Repairing Parquet Flooring

      Are you living in an older home with parquet flooring?  If so the need may arise, at some point, for you to replace damaged pieces.  In this illustration, the parquet had to be removed due to foundation repairs.  While installing new pieces is fairly simple, the harder part is purchasing the materials--due to the lack of demand for the product, the supply is limited and the cost per square foot is high.
      If you have been on the fence about addressing issues with your parquet floor, you might consider at least purchasing the materials now so that you have what you need to repair your floor for yourself, or when it might be time to move.  As there are different finish colors, you will need to take a floor sample while shopping to get the matching finish.  Below is the after picture with new parquet tiles installed :)

Al's Fair and Square Home Repair, LLC
(214) 302-9693
http://alsfairandsquare.com
alsfairandsquare@gmail.com
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Inexpensive Cabinets

       Have you seen these cabinets at Home Depot?  While both Lowes and Home Depot have a small selection of in-stock cabinets to choose from, these are our favorite.  A beautiful way to keep the budget under control on your kitchen remodel.  Also, don't forget to take advantage of the free kitchen design assistance that both stores offer.  Call or stop by first to make an appointment, and ask what measurements you need to bring with you to the appointment so the designers can draw your kitchen for you.  Want assistance with installing your cabinets or with planning your kitchen makeover?  We can help  :)

                                                                                 Al's Fair and Square Home Repair, LLC
                                                                                 http://alsfairandsquare.com
                                                                                 alsfairandsquare@gmail.com
                                                                                 (214) 302-9693

Faux finishing painting, wall covering, etc.

 
   

       There seems to be a lot of interest in faux finishing now, so Alvin has been working on his techniques.  Home Depot has a selection of Martha Stewart products in their paint department to help you get started.  Also, there are tons of videos online demonstrating the finishes that can be achieved with some practice.  Choices include walls that look like linen, plaster, silk, wood and suede.

   
      If, on the other hand, you decide you would rather have suede walls, than walls that look like suede, this can be done as well.  This is a wall that is covered with suede, with batting behind it.  Alvin has many years' experience with installing upholstered wall covering as well as painting and wall paper.  This wall (which is about twice as long as shown in the picture) took about three days to complete.

     We have been installing a fair amount of crown molding.  Looking for something different?  Here is a piece of crown molding that Alvin finished with the look of marble.

Al's Fair and Square Home Repair, LLC
http://alsfairandsquare.com
alsfairandsquare@gmail.com
(214) 302-9693

Re-building a Deck

 
       Here is a deck that we were recently asked to rebuild.  The first step was to lay out the concrete piers and the joists.  While it may look like not much was accomplished at this stage, this was actually a considerable amount of labor.










     
      As the lumber that had been removed was discarded, we purchased  replacement decking.  The problem we ran into here was that the new
decking was wider than the old decking, due to the old decking shrinking
over time.  As a result, each piece of the new decking had to be trimmed 1/4" lengthwise.  After that, the new decking was simply laced into the old.  Installing the decking and railing went very quickly.  After the final chore of staining the deck, was the end result shown in the picture at the bottom of the page :)




   

Al's Fair and Square Home Repair, LLC
http://alsfairandsquare.com
alsfairandsquare@gmail.com
(214) 302-9693

Improving your home without draining your wallet :)

                                                                                       Would you like to improve your home, but don't have the budget for a bath or kitchen remodel?  Consider rejuvenating another room in your home instead.  In the photos below, you see before and after pictures of a dining room remodel we recently completed.  

          The first step was putting down layers of paper, plastic and wood to protect the floor. Next we removed wallpaper and moldings, then scraped the popcorn off the ceiling.  Re-texturing was then done on the ceiling and on the walls that were covered with wall paper.  New can lights were installed on the ceiling, and set up to work on a dimmer.  

          Next came several steps in the process of installing the crown molding.  It was primed and  painted, then installed.  Nails were then pushed in, and the nail areas filled with spackle.  The crown was caulked where it met the wall, then finally the crown was painted.  Painting prep can often take longer than the painting itself, but it results in a much better job.  The walls and base molding were sanded and caulked as needed prior to painting as well.  Clean up is the final step, and to get the floors clean again sometimes involves the old hands and knees approach.  If you need help bringing your home up to date, feel free to contact us :)

Al's Fair and Square Home Repair, LLC

(214) 302-9693

http://alsfairandsquare.com

alsfairandsquare@gmail.com

Epoxy Flooring

     The garage can be an overlooked area of your home, as guests do not usually see it.  Unfortunately (in some cases), you see it every day.  For a relatively small amount of cash, you can greatly improve this area.  Painting the garage is usually a pretty simple task as there is not much to paint around.  For another great improvement, consider covering the floor with an epoxy coating.  After removing everything from the garage floor, the floor will need to be swept out then cleaned with a chemical that comes with the epoxy kit.  Several hours are then needed to allow the floor to dry thoroughly.  Next, the epoxy can be rolled onto the floor and the confetti that comes with the kit can be sprinkled as you go.  Again, allow a generous amount of time to dry, especially before driving on the floor again.  If you would like help with painting your garage or coating your garage floor, feel free to call/text to (214) 302-9693, email us at alsfairandsquare@gmail.com or visit our website at http://alsfairandsquare.com.

Nifty Gadgets

    We used a few neat items this week that I thought you might like.  We needed to mask off the walls in a hall as we were going to scrape, re-texture and paint the ceiling.  This hand masker has tape attached to the device, so when you unroll the plastic, tape is adhered to one side.  You pull out the desired length of plastic and it is ready to hang.  The next great feature is that the plastic unfolds to a width of about 6 feet, so you are covering a lot of square footage very quickly.  The picture below is the hall with the plastic rolled out.



















     Yes, this gorilla is cute, but there is nothing funny about this tape's adhesion.  A great application for this product is shown in the next picture.  We had masked a doorway, but by the next day some of the blue tape had already started to peel off.  The gorilla tape stuck to the blue tape as well as to the masking paper with paint over-spray on it.  It sticks great to brick as well.  If you will be using this tape very much, it's a good idea to wear gloves--you can literally see the skin on your fingers being pulled up with the tape as you try to un-stick yourself from it.  Need help with your painting project?  Give us a call/text (214-302-9693) or check out our website at http://alsfairandsquare.com.