Decorating Glass Entry Doors Or French Doors With Adhesive-Free Window Film

Tired of people peeking through your glass doors to see if you're home? Want to make your glass doors more secure from just anyone seeing inside? With adhesive-free decorative window film you can add privacy, security, and beauty with ease and little expense. Whether you want to just obscure a bad view while still letting in light, fully cover your glass, or just add a little flair to your door, static cling vinyl film has a design that is right for you.

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With partial privacy window film designs in etched glass, stained glass, or frosted colors you can obscure the view while still being able to see outside. Window film that has either a see-through background or see-through elements is great to accomplish this task. Etched glass designs such as Doral, Ritz, and Monte Carlo are white frosted films with see through elements which adds privacy while being able to peek outside. Stained glass designs such as Biscayne and Grapevine have see-through backgrounds, adding a dash of floral elegance to your glass. These designs still allow you to see outside while letting in softened light.

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Frosted Deco Tint designs have a partial privacy line of films which will add some security while adding a splash of chic with colors like Ocean Blue, Mint Green, Ruby Red, Golden Yellow and Sandstone to name a few. Partial Privacy Deco Tint films are transparent so you can still see outside but the view is less distinct.

If you're looking for the most privacy and security a full coverage design would be right for you. Austin, Eden, and Everleaf are a few of our etched glass films that are offered in a large variety of sizes and with their white frosted design will go with any décor adding subtle elegance. Mandalay and Napa full privacy stained glass films and privacy Deco Tint designs add beautiful color with the maximum security.

Want to simply dress up a boring glass front door or French door? Try beautiful window film accents such as centerpieces, corners, and borders! You can make your doors unique and gorgeous by adding a simple centerpiece such as Naples, Biscayne, or Grace. Dress your door up a little more by including elegant corners or borders.

The best thing about adhesive-free window film is that it is easy to apply and easy to remove. You don't have to buy new doors, glass, or worry about ruining your glass as with adhesive window film. Adhesive-free window film is also reusable! Easy to trim and clean, you can't go wrong with these static cling do-it-yourself window films.

Decorating Glass Entry Doors Or French Doors With Adhesive-Free Window Film

Please visit http://www.WindowFilmAndDecals.Com to see our large variety of decorative window films!

http://www.windowfilmanddecals.com is a business that focuses on high quality, affordable, and easy to use window and wall decor. We focus on those busy families and individuals that want beautiful and elegant decor that doesn't take hours or cost a fortune. We sell adhesive-free decorative window film that is do-it-yourself, removable, and reusable, Our wall decals are precut, easy to apply, remove, and reuse without leaving a sticky residue behind. The children's wall murals we offer are made with SureStrip so they are easy to apply and remove. Beautiful, fast, easy, and affordable!

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Finding the Right Exterior Window Shutters

Exterior window shutters can be used as decorative additions to your house. They can also be used to keep out the light, heat and noise.

exterior doors for home

Comparing Exterior Window Shutters

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When you start looking for exterior window shutters you will soon find that there are many different types of shutters. Some are used for functional purposes while others are used as decoration only.

Decorative exterior window shutters tend to be made of wood or faux wood. These are usually attached to the side of the exterior windows and painted to match the trim or the door of the house. These shutters consist of one panel on each side of the window. These panels does not open or close, but remain affixed to the side of the window. These are often added to houses to increase the curb appeal of the house.

Solid exterior window shutters can look the same as the decorative windows, only they're built to shut. These shutters are made of wood panels. Many of them also contain decorative outside panels to add a little pizzazz to the shutter. These shutters are very effective at keeping out the cold in the winter and the heat in the summer.

Roll-down metal shutters and Bahama shutters are two types of exterior window shutters that are used as emergency shutters. These shutters are not used on a daily basis because they block all sunlight from the house. They also don't keep out the heat because that's not what they're meant to do.

Emergency exterior window shutters are used when a massive storm such as a hurricane or a tornado is en route. These shutters are made of sturdier materials such as metal or steel and they are not attractive. However, they will prevent your windows from breaking during a natural disaster. This will keep you and your family safer.

Shutters To Go in or Out?

