It seems that there has been a wane in consumer confidence in the building and construction industry of late. This may be because of the scams highlighted on television or the bribery and corruption endemic in the corporate sector, but it is almost definitely the same reason why so many are now doing home improvements by themselves.

And why shouldn’t they? A little knowledge of the technical aspects combined with an eye for creativity is often enough to complete the home improvement on your own.

Why are people turning to do-it-yourself home improvements?

There are many people attempting to pass themselves off as construction workers, although they do not have a lot of experience in construction or home maintenance and they are literally are out there right now practising, learning their trades on homes like yours and mine around the country.

Not surprisingly, homeowners are discovering that the jobs are not being finished to their liking. Sometimes they are even pre-paying for services that do not get done or were not part of the plan.

You do not have to trust and pay someone to enhance your home. Why not have a go yourself?

You can augment your home?s existing concrete surfaces using acid stains, acrylic paints, epoxy paints, and scoring techniques.

If you are tired of looking at drab gray concrete, there are some easy projects if you are sincere about having a go at home improvement DIY, you can easily give your patio, driveway or garage a revitalizing new look.

Attractive concrete work costs about double that of normal concrete, which is why a lot of people cannot afford it.

However, there are cheaper methods to beautify concrete after it has cured, without having to pay trained tradesmen.

Acid-based concrete stains are becoming more and more fashionable for coloring concrete surfaces. They chemically react with the cement to create permanent color with a variegated or mottled appearance like that of marble. This results in a natural, stylish looking exterior.

Water-based concrete stains are an alternative to acid stains but are much more user friendly because they are so much less dangerous. These stains do not chemically react with the concrete; they are absorbed into the porous surface and act like a dye. The big benefit of water based stains is the wide array of colors available.

If you want to risk going beyond the basic staining of your concrete, consider using some scoring techniques to create patterns on the surface.

You can make your concrete resemble a tiled floor for example. It is just up to your imagination. A mini angle grinder with a 4 inch cutting wheel is the perfect tool for this.

The key thing to remember when scoring is to trace out the pattern on the concrete first and ensure you are happy with the way it looks because scoring is irreversible.

Epoxy paints make an excellent coating for garage floors and cellar floors. Many industrial floors have epoxy coatings because of their hardiness and resilience to chemical spills as well as their appearance.

In recent years, however, it has become very popular for residential use with the availability of an growing quantity of different colors. This is not a tricky job, but the key to successful application is surface preparation.

Epoxy paints have also become available in a water based form making it safe for the DIY’er and perfect for indoor jobs. They cost a little more than stains. For a 400 square foot area, you’ll spend about $200 for the materials required for this project.

So, you see? You do not have to spend big money to improve your home. You have the ability to do it yourself. With a few instructions and a little bit of work, anyone can turn dull concrete into a work of art of their own.

Owen Jones, the author of this article writes on several subjects, but is currently involved with Flowtron Bug Zapper devices. If you would like to know more, please go to our website at Indoor Bug Zapper

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The electric insect killer is the best way of clearing the space around you of insects, especially the flying ones like mosquitoes. The electric insect killer vaporizes any insect from a mosquito to a gnat instantaneously on contact with a nice, loud, electrical ‘zap’!

However, this does not mean to say that the electric insect killer cannot be used outside, as long as it is not too wet. It should be treated like any other high voltage electrical equipment. Keep the electric bug killer dry and please do not use it while you are standing in the pool!

Models vary greatly, but there are basically only two types of hand held bug killer: the battery operated bug zapper and the rechargeable electric bug killer. Both are equally effective at zapping insects and work on the same principle.

The electric bug zapper resembles a ‘kids’ tennis racquet, but with three layers of ‘strings’, which are in fact wires. The central grid of wires becomes live at the touch of a button, while the other two grids, one on either side, are harmless earths.

When an insect is caught between the wires of the hand held bug killer, it creates a short, which evaporates it instantaneously with a loud crack. The indoor bug killer will zap other insects too, but they just fry rather than explode.

I have been using the rechargeable sort for five years and am extremely satisfied with the indoor bug zapper. In fact, the electric bug zapper has come a long way over the last few years. A fully charged electric insect killer is powerful enough to last for several hundred swipes and will hold it’s charge, when unused, for weeks without any appreciable discharge.

The rechargeable battery pack will put up with serious use for the best part of a year, although its capability to hold a charge for a few weeks gradually reduces after six or seven months.

