The Castlegar Sun Wednesday, September 30, 1992 Wednesday, September 30, 1992 Are older homes better than th Depending on when they were built, houses can be d improvements necessary to make the more hi their solid walls offer good sound in a number of different ways, and the method of construction may well affect the way in which you carry out any improvements or it may actually make certain Although it is often said that older houses are better built than their modern counterparts, this is not always the case. True, old houses can be solidly built and KIT INCLUDES: e . 1 Litre Chain OW STIHML Cap (S57 SW FREE a2 Ollomatic * Replacement @ 10 Litre Fue! Container with Stop-Flow Spout 250 mi Engine Olt Mix Chain Sharpening File with Handie Coleman’ Cooler @ ‘Sharp Advice’ Filing Manual @ Valuable STIHL Coupons ‘Chain Loop AVANABLE AT: TROWELEX EQUIPMENT RENTALS & SALES 4450 Columbia Ave., Castlegar 365-3315 TAL Number One Wortcudce But often older houses lack good thermal insulation and water-proofing. Modern houses on the other hand are much better Protected against damp and are often built with thermal insula- tion included Whatever type of house you won Or may own in the future, it is unlikely that you will leave it exactly as you bought it—you will want to change it, to improve it, to make it meet your ld WHERE YOU WANT TO GO Ad Notice Due to our print schedule we would like to notify our readers that our classified ad deadline is - the Monday before publication date at 11:30 am. Please (2) Sprite our Professionally rained Slafffat FLORAL CO. 301 - 11th Ave. Castlegar 365-5191 "To Create That Finishing Touch" Nour very Own office and home tnlertox dexugn specialists SPECIAL OCCASION DECORATING SERVICES FREE CONSULTATIONS needs more closely. Having an understanding of its basic struc- ture will help you see where improvements can be made and give you an idea of just is possi- ble and what is not The Modern House The moder house shows great improvements over its older coun- terparts in the areas of damp- proofing and thermal insulation. A major contributing factor to these improvements is the cavity wall. All the external walls of the house comprise two separate thick leaves, the outer one being invari- ably brick and the inner one of brick or more often these days of lightweight concrete blocks. The cavity between the leaves of the wall stops any damp pene- trating through from the surface of the all and it provides a slight degree of thermal insulation which can be improved by filling it with HOME IM eir counterparts? an insulation foam or by installing styrofoam plastic slabs during building. A felt or metal flashing prevents damp rising up through the wall and this is linked to a thick plastic water proof membrane which is P in the solid floor slab. The floor itself may be clad with tiles, wood blocks or have a wood floor built on.top. The foundations for the walls are likely to be deep trenches filled with concrete, the walls them- selves beginning just below ground level. This is a much more effective and much quicker ways of doing the job and is typical of modern methods of construction which are much more efficient than earlier practices. Ease of construction is carried through to the roof, which is built up from a series of ready-made wooden trusses which do away with the ridge bar. One disadvan- tage of this system is that is does not lend itself to attic conversions The roof will be clad with inter- locking tiles. Spring Back Upholstery §. VINYL REPAIR - LEATHER - R.V. 1116 - 6th Street (Behind Ogiow Bid.) Castlegar, B.C. VIN 2E3 365-7787 The Castlegar Sun Page 7B OVEMENT Choosing a home to live in inevitably involves compro- mise. Your decision is influenced by where you want to live, how big a house you want (and that usually comes down to the number of bedrooms), how much you can afford and whether or not you can get a mortgage. Coming along way down the list of priowities is the arrange- ment of the space inside the house. Whether the rooms are the right size and shape for you own particular needs {& often not even considered. In any case, it is extremely unlikely that you would be able to find a house where the interior arrangement was exactly right, unless you had the house designed and built for you, or you built it yourself. ‘ Even if, by some miracle, a house provided just the sort of layout you needed when you moved in, needs change, fami- lies grow, possessions increase, and keeping pace with fashions in the homes might mean you dissatisfied with what you have. this is usually overcome by moving to another house where the process of compro-~ mise begins all over