Home Builder Developer - Interior Renovation and Design

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A recent kitchen remodel has taken on a full transformation. When dealing with a kitchen from the '60s, it's quite evident that wall-to-wall carpet, dark wood cabinets and laminate countertops were outdated. When assessing a kitchen for remodel, consider keeping some key elements if they are in good condition.

In this kitchen remodel project, the existing backsplash tile of white with a micro gray pin-dot and a combination of white and black appliances were elements in the kitchen that were going to stay. Transforming this kitchen from dark and dreary to light and bright was the goal to be accomplished.

The decision to go with a white stock cabinet was an easy choice. This would definitely make a noticeable impact to the 1960's kitchen, transforming the look from dark to light. Choosing a traditional raised-panel cabinet door style would stay with the look and style of the interior of the home.

The next step in the kitchen remodel is choosing floor tile and granite for the countertop. Floor tile definitely makes a huge impact to any kitchen, allowing the space to look larger without the heaviness of carpet. The dark wall-to-wall carpet was outdated and had taken a beating from traffic entering the kitchen being that the entrance into the home was the door off the driveway. Ceramic tile would withstand high traffic from an outside entrance.

In order to hide dirt that could be tracked into this area, a tile was chosen with heavy gray veining. The gray

Now that the white cabinet and gray floor tile were chosen, the task of selecting granite for the countertop was much easier. Keeping in mind that the existing white and gray dot backsplash tile would be staying and was not part of the remodel, searching for a gray tone granite slab that would work with the tile and provide a contrast to the new white cabinets and backsplash tile was the mission. Investing in granite countertops is money well spent, which creates a huge impact in any kitchen remodel.

Here are some guidelines to consider when remodeling a kitchen:

* Assess the kitchen space to see if there are existing elements that can be reused.

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Goal: Make your kitchen lighter and brighter

FITCHBURG -- Students in the cabinetmaking program at Monty Tech have been busy since school started making and installing new cabinetry and countertops for the Oak Hill Fire Station.

The project was started last year before school ended, according to Mike Dion, cabinetmaking teacher. The cabinets are made of maple plywood interior with a laminated exterior finish, and the countertops are solid. They were installed recently in the kitchen and pantry areas on the second floor of the building, which was constructed in 1900.

Dion estimates about 1,500 hours of labor, both in the school and at the site, have gone into the project. Now that the cabinets and countertops are installed, Monty Tech masonry crews will begin installing the tile work.

"They are doing a fabulous job. We all do construction work on the side, so we know what is involved in this kind of project," said Lt. David Gravel, a member of the Fitchburg Fire Department who works at the Oak Hill site. "This work is long overdue. The building was built over 100 years ago, and I think that's when the cabinets went in."

Lisa A. Wong, Fitchburg mayor, stopped by the fire station later in the day to see the work and thank the students.

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Students finish cabinetry at Fitchburg fire station

ChristmasVille memorabilia on display Tuesday during the kick off breakfast.

adouglas@heraldonline.com

ROCK HILL ChristmasVille organizers unveiled this years theme and announced new events for the holiday festival at a kickoff breakfast on Tuesday.

Fireworks will be added to the traditional Grand Finale, and a carousel will be added to the weekends Main Street activities.

The Rock Hill tradition officially starts Nov. 29 with The Lighting of The Village on Main Street.

The opening ceremonys music will keep with this years theme: ChristmasVille Rocks, a nostalgic celebration with sounds and sights from the 1950s.

Santa will make a special entrance two days before the opening event at 9:30 a.m. on the lawn next to downtowns parking garage.

Last year, ChristmasVilles Santa parachuted in. Organizers say this years Santa appearance will be just as exciting but details are a secret, for now.

ChristmasVille event-goers will see other additions this year including holiday gift markets in the Old Town Market Hall that is under-construction on Caldwell Street and at the Palmetto Room on East Main Street.

A Divas through the Decades Christmas carol showcase, also a new 2012 event, is scheduled for three nights at the Old Town Bistro with singer Sheila Caldwell.

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ChristmasVille organizers unveil theme, new events for holiday festival

PEORIA -- Any big event has the potential to tie up traffic or make parking a nightmare, but that was not the case at the Museum Block opening.

Visitors tell us they're pleasantly surprised at the parking situation downtown.

The new underground garage is now open and available for daily parking.

