time running around to get the application ready and submitted, but I’m sure other landlords are figuring that in, too.  In an area that’s already very costly, it adds to the living expense for renters.  With the prices on everything else going up right now, it’s a shame that this expense is added this year, too.

What do you think? Should all landlords be held to an inspection/rental licensing requirement with their county?  Or should the system work to handle actual problem situations, case by case?

Before & After: Konnecto Flooring in the Kitchen and Family Room from Mary @ NotBefore7

The first article selected for this Summer’s Before and After series supporting Habitat for Humanity is brought to you by Mary @ NotBefore7.

Mary (and husband Eric) recently installed Konecto Flooring in the kitchen and family room of their new home, a recent foreclosure in need of some serious TLC.

As a result of her submission, OPC will make a $25.00 donation to Habitat for Humanity in Mary’s honor. Also, her article is now entered into our Before and After contest for $50.00 to the home improvement store of her choice.

Before & After: Konecto Flooring by Mary

We recently purchases a foreclosed home, so every room has a Before/After story to tell.

Located in the back of the house was a kitchen and family room area.  The two rooms are basically one big area, but separated by a railing in the middle of the room and different flooring.  The family room had carpet and the kitchen was covered in vinyl flooring.  Both needed to be replaced.

Another issue was the pantry in the back of the kitchen. (located on the far side of the refridgerator)   It was only about 12 inches deep (of usable space) and it made the doorway into the dining room very tight.  In fact, if the pantry door was opened, it blocked the entire entryway into the dining room.

Before (while standing in family room)

Before (while standing in kitchen)

Our goals were to brighten the room and to open up the space in order to create more of a Great Room area.

Brightening up the room wasn’t too difficult.  We painted the entire area with Sherwin Williams paint color, Cottage Cream.  It is a very neutral yellow color that brightens without overpowering a room.

Our next step was to paint the trim and molding, as well as the fireplace, with semi-gloss white.  It made a huge difference to have bright white trim, especially at the fireplace.

Our final step in brightening up the room, was to remove the ceiling fans and add recessed lighting.  We added 10 lights so far, but are going to add 2 more and install a new ceiling fan.  We are huge fans of recessed lighting and it definitely paid off in this room.

In order to open up the space, we began by taking down the banister which was separating the kitchen and family room.  This helped brighten up the area too because the banister was so dark.  Immediately, we knew we had to choose one type of flooring for both rooms so the two areas could become one large area.

We wanted durable and easy to clean flooring because we have 3 little children.  In the past, we have installed laminate wood flooring (such as Pergo) to achieve these goals.  Unfortunately, laminate flooring is not water-proof and therefore, it will not stand the test of time in a kitchen, especially with little ones.

Konecto flooring was our answer.  It is an easy to install and waterproof laminate flooring.  Each floor plank is flexible and can be cut with an exacto knife.  Adhesive is not required for installation because it comes pre-packaged with adhesive striping as part of each individual plank.  More about the easy three step installation can be found on their site.  Truly, this flooring is amazing.  I can’t speak highly enough of it.

We choose a style from the Prestige collection because it has an aluminum oxide finish which will help protect the flooring.  It has a different feel than a traditional laminate wood floor.  It has a “grainy” finish to it with true cracks and crevices in the finish.

I think the finished look is beautiful.  We have been complimented on our “wood floors” numerous times.

The final step in creating a more “open-space” feel was to remove the useless pantry that was closing in the doorway to the dining room.  Unfortunately, there was an air duct behind it, so we still have a “bump-out”, but the open doorway into the dining room was well worth the pantry removal.

After (standing in kitchen):

After (standing in family room, complete with kiddos):

We are very satisfied with the results so far.  Clearly, our 1980’s kitchen needs to be the next project on our remodel list, but as Fred states here on his blog, at least we are One Project Closer to the end!

Thanks from OPC

Mary, your floors are fantastic… truly an amazing before and after story, and an excellent one to kick off the event.

Habitat for Humanity Quick Fact

Even with the downturn in the US housing market, in the last three years building costs internationally have risen more than 17%. This increase must be met with increased monetary donations in order for Habitat to continue its oustanding work across the globe.

OPC will donate $25.00 this week in Mary’s honor. Admittedly, that small amount only scratches the surface of the enormous need. We hope you will consider donating monetarily or through volunteering with a Habitat program in your area as you are able. If you choose to donate, you can find Habitat’s online donation page here.

If this post inspired you to donate or volunteer, please leave a comment below and let us know. We want to honor all those people who are participating with us periodically throughout the summer.

Submit Articles for Early Summer!

There are 12 Sundays left this Summer and we’ve received very few articles for the first few weekends, with many folks planning to submit articles later in the Summer.

We would very much appreciate additional articles submitted early (even if they technically don’t comply with the project being completed in the late Spring/early Summer).

Article submissions can be sent in virtually any format to oneprojectcloser@gmail.com.

You can also show your support for Before and After supporting Habitat by displaying a one of these Before and After graphics in your sidebar.

What do you think? Let Mary know what you think about her project… And let us know if there’s any way we can make the event even better.

Flat Paint to Eggshell: The Right Paint for Homes with Kids

When I (Kim) left my job to stay home with our boys, I was excited to have a few months before the adoption finalized to whip our newly-purchased fixer house into better shape.  Most of our rooms still had their construction-grade paint from 1985, and they were gross.

