Home Builder Developer - Interior Renovation and Design

Are you thinking about building or buying a cat patio?

An easy way to get inspired is to take a tour of catios. Two groups devoted to protecting felines and wildlife, theFeral Cat Coalition of Oregon and the Audubon Society of Portland, have organized the 2nd Annual Catio Tour in the Portland metro area from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 6 ($5 suggested minimum donation, registration required at feralcats.com).

During the self-guided tour, pet owners will hear that free-roaming cats can get into a lot of trouble and housebound cats can get bored without an enclosed outdoor space where they can run, play out hunting instincts and snooze.

A guidebook has photos and construction information of the nine unique catios on the tour (watch a video). None of this year's catios was on the 2013 tour, giving last year's 700 tour goers new styles to see, says Karen M. Kraus of the Feral Cat Coalition of Oregon and an advocate of the Cats Safe at Home campaign.

The Feral Cat Coalition of Oregon and others offered the Oregonian's Pet Talk's writer Monique Balas these tips on building a catio:

Join the conversation at Homes & Gardens of the Northwest onFacebook or in the comment section below at http://www.oregonlive.com/hg

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Tips on building a catio: Fresh air, toys, litter box

Marble and Granite Countertops Morristown NJ NjMarble.com
Artistic Marble and Granite Surfaces is a premier supplier fabricator of kitchen counter tops, bathroom vanity tops, jacuzzi and fireplace surrounds, as well as other products for residential...

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Marble and Granite Countertops Morristown NJ NjMarble.com - Video

By Anna Marie Fanelli

Move over granite theres a new favorite in town. Quartz is quickly taking the top spot for kitchens, baths, laundry rooms countertops and even fireplace surrounds. One of the hardest surfaces on earth, quartz countertops withstand the bumps and bangs of dishes, pots, and pans, as well as resists scratches, stains and spills.

1. What are quartz countertops made of?

Unlike natural stone slabs, most quartz countertops are engineered. Theyre made from a primary ingredient of ground natural quartz thats combined with polymer resins to bind it. The end result is an amazingly durable surface that offers color and design flexibility.

2. Quartz versus granite: Which performs better?

Cambria quartz in Brentwood.

Engineered quartz is inherently nonporous, making it resistant to stains and scratches. How does 99.9 percent bacteria free sound? Thats another bonus to being nonporous. The resin content of engineered quartz makes it impact resistant as well. Granite, a natural stone, will crack under pressure if faced with a hard blow.

3. What kind of design options are there for quartz?

Whether your kitchen style is traditional, modern or eclectic theres a quartz color to suit every project. By adding pigments to the quartz and resin mix, manufacturers can offer a dazzling array of color and texture options that would otherwise be impossible with 100 percent natural stone. For added visual pop, some products also contain small amounts of recycled glass or metallic flecks.

4. Where is quartz best used?

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5 Common Questions About Quartz Countertops Answered

By Tony Burchyns

tburchyns@timesheraldonline.com @tonyburchyns on Twitter

As federal, state and local officials Wednesday continued to assess the damage from Sunday's earthquake, Chip Carter of North Bay Cabinets & Countertops in Vallejo found a way to laugh about his shattered store windows.

Though Carter has had to board up broken windows that he said will cost thousands of dollars to replace, the Vallejo resident has added humor to his plywood situation with hand-painted slogans such as "Voted Best Boarded Up Showroom", "Come In, Buy Something or Donate" and "Come in, Not Covered by Insurance".

"This is a bad time, all this stuff is damaged, so I might has well have fun with this stuff," Carter said Wednesday, adding he expected it would take him months to make repairs to his business at 1515 Solano Ave. "What's there to laugh about nowadays? We're all in trouble from that quake. So let's have some fun."

Part of the reason for his creativity was to ward off graffiti, he said. But he also wanted to use humor to draw attention to his store, which remains open for business.

"I was thinking, 'I ought to do something with the plywood because pretty soon it is going to get graffitied," Carter said. "Everyone's found it funny and what that does is bring in customers."

Meanwhile, Federal Emergency Management Agency personnel accompanied state and local officials Wednesday in inspecting buildings and infrastructure in Vallejo. FEMA is still in the process of determining whether to declare a federal emergency in Napa and Solano counties following Sunday's 6.0-magnitude earthquake the largest to hit the Bay Area in 25 years. On Tuesday, the Solano County Board of Supervisors and the Vallejo City Council officially confirmed their states of emergency.

As of Wednesday afternoon, 155 buildings in Vallejo had been yellow-tagged for partial use, city officials said. Eleven have been red-tagged as unsafe to occupy. Also, about 10 Mare Island businesses still hadn't yet returned to full operations.