So how do you know if you need interior or exterior window shutters? For starters, you don't have to choose one or the other. People who have exterior shutters also have interior shutters. Each type of shutter serves a different purpose.

As we discussed, outside shutters are primarily used for decoration and protection from wild storms. Some of them are also used to insulate the house. Inside shutters are used solely to protect the house from the elements and to create an element of privacy in the home.

Some people find outside shutters very unattractive, but they may like the look of inside shutters. The nice thing about both inside and outside shutters is that they can be used in conjunction with other window coverings such as curtains.

Whether you decide to use inside or outside shutters, make sure to do a little research before you buy your shutters. If you shop around, you'll be able to find exterior window shutters at a discount.

Finding the Right Exterior Window Shutters

Choosing the right exterior window shutters for your home can improve it's value and it's beauty. Get tips on interior and exterior shutters by visiting http://www.mywindowtreatmentpro.com/

EXTERIOR DOORS

How to Repaint a Wood Window Or Door Frame

Wooden frames offer an unsurpassed architectural element to any residence. There's been a great push in recent years to upgrade old windows and doors with more energy-efficient models, especially with low-cost vinyl windows, but in many instances - and especially in historic buildings - replacing is not an option.

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Wood needs to be repainted regularly to keep them looking good, and also to protect the window trim and door jambs from rotting over time. If you see exposed wood on your building's windows and doors, know they are dying a slow death to the elements.

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How to Paint Wood Frames

Inspect. Before beginning any repair job, first inspect the frames for excessive rot or water damage. If damage has gone too far, no amount of paint can keep water from causing further damage, and it's probably best to call in a professional to address the causes of water rot. Clean. Remove all old, flaking paint (or stain) from window trim and door jambs with a chemical paint stripper, sander, scraper, or wire-bristled brush. Wipe down with a wet cloth to gather fine dust from sanding. Fill. Using wood putty, fix minor abrasions, nail holes, and pits in the wood. Sand with smooth sandpaper and wipe with a damp cloth. Prime. Good primer helps seal the wood and provides a good bond with the paint. Paint. Once you strip off the old finish, you must repaint quickly as untreated wood can be damaged by the sun, rain or humidity. Avoid dark colors, as they cause excess heating and cooling. Paint all surfaces, but avoid slopping paint onto the door or window hardware. Use care not to let paint bind a window shut. Use oil- or water-based paints designed for outdoor use. Two coats on exterior window and door frames ensures adequate coverage and longer life.

How to Repaint a Wood Window Or Door Frame

Ryan Stinson is a freelance writer with extensive home improvement knowledge (specifically with using window hardware ) and expertise in window and door repair.

EXTERIOR DOORS

Best Window Treatments For French Doors

No matter what window treatment you decide on for your French doors, always bear in mind the need to allow for easy access through the doorway. There are a number of window treatments that work well with French doors, and this article discusses some of these.

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One solution to prevent obstructing the doorway is to place the curtains well above the frame and to have the curtain rod clear of the frame on each side so that the curtains won't get caught in the door. Alternatively you could have curtains or blinds installed on the actual door, so there's no concern about fabric being caught in between the doors.

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If you going to use curtains, you'll want them to be floor length, or you could have them a little longer and have them puddle at the base. You could have them hanging down loosely or have them with tie-backs to each side. The curtains could be finished off with a valance; either scalloped across the top of the curtains or sitting straight a few inches down the curtain for a more formal look.

A pair of Roman magic blinds attached to each door also looks very effective. You could have these on the doors by themselves or you could accentuate them with some side curtains. If you went for this look, the blinds could be in a plain color and the side curtains in a contrasting or complimentary color or pattern.

You could also get some mini blinds that could be fitted on each door, and have those either on their own or complimented with curtains. Another window treatment for French doors is to have one large curtain that covers ¾ of the doors, and then having it tie back so it leaves one of the doors free for easy access.

Best Window Treatments For French Doors

Christine Anderson is a freelance writer who enjoys writing on a variety of home decorating topics. To read her latest blog visit http://www.magicblinds.org for useful information and advice on all types of Magic Blinds.