again. However, not everyone is able, or may even want to move: the availability of work, children settled in school, and nearness of relatives and friends, and the considerable upheaval caused by a move must all be taken into account: Rather than accept that mov- ing is the only solution to the problem of improving your accommodation, consider mak- ing more of and adapting what you already have; you should Adapting your living space even do this when you first move in. By adapting your home to keep pace with your needs, you will be much happi- er living there and will get much more satisfaction from your home. Adding Rooms If you need more rooms and there is simply no way you can get more from the existing lay- out, it is often possible to add an extension to your house. If you don't want to go to the trouble of having such an extension designed for you, there are some prefabricated types to choose from. Of course, you might feel that your house has too many small, cramped rooms and you would rather have a few, large open plan rooms. In a case like this, it is usually a simple mat- ter to remove a dividing wall between two rooms, having first taken steps to support any wall of floor above. Dealing with doors Access routes between rooms are important, if you are to get the best from your home. Very: often doors are not placed on the most convenient loca- tions, there is no reason why you shouldn't reposition doors, or make new doorways between adjoining rooms where none existed before; or block off redundant doorways where,say two rooms have been joined into one. Using similar skills, you can improve the light of gloomy rooms by installing larger windows. ~ Intenor/Exterior 3.78 Litre... \SSY) wee) QT WoC 5 fh 8 + To advertise Alkyd Semi Gloss Interior Latex Sem Gloss Finish. 3.78 L. wie SO TSE ‘All-the-Colors-of-Fall' Sale BREEZE PREMIUM INTERIOR FINISHES Eggshell 3.78 Litre. 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These may be anything from from bees to owls, but by far the more com- mon and most destructive intrud- ers are wood-boring beetles and termites. Woodworm It's actually the larvae of the beetle rather than the adult insect with does the damage, so it's not surprising that the most wid d species (the c Furniture Beetle) is popularly known as the woodworm. Its life cycle begins when the adult lays its eggs on a suitable piece of wood. Cracks, endgrain and joints are favourite sites, generally in areas that are damp. As the larvae hatch from the eggs, they begin burrowing into the heart of the wo6d, where they happily munch away until the time comes to pupate and trans- form into adults Once the metamorphosis is complete, the adult eats its way to the surface of the wood, and flies off to mate and find a likely Spot to lay it's eggs. All this makes the woodworm fairly difficult to spot: you have to be lucky to see either the lar- vae or the adult beetles. Howev- er, the holes through which the adult emerges—the flight holes are generally just over one mil- limeter in diameter—are a sure sign that the insects have been at work, and if you find traces of fine, powdery bore dust in the vicinity, you can be pretty sure that adults have only recently’ left, and that the wood is, still at risk. ee ee ee ae | CASTLEGAR mazpa Se | CASTLEGAR Ls - 17th St, Castlegar Gold Card Service Special ¢ Lube ° Oil e Filter ¢ Safety Check (with this coupon) ( EXPIRES Dec. 31, 1992) . re) ee eee eee ee ee ee FOR APPOINTMENTS 9 CALL CARL JOHNSON couectaAT J Your business is our business. | We'd like to hear about JUST ARRIVED! Fall Holland Bulbs Crocus ¢ Tulip ¢ Daffodil « Hyacinth 50% OFF Roses * Stokes Seeds Hedging Material 30% OFF Junipers 20% OFF Trees © Shrubs ¢ Evergreens e Fertilizer * Pesticides » Sunshine Potting Mix Chang's Nursery & Florist Ltd. Complete Landscaping Services - Free Estimates 2601 - 9th Avenue, Castlegar - 365-7312 member of: = BCNTA & — CNTA (BC Nursery (Canadian Nursery Trades A tion) are often p P' a growing family may mean you could do with more bedrooms, or an additional bathroom to ease that early morning traffic jam, perhaps even separate dens for the older and younger ele- ments of the family. Many people have to look after elderly or infirm relatives, in which case and extra powder room or bathroom can bedroom can be very useful. Extra rooms can be provided by partitioning off larger ones with wood framed walls com- Plete with access doors. In the same way, large open-plan rooms can be divided into small- er, cosier rooms if that is what you prefer. In the latter case, a half-height partition would pro- vide an effective division between, say, the dining