Oil Painting California

Oil Painting California

Can a Window Covers Improve a Homes Value and It’s ‘curb’ Appeal?

A homes windows covering are now getting a lot more attention from ‘the neighbors’ and home appraisers when shutters are installed. Shutters are proving to be a better window treatment, due to the fact they are the only window treatment to increase a homes value and are a major visual element additive on the inside and the outside of the home. Shutters also control the lighting and set mood for each room. Most interior designers feel that shutters provide a finished look to a window and they are more durable than draperies, curtains or blinds.

More than ever before, homes with shutters are recognized as substantially upgraded and thus shutters are the number one window covering all other products. The ‘shutter’ category is the number one window covering product in recent years. Surveys have shown that 7 out of 10 consumers prefer shutters over any other type of window covering, however only 2 out of 10 can afford them due to the high price.

Shutters offers many advantages over blinds and curtains. Shutters offer superior insulation and control of light entering a room, varying from opening the shutters all the way for a full view to fully closed for an almost blackout control.

Shutters in general are lower maintenance than most other types of window covering. Older style shutters with staples require replacement every few years and special cleaning and upkeep. Synthetic and vinyl materials can withstand wet environments such as outdoor use and saunas. In recent years a laminate DuraShutter material with snap-in non staple construction provides durability and low cost alternative advantages.

Shutters can provide a better insulation value than any other type of window covering. Since 10 times more heat can pass through a glass window than through wall adding a shutter to your window will lower your heating and air conditioning bills.

Shutters are commonly made from 3 different types of materials. Each type has it’s own strengths and weaknesses as well as environmental effects. Traditional shutter manufacturers use wood and then spray paint or stain them to just about any color you desire and they perform well under most conditions. Like any wood product they are subject to warping over time and the paint can peal and crack over time. Unfortunately, some woods are imported and the harvesting of some trees causes harm to the environment. In addition most shutters are painted using lacquer based primers and or finish paints that release VOCs into the atmosphere. VOC’s have been proven to increase green house gases.

Vinyl and other synthetic material shutters were developed as an alternative to wood shutters. For certain applications such as outdoors, high humidity areas like saunas or poolrooms vinyl and other synthetic material shutters are an excellent choice. The plastics used in these types of shutters can fade, change color or yellow over time with exposure to the sun. Unfortunately, vinyl and other synthetic material shutters are made with oil products and the drilling, transport, refining and storage of oil based products are a concern to many as their use increases our dependency on oil, and when painted, the use of VOC is also harmful to the environment.

Many shutter fabricators are now, as flooring companies do, are offering Eco friendly lower cost laminate alternatives to wood. Many American and foreign shutter fabricators now offer all three choices, Vinyl/Synthetic Material, Wood and Laminate materials. Laminate materials are designed to overcome the disadvantages of wood, vinyl and synthetic material shutters. Laminate DuraShutter material is a dense, solid engineered composite that is an Eco friendly recycled wood and paper product. Its density gives it a better insulation value than wood and the Eco friendly laminate coating material provides better resistance to fading or yellowing than vinyl/synthetic material. Laminate shutters can be made into an excellent product that is indistinguishable from wood shutters. Since laminate DuraShutter is primarily made from recycled materials and the finish from Eco friendly laminates, it has a significantly lower impact on the environment.

Shutters are often referred to as "the ultimate window covering" but costly until the introduction of shutters made of lower cost laminate DuraShutter materials that many shutter fabricators are now offering as a lower cost alternative. So once you've added indoor shutters, just stand back and admire them, both from within your home and from your curb. Drive by any home with interior shutters across the front and you'll see why so many people swear by them.

By visiting the author’s web site at www.Durashutter.com you will find all kinds of useful window covering information.

About the Author

David Blachley is a third generation inventor with 20+ years product development experience, engineering multifaceted vertical integration systems with an emphasis in cost reduction technologies. After 10+ years in development DuraShutter™ is my greatest achievement. It’s the lowest cost, most maintenance free, Eco friendly shutter brand on the planet.

Humidity and Oil Painting?

My husband, young son and I are being transfered to Austin Texas. Does anyone know how my oil painting is going to go down there in terms of drying because of the humidity? We are from California, and not sure how this whole humidity thing works. I mean i guess the air is moist? does that mean my furniture is going to be wet and moldy? LoL, what are we getting ourselves into? =)

High humidity will definitely slow the drying time of your art. Especially your yellows and blues.

Remember oil paints are oxygenated and dry by air and not by heat so don't let anyone tell you that an oven can help dry your painting, cause all it will do is burn your paint. HAHA still cracks me up that people do that.

Here is some info for you concerning your question:
TEMPERATURE AND HUMIDITY LEVELS
Extremes and fluctuations in temperature and humidity can cause damage to paintings due to the expansion and contraction of the wood and fabric components of the painting. Wood and fabric absorb moisture which causes them to swell on humid days and conversely shrink on dry days. Paint, however, is not as resilient and can crack and flake off as a result of expansion and contraction of the underlying wood and fabric structure. These dimensional changes can cause the canvas to become slack and sag during the winter months.

Most fabric paintings are secured to a wooden frame that is commonly referred to as a stretcher or strainer. Stretchers are equipped with expandable corner joints that can be adjusted to insure that the painting remains taught. The joints can be expanded by driving small wooden wedges into the interior corners of the stretcher at the back of the painting. This procedure is commonly referred to as "keying out" a painting. Paintings should not be keyed out during the winter months when the humidity is low. The increased tension caused by keying out may cause the painting to tear as the wooden stretcher expands during the humid spring and summer months.

The proper display and storage of paintings can be achieved by monitoring the environment in various rooms in order to identify the best area for display or storage of paintings. Acceptable temperature and humidity levels for paintings are as follows, keeping in mind that fluctuations should be kept to a minimum.
Winter Temperature 65-70 degrees F
Relative Humidity 40%-45%
Summer Temperature 70-75 degrees F
Relative Humidity 45-55%

Inexpensive temperature and humidity sensors can be purchased from conservation suppliers. While precise control of temperature and humidity is desirable, it is not always practical in homes. Therefore, damage should be minimized by avoiding extremes in temperature and humidity. This can be done by insuring that paintings are kept away from heat sources such as furnace vents, fire places, warm lights and direct sunlight.

Excessive humidity, as can be found in most basements, should also be avoided since it can cause mold growth that can stain the surface of the painting.

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