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info@amighini.net (Amighini Team) — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 15:21:36 GMT

Amighini Architectural Videos

Sergio — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 14:56:50 -0400

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You Front Door

Smuro (smuro@amighini.net) — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 10:04:49 -0400

Doors

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Facing Forward: Choosing the Best Front Door

Your front door provides the first impression of your home when visitors come by. It expresses the personality of your home and lends a sense of solidity, charm, or elegance. The latest door styles and materials can add appeal without compromising on energy conservation and security against intruders. A wealth of style options and price ranges offer anyone considering a new entry door the freedom to find the door that fits.

Quality should be your first consideration. Common door sets are constructed of a range of materials, but the door surface creates the variables in price, durability, energy efficiency, and overall appearance. Most homeowners prefer a wooden front door. However, composites are rapidly making their way into the marketplace.

The ultimate cost for a wooden door can depend on cutting and finishing as well as the wood materials choice: maple, oak, cherry, fir, mahogany, pine, or walnut. Solid wood entry doors fetch the highest prices. You can save money in selecting a door that has layers of stylish wood-veneer added over a lesser-quality--but solid--wood core.

You can easily find savings in selecting inexpensive hardware, but be sure not to skimp on quality when it comes to locks and latches. Many front doors replacements come in pre-hung condition. If your existing framing and hinge set has been damaged, you may need to call in an expert to hang the new door correctly.

Then there are the extras to consider. If your entry door has a window set, be sure to look for e-coatings, double paned, or other energy efficient options.

Restoring a fireplace mantel

By The Old House Web — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 13:55:05 -0400

From Rose Thornton\'s school of hard knocks, tips on how to strip and restore a mantel

Rose\'s tips for stripping paint without ruining your moldings, your house, your cats or your marriage:

Whenever possible, remove moldings or mantel to the outside. If that is impossible, use stripper and heat guns only in well ventilated areas. The EPA has written scores of brochure sand booklets detailing the hazards of lead paint removal. When working inside, I used aHEPA respirator and vacuumed my work space thoroughly and frequently with a HEPA vacuum.

Wash hands, taking special care to clean under fingernails, after working around lead paint. Eating lead paint is a no-no, and hands should be thoroughly cleaned after each exposure to leaded paint.

Wash clothes separately after sanding or scraping old paint (pre-1970). I had \"lead shoes\" that I kept by the basement door, so I wouldn\'t track lead dustinto our home.

Establish work area away from foot traffic - so lead chips don\'t get tracked into home.

Heat guns and household carpet are a bad combination. Most modern carpet fabrics will melt into an ugly nub when exposed to heat guns. Guess how I know this.

When ready to stain, test an inconspicuous area (the back of your work) before applying stain to the entire surface. Allow to dry and apply varnish to this test area, toget a true sample of your finished finish.

If you\'re going to do any serious amount of stripping, it\'s worth it to spend $75+for a real heat gun. I purchased a $30 gun from a local hardware store and was sorely disappointed. I\'ve seen hair dryers with more power.

Leather/cloth gloves are most useful when working with heat guns and old splintering wood.

Use nail nippers, rather than knocking old nails back through wood. Causes less trauma to the wood.

Although it turns the house into a work zone, I carried the fireplace mantel (and other wood work) back into the house to apply the stain and varnish. I also turned off the blower (heater or a/c) so excess air and dust wouldn\'t circulate. As an extra precaution,I turned off the pilot lights on our gas appliances. The fumes from varnish and stain are flammable and I have no interest in finding out how many fumes it takes for my house to goPOOF.

Obama Elected President as Racial Barrier Falls

ADAM NAGOURNEY (New York Times) — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 08:48:08 -0500

Barack Hussein Obama was elected the 44th president of the United States on Tuesday, sweeping away the last racial barrier in American politics with ease as the country chose him as its first black chief executive.

The election of Mr. Obama amounted to a national catharsis � a repudiation of a historically unpopular Republican president and his economic and foreign policies, and an embrace of Mr. Obama�s call for a change in the direction and the tone of the country.

But it was just as much a strikingly symbolic moment in the evolution of the nation�s fraught racial history, a breakthrough that would have seemed unthinkable just two years ago.

Mr. Obama, 47, a first-term senator from Illinois, defeated Senator John McCain of Arizona, 72, a former prisoner of war who was making his second bid for the presidency.