room and living areas of a room while retaining the spacious, airy feel- ing of an open-plan layout. Treating dry rot As soon as you realize there is dry rot in your home, set to work as quickly as possible. The longer you wait, the more dam- age will be done. The first step is to assess the scale of the disaster and decide whether you want to tackle the repair work yourself or call in a ae Obvi the latter won't be cheap, but it is probably the best option if the dry rot is severe. Assuming you decide to take the job yourself, strip the infected wood, provid- ing temporary substitute struc- tural support if necessary. Use your discretion to decide whether to remove the whole of a partially rotten wood, or to cut it and salvage whatever remains. If the wood is in contact with soil or masonry along its length, don't try to save any of it All infected wood should be taken out into the garden and burned. Plastic garbage bags are useful here for transporting the smaller crumbly bits, and it's vitally important that you clear up thoroughly as you go. ay ach Wy SID YE QATTE ARE BORA TO oe NERS ATION TeN A SEES eg se BY ne ae Neh stk 4 ‘ KPO, . * ; ! Ce 4 So A FAR BNE SIN EN ete Get the latest scoop on Stainmaster Xtra Life carpet Looking to add a lite flavour to your home? Check out all the latest arrivals from Stainmaster Xtra Life certified by Du Pont. Carpet that comes ina superb selection of colours and styles and is also baeked by an industry leading 5-year appearance retention warranty. Now that’s news that’s bound to hit the spot Come see the home furnishing experts al. West Kootenay Carpets now for the best selection and great value Castlegar 4370 Minto Road 365-2265 WINTERIZING YOUR R.V. The single most important thing in preparing your RV for the winter is winterizing the water and sewer system. | have personally repaired complete water systems, including the water heater, for people who have failed to winterize their RV properly. This can run into hundreds of dollars for the RV owner. The first thing to do is to make: sure all of your holding tanks are drained. This includes the fresh water tank and the black and gray water tanks. After you have drained the black water tank, give the tank a thorough cleaning. An E-Z rinse wand which is inserted down through the toilet and sprays a jet of water sideways is a very helpful tool for this job. Make sure that the hot water tank is completely drained by opening the drain valve or taking out the drain plug and then also opening the lever on the pressure relief valve. This allows air in to displace the water that is going out. Now you are ready to blow out the lines. If this is not possible for you to do it will take a little more antifreeze to do the job. You will need a blow out plug or a similar adapter that allows you to put air into your-city water entry. Attach the blow out plug to the city water entry, then attach the air compressor and with all the valves closed, allow the pressure to build up to no more than 50 Ibs. pressure. Then go inside and open and close each cold water tap one at a time until just air is coming out, doing the same with the hot water taps. Do not forget to flush the toilet and disconnect the air compressor. Allow all the air to escape. You are ready now to put antifreeze into your water lines. DO NOT put antifreeze into your fresh water OR hot water tanks. If you have a by-pass valve on your hot water tank tum the valves so that they are in the by-pass position. If you don't have a by- pass valve, then simply disconnect the hot water and cold water lines from the back of your hot water heater and join them together. Go to your water pump and take the hose off the inlet side (the side which goes to the fresh water tank). Attach a 3 ft. length of hose to the pump and put the other end into a gallon of RV antifreeze. Turn on your pump with all the taps closed. Then go inside and open and close each cold water tap until antifreeze begins to flow, remember ing also to do the toilet. Then do likewise with the hot water taps. With the antifreeze you have left pour at least a cup into each drain. Clean up your mess and your RV is ready for winter! 00 Inchades Antifreeze & CST ideace extra outude of Casthegar SERVICES: * Hitch Installation Ry * Winterizing Rogge * Sales and installation of Mea, © Structural Damage all RV Parts & Accessories * Propane Systems Insurance Claims Welcome WE MAKE HOUSE CALLS - to home or campground KOOTENAY MOBILE RV SERVICE 2900 Columbia Ave., Castlegar, OPEN Mon. to Fri. 365-5740 Winterize Now! $ RV Winterize Special REPAIR OF ALL: * Appliances © Electrical Systems * Water & Sewer Systems