Streets surrounding the museum block have also been rebuilt to have pull in spots.

Visitors said these additions are making their experience less stressful.

Visitor Mary Cameron said, "Parking was fine. There's not really anything too crazy over here. There's something else going on by the Gateway building so I thought that was part of this so I parked way far out of the way for no reason. There's no line, everything's good."

Visitor Mindy Gudat said, "It wasn't bad. I didn't look to see where to go so I came in the back entrance but it looks like the parking garage is going to be plenty of space."

To use the garage - you have to pay $6 for the day of 75 cents per half hour.

You'll also have to start paying to use the pull-in spots starting Monday.

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Museum Visitors Say Downtown Parking Not A Problem

Norse latches are designed for concealed installation in sectional flooring. Multiple configurations of latches and receivers are possible to suit many applications, and offer numerous advantages: Exceedingly strong section-to-section compression, with a clamping force of 500 to 550 lbs. Yieldable, with forgiveness of installation tolerances to 1/4 inch due to a unique spring loading mechanism. Allows for multiple installations including: recessed in from beneath the floor; mortised directly into the center (width) of the flooring sections; mortised into the center (width) of thin floors (5/8 in.) when metal-reinforced edging is used; and beneath raised flooring mounted on vertical supports to create a raceway for pipes, wires, etc. Can be installed in flooring as thin as 5/8 in. Can be specified with upward-dimpled flanges for flush screw head installation, no protusion. Uses a standard hex key for rapid operation (3/4 turn) when compared to installation using standard fasteners (screws). Can be operated from above the flooring via a small (5/16 in. dia.) key hole if desired. Operable by inexperienced installers with minimal instruction.

Engineering assistance is always available for optimal latch and receiver selection.

About Norse Latches Since 1960, Norse Inc. has engineered and manufactured America's most versatile latching systems with literally thousands of configurations possible. Sales are worldwide. Proprietary spring-loaded latching mechanism provides high clamping forces from 200 to over 500 pounds. Latches are vibration proof, surface mounted or mortised, remotely operable, gangable, with steel construction and various plating options. Sealed units available. For wood, metal, plastic and other applications including: military enclosures, aircraft emergency exit ramps, hurricane shutters, security shutters for seasonal home closure, electronic cabinets, exhibits and displays, machine enclosures, pre-fab structures, pre-fab furniture, windows, doors, sectional walls, sectional flooring, kiosks, store fixtures, industrial hoods, sealed cases, shields, clamping devices, stair rails, quick release machine guards, wall attachments, stage sets and props, shipping crates, sealed containers, display and instrument cases, access panels, refrigerator rooms, saunas, camper caps, trailer covers, solar panels, countertops and conference tables, accent columns, etc.

For further information please contact: Chris Langer at Norse, Inc. 860-482-1532 or email: chris@norse-inc.com

NORSE, Inc. 100 South Road Torrington, CT 06790 Toll Free: 800-546-1532 Overseas: +00 (1) 860-482-1532 Email: chris@norse-inc.com Internet: http://www.norse-inc.com

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Latches for Rapid, Secure Assembly of Sectional Flooring

DURHAM, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

The New York City Department of Transportation (NYC DOT) recently completed the installation of nearly 1,600 LED luminaires that light walkways and grassy areas in Central Park. The new luminaires from Spring City Electrical feature Cree (CREE) XLamp XP-G LEDs in each fixture and were produced using an advanced light engine from Heatron. DOT officials estimate the new LED lighting will reduce energy usage by 62 percent and deliver annual maintenance savings of nearly $30,000 compared to metal halide lighting.

The NYC DOT initiated the project in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) GATEWAY demonstration program to improve the park environment for local citizens and visitors and to significantly lower energy and maintenance expenses for the city. Located in the heart of Manhattan, Central Park presented a unique lighting challenge, said James Brodrick, DOE Lighting Program Manager. For walkways in general, its important to measure both horizontal and vertical illuminance. The former to monitor available light for paths and to determine how much is distributed onto the adjacent grass and the latter to determine whether the illumination is sufficient to identify approaching pedestrians.

Addressing the challenge head-on, Spring City Electrical joined forces with Heatron and Cree to deliver the new fixtures. The luminaires, which Spring City projects to have an estimated 75,000-hour lifespan, are being placed on existing 9-ft tall cast iron posts and are spaced about 80 ft apart along the paved walking trail.

