Category: Construction

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How Can I Tell If My Home Septic Tank Needs Replacing?

septic system contractors Fort Collins

If your property is located in an area that is not connected to a public sewage system and your plumbing system relies on a septic tank, you probably know that the condition of your tank will largely determine the overall condition of your entire plumbing system as well as the comfort and the safety you enjoy on your property. Septic tanks are made from strong materials that can stand up to a lot and, with proper maintenance, they can last for decades, but, like any building component, they also come of age eventually. Leading septic system contractors Fort Collins area technicians inform us that here are some signs to indicate that your home septic tank needs replacing soon and that you should start preparing for the investment and the temporary disruption.

The Age of The Tank and of The Pipes

It is not rare for septic tank systems to last for five decades or more, especially if the system has been maintained properly. However, if your system has already spent around half a century serving your property and performing the basic filtering of your wastewater, it might be time for you to start thinking about a replacement.

The Size No Longer Fits Your Needs

Home extensions are very often performed without implementing matching changes in the sewage system of the property. Many home extensions are performed because the number of people living on the property has grown, case in which there will be more people using the same plumbing system and the household will generate more wastewater, too. If the level of the material contained in your septic tank quickly reaches the maximum level and it needs to be emptied more frequently than before, you might want to start thinking about upgrading to a larger tank that meets your new requirements.

Water Draining Too Slowly in Your Bathroom and Your Kitchen

If you notice that the water in your bathtub, in your wash basin or in your kitchen sink takes much longer to drain than before, the symptom means that you might be faced with a leak somewhere in the plumbing system or that your septic tank is full again. If the issue keeps coming back every couple of weeks, this is a sure sign that you need a larger septic tank.

Water Ponding in Your Yard Where There Should No Water

Any water ponding in your yard where you should have dry soil is a bad sign that tells you there is a problem with your plumbing system. If the water that you see is clean, the problem might be caused by a cracked pipe or by some other plumbing problem that is easy to remedy. However, if the water is foul-smelling and dirty, it is probably water from your septic tank. If this happens, you need to act as quickly as possible and to call septic system contractors Fort Collins area technicians to stop the leak and advise you on how to proceed with your septic tank. Quick action is very important because sewage water is contaminated water that can spread diseases if not contained properly and within the shortest time.

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Tips for Buying the Best Windows for Colorado

Having new Castle Rock windows installed on your Colorado home feels great – new windows are shiny, the frames are attractive, the opening and closing goes smoothly and there is no draftiness in your rooms anymore. However, the process of getting there is dreaded by many homeowners and not only because of the investment required, but also because of the many decisions that need to be made. One of the most important and most stressful of these decisions is picking the best windows – here are some things to know and to consider to make the choice easier.

The Glass

Colorado is known for its hot summers and cold winters, both being extremes that require well-insulating windows. To make sure that the summer heat will not transform your home into a suffocating sauna and that the winter cold will not lend any of its chill to your building interior, buy the highest-rated, multi-pane windows that you can get. The best solution is triple-pane windows that use inert gas between the panes to provide even more protection from wide exterior temperature variations, but double-pane windows with panes separated with air are also better than single glazing.

Today you can also choose tinted panes for more protection from the sun’s rays and enhanced energy-efficiency.

The Frame

Castle Rock windows come in many styles and the choice of materials is also wide. The frames made from solid wood are the most expensive and the most attractive, but not necessarily the most durable (they are sensitive to developing rot, so they are not recommended for humid areas); aluminum and wood-clad aluminum are suitable for any geographical area, but they are not the best in terms of thermal insulation, while vinyl and fiberglass are among the most affordable and most durable materials and are available in colors and textures that replicate natural wood.

Castle Rock windows

Maintenance Needs

Castle Rock windows solutions vary in terms of their maintenance needs as well. Wood frames are the most maintenance-intensive of them all, requiring regular inspections, cleaning, repair and the application of special coatings to protect the material from the harmful effects of solar radiations, rodent and insect attacks, moisture and the shrinking and expansions caused by temperature fluctuations. Vinyl and fiberglass frames are at the other end of the range – there is not much that can damage these materials, so all they need is thorough cleaning every once in a while.

The Style

The appearance of your building is largely determined by the windows on it. A classic building, for example, would look horrible with plain white vinyl windows, so the best windows in this case would be either solid wood windows or synthetic frames that replicate the appearance of wood. To be sure that the style of your window frames works with your building style, evaluate the available products and pick the shade and the texture that is the most suitable. The color of your windowpanes is also important – choosing a grey or brown tint can make an incredible difference in terms of the overall appearance of your building.

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Does Paint Color Have an Effect on the Paint Quality?

There is an important question that every homeowner has to ask when considering painting their home: does paint color have an effect on the paint quality, and if so, what is it?

Paint quality can naturally vary greatly depending on the chemicals used in the paint’s manufacturing process and the ratio between solid and liquid substances. Also, if you’re really interested in finding better quality paint, it’s a good idea to look for healthier paint with a lower VOC content and fewer filler ingredients.

But does paint color have an effect on the paint quality? The color, given by the paint’s pigment, can vary depending on how the manufacturer has mixed the pigments and how much the ratio of the pigment per binding substance might be. Let’s take a closer look at all these factors, and see what other variables might exist that would cause pigments to play a smaller or larger part in determining exterior paint quality.

paint quality

How the Pigment Is Used

As you might already know, exterior paint is made up from a binder, a liquid solvent which tends to evaporate after the job is completed, and the pigments necessary for the paint to adopt a specific color.

Pigments are finely grounded materials that are mixed with binders. The chemical structure of the binders allow them to hold pigment particles together, and then bind them to the surface once the liquid solvent has evaporated and the paint has dried off. As you might imagine, therefore, the quality of the paint will depend not only on the quality of the binder, but also on the type of material used for the pigment.

Of course, in terms of durability it will matter less what type of pigment is being used, if the binder is more consistent and present in higher concentration. To give the example of latex, water-based paint, the paint products that are available at the lower end will typically have about 20% solid and 80% liquid content, which means the pigment will not easily take root once the paint dries. However, if you opt for better quality latex paint, that ratio can improve, with up to 35% for solid binders and pigments, and only 65% water.

The Pigment’s Very Real Effect on Quality

So how does the pigment quality affect the paint? Based on what we have mentioned so far, you can probably already guess.

The main issue will be one of durability. Lower quality pigment will tend to lose its color and fail to bind as well as a superior quality product. The paint will stain more easily, and it will be affected by UV rays and rainfall much more. The result will be that your home will need a new coat of paint much sooner than expected, which will translate into having to pay more money on paint overall.

You also might have to add additional coats of paint to get the desired color consistency, which means you have to spend a lot of money anyway. If you chose a slightly more expensive paint, you might even have to pay less, and you’ll get the quality you’re looking for.

When considering the question, “does paint color have an effect on the paint quality,” the points presented above are pointed out by house painters Highlands Ranch experts on a regular basis, and most of them will recommend that you just opt for a better quality pigment.