Simple Fixes for Common Appliance Problems - Electric Range

By the DIY experts of The Family Handyman Magazine

If your electric stove burner won't heat, turn the burner off and pull it out from its socket. Then plug it in again and wiggle it around. If it feels loose, remove the burner again and gently bend the burner prongs slightly outward for a tighter connection. Easy does it. You could end up pushing the whole socket out of its bracket.

Burner prong problem
Spread the burner prongs a little to create a better electrical connection.

Getting the Best Home Loan

From the Superpages.com

Getting the best home loan isn’t always easy in today’s changing and often unstable market, especially if your credit history is less than perfect but it’s definitely not impossible. Don’t lose hope in obtaining a mortgage for a new home or for refinancing.

Take Care of Your Credit

Check with a credit reporting agency to determine your credit score and rating. The rate of interest a lending institution will charge you is dependent upon this. There may be errors in your credit report and you can have those errors removed or corrected. Even a fairly small boost in your credit score can make a difference in the rate of interest you will be charged for the best home loan or mortgage.

Paying off your credit card debt and being sure not to have any outstanding late payments is also a way to improve your credit score. Create a budget specifically to eliminate credit card and other debt, be careful not to ignore one while going after another. If you have a history of late payments you’ll be considered ‘slow to pay’ and this won’t be in your favor. Pay as much as you can over the ‘minimum due’ and try living without the cards.

Work and Save for a Down Payment

Your employment history is another consideration when a lender is determining what your rate of interest will be for a mortgage loan. If you have been with the same employer for two years or more and have a savings account in addition to a down payment to go toward your loan you are in a position to receive the best home loan. Without these in place you will be paying a higher interest rate.

Shop for the Best Deal

Take the time to shop around and look at the offers of several lenders. You need to examine and compare interest rates and associated points and fees. If you do consider an adjustable rate loan, what is the ceiling on that rate? You must also take into account insurance, utility, maintenance and repair expenses as well as any property taxes applicable in your area, to get a real picture of the mortgage you can comfortably afford.

Remember to check your credit score and clean up any errors found there. Get a handle on credit card spending while paying off those cards as well as other outstanding debt. Start two savings accounts; one to go toward a down payment and the other for emergency purposes. Having taken all these steps and shopping around for lender’s offers, will help you find the best home loan.

Jensen Ackles Lists Newly Remodeled Malibu Home

AUTHOR:CATHERINE SHERMAN
ZILLOW

Jensen Ackles. Source: IMDb

Actor Jensen Ackles hunts ghosts and demons on The CW’s “Supernatural,” but there’s nothing spooky about his Malibu mansion. After a dramatic renovation, the picture-perfect Point Dume estate at 28931 Selfridge Dr is on the market for $6.995 million.

Ackles and wife Danneel Harris purchased the property less than two years ago for $4.8 million — right after a million-dollar price cut. According to The Wall Street Journal, the couple then “gut-renovated” the place. Of note, the kitchen now includes custom cabinetry, pendant lights, Calcutta marble and hand-painted tile. Here’s a look at the transformation:

Before

After

Ackles, who caught his big break playing Eric Brady on “Days of Our Lives,” has enjoyed the Little Dume gated beach and the easy-going Malibu lifestyle, the Journal reports. But now, he and Harris are moving into another home with their 1-year-old daughter, JJ.

The buyer can look forward to 5 bedrooms, 6 bathrooms, a luxurious master suite, an entertainer’s backyard with a pool/spa and views of Catalina Island and Queens Necklace.

Shen Schulz of Sotheby’s International Realty holds the listing.

Top Woodworking Tips - Stair gauge cutting guide

From The FamilyHandyman.com

Use stair gauges as a crosscut guide
Stair gauges are usually used to lay out stair jacks. You clamp them to a carpenter's square to match the rise and run of a stair jack and then mark the notches. But if you put them both on the same tongue of a carpenter's square, the combination makes a great crosscut guide for circular saws.

Versatile and inexpensive
Pick up a pair for less than $5 at any hardware store or home center. Clamp the square in place so it won't slide around while you're cutting. You wouldn't like that one bit.

New building materials nudge homes into the future

NEW YORK – Sept. 5, 2014 – While it doesn't look like flying cars will appear anytime soon, clients may soon park their normal cars beside homes and buildings of a very different sort. Popular culture blog Gizmodo identified seven new materials and techniques that could lead to everything from taller high-rises to wallpaper that charges a smartphone.