Spring Citys engineering capabilities and old world craftsmanship are well represented in the Central Park LED installation, said Chris Rosfelder, vice president sales and marketing, Spring City Electrical. We are very pleased with the performance of Crees XP-G LEDs in our luminaire systems. Cree LEDs are consistently among the highest performing LEDs in the industry. And Heatron is really the glue that brings us all together their OEM leadership enables us to leverage the best LED technology in the industry.

About Spring City

Spring City, an industry leader of decorative LED Luminaires and cast lampposts, maintains a large design library and advanced data processing providing you full submittal drawings and specifications in minimum time. With Spring City, you can choose from the country's widest range of traditional styles or create your own custom designs. Spring City can maintain tight project timing and stringent quality control over every single step of your job, from initial preparation all the way to final finishing. For more information, please visit http://www.springcity.com

About Heatron

Heatron, Inc., a leader in LED lighting integration, helps OEMs reduce costs, speed time to market and ensure superior quality and performance, by leveraging the engineering disciplines of optical, electrical and mechanical design, with expertise in thermal management. Heatron offers various levels of integration ranging from design and manufacture of component level LED light engines to turnkey lighting solutions designed for a range of uses including indoor and outdoor lighting, healthcare, transportation, entertainment and industrial applications.

For more information about Heatron, Inc. its products and representatives visit http://www.heatron.com.

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New York City’s Central Park Completes LED Lighting Installation to Lower Energy Usage, Reduce Maintenance and Improve ...

Taipei, Taiwan GlacialLight, a division of the experienced technology manufacturer, GlacialTech Inc., has announced two new AC-TRIAC Dimmable LED Down Lights, GL-DL04DL and GL-DL04DH, which have now joined the company's popular range of LED lighting products. The new GL-DL04DL and GL-DL04DH down lights are the first entries into the GL-DL04D Capella Series.

The difference between the two down lights is that the GL-DL04DL has the input of 100-120V AC and the GL-DL04DH has the input of 200-240V AC.

The GL-DL04DL and GL-DL04DH consume only 9W and come with a TS10P-30L/H (AC-TRIAC 100-120V AC / 200-240 V AC) dimmable driver, which allows lighting to be adjusted to fit the preferred lighting scenarios.

These 9W LED down lights are ideal replacements for older, less-efficient light sources. Their pleasant natural illumination is great for all interior lighting applications making them the obvious choice for any locations that require area illumination. Such illumination can transform a gloomy office into an enjoyable one, or make a store space even more welcoming to clients.

The GL-DL04D Series down lights provide area illumination on demand with their wide 120 beam angle. Typical applications for the 114 mm wide down lights include hospitals, airports, offices, supermarkets, stores, and most other commercial, and retail locations.

GlacialLight designed these products with cost saving for the users in mind. The GL-DL04DL's and GL-DL04DH's long lifetime LED technology slashes maintenance and replacement costs, with a lifetime of 30,000 hours, more than six times longer than traditional fluorescent lamps. The increased energy efficiency of LEDs also helps to reduce energy expenses.

The GL-DL04D Series comes in 3 color temperatures from warm white to cool white (3000K, 4000K, and 6000K). The GL-DL04DL and GL-DL04DH are only 13mm deep, minimizing architectural and interior design issues, and it employs strong but light construction to achieve its low weight of just 235g.

GlacialLight with the environment and safety of its customers in mind made GL-DL04DL and GL-DL04DH completely RoHS compliant. The products do not contain mercury or other hazardous chemicals nor do they emit harmful UV or IR radiation, making them far more eco-friendly than traditional lighting fixtures and technologies. Even the product packaging is recyclable.

GlacialLight supports the new GL-DL04D Series with a full two year warranty. GlacialLight is delighted to begin offering this new and innovative down light product to all of its existing partners, and to potential new customers around the world (except US). Specifications

Product Features of DL04DL DL04DH Dimmable LED Down Lights Slim and low profile design For indoor use only Power usage of only 9W AC-TRIAC dimmable 6x longer lifespan than fluorescent lamps: 30,000 hours RoHS compliant, No Mercury, IR or UV light radiation 2 year manufacturer's warranty

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Dimmable 9 W LED Downlights come bundled with drivers.

This is going to sound like heresy, but the Green Bay Packers seriously need to build a dome.