EXTERIOR DOORS

Exterior Window Shades

Exterior window shades are window treatments that are usually hanged or attached to the exterior of the window. They are usually quite large to cover up multiple windows or at least cover a large area that will serve as protection from the heat of the sun. An external shade or awning can offer shelter for kids to play outdoors. They can be on open air and still be shaded from direct sunlight.

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Shades Using Awnings

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Awnings are much more effective at keeping heat out of the house than curtains or internal shadings, mainly because they stop rays before they even pass through the window. Studies show that it can be as much as 20 Celsius cooler under one than on the Sun, but it takes no college degree to realize that shade is better to stay in than the raging sun at 1 PM in the middle of the summer.

Shapes, Sizes and Types

Exterior shades come in all shapes and sizes, they can be manually operated or electric motor driven but every one of them serves one purpose; they keep your rooms cooler and indirectly electric bills lower. During the summer you can stay under them during a quick rain.

Manually operated models need to be retracted when winds get too strong, motorized variations may pull the fabric back if they detect that certain circumstances are not in favor of its longevity.

Not all shades are awnings; you can keep it simple and easy. External shades act like one with the only difference that they are parallel to the window they are on. This solution has its benefits over an awning. These advantages include less time spent on maintenance and a more reasonable space consumption.

The window shades are also available in manually operated and motorized variations that mainly differ in their price and the ease with which they can be operated. The motorized shades are usually advised to be installed in hard to get to windows like large windows that are hanged in the second floor. There is nothing more convenient that an exterior window shade that knows when to go up or down, or one that can be controlled from the comfort of your couch.

Materials

Exterior window shades are usually manufactured using strong fabrics that are weather resistant and durable. The old traditional window protections use wood but with new technologies, the most popular material used to manufacture these shades are vinyl. They are durable, easy to maintain and provides great protection from the sun. Sunscreen panels are also quite popular and shades that have multiple layers of fabric as protection.

Exterior Window Shades

In the end, choosing the right exterior window shades for your home is not that difficult. They are almost like the tradition roman shades you normally install inside your home but only bigger and more durable as they are placed outside of your house. It's also advisable to buy hurricane proof shades just in case of any storms that may occur.

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Exterior Architectural Moldings - How to Pick Your Window Trim and Wall Designs

Looking through a company's set of profiles you may be overwhelmed by the number of choices, and how similar each individual profile looks. At first glance, they do all seem to resemble one another, and it may lead you to thinking that you can pick any profile and stick it anywhere. Well, you can. But before you and your spouse decide to throw bar darts at the printed selection to decide which ones you'll use, read through this and you'll likely re-think, or atleast narrow your choices.

door sweeps for exterior doors

Cornices (also known as Crown Moldings) are usually placed at the intersection of soffits and walls. They provide a "finish" to the top of your wall and can make an otherwise boring-looking corner a focal point. More often they are larger at the top than bottom to give a tapered look.

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Bands are the "chameleons" of moldings. They can be used almost anywhere, but work particularly well in the middle of walls so as to "break" the wall, or along the underside of building joints to mask their presence.

Headers are placed over the top of windows or doors and give them a sturdy sort of look. Often, they are larger and/or a different profile than the trims that run along-side the windows. Some may also contain a drip edge, which is an indent in the bottom of the molding to prevent water from running into the window joint. This helps to prevent water from infiltrating into your home through the window joint (but is not a solution to an improperly installed window!) and causing moisture damage. When compared to Trims and Sills, they protrude furthers and are in between in width.

Trims are used around windows or doors as a surround, or in a similar fashion to bands (the two terms are sometimes used interchangeably). They may run the entire perimeter of the window to give it a simple, clean look, or more commonly just between the Header and the Sill. They are usually flatter and narrower than Headers or Sills.

Sills are specifically designed for the base of windows, to help manage precipitation (such as snow) and protect themselves. When selecting sills in particular, it is prudent to ensure the profile has been designed according to EIFS Council recommendations; that is: "EIFS trim projecting out from the wall's vertical plane should be sloped a minimum rise over run of 6:12 for drainage (ASTM C1397, Standard Practice for Application of Class PB EIFS). The length of the slope must not exceed 300 mm, according to most EIFS manufacturer's specifications." This is particularly useful to note as most manufacturers do not comply with this recommendation. Sills are typically largest in size and protrude from the wall somewhere between Headers and Trims.