The latest indoor insect killer I’ve used has a main on/off switch, an LED that comes on when it is activated (the brightness of this light also gives an indication of the battery’s strength) and an LED that comes on when it is plugged in on recharge.

The instructions suggest that it should be (re)charged for sixteen hours. I usually put mine on charge over night once or twice every week or two, although the electric insect zapper shows a marked increase in performance with only a couple of hours charging.

The latest model I’ve seen also comes with a powerful beam called a ‘headlamp’. I have found this very useful when walking in the garden, but I’m not sure whether it’s meant to attract the flies in the dark so that you can zap them if you’re bored. You know, like an anglerfish.

I’ve used the headlamp on my hand held bug zapper for that too, but the light uses a lot of battery power. All in all, the hand held insect killer is a big asset to any outdoor event. The indoor bug killer is useful to ‘clean out’ your bedroom before retiring; it’s unbeatable for evening mosquitoes and it will clear a lunch table of wasps as well.

Have you ever heard of an indoor bug zapper? If you haven’t, or if you are interested in getting an indoor bug zapper, just click one of the links to our web site or blog.

Some of the most common indoor bugs we see all over the world are flies, spiders, fleas and beetles. No-one likes to see a bug indoors, so most people will go to just about any extremes to eradicate these common indoor bugs. The less common indoor bugs may be woodlice, earwigs, scorpions and millipedes or centipedes, although they are no less unwelcome.

No matter where you live in the world, it can be very difficult to keep these common indoor bugs outside, unless you go to the extremes of keeping all your windows and doors shut all of the time, which is obviously impossible. I now live in Thailand and I know for certain that this is not possible.

So, what on Earth can you do? Well, let’s deal with all the flying bugs first, because of all the common indoor bugs, I find them the most unpleasant indoor bug. They are very annoying, buzzing around your head and mosquitoes and other flies can create irritating sores and besides that, all flies spread disease. I cannot bear to see them strutting about on food, knowing that they have probably just come off some dung heap somewhere and now they are spitting on my food to taste it with their dirty feet!

My first line of defence is fine-mesh door and widow screens. They are not expensive and can be added retrospectively to any window. My window meshes slide, so they will cover only one half of a window at a any one time, but I do not think that’s a problem. You can still set up cross-winds, by opening two or more windows at opposing ends of a room. I just love to see the flies on the mesh trying to get in by day and the mosquitoes doing the same by night. At night, it is wise to turn on as little light indoors as possible in order not to draw these common indoor insects.

My second line of defence is natural predators – lizards, like Geckos (Jin Jok, in Thai). Some people don’t like them in the house either. I can’t say I’m all that keen on them indoors myself, but they are hard to keep out and they do consume hundreds, if not thousands, of indoor bugs every day. I like to see them lying in wait on the outside of the mesh, ready to pounce on any bug trying to wriggle its way through the wires.

My third line of defence is a handheld bug zapper. You know, the electric, handheld bug zapper that looks like a child’s tennis racquet. The come in two forms: battery and rechargeable kinds. They are brilliant at catching and annihilating any flying indoor bug. The inset literally explodes and vaporizes on contact with the fully-charged wires of the indoor bug zapper. If you haven’t tried using one, you really should. They are most gratifying. These three defences keep our house pretty much free of flying insects.

The crawling common indoor bugs are less of a problem really. Door screens on springs will keep 95% of them out and the Geckos will help too. Spiders can get in pretty easily, but then, I don’t mind them too much as long as they keep out of my way, as they consume other insects too. They are on our side to be honest. However, for those who can not bear to catch them and put them outside, the handheld indoor bug zapper works well on spiders too.

Fleas can sometimes be a problem, if you keep cats or dogs, but then if you wash or dust the animal once a month, you should be able to keep these common indoor bugs under control quite easily. However, there are two final methods that we use. Once a week, before we go out for the day, we spray every room with fly killer and every six-months we spray any rugs or carpets with a bug killer containing permethrin, which will survive washing and vacuuming for that long without losing its ability to kill common indoor bugs on contact. If you follow these methods, you should be able to keep your home or office quite free of the most common indoor bugs and the less common indoor bug as well.

Have you ever heard of an indoor bug zapper? If not, or if you want to get an indoor bug zapper, please click one of the hyperlinks to our web site or blog.