Home Builder Developer - Interior Renovation and Design

CROSSVILLE The Crossville Chronicle brought home a number of awards from the Tennessee Press Association (TPA) Ideas Contest, including sweeps of best self-promotion of a newspaper and best Internet banner or tile ad categories.

Pauline Sherrer, publisher, said, "I am so proud of our entire newspaper staff, from the advertising and composition staff, to the editorial staff, circulation, classified advertising and bookkeeping departments, mail room/inserters and press room, for their hard work and dedication to promoting our local businesses in a first-class newspaper. We are thankful for the support of our local business and retail community for allowing us to serve the Upper Cumberland region both in the newspaper and online."

The TPA contest included more than 820 entries from 30 newspapers and were judged by the Arkansas Press Association.

The Crossville Chronicle took first, second and third place in the best self-promotion of a newspaper in the non-daily newspaper with 5,000 and greater paid circulation for the Spot on Advertising campaign and Readers' Choice publication. Other awards include:

Second place for best sales promotion for a retailer for McCulley Siding and Windows;

First place, best black and white ad, Brownstone Day Spa;

Second place, best feature page or pages, Breast Cancer Awareness;

Third place, best feature page or pages, Spring Cleaning Time;

First place best 1/4-page or smaller ad, Villa Del Funk;

Second place best furniture and/or appliance ad, Mayberry's Home Furnishings;

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Chronicle brings home TPA Ideas awards

These days, tiles come in all different shapes, sizes and styles, so it's easy to find a look you both like and can afford.

Ceramic and porcelain tiles are really popular because they are within most budgets and are easy to lay and care for. Glass tiles are also low-maintenance and look fantastic, but they're usually expensive. Stone tiles, such as slate, marble and limestone, can be costly too, as well as higher maintenance, and they can vary a lot in thickness, colour and texture.

Mosaic tiles are available in lots of different materials and are perfect for creating a feature wall or splashback, but they're rarely cheap. They come in sheets on a mesh (or paper) and the mesh is supposed to keep the individual tiles evenly spaced - but it doesn't, in my experience, work very well. The number of grout lines means mosaics can also be hard to keep looking good too (depending on where they are and the colour of the grout).

If you're buying tiles online and you haven't seen them in person, make sure you get a sample first because you could end up being disappointed. Of course, you may prefer to buy tiles in store, where you can see what you're getting. Another advantage of buying in store is that you can ensure all the tiles come from the same batch (as long as there's a batch number on the boxes), so they're exactly the same colour and finish.

To work out the number of tiles required, multiply the length by the height of each wall (or part wall) to be tiled (minus the area of any doors, windows, etc) and add them together to get the total area - then remember to allow around 10% more for breakages and wastage. Lots of tiles are sold per square metre and even if they're not, it should say what the price is per square metre - this is the easiest way to work out the cost.

Don't forget to factor in the cost of the tile adhesive and grout, tools, spacers and other accessories. Cutting the tiles can be tricky, but using an electric tile cutter with a water-cooled diamond blade makes it much easier.

The adhesive and grout must be suitable for where you're tiling (not all can be used in showers, for example) and the sort of tiles you're using. I find ready-mixed adhesives and grouts easiest to use, as it can be hard to get it right when mixing up powdered products. Combined adhesives and grouts are particularly useful, especially if the adhesive oozes through the gaps between the tiles - it's much easier to use the same product to grout than to clean out the gaps.

Like all DIY, tiling takes some time and patience to get right, but it will save you a lot of money if you can persevere.

Product of the week

How-to tip

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A very versa-tile look

Microsoft Project, Project Online and Project Server data from Windows 8 App

Phoenix, AZ (PRWEB) - Sensei Project Solutions, Inc. announced today the official launch of the Windows 8 version of the Sensei Project Dashboard App that pulls together Microsoft Project schedule information and SharePoint data to provide a comprehensive and interactive status dashboard for your project.

The Sensei Project Dashboard includes live tiles for Project, Tasks, Issues, Risks, Documents and Deliverables. Executives and project managers can access detailed information behind each live tile.

Sensei Project Dashboard works with Microsoft Project Online, and Microsoft Project Server 2010 and 2013. It pulls Published schedule data, so when project managers publish frequently the Dashboard provides fully up-to-date information.

The Project Dashboard for Windows 8 allows project managers and executives have access to critical project data in an easy-to-use, touch-enabled interface. Managers can easily access key project data from their Windows 8 or 8.1 Surface, laptops and desktops, said Kenneth Steiness, Managing Partner of Sensei Project Solutions.

The Sensei Project Dashboard is available in the Windows Store for download.