To the very end, Mr. McCain�s campaign was eclipsed by an opponent who was nothing short of a phenomenon, drawing huge crowds epitomized by the tens of thousands of people who turned out to hear Mr. Obama�s victory speech in Grant Park in Chicago.

Mr. McCain also fought the headwinds of a relentlessly hostile political environment, weighted down with the baggage left to him by President Bush and an economic collapse that took place in the middle of the general election campaign.

�If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer,� said Mr. Obama, standing before a huge wooden lectern with a row of American flags at his back, casting his eyes to a crowd that stretched far into the Chicago night.

�It�s been a long time coming,� the president-elect added, �but tonight, because of what we did on this date in this election at this defining moment, change has come to America.�

Mr. McCain delivered his concession speech under clear skies on the lush lawn of the Arizona Biltmore, in Phoenix, where he and his wife had held their wedding reception. The crowd reacted with scattered boos as he offered his congratulations to Mr. Obama and saluted the historical significance of the moment.

�This is a historic election, and I recognize the significance it has for African-Americans and for the special pride that must be theirs tonight,� Mr. McCain said, adding, �We both realize that we have come a long way from the injustices that once stained our nation�s reputation.�

Not only did Mr. Obama capture the presidency, but he led his party to sharp gains in Congress. This puts Democrats in control of the House, the Senate and the White House for the first time since 1995, when Bill Clinton was in office.

The day shimmered with history as voters began lining up before dawn, hours before polls opened, to take part in the culmination of a campaign that over the course of two years commanded an extraordinary amount of attention from the American public.

As the returns became known, and Mr. Obama passed milestone after milestone �Ohio, Florida, Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Iowa and New Mexico � people rolled spontaneously into the streets to celebrate what many described, with perhaps overstated if understandable exhilaration, a new era in a country where just 143 years ago, Mr. Obama, as a black man, could have been owned as a slave.

For Republicans, especially the conservatives who have dominated the party for nearly three decades, the night represented a bitter setback and left them contemplating where they now stand in American politics.

Mr. Obama and his expanded Democratic majority on Capitol Hill now face the task of governing the country through a difficult period: the likelihood of a deep and prolonged recession, and two wars. He took note of those circumstances in a speech that was notable for its sobriety and its absence of the triumphalism that he might understandably have displayed on a night when he won an Electoral College landslide.

�The road ahead will be long, our climb will be steep,� said Mr. Obama, his audience hushed and attentive, with some, including the Rev. Jesse Jackson, wiping tears from their eyes. �We may not get there in one year or even one term, but America, I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there. I promise you, we as a people will get there.� The roster of defeated Republicans included some notable party moderates, like Senator John E. Sununu of New Hampshire and Representative Christopher Shays of Connecticut, and signaled that the Republican conference convening early next year in Washington will be not only smaller but more conservative.

Mr. Obama will come into office after an election in which he laid out a number of clear promises: to cut taxes for most Americans, to get the United States out of Iraq in a fast and orderly fashion, and to expand health care.

In a recognition of the difficult transition he faces, given the economic crisis, Mr. Obama is expected to begin filling White House jobs as early as this week.

Mr. Obama defeated Mr. McCain in Ohio, a central battleground in American politics, despite a huge effort that brought Mr. McCain and his running mate, Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska, back there repeatedly. Mr. Obama had lost the state decisively to Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York in the Democratic primary.

Antique Doors

Smuro — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 13:35:32 +0000

How much is an Antique door ?

The price of Antique doors can range from a couple hundred to a couple thousands. It depends on the origin, material, condition and special features. Do not based your purchase on the price alone because you are buying an unique item and it would make more sense to buy one that you would enjoy then to save a couple extra bucks.

Why choose an Antique door ?

Having an antique door as your front door can dramanticly improve the way your house look. If you live in the subburbs, where one builder builds all the houses in a subdivions, having an antique doors adds character to the home and may increase your resale value.

Tips for buying an Antique door.

Make sure you double check the measurements. Most doors are made from material that you can not find in a local home improvement store. So it would cost you extra time and money to change the frame to fit the door.

Most Antique doors are sold in \"as is condition\" which means most companies have a no return policy or charge a high restocking fee. Most companies understand this and would gladly take custom pictures for you. ex such as closeup pictures of certain antique door features.

Since Antique doors are a relatively expensive iterm to purchase online. It is a good idea to ask for references and background on the company you are buying it from. It makes good sense to ask the questions before you hand over your money.