Archive for May, 2009

Remodeling Your Fireplace - How to Measure For a New Fireplace Mantle

Monday, May 25th, 2009

About the Author: Carol S. Agee is vice president of Agee Woodworks, Inc. If you’re looking for a custom made fireplace mantel or mantel shelf Agee builds their products to order and ships directly to you from their factory.


You sit in your living room area, look around, and say to yourself, “I am tired of that fireplace. It is dated and boring; I want a change, but I don’t know where to begin.”

When deciding whether or not to remodel a fireplace, homeowners are faced with several challenging decisions. From choosing a new color for a simple paint job to selecting the look for a more complex fireplace mantle replacement, the options and steps to make a fireplace remodeling project successful can quickly become overwhelming.

Relax! You have options. You could change the mantle shelf decorations, hang a different picture or mirror above it or simply change some lighting in the room. You could also make cosmetic changes that are a little more work, like adding a new fireplace screen or painting the mantle a different color. But if you want more than just a few minor changes, you will need to understand how to properly measure the fireplace area-particularly if you plan to replace the fireplace mantle shelf or full surround and the facing material (facing material is the material that surrounds the fireplace opening and is typically brick, tile, marble, or granite.)

In this article, I will address the first step to changing the area-how to measure for a new fireplace mantle.

Once you have definitely decided that you would like to remodel a fireplace with a new fireplace mantle or new fireplace mantle shelf, the next step is to determine what size mantle you will need. Keep in mind the fireplace mantle actually frames the surrounding facing material you want to reveal-like putting a picture frame around a photo and a mat.

When you begin measuring your fireplace, you will want to figure out the width and height of the fireplace opening including the facing material. This will determine what the inside opening of your mantle surround will be. For example, if your fireplace opening is 36 inches wide, and you have six inches of tile on either side, then you would need a mantle with an inside opening of no greater than 48 inches. Similarly, if the height of your fireplace opening is 32 inches and you have eight inches of tile above that opening, then you would need an inside opening height of no greater than 40 inches. I say “no greater than” because it is quite common for the inside opening of the mantle to overlap the facing material by as much as an inch-depending on the area.

On most measuring diagrams, additional measurements are needed, especially if the facing material protrudes from the wall more than an inch. The depth of that facing material will determine how deep the “return depth” of the mantle will need to be. If the facing material is less than one inch, then a standard return depth (1 3/4 inches) will work. If you need it to be deeper, or need a specific total height, you can customize your mantle measurements.

If you have a hearth (the area directly in front of the fireplace), it may be flush with the floor, or raised by as much as a foot in height. This is very important when measuring for a fireplace mantle as it determines whether or not you can have the legs of the mantle “sit” on the hearth or whether those legs will sit on the outside. Sometimes those legs will “wrap” around the hearth.

Another important measurement that you might see on a measuring diagram is the one that shows how much clearance there is on each side of the fireplace. Sometimes a window or light switch might be too close to the fireplace area. This is where true customization is a real advantage, and you will definitely want some advice from people who are experts. There are companies that will customize your mantle to meet specific needs that are unique to you, and they usually have deeper shelves, wider legs, etc. to help fulfill your needs.

Some fireplace mantle companies have live chat areas where you can log in and ask specific questions about your fireplace area. Mantle customization experts will even encourage you to call them directly to discuss your specific needs. In many cases, they also will suggest that you email a digital photograph of the area to be sure that the custom mantle you are ordering will fit.

When you are ready to remodel a fireplace, follow these instructions and you’ll be able to accurately measure for a fireplace mantle that will properly fit. Measuring only takes a little time and effort on your part, and the outcome is well worth it.

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Seo agency

Monday, May 4th, 2009

SEO is the process of using natural on-site and off-site methods to rank higher in search engines. The building of links in a responsible manner is the key to long-term SEO success. Therefore, if you own a website in the Louisville, Kentucky area and are looking to rank higher in Google, Yahoo, Ask, MSN, and other smaller search engines, you want to make sure that you hire a Louisville SEO agency that can help you reach your final goal using time-tested, proven methods. Once such agency is Weborigination, a company that provides custom web site development and design. They don’t limit themselves to Louisville, either. In fact, they offer search engine marketing methods for companies all across America and Canada. Their portfolio of sites runs rather deep, and they create a wide variety of websites, everything from static websites to e-commerce sites to sites running shopping cart applications. They are really a very accomplished firm.