Summoning my just-enough-to-be-dangerous interior design experience, I picked a neutral-toned color palate, grabbed my brushes and rollers, and I was off!  Armed with flat paint, despite the known touch-up risks.

You see, I grew up in a home that was all-semi-gloss, and it always looked tacky to me.  My mom swore by it’s “wipeability,”  but I decided to strike off in the opposite direction.  My house would be classy looking from the get-go.  I thought I would rather have to repaint a wall here or there from time to time than succumb to the dreaded “sheen.”

Enter our sons (yes twins), aged 2 1/2 at the time.  Adorable little guys.  So much fun.  Not at all easy on walls.  In the 16 months since we brought them home, they’ve returned our walls to their former look of having been neglected for years.  From the “handrail? what handrail?” line of sticky prints going all the way up the stairs to the tell-tale flung-food spots all around their mini table in the kitchen, it seems systematic, the way they’ve done it.

I was once especially proud of my gray-purple powder room.  Potty training “aim issues” proved to be my undoing there.  After a couple of months of their “missing” and my cleaning up, the white wallboard was showing through:

Upstairs, I knew the boys would love the bright cheerfulness of their light-orange bedroom.  They do.  But I forgot to mention the “Never use your matchbox cars to write on the walls” rule.  Thought I was covered by keeping all their crayons and markers downstairs.  I wasn’t:

As I knew all along, there’s a limit to cleaning flat-painted walls.  We simply have passed that limit on an accelerated time-table.  And all over the house.  So this summer, one by one, I will be going back and repainting all the rooms in eggshell.  I’ve already started with my powder room.  There will be ONE space in our home that looks like a girl lives here!  Even if it does need to be (shudder) slightly shiny for practicality’s sake.

Fortunately, I DID have the good sense to paint the boys’ bathroom in eggshell (and dark blue) the first time, so that room can stay as it is.  For the rest, I’ll just have to wait about 20 years to try again with my beloved flat paint.

What do you think? Have you ever thought you were done with a project only to find yourself back at the beginning? How much do kids, pets or ____ (fill in the destructive life force) play into your decorating decisions?

Before & After 2008 Graphics

To our blogmates: Thanks so much for your response so far to Before and After 2008! Many of you have posted articles on your blogs encouraging others to support our event for Habitat for Humanity, and have committed to providing an article yourselves.  We very much appreciate it, and are excited about watching the event unfold!

If you’re interested in showing your support for Before and After throughout the Summer, we’ve created a series of graphics that will fit nicely on the side of your blog to do just that.  Feel free to shrink/enlarge the graphics as necessary, or to make changes to the colors.  We’d appreciate it if you didn’t edit the text or make it illegible.

If you want a graphic with a color combination that isn’t here, just e-mail us @ oneprojectcloser@gmail.com and we’ll be happy to make it for you…

Please link the graphic back to this post, which is the overview of the Before and After event:  http://www.oneprojectcloser.com/community/before-and-after-summer-2008-supporting-habitat-for-humanity/

Also, please consider submitting an article early in the Summer…  You can use a project you already completed in the Spring.  We were a little late coordinating the kick-off for this event.  Most folks haven’t had time to prepare an article.

Submit articles to oneprojectcloser@gmail.com.  There’s no limit on the number of submissions you can make.  If you submit 13 and no one else does, you’re guaranteed $50.00

Complete event details are available on the event kick-off article.

What do you think? Is there another common color pattern I should create?  Will you add a button to your blog?

Trimming / Pruning A Neighbor’s Tree

I love the trees on my court. When they bloom, it’s an explosion of pink and white blossoms. They last only for a short time, but I look forward to it each spring. This year I noticed that one of the trees had been pruned back quite a bit, but only on one side. It didn’t take long to figure out that it wasn’t the owners who trimmed the tree.

Legally Right or Wrong to Trim a Neighbors Tree?

I was curious what laws existed about trimming a neighbor’s tree. Here is what I found specific to Maryland; however, it seems that most states follow similar rules.

From: “Trees, People and the Law”, By Kevin J. Best, Esq:

“Maryland subscribes to the “Massachusetts Rule” which states that no cause of action will accrue against the tree owner for the overhanging limb; however, the offended person may exercise self-help in the matter by pruning the tree in a manner that leaves it in a reasonable condition. According to the Court of Appeals of Maryland, “a landowner has a right to cut encroaching branches, vines and roots back to the property line … but may not enter the adjoining landowner’s property … without the neighbor’s consent.” Melnick v. CSX, Md. (1988)

So, legally you can trim a neighbor’s tree, but only to the property line. Double check where that line is before you begin. Don’t go past your property; any further and you are trespassing. Also, the pruning can’t cause the tree (or a major portion of the tree) to die. It’s smart to hire an arborist as they can decide the best way to prune the tree without causing harm.

It’s obviously better to work with your neighbors rather than around them. Hopefully you can work out a beneficial solution for everyone. In my experience, staying friends with neighbors has its own rewards.

This is the poor mangled tree.

What do you think? Do you trim the tree? What do you say to your neighbor? Ever been in this kind of situation?

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