Detecting and Correcting Bouncy, Sloping and Wavy Floors

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There can be several reasons why the floors above a crawl space foundation seem bouncy, out of level or wavy. Floors that sag or bounce are not only a huge nuisance to homeowners; but can also leave homeowners wondering if there’s a possible safety issue, or an expensive structural repair lurking in the future.

Bouncy Floors

If you have bouncy floors in your home, you can usually detect this condition simply by walking across the floor in question. You can literally feel the floor shake or bounce up and down. Sometimes when walking across a bouncy floor you’ll even hear it squeak or make other noises. In other cases, you’ll notice that items in cabinets or on nearby tables or countertops will start to shake.

Obviously, these telltale signs of flawed floors are upsetting. Any homeowner who encounters this problem will want to know what is causing bouncy floors, what can be done to correct the problem, and how much this repair work will cost.

The good news is that an experienced foundation repair contractor will usually be able to provide succinct answers to the above-mentioned questions. Bouncy floors are sometimes due to undersized floor joists -a miscalculation that occurred … Read More

Charleston: Old Exchange and Provost Dungeon – Rebecca Motte Room

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Charleston: Old Exchange and Provost Dungeon - Rebecca Motte Room

The Rebecca Motte Room on the first floor, or Exchange Floor, of the Old Exchange and Provost Dungeon is the formal meeting place for the Rebecca Motte Chapter of the National Society of the American Revolution. The room and chapter are named for Rebecca Brewton Motte, the Revolutionary War heroine who famously let Generals Francis and Light Horse Harry Lee set her plantation house on the Congaree aflame after the British appropriated it as a fort during the Revolutionary War.

The ladies of the Rebecca Motte Chapter, organized in 1895, have been meeting here since 1921. For their meetings, each lady would bring a chair from home, and the current collection, ranging in date from Late Georgian to Colonial Revival, continue in use today. The collection also include two pier mirrors, c. 1850, of Continental origin that once belong to Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands and purchased by the chapter in 2006.

The Exchange and Provost, located at 122 East Bay, was built in 1767 as a mercantile exchange and Custom House. The Georgian-style building, designed by William Rigby Naylor, was badly damaged by Union artillery fire during the Civil War, and again after the great earthquake of 1886, but … Read More

Home Repairs Yourself

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Every person loves their home and cares a lot about the way it looks. No one wants their home to look dirty and untidy. Every home has certain problems once a while. Home repairs is an integral part of the maintenance of every house.

Attempting repairs yourself includes all aspects of home improvement such as home repair, remodeling, home additions, home repair costs and also home repair grants. Everyone in the world gives a lot of attention to the way their home looks and conducting repairs yourself is the most rewarding aspect of owning your home. If your looking for guides and detailed step by step resources to help you repair or improve your home, you can find them all over the net.

Change is pertinent everywhere in life. With developing science and technology, even homes need repairing, redecorating and of course renovating. The "home repairs yourself" ideology has grown to a large extent today. Making home renovations includes possessing the right tools and materials so that one can get on with the job without wasting any further time. The basic knowledge about various repair tools is very helpful in the long run.

Apart from the tools used for repairing … Read More

Home Improvement Contractors – What Homeowners Should Know

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With home improvement fraud and scams on the rise in the United States, homeowners must take the necessary precautions to avoid becoming victims of "fly by night contractors." For those who still own their properties after seeing the rise in foreclosures across this nation, it is incumbent on you the homeowner to do the following before you go in search of a Home Improvement Contractor.

Home Improvement Contractors (HIC) in most jurisdictions in the United States is regulated by City, State or County Agencies. For example, in New York City, Nassau and Suffolk County in New York, the Department of Consumer Affairs regulates the operations of Home Improvement Contractors and Home Improvement Salesmen (HIS). These are representatives or sales persons who negotiate contracts on behalf of Home Improvement Contractors (HIC).

There are basically three (3) stages of the home improvement process, namely: The Negotiation Stage; The Contract Stage and The Work In Progress and Completion Stage. In the Negotiation Stage, a homeowner should perform a "due diligence" on prospective Home Improvement Contractors and Home Improvement Salesmen, hereinafter referred to as HIC and HIS respectively. This is where you research and check to see if the HIC is a bona fide … Read More

LACMTA Metro Purple Line Westside Extension groundbreaking ceremony, November 7, 2014

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LACMTA Metro Purple Line Westside Extension groundbreaking ceremony, November 7, 2014

Photo by Steve Hymon for Metro harvested from The Source:
thesource.metro.net/2014/11/07/happy-purple-line-extensio…

Leaders of the L.A. County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) today joined federal, state and local elected officials in the Mid-Wilshire District of Los Angeles to break ground on the long awaited Metro Purple Line Extension Project, the largest, most ambitious public works project in the Western United States.

In July, Metro’s Board of Directors approved a contract with Skanska, Traylor and Shea (STS), a Joint Venture, to construct the Purple Line Extension Project. Construction of the subway extension will connect West Los Angeles to the region’s growing rail network, making it possible to travel between Downtown Los Angeles and Westwood in 25 minutes. The first subway segment will extend the Purple Line 3.9 miles from the existing Wilshile/Western Purple Line terminus near Koreatown into Beverly Hills. Three new underground stations are planned at Wilshire/La Brea, Wilshire/Fairfax and Wilshire/La Cienega, providing fast, frequent, high-capacity transit service farther west along busy Wilshire Boulevard.

“The Purple Line will ease traffic along the congested Wilshire corridor and will make traveling from the westside to downtown faster and greener.” said Eric Garcetti, Mayor of Los Angeles and Metro Board Chair. “When it comes to … Read More