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Noise Reduction Headphones For Autism

Sunday, May 3rd, 2009

Today 1 in 150 people are diagnosed with autism. Parents are usually the first to notice unusual behaviors in their child or their child’s failure to reach appropriate developmental milestones. Whether the child has had difficulties from birth or whether they have suddenly lost skills, it is very common for these children to have a strong sensitivity to sound and noise reduction headphones for autism can help. Your child’s doctor may initially suggest that your child is fine and will catch up and that you should postpone taking action. Recent research has shown, however, that when parents think something is wrong with their child, they are usually correct. If you have concerns about your child, don’t wait to get your child screened for autism. Early intervention is critical in order to get the maximum benefit from therapy. Research shows that early intervention in an appropriate educational setting for at least two years can result in significant improvement.

Autistic children often show symptoms of Sensory Integration Dysfunction (SID) making it difficult to function in normal class room environments and even at home where there might be multiple children in the house. A child with auditory sensitivity may have trouble with filtering sound, distractedness, difficulty with spoken instructions, and may result in restlessness, impulsiveness, behavioral problems and and melt downs.

One of the tools that has been very helpful is a comfortable, effective set of noise reduction headphones. Many schools for autistic children as well as parents with autistic children are using the HP-25 Extreme Isolation Headphones. These headphones are speakerless headphones and provide a way to reduce the overall sound exposure to anyone with a sensitivity to sound. These headphones do not provide complete silence. You can still communicate with your child and your child is still aware of the sounds around them. The sound is just reduced making it less disturbing and disruptive. The headphones are adjustable and can be adjusted to fit both children, as young as 3 or 4 years old, as well as and adults.

Some “noise cancellation headphones” use batteries to power an electronic monitoring system which listens for ambient noise and attempts to produce a “canceling” sound wave inside of the ear cups. This style of noise cancellation is only effective for consistent, rumbling noises such as electric fans, and airplane engines. They are not effective for canceling spiky noises such as voices, and phones ringing. For people with auditory sensitivity, this style of noise cancellation is actually more harmful as the distracting noises such as shouting, alarms, or ringing phones are actually accentuated by the removal of the other ambient noise.

The Direct Sound headphones work differently. They do not use batteries. Instead, they work by physically blocking all types of sounds from reaching your ears. The Extreme Isolation Headphones reduce all sounds, both consistent, rumbling sounds as well as spiky noises. Wearing these headphones is like closing yourself off in another room. You can still hear background sound but the sound is significantly reduced.

The EX-25 Extreme Isolation Headphones are the same shape and size as the HP-25 Extreme Isolation Headphones but the EX-25 Headphones have speakers in the ear cups and can be used with a computer, an iPod, a portable DVD player, or any other type of audio device. It comes with both a 3.5mm audio jack as well as a 1/4 inch gold plated adapter. Using the EX-25 headphones you are able to block virtually all background noise by using the headphones in conjunction with a white noise audio track like a CD of an electric fan. While both the HP-25 speakerless headphones and the EX-25 headphones both reduce ambient noise by 25dB the remaining background noise can be masked out by softly playing some audio through the EX-25 headphones. Many people with auditory sensitivity are calmed by the soft sound of running water or air conditioners. The EX-25 Extreme Isolation Headphones can be a very effect tool.

Lastly, by using the EX-25 Extreme Isolation Headphones in a class room or home school setting you can provide auditory instruction to your child or have your child listen to audio instruction such as language lessons while at the same time reducing the background noises which may be distracting. Both sets of headphones are very helpful. The HP-25 speakerless headphones do not have a cord and can be worn all over the house. You do not have to worry with replacing batteries since they do not use batteries. So there is no hidden cost of ownership. The EX-25 Extreme Isolation headphones provide the same great noise reduction but also have speakers and a cord so you can listen to various audio sources while still blocking out distracting noise.

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