On Mare Island, crews continued demolishing quake-damaged chimneys on historic officers' mansions on Walnut Avenue. Mare Island developer Lennar Mare Island, which owns the homes, has pledged to work with the city to address future plans for fixing the damaged structures.

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Quake-damaged Vallejo store gets creative

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 26 (UPI) -- A very pregnant Hayden Panettiere revealed she and fianc Wladimir Klitschko are expecting a baby girl during Monday night's Emmy Awards.

"I can't wait for her to come out," the Nashville star told Giuliana Rancic, prompting her to probe, "It's a girl?"

"I think I just said that, didn't I?" Panettiere said. "I have to shop. I want to go shopping, I want to paint the room ... I'm working with my amazing interior decorator, Ben Vandiver, who did my house in Nashville. He's trying to do something that she can grow up in and you don't have to change everything."

As for the name, the actress shared she and Klitschko are "still working on it but we have some options."

"We have to make sure that it is American and Ukrainian all at the same time," she said.

Panettiere's comments come one week after she confirmed her pregnancy while completing the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. The actress and Klitschko have been engaged since October 2013.

2014 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

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Hayden Panettiere reveals baby's gender at the Emmys

Lorien Myerson

ETSU made many changes to its campus during the summer, many of which revolve around the utilization of the new space available in the parking garage, as well as other existing facilities around campus.

ETSU has one of the most beautiful campuses in the nation and as you can see it just keeps getting better, SGA Vice President Zack Sholes said. Ive always been able to take pride in this campus as a student.

Some improvements noted include the installation of HVAC into Dossett residence hall, the renovation of West Hall, renovation of the locker rooms and weight rooms in the Mountain State Health Alliance Athletics Center, and the widening of the pedestrian side walk near the amphitheater.

The summer is a great time for change at a college campus, said David Collins, vice president for finance and administration. This is like our house, we have a cycle of maintenance and during the summer there is a low enough amount of foot traffic that we can renovate and improve the interiors and exteriors of buildings we normally could not.

Collinss estimates that every residence hall room has been renovated within the past 10 years.

One of the major ongoing renovations is the resurfacing of the MSHA Athletics Center roof.

Multiple leaks in the roof brought the need for improvement to ETSU staffs attention and funding was received from the state of Tennessee to enable this improvement.

Pretty much, the Monday after graduation, we started work across campus, especially on the Mini-Dome roof, and it looks like it will be completed this November, Collins said.

Construction on the Fine and Performing Arts Center is expected to begin in the near future with the preferred location across North State of Franklin in close proximity to the Scott M. Niswonger Digital Media Center.

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ETSU makes additions to campus

Theres Money in the Middle

Welcome to what economists now call the middle skills jobs gap, where theres a dire need for people to fill jobs that require workers with more than a high school diploma but less than a four-year college degree.

Some 69 million people work in middle-skills jobs, representing about 48 percent of the U.S. labor force. That about squares with South Carolina, wheremiddle-skills jobs account for half of all jobs, according to figures from the S.C. Department of Employment and Workforce.

And yet, as baby boomers retire, the middle is also shrinking. According to the Harvard Business Review, as many as 25 million, or 47 percent, of all new job openings from 2010 to 2020 will fall into the middle-skills range.

In other words, theres a great demand for people to fill solid, reliable and well-paying jobs that only require a high-school degree and some additional training of one to two years.

At Midlands Tech, a one-year certificate program runs an average cost of $5,000 for tuition and books; the cost is about $7,500 for a year and a half diploma program, and about $10,000 for a two-year associates degree. Scholarship assistance may be available through either a federal Pell grant (about $5,500 a year) depending on need or S.C. Lottery Tuition Assistance ($2,000), which is available to most applicants. Hot Fields: Health Care, Advanced Manufacturing, IT and Energy Midlands Technical College President Sonny White says there are as many as 12,000 jobs in the Midlands in four cluster areas of health care, advanced manufacturing, information technology and energy.

The boom in middle-skills jobs is reflective of what has long been an economic reality: a four-year college degree no longer guarantees a job. Thats part of the reason, White says, why 80 percent of his students start at age 25 or older. Theyve either gone to college and quit or stuck it out and found their diploma just didnt have that much purchasing power in the modern job market.

Among the top middle-skills jobs in the Midlands, White cites the boom in information technology jobs, particularly ones necessary to Columbias booming insurance industry.

A job as a web developer, network analyst or network administrator requires a two-year associates degree, and generally pays between $35,000 and $100,000 annually. The job prospects are outstanding in our area, White says.

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Windows to New Worlds

Carpet White Plains NY | Area Rugs | Premier Flooring
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Carpet Performance Counts on the Quality Installation
Carpet Performance Counts on the Quality Installation. Are you a good do-it-yourself-ers? Better not depend on it! Installing carpet needs a special skill. It is not a lay-and-go method. Correct...

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