Stone Sills meant as a replacement for expensive, heavy concrete sills. Due to EIFS innovation, mouldings can be made which look like stone, but at 10% the weight (and sometimes cost!). Due to the manufacturing process, they can also be made in longer pieces which makes installation cheaper and easier. Architectural moldings may also be finished at the joints much nicer than concrete, to the point you can't even tell they're seperate pieces. Did I mention they're less expensive?

Baseboards may be placed along the termination of the EIFS (which should be well above grade [ground level]). Similar to Cornices, they provide a termination to the EIFS system and hide what may otherwise be an unsightly ending. With the right profile (projecting out from the building, with a drip edge), you may also help divert water away from the foundation of your house.

Pilasters may look like columns embedded in the wall, but are nothing more than vertical mouldings with caps and bases. They are popular at wall corners or at intervals along the wall to provide an illusion of "sturdiness" and are often associated with lavish greek architecture.

Columns are designed to fit around structural poles and posts. They don't do anything in the way of structural support so don't think they're going to hold up the roof over your head, but adding them will certainly make your home more impressive.

Quoins have become so commonplace on houses, it has become fashionable to add them without them serving any real purpose. Quoins will add an air of elegant design to your house by making it look better planned and sturdier.

Keystones may have been the key to holding up bridges and windows in the past, but serve more of a design purpose now than a structural one. Like Quoins, they have become commonplace in modern architecture and serve as a focal point for windows, doors and garages.

As you can see, your selection of moulding will not cause your home to either stand or fall, but can serve important design roles and should be used with a purpose in mind. In the end, it comes down to your own personal taste and what will accomplish the look you want. Don't be afraid to ask for a picture of a previous job with your moulding or 3D rendering on your selection if you are at all unsure of what the finished product will look like. No matter what you decide to go with though, adding exterior architectural mouldings to your home will bolster the essential first impression visitors and potential buyers get of your home.

Exterior Architectural Moldings - How to Pick Your Window Trim and Wall Designs

Jim Schwarznoff is a Construction Project Management student with an emphasis on the building envelope and exterior design. To see some examples of the moldings described in this article or more information on architectural moldings visit http://www.decoramould.com

EXTERIOR DOORS

How to Buy Exterior Window Shades

Exterior window shades may be something you might want to consider if you want to save energy on heating or cooling systems. They are ideal not just for homes but also in business settings. This article will show you some tips and considerations to take when purchasing exterior window shades.

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Solar radiation's heat gain through windows is usually responsible for about half of the air conditioning load during the summer. if there isn't any type of shading available in air conditioned areas such as apartments, offices, lobbies or community rooms, one should really think about applying an effective window shading.

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Before you even start looking for exterior window shades, you should know the basic function of these shades and where they are usually used. Exterior window shades are suitable for a number of areas. These shades are usually appropriate for air conditioned areas without inter shades, tinted glass or blinds; air conditioned areas with windows that are not properly shaded by exterior vegetation, trees or other building; air conditioned community areas and offices.

When searching for the best exterior window shades for your situation, there are a number of things you should consider first. Considerations to take include shading screens, architectural factors, vertical shading devices, roof overhangs, and awnings. Exterior shading should be designed and constructed for appropriate summer solar angles to ascertain successful shading. Tinted film is fragile and therefore should not be applied to spaces where people or things usually come into contact with the existing windows. Exterior shading devices should be made to effectively handle snow loads. Sunshades on south and west facing windows can be quite useful when it comes to enhancing comfort and minimizing the need for air conditioning. Windows made with low-emissivity films are generally priced at around 10 to 15 percent more than standard windows. Also remember that window treatments do not minimize air leakage and infiltration.

Choose your products wisely. For instance, fixed exterior window shadings devices like overhands are usually considered the most practical for small commercial buildings. The optimal length of an overhang will rely on the size of the window and the comparative importance of cooling and heating in the interior space.