No, this is not a complaint about the freezing cold that comes in December and January. Rather this is a plea for the chance to see something ridiculously awesome every week. There is nothing quite like watching quarterback Aaron Rodgers when he's indoors.

"It's hard to explain," the league's reigning MVP said after leading the 4-3 Packers to a 30-20 win at St. Louis. "I just always enjoy playing in a controlled environment. I think a lot of it is that we have an athletic team that plays fast and playing inside helps an athletic team."

Aaron Rodgers, pursued by Robert Quinn, looks for a receiver. (Getty)Fair enough, but "enjoy"? Seriously, that's like saying Kim Kardashian "enjoys" attention. On the heels of lighting up the Houston Texans for six touchdowns last week to get Green Bay's season back on the right track, a "focused" Rodgers posted another sensational game by going 30-of-37 for 342 yards and three touchdown passes.

"I would say that I'm focused, not angry," said Rodgers, who lightly disputed a claim from last week by the NBC Sunday Night crew that he was upset before the game against Houston. Some of that may be a matter of semantics. Rodgers admitted being "frustrated" before the game by all the questioning of the team.

"We hadn't been playing well and I knew that it was on me to get us back on track, particularly going into Houston," Rodgers said. "But I wasn't angry and I'll just leave it at that. That was an interesting production meeting. That's all I'll say."

Those nine TD passes and zero interceptions over the past two games are part of a bigger trend. Over Rodgers' past eight indoor games, which include a Super Bowl win over Pittsburgh and a playoff game at Atlanta, Rodgers has completed 201 of 283 passes (71.0 percent) for 2,623 yards, 25 touchdowns and one interception.

Double that and you have a 5,306-yard, 50-touchdown and two interception season.

And yeah, that's only one pick. That came two weeks ago in a stunning comeback win by Indianapolis after the Packers were up 21-3 at halftime Green Bay's only loss in this eight-game span. That run, which includes five games either in the playoffs or against playoff-caliber teams, works out to a rating of 127.9. Thats better than his NFL record rating of 122.5 he compiled last season.

Again, this is done at a time when the defense should have a distinct advantage because of crowd noise and playing on turf. Instead, Rodgers and the Packers have made that football truism into an absurdity.

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Week 7 winners/losers: Packers' Aaron Rodgers putting up monster numbers at indoor stadiums

BEIJING, Oct. 22, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The following is a roundup of the top news stories from China PRnews, Local Partner of NASDAQ OMX Group in China.

2012-10-15 [Source: NVC-lighting]

NVC-lighting Launched a Series of New LED Product

Recently, NVC launched the Feng Jing series of LED indoor lighting products to overcome the small emitting angle defects of the previous LED bulbs. The lighting effect is competitive to the incandescent.

Full-text story in Chinese is available at http://www.prnews.cn/press_release/50235.htm

2012-10-16 [Source: Kong Long Motor]

Higer Hands With the Suzhou Industrial Park Bus Company to Build the 'Ecological Cultivated Demonstration Zone'

Higer Bus Company has a long-term cooperation with the Suzhou Industrial Park Bus Company. More than 100 Higer LNG buses which are energy conservation and environmental protection have been provided for the industrial park, and contributed to build the 'Ecological Cultivated Demonstration Zone'.

Full-text story in Chinese is available at http://www.prnews.cn/press_release/50241.htm

2012-10-16 [Source: S&P Pharmaceutical]

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Top News Headlines of the Week (October 15 - October 19, 2012) From China PRnews

Though not aimed specifically at architects, the Sun Seeker app,developed by the Australian app company ozPDA, offers valuable solar information that makes site visits all the more meaningful. The apps main function is to show sun paths in an overhead view, with sunrise and sunset times, as well as solar angles listed in a detail view. The feature architects will find most valuable is Sun Seekers overlays of the current days solar path, with the solstice sun paths, merged with live views from their smartphone or tablets built-in camera and compass to show augmented 3D views. This can be particularly handy for architects who want to visualize where louvers might be necessary to block harsh low-angle sunlight in the summer months, and where to seek optimal solar gain in winter, without having to run back to the office to start up Ecotect. The next time you find yourself wondering if youll need to spec window shades, seek out this app instead. $5.99$8.99; ozpda.com

For a demonstration of how the app looks on a smartphone, see the video below:

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Sun Seeker