About Sensei Project Solutions: Sensei Project Solutions, Inc., winner of the 2014 Microsoft Project and Portfolio Management (PPM) Partner of the Year, specializes in PPM deployments with Microsoft Project, Microsoft Project Server and Microsoft Project Online. With extensive experience on hundreds of PPM deployments and with thousands of users trained, Sensei Project Solutions brings a process-focused approach and support for industry standards and best practices to all engagements. Sensei is a Registered Education Provider (R.E.P.) with the Project Management Institute (PMI) and provides Professional Development Units (PDUs) from PMI for all Training courses. As a Gold certified Microsoft Partner, we offer a complete set of services to help an organization make their Microsoft PPM deployment successful, including full implementation and support services, training, pre-configured solutions, report packs, and Apps across multiple platforms.

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Sensei Project Solutions Launches Sensei Project Dashboard For Windows 8

A sprinkler system that burst a gasket in the Hillsborough County government building Sunday night had recently been inspected after a similar incident over the Memorial Day weekend.

The fire protection system leak caused extensive damage to the first and second floor of the Fred Karl County Center, 601 E. Kennedy Blvd., forcing the closure of the building to the public Monday and the relocation of 1,200 government employees. The leak knocked out running water to the building because the water sprayed and damaged a circuit board that controls the water pumps, said Tom Fass, director of real estate and facilities management for the county.

County employees continued to answer calls to central phone numbers, as well as emails.

The building will reopen Tuesday morning during regular hours, a news release said.

Fass said officials hope the board room is repaired on time for the commission meeting Wednesday and that the commissioners' offices and other areas of the first floor will be repaired by Wednesday evening.

Fass said the building's fire protection system had its five-year inspection about a month and a half ago by a contractor, Piper Fire Protection, which replaced some gaskets as part of the inspection. One of those replaced gaskets failed over Memorial Day weekend, causing roughly more than $200,000 in damage, Fass said. Because that leak happened over the long weekend, crews were able to make the needed repairs without any disruption to county business.

The damaged gasket was replaced and the remaining gaskets were inspected by Piper, which determined the system was safe, Fass said. Then about 7:30 p.m. another of the replaced gaskets failed, and this time the damage was more extensive, including the electrical circuit.

Fass said he had no estimate on the cost of the damage. Fass said the county is working with its insurance underwriter, AIG, on repairs.

Piper is now replacing all of the replaced gaskets, and an another firm is being brought in to review the system. Fass said he doesn't know if the first set of replaced gaskets were faulty or if the problem was in the installation. This is very unusual circumstances, he said. It's still too early to speculate what caused the failure. We know the gasket failed.

The leak damaged the county commissioner's board room and some commissioner offices and elevators that carry employees to the parking garage inside the building.

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Center to reopen Tuesday after water damage

LOMBARD The Lombard Fire Department is investigating an early morning fire that caused about $10,000 at a manufacturing building on the north side of the village.

Crews were dispatched at 3:52 a.m. Wednesday for a report of an active fire at Grimm Metal Fabricators, 1121 N. Garfield St., Lombard Assistant Fire Chief Jerry Howell said. Firefighters arrived to find the building's sprinkler system was activated and the warehouse portion of the large building was engulfed in smoke, he said.

"Our guys got there and they went inside to discover the sprinkler system was in fact flowing water," Howell said.

The fire was upgraded to a general alarm, which brought assistance from York Center and Addison fire protection districts, as well as the Villa Park, Oak Brook and Elmhurst fire departments.

No injuries were reported and the building was unoccupied at the time of the fire, Howell said, adding that there is nothing suspicious about the fire.

The fire was isolated to the back of the warehouse and kept in check by the sprinkler system, he said.

"They save lives and property," he added. "In this case, the fire was kept small by the system."

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Crews respond to warehouse fire in Lombard, no injuries reported

From the Blues sheds: Bird
Greg Bird spoke with NRL.com about their historic win over the Queensland Maroons after clinching the State of Origin series in front of their home crowd.

By: NRL

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From the Blues sheds: Bird - Video

From the Blues sheds: Reynolds
Josh Reynolds spoke with NRL.com about their historic win over the Queensland Maroons after clinching the State of Origin series in front of their home crowd.

By: NRL

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From the Blues sheds: Reynolds - Video

From the Blues sheds: Jennings
spoke with NRL.com about their historic win over the Queensland Maroons after clinching the State of Origin series in front of their home crowd.

By: NRL

Link:
From the Blues sheds: Jennings - Video

From the Blues sheds: Woods
Aaron Woods spoke with NRL.com about their historic win over the Queensland Maroons after clinching the State of Origin series in front of their home crowd.

By: NRL

Link:
From the Blues sheds: Woods - Video

From the Blues sheds: Hayne
Jarryd Hayne spoke with NRL.com about their historic win over the Queensland Maroons after clinching the State of Origin series in front of their home crowd.

By: NRL

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From the Blues sheds: Hayne - Video