A company called uBeam is heading the phone-charging effort. Taking its cue from current wireless charging techniques, uBeam is working on using an ultrasonic sound transmitter to fill a room with inaudible energy. A receiver inside a wireless device can pick up the sound and convert it back to energy, letting owners charge their devices anywhere in the home – even in a pocket. The transmitters can be placed around a home to provide full coverage.

Also in the energy realm, researchers at Michigan State have created solar cells that should help to make energy collectors more pleasing to the eye – by vanishing. Everyone has seen the large black panels that sit on roofs, and some have seen photovoltaic panels on windows that shimmer with rainbows; but Michigan State's new solar concentrators are transparent. This material can be used in windows and doors to create solar power.

Building materials are also being upgraded. A team at MIT, for example, has studied bamboo's structural power and looked for ways to apply it to other materials. Even plywood could soon be stronger and cheaper and have less environmental impact, says Gizmodo writer Kelsey Campbell-Dollaghan.

A company called Kite Bricks developed bricks reminiscent of Lego blocks that snap together, but the holes can serve as conduits for the home's wiring and plumbing, allowing easy access for repairs and upgrades.

Other developments identified by Gizmodo:

• A new plastic that lights up in the wind, with potential for both decorative and emergency applications
• Carbon fiber rope that could double the height of high-rises by allowing elevators to more securely reach new levels
• A new paint technique that can detect when structural fissures have developed in buildings – a big benefit in earthquake zones, but also a tool applicable to older buildings everywhere

Source: "7 New Materials That Could Change How Our Buildings Act," Gizmodo.com (August 25, 2014)

© Copyright 2014 INFORMATION, INC. Bethesda, MD (301) 215-4688

DWNTWN Art Days promotes arts and culture in Miami this weekend

By Galena Mosovich | Miami.com

Downtown Miami becomes backdrop for a weekend of cultural experiences

Downtown Miami’s creative community comes alive this weekend as the third annual “Dwntwn Art Days” returns. The three-day celebration, organized in collaboration with the Miami Downtown Development Authority (Miami DDA) and the vibrant cultural spaces in the neighborhood, features dozens of events with more than 100 arts and cultural institutions, independent galleries, and artists from Friday, Sept. 19 through Sunday, Sept. 21.

New exhibitions, art tours, open studios, panel discussions, outdoor performances, film screenings, and family-friendly happenings fill the calendar on the festival’s website (dwntwnartdays.com) or its new mobile app (eventmobi.com/artdays) that allows attendees to create a profile, view all programming, interact with other users, and customize itineraries.

Though the digital route is recommended based on the sheer volume of events, in-person introductory workshops and materials are available at the Miami Center for Architecture & Design (MCAD), 100 NE 1stand general starting point for Art Days. The historic space was built in 1912 for the city’s first federal government building and is now home to the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Miami chapter as well as the area’s official Visitors’ Center. The structure alone, with its unmistakable Beaux-Arts Italianate design, is worth the visit, but organizers say MCAD will also offer charging stations for attendees to stay connected on their smartphones as they explore.

In the past two years, Art Days has grown from 50 events in two days to 130 events in three days to more than 170 events over the course of this weekend. All bike, walk, and run tours sold out in 2013 (most are free), prompting the DDA to expand the number of excursions to accommodate more people.

For a fresh look at Miami talent, the Fringe project offers five public artworks or “site activations/performances” that were selected out of 43 international proposals by a jury of experts with the guidance of two-time Fringe curator Amanda Sanfilippo and funding through Miami Dade County’s Art in Public Places (AiPP).

“Our projects have historically been permanent,” said Brandi Reddick of AiPP’s support for these ambitious and fleeting commissions. “Participation in Fringe enables us to break out of this old paradigm and align the program with Miami’s evolving contemporary art scene.”

Fringe will breathe life into a one-mile radius of downtown’s concrete jungle during Art Days through the contributions of local artists Jenny Brillhart, Nicholas Lobo, Emmett Moore, Domingo Castillo, and Moira Holohan. The public art commissions will remain on display for an extra week through Sept. 28.

“Because these projects are temporary and site-determined, they are alive and integrated into the real world. We use the city as a platform to actualize timely concerns and ideas through engagement with the site and its wider context,” said Sanfilippo, who’s known for commissioning world-class contemporary artists to create socially poignant experiences.

