Choose the Right Doors - Wood Doors

There are a lot of doors in our world. Each doors have their own purpose, ability, usability, style, look and feel etc. Mostly we have to think before install any doors. What is the right door for our house.

When you look for new door, you may have to look for the door that can stand to wind, rain, sun and even intruders. It's hard to find the door that can provide you with all those ability. Well..actually none of doors that have all ability with it. Some doors have some of it while others have rest. So you need to put more than one type of door for your house to ensure you'll guarantee for protecting your family from all. And next problem come with budget you have ...so you have to consider which one is the best type of door. What material they'll make from. And Location that they'll be installed in your house.

Let start with material. What is right one. Let start with...
Wood - mostly doors are made of wood. Doors from wood are strong and look natural. You can pick any of color for you wooden doors. And there's lots of kind of wood like oak, cherry, walnut, mahogany, maple, fir, and pine. Each kind of wood have their own strength hardwood have longest life time. But mostly the hardwood doors are more expensive.

Wood doors they tend to warp, crack, and divide into thin layers after using it for years and later on. Because of sun ray, rain, termite, brackish water, salt water ...and most of the time human errors.

But for now new engineer technology provide stronger door to resist the elements better than earlier versions. Now we cannot find much wood we need for doors. So wood door become more expensive then other materials. Hard to find a great carpenter. Hard to control quality. So there's some other material that use instead of wood ..or look just like wood but stronger!

When looking for prefinished wood doors, look for durable stains and clear finishes. High-gloss sheen offer the best protection for painted doors. Whichever finish you choose, apply it to the top and bottom edges. This helps prevent a wood door from absorbing moisture and swelling. Also look for careful detailing. As a rule, the more intricate the carvings and moldings, and the thicker and wider the stiles and rails, the better the door. (ThisOldHouse)

Next time we'll talk about others kind of doors. Hope you enjoy wood doors, leave a comment if you have one.

Reference :
1. http://www.doorskey.com/how-to-pick-a-front-door.html
2. http://www.wiseconsultant.co.th/2007/articledetail.php?News_ID=23
3. http://www.simplifydiy.com/windows-and-doors/doors/door-materials
4. http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/article/0,,213754-2,00.html
5. http://www.thaibestwood.com/

Image :
1. http://www.fashiondw.com/products/wood.php
2. http://www.china-handles.com/wholesaleproducts/hardware/Interior_door_handle/index.htm

Environment Friendly House

No body question about environment crisis. May be some but almost 99.99% say "yes, I know". Then the next question is how many of us know that there is the way to get out of this crisis.

Environment friendly house become one of the answer. One of the best way to save energy ,water and material using. Some people say that it's hard to build a house with that concept you have to spend more money to use new technology ..new material ,yes but there's always a way out. But if you can save energy ,water you can spend less too! Here come is tip for improving your house become better environment friendly house. And start with what you can afford little by little.

1. Use energy efficient light. Light come first because of frequency using. Compact fluorescent bulbs use 66% less energy and last 5000 hours, ten times longer than a regular (incandescent) bulb. Which means they save you a lot of money.

2. Change your heating and cooling setting. Reduce you water heater temperature and raise you air conditioner temperature from what you use everyday. This will save energy using in that machine.

3. Plug the gaps in your home that allow heat to escape. Install weather-stripping around exterior doors and along thresholds. If the gap at the bottom of a door is high, install a door sweep. Check the joints and insulation on the ducts of you heating/ventilation/air conditioning system. This could save up to 10% on utility bills.

4. Recycle. Make sure you have separate bins or boxes for each kind of waste item in you house. Remember some of them are recyclable. And it's easy for everyone. Educate everyone in your family that oldie can be goodies. You can save the world energy that have to use for destroying waste things.

5. Use no-VOC and low-VOC primers, paints, sealants, and carpet. Volatile Organic Compounds can irritate eyes and throat, cause headaches and fatigue, damage major organs. This save you money before going to see doctor and less people in hospital less energy using.



Next 5 are more advance. But better try it right? You have to invest more that they can save your money over time.

6. Great insulation is the most cost-effective energy saver there is. If you home leaks energy .. all above will be waste. Try to get better attic and your walls insulation. Blowing in cellulose is the best for insulating a closed wall or using other material to prevent your house change temperature due to the weather outside.

7. When you replace old appliances and water heaters, be sure to select models with energy saver guarantee symbol. They use less energy and ensure you save money every year.

8. Install energy ceiling fans. This energy ceiling fan can help heat in winter and cool in summer.

9. Install solar panel - and leave out the batteries. Some rumor that heat from the sun in a day can product us energy for next 100 years! Anyway solar system are too expensive due to the energy in return but new technology of solar system come better every single minute. In next few year we can spend less for solar system. And solar energy will become the most popular energy in next few year.

10. Install geothermal heating and cooling. A geothermal system uses the earth's constant underground temperature to cool and heat your home.



Next 5... are for the world. (What if we're all do things right?)

11. Replace your toilets with "dual flushes". 40% of the water used in a home goes right down the toilet. Dual-flush toilets let you choose whether you need a big or a little flush. This simple choice save gallons of water.

12. Buy green power or offset your carbon. You can buy power that produce by using green power. You can offset the electricity you use in your building, or the emissions from your car, or any flights you take by going online and paying for the creation of an equivalent amount of clean energy. Please visit here NativeEnergy and Carbonfund.

13. When you need to replace the roof, consider a metal roof. They're long lasting, often made of highly recycled material, help to deflect heat in the summer, and are recyclable.

14. If you re-siding your house, do not use vinyl (PVC) siding. No doubt about it. They also happen to be the most toxic substance on the planet. PVC releases deadly gases in fires. For more info please visit HealthyBuilding.

15. Whenever you do renovation work, be sure to buy FSC-certified wood. The Forest Stewardship Council provides independent audits that assure the wood you buy was not stolen from protected lands. In other word you buy wood that less destroy the world. (only in US)

Credit to Commonfire

Better environment come with "I'd better do it now"
For more info please visit http://www.commonfire.org/community/greenwelcome.html

In the next coming Baan Lae Sun Fair 2008 there is a section call "Green Home Effect". It is a competition for designing environment friendly house. Their concept is we consume more and more. So we produce more waste. Green home effect is how we live close to nature. All activities we do have effect to environment. It not just only life style but with everything around you including your house. You can go and see the house design with green home effect during the time of the fair.

Majestec become next option for living next the nature. Save the world and safe yourself. And see you at the Baan Lae Sun Fair 2008.