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Window Hardware Applies Finishing Touches
Window hardware is like the icing on the cake: the sweet touch that makes it complete. There’s a plethora of options for shades and blinds, and if still not to your liking, you can custom order colors and materials. There are films that reduce glare, insulate, and provide privacy from the outside through frosted or tinted hues. Guards are an important part of window hardware, as are locks, blind cord shorteners and cleats. Vertical blinds and drapes can be raised, lowered, opened, and closed at pre-set times or spontaneously with a motorized controller.
Adapt your curtains or drapes to the shape and size of your window with arched/curved, straight, tension, and extension rods. Corner connectors (commonly used for bay windows), brackets, anchors, rings, hold/tiebacks, double rods, swag and scarf holders, finials, interior shutters (as lovely as exterior ones), and crank handles dress up the frames. If starting from scratch, factor window hardware for the frame’s sash, sill, moldings, apron, and jambs. Let your windows be the expressive eyes of your home.
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Weatherstripping Is a Simple Solution to Eliminating Drafts
Once you've identified where unwanted air is sneaking through, tackle it with weatherstripping. Have ready a hammer, screwdriver(s), fasteners, measuring tape, and utility knife. Wipe clean, then dry the area requiring weatherstripping and estimate about ten percent more length to adjust for scrap.
Rubber or plastic self-adhesive foam strip and V-channel foam (between the jambs, sash, etc.) are simple to apply, inexpensive, and perfect for casement windows. Slightly more expensive magnetic gaskets, and self-adhesive, or hardware-applied spring metal strips are better suited for double hung and sliding windows. Rubber or vinyl tubular and foam filled gaskets, as well as felt, are of varying costs and effective, yet more practical for little seen areas.
When weatherstripping doors, use foam or metal strips on the top and sides, and aluminum or vinyl for the threshold. Should space still exist between the threshold and floor, a sweep can be installed, which would drop down when the door is closed. Always make sure that windows and doors can easily open and shut once weatherstripping is in place. A little weather proofing will go a long way!
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Pocket Door Hardware Holds Sliding in Track
For a unique and space saving design between rooms, gather together pocket door hardware and materials and set up this wonderful partition. You can purchase the hardware piece by piece or in kits; it's recommended that you at least use a frame kit to insure measurements and installation are correct.
Remove any existing fasteners and check that you are not affecting any wiring. Start fresh with the pocket door hardware, as it is particular to this type of construction. Measure approximately twice the size of the door to accommodate its opening and closing (quadruple then for double doors), and use a level to make sure it glides evenly. A good way to test for parallel framing is to crisscross string in an “X” shape and check where the middle occurs. This also benefits accurate spacing if connecting two panels.
Pocket door hardware should include non-warping split studs or other appropriate fasteners, brackets, hinges, ball bearing rollers such as a tricycle hanger, anchors, and bumper guides. Complementary privacy latches, locks, and flush or pull edges top it off.
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Door Stops Illustrate Practicality and Style
Say goodbye to dents, holes, and scratches from doors opening too hard. Door stops curb unsightly marks, reduce noise, and extend the durability of floors and walls. Which type is best for you?
There are flexible, rigid, smooth, and ridged floor stops mounted from the baseboard or the bottom of the door. Round magnetic door stops apply directly to the wall or door, and hinges are often placed on a panel’s mid-point. Dome-shaped or flat round bumpers are available in self-adhesive models, or with hardware.
Although it may be minuscule to notice, door stops are now another functional accessory that also provides an aesthetic touch. Antique, matte, oil rubbed, polished, and satin finishes offer styles sure to blend in with any décor. If you’re unsure about adhesive or nail marks, wedge door stops kick under the panel when needed. For a novelty flair, prop doors open with stops shaped like animals, sports equipment, shoes, people, and other funky designs.
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Door Hardware Complements Decor
There are two sides of door hardware. One side is all of the little pieces that make all of the bigger pieces fit into place and swing, slide, and fold out as it should. Bolts, fasteners, hangers, hinges, nuts, screws, track stops, and washers are rarely seen, thus no need for them to be pretty.
That’s where the other side of door hardware comes in. French, etched glass, and carriage house panels turn the ordinary into the ornamental. Iron scrollwork overlay makes a storm door a grand entrance. Dining room doors resembling shutters add a touch of whimsy to gathering for a meal.
The backplates, knobs, knockers, latches, levers, locks, and plaques are ideal for subtle impression. This category of door hardware includes brass, bronze, chrome, crystal, glass, gold plated, iron, nickel, pewter, porcelain, silver, and steel finishes. Styles range from ancient Greece to medieval to polished Modernism to the Wild West, and every nuance in between. Door bells and chimes also reflect a variety of visual themes to match their audio delight. So for every piece of door hardware that’s behind the scenes, there’s plenty that make a statement.
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Adapt Home Preferences with an Adjustable Window Screen
Looking for an affordable, no-fuss way to take care of an open window? Try an adjustable window screen. The only tool needed is a measuring tape or ruler to figure out how far to expand, and it just as easily pops out for when you need to store it.
Rust-proof and easily-cleaned materials such as varnished wood, vinyl, and metal, are other features that make an adjustable window screen quite popular. Think it’s just a plain aluminum or fiberglass screen? Some are adapted to reduce or block air allergens and prevent insects from getting through. There are also vent screens to keep inclement weather and strong wind from disrupting your room.
An adjustable window screen can be used over an existing screen, for an extra layer against cats that may lounge on the sill. Slight variations in mesh colors make for further matching a room’s décor, and if desiring to block heat and UV rays, augment it with solar screen. No technical knowledge necessary.
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