Portal:Home improvement
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Home improvement is the process of renovating or making additions to one's home. Often, a professional handyman is hired to perform the improvements but, typically, most improvements are done on an amateur DIY basis by the homeowner.
A homeowner can hire a general contractor to oversee a home improvement project that involves multiple trades. A general contractor acts as project manager, providing access to the site, removing debris, coordinating work schedules, and performing some aspects of the work. Sometimes homeowners bypass the general contractor, and hire tradesmen themselves, including plumbers, electricians and roofers. Another strategy is to "do it yourself" (DIY). Several major retailers, such as Home Depot and Lowes, specialize in selling materials and tools for DIY home improvement. These stores even host classes to educate customers how to do the work themselves.
Bob Vila is a well-known author and television host in the home improvement field. Also, the sitcom Home Improvement uses the home improvement theme for comedic purposes.
A smoke detector (or smoke alarm) is a device that detects smoke and issues an alarm to alert nearby people that there is a potential fire. Technically, they could also be described as an active fire protection device that is subject to stringent bounding. Because smoke rises, most detectors are mounted on the ceiling or high on a wall. To avoid the nuisance of false alarms, most smoke detectors are mounted away from kitchens. To increase the chances of waking sleeping occupants, most homes have at least one smoke detector near any bedrooms.
Most smoke detectors work either by optical detection or by ionization, but some of them use both detection methods to increase sensitivity. Smoke detectors may operate alone, be interconnected to cause all detectors in an area to sound an alarm if one is triggered, or be integrated into a fire alarm or security system. Smoke detectors with flashing lights are available for the deaf or hearing impaired. A smoke detector cannot detect carbon monoxide to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning unless it has an integrated carbon monoxide detector. They are usually powered by one or more batteries but some can be connected directly to household wiring.
The term Passive house (Passivhaus in German) refers to the rigorous, voluntary, Passivhaus standard for energy use in buildings. It results in ultra-low energy buildings that require little energy for space heating. A similar standard, MINERGIE-P®, is used in Switzerland. The first Passivhaus buildings were built in Darmstadt, Germany, in 1990, and occupied the following year. In September 1996 the Passivhaus-Institut was founded in Darmstadt to promote and control the standard. Since then more than 6,000 Passivhaus buildings have been constructed in Europe, most of them in Germany and Austria, with others in various contries world-wide.
Despite the name, the standard is not confined only to houses. Several office buildings, schools, kindergartens and a supermarket have also been constructed to the standard. Although it is mostly applied to new buildings, it has also been used for refurbishments.
A window is an opening in the wall of a building that allows light and air to enter a room and people to see out. At previous times in history they were merely small oval or square holes in the walls. They are usually glass or a strong, transparent plastic. The word was first recorded in the early 13th century, and originally referred to an unglazed hole in a roof. Evidence of glass window panes in Italy dates back nearly 3000 years.
Various types of windows were invented that allowed light but not weather to pass into a building: mullioned glass windows, paper windows, and plates of thinly sliced marble. In England, glass became common in the windows of ordinary homes only in the early 17th century. Modern-style floor-to-ceiling windows became possible only after the industrial glass making process was perfected. Modern windows are customarily large rectangles or squares with glass surfaces. Churches traditionally have stained glass windows.
Credit: commons:User:Bergsten
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