How to Buy Exterior Window Shades

Discover where you can find exterior window shades [http://www.blindsforwindows.org/exterior-window-shades] online. Blinds for windows can make all the difference and turn your home from average into extraordinary!

EXTERIOR DOORS

Spring is the Time For Exterior Home Maintenance - Painting, Roofing, Siding, and Window and Doors

In the cold, wet months of winter, it's easy to procrastinate on home improvement and repair projects. Exterior tasks simply aren't as feasible. But now that it's spring, you need to get those pesky problems taken care of-before they get any worse!

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Roofing

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If your roof is deteriorating, or allowing water to penetrate into your home, you need to have it assessed by a professional roofer immediately. The stakes are high when it comes to roofing repair because if you wait too long or have it installed improperly you could end up with damage to the insulation, drywall, paint, furniture, and everything else that's under your roof!

Signs you need new a roof can include:

Curled up shingles Asphalt worn off the shingles Loose or missing shingles Cracked shingles Spots on your interior ceiling Black or green streaks The age of your roofing

When it comes to protecting your home and family, professional roofing contractors are a must. Not only can they accurately evaluate the state of your existing roof, but they also have the skills and experience to install your roof properly.

Windows and Doors

Windows and doors are the gateways to your home; however, many people don't realize the importance of maintaining and replacing these fittings. If a window or door is old or damaged, it needs to be replaced. Old windows leak heat and air-conditioning, raising energy costs, while new thermal windows can help you conserve energy. Broken windows and doors are not only dangerous to your family, but they also leak heating and cooling, allow pests to enter your home, permit moisture to pass through, and can even grow mold and fungus.

Door and window replacement is an easy and relatively hassle-free process. Adventurous DIYers can handle most types of window and door replacement, but using a professional will guarantee correct installation and make the process totally stress-free.

Siding Installation or Replacement

Tired of your old aluminum siding? Sick of scraping and repainting your wood siding every few years? Looking for an energy-efficient house siding solution? Then it's time for siding replacement. With the great selection of siding products available today-including high-tech insulated vinyl and cement fiber, you're sure to get great looks and superior performance out of your new siding!

The two most popular options in house siding today are vinyl and cement fiber. Vinyl siding is hugely popular because it is low maintenance, long-lasting, durable, good-looking, and affordable. Unlike wood siding, vinyl siding won't rot or need painting. A new option in vinyl siding is insulated vinyl, which offers low maintenance and attractive appearance as well as the added benefit of thermal insulation to increase your home's energy efficiency. Cement fiber siding, a newer exterior siding material, is made from compressed concrete and wood fiber. It has the strength and longevity of cement and the appearance of wood. Cement fiber siding is extremely durable and offers the beauty of wood siding without all the maintenance. And, although cement fiber is more expensive than vinyl, it can easily last the lifetime of your home, making it a fantastic value over the long term. Contact your local siding contractor to learn more about the options available for upgrading your siding.

Exterior Painting

When your house paint is starting to flake, peel, chip, or just look dull, it affects the whole appearance of your home-and it also leaves your house exposed to damage! You need to call a professional house painter today. They'll be able to correctly prepare the surfaces, repair damage, and apply paint to get your home looking great again.

Many homeowners don't realize that house paint is about more than aesthetics: the paint is there to shield your house from the elements and environmental dangers, not just to look pretty! Exterior paint is designed to safeguard your home from UV rays, mold, moisture, and even insects. However, when the paint starts to wear off, it no longer fulfills these roles, leaving your house vulnerable! That's why it's crucial to keep your house paint in good repair, and to have your home promptly repainted when the paint does begin to wear off.

So if winter weather has kept you from going through with exterior home repairs, now is the time to get them fixed. The longer you put off home improvements like window replacement or a new roof, the more likely it is that your house will develop real (and expensive) problems. As with most things, an ounce of prevention goes a long way! Call your localhome improvement contractor today.

Spring is the Time For Exterior Home Maintenance - Painting, Roofing, Siding, and Window and Doors

Matt Gallo is a home improvement specialist and the Internet marketing manager for Prospect Genius, a leader in online local advertising

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