As part of Fringe on Instagram, a pair of Miami artists are set to share photographs of the historic Alfred I. Dupont building, street views, and other downtown Miami landmarks surrounding MCAD for an instant historical archive using the hashtag #DDAFF2014. Kevin Arrow and Baron Sherer will use methods common to archivists and historians to honor the city’s civic history and change. They encourage the public to contribute to their live documentation throughout the festival.

The closest parking garage near the hub at MCAD is the College Station Garage (Garage 3) at 190 NE 3rd St., where a special flat rate of $3 is available. Once on foot, Art Days attendees will have access to free open-air rides courtesy of Freebee, Miami’s fleet of 100 percent electric vehicles.

Diverse events to consider as you map out your Art Days experience: 

Adrienne Arsht Center, 1300 Biscayne Blvd.: “I Love Lucy Look-A-Like Contest,” Friday, Sept. 19 from 6 - 9 p.m.

Freedom Tower, 600 Biscayne Blvd.: “Exile Experience,” Friday, Sept. 19 from 6 - 9 p.m.

Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM), 1103 Biscayne Blvd.: “Artist Talk with Beatriz Milhazes and Chief Curator Tobias Ostrander,” Friday, Sept. 19th from 2 - 3 p.m.

Primary Projects, 151 NE 7th St.: "Illuminations" by Magnus Sodamin, Saturday, Sept. 20 from 8 p.m. - midnight

The Artisan Lounge, 500 NE 1st Ave.: “Community Mural,” Sept. 19 from 4 - 8 p.m.; Sept. 20th from noon - 4 p.m.; Sept. 21st from  2 - 6 p.m.

Miami Children's Museum, 980 Macarthur Cswy: “Miami Children's Museum Arts Days Extravaganza,” Sept. 19 - 21 from 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.

Bayfront Park, 301 Biscayne Blvd.: “Giants in the City,” Sept. 19 - 21 from 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.

Olympia Theater at Gusman Center, 174 E. Flagler St.: “Balcony to Basement Tour of the Historic Olympia Theater,” Sept. 19 - 21, Times Vary

Knight Arts Plaza in Museum Park, 1103 Biscayne Blvd.: Patricia & Philip Frost Museum of Science's “Frost Science Maker Space,” Sept. 19 - 21 from 11 a.m. - 5 p.m.

Downtown Art House, 100 NE 11th St.: “City Magic Bazaar,” Sept. 20 - 21 from 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.

Miami-Dade Cultural Center Plaza, 101 W. Flagler St.: "History on Wheels," Sept. 20 - 21 at 4 p.m.

HISTORYMiami, 101 W. Flagler St.: “Family Art Activity,” Sept. 21 2 - 4 p.m.

‘Big Unit’ Randy Johnson Selling Big Arizona Estate

AUTHOR:CATHERINE SHERMAN
ZILLOW

Randy Johnson. Source: Wikipedia Commons

“The Big Unit” is selling the big one. Randy Johnson’s 25,000-square-foot estate will be officially listed for $25 million Monday.

Located on a tiered, 5-acre parcel in Paradise Valley, AZ, the main residence has 7 bedrooms and 12 bathrooms. There’s also a detached guesthouse and commercial-grade fitness facility.

“This is a very thoughtfully designed estate,” said listing agent Robert Joffe of Berkshire Hathaway’s The Joffe Group. “The layout works and feels comfortable, without being overwhelming. The craftsmanship is impeccable, and the finish materials are some of the finest I’ve ever seen.”

The main level has a massive Cantera stone fireplace, soaring 24-foot-high ceilings and a temperature-controlled wine cellar. The east wing shows off ornate wood-paneled walls, a study lounge, oversized 8-car motor court, billiards parlor and a dedicated “pet suite.” The west wing offers a more secluded master retreat with his-and-hers oversized vanities, a jetted tub and multi-nozzle steam shower. The lower level of the home has a movie theater with a working ticket booth and fully stocked snack bar.

But perhaps the holy grail of this baseball legend’s estate is the 1,746-square-foot custom-designed workout facility. The space is filled with commercial-grade fitness equipment, showers and a locker room. It also provides direct access to tennis and sport courts on the property.

Johnson, a retired MLB pitcher known for his fastball, is being considered for the Baseball Hall of Fame. During his career, the left-hander struck out 4,875 batters and posted 303 victories.