Choose your curtains wisely

Curtains!!!!

Posted By: Designer Mjanja Blog on 5th of December 2012

Never underestimate the power of a new pair of curtains. Not only will they give your home a fresh new look, they’ll also keep it lovely and toasty. But good curtains don’t come cheap so it’s worth doing a bit of research before you hit the shops. Which fabric to choose? Look for good quality, heavyweight fabrics like linen blends or cottons. Over time, cheap material may go shiny. If custom making curtains always be generous with the fabric, nothing looks worse than skimpy curtains. Linings are almost as important as the curtain fabric. A quality lining will give budget materials a longer lease of life. Choose thermal lining to keep out the chill in a draughty room, or interlining which provides an extra layer of padding to make curtains super-thick and cozy. For kids’ bedrooms, blackout lining should hopefully ensure a good night’s sleep for them - and you! Latest looks Current trends are veering away from fussy swags and flounces towards a more tailored approach. Curtains Hung from a pole, eyelet styles produce a sleeker look than traditional pencil pleat curtains and there are no fiddly hooks or clips to worry about. Pelmets are also back in fashion. A flat pelmet covered in silk looks surprisingly contemporary, just the thing for a formal dining room. Long or short? Whether you choose sill length or floor length curtains is really a matter of personal taste, although floor length styles do have a more luxurious feel. Sill-length drapes cost less, and are popular in bathrooms and kitchens. They also make a practical choice above radiators to allow heat to circulate. Plain or patterned? Take a good look at your scheme before deciding on a pattern. Too many different designs can create a busy, distracting effect. For a relaxed ambiance  opt for either patterned curtains with plain walls, or vice-versa. You can always dress up plain curtains with beautiful beaded tie backs or colored glass poles. Other Tips.. When buying a curtain pole, allow for it to extend beyond the window at either side by 10-20cm so that curtains can be drawn right back. Grubby net curtains are never a good look. Update your windows with panels of delicately patterned white voile (sheer). Vertical striped curtains trick the eye into making a ceiling appear taller - perfect for a small room. For more information and insight on interior decor, construction and handymen contacts, please visit our full site at www.fundimjanja.com

Alternative Technologies part 2

Posted By: Fundi Mfalme on 26th of November 2012

Stabilized Soil Blocks Interlocking Stabilized soil blocks are walling blocks made from compressed soil. They are just as hard and as water-proof as stone. Stone is made when soil is compressed by forces of nature while the Interlocking Stabilized Soil blocks are made when the soil is artificially compressed. Interlocking Stabilized soil blocks are artificially compressed using either a manual or diesel-operated pressing machine to a pressure of between 20 to 40 Kg/cm2. While making compressed soil blocks is labor intensive, they can significantly reduce the costs involved in building a house, outbuildings, fences, garden walls, etc. If soil consisting of clay, caliche & silt is available at the building site, admixtures can be omitted, thus the only cost involved in producing compressed soil blocks is the block press and the time invested by the builder. This might be a disadvantage to most builders interested in say one house as the cost of procuring the machine is high. It therefore comes as an option to hire the machine for production of enough blocks for your project, invest in the machine and hire it out to other builders or buy readymade blocks. Stabilized Soil Block Press Technical Data Typical Compression force 80-100 kN Weight 130 Kg Typical daily production with 4 workers 400-500 blocks Technical Specifications of Stabilized Soil Blocks Weight 5kg Size 290mm x 140mm x 115mm Number of Blocks per bag of cement 100-150 blocks Recommended wet curing period 7 days Minimum dry compressive strength 2.5 N/mm² Maximum wet compressive strength 1.5 N/mm² Maximum water absorption (after 28 days) 15% Blocks are ready for use after 14 days Cement to Soil ratio will vary according to soil type and should be determined by testing the soil for shrinkage. This can be done quickly & easily using a special shrinkage box supplied with the Block Press. Please note that heavily clay soils, where shrinkage exceeds 40mm, the soil may require further stabilization with sand. Shrinkage Less than 12mm 12 – 23mm 24 – 39mm Cement to Soil Ratio 1:18 1:16 1:14 Approximate no of blocks 150 120 100 COST BREAKDOWN. Assuming an average price of KES 750 for a 50kg bag of cement, and KES 350 to 400 for unskilled labour per day, the cost of producing 1 meter squared is as below: CEMENT-KES 7 per brick LABOUR to manufacture brick-KES 4 per brick LABOUR to make wall-assuming 1 fundi and 1 assistant at a total of KES 1,100 per day with a minimum of 500 bricks per day.-KES 0.4 per brick. TOTAL=KES 11.4 per brick. 1 M2 of walling will have an average of 33 bricks. Four workers using a heavy duty manual press can produce 500 rock hard building blocks a day, compacting a soil/cement mixture under high mechanical pressure. The press is adjustable for use with almost any soil type and just 1 bag of cement makes over 100 bricks. Blocks can be sold profitably to build walls at half the cost of the concrete block or stone walls. The blocks will not need mortar during construction as they are inter-locked one to the other in subsequent succession. This will not only guarantee straight and true walls but increase in the speed of construction as well. The downside is that their structural strength will depend hugely on the persons who made them. This therefore does require expert attention during production to guarantee consistency in strength and quality of the blocks. In Nairobi and its environs, since there are large construction projects requiring deep foundation excavations, soil can be delivered to the site for free since the large building owners are required to dump the soil in far away located approved council dumping sites hence more convenient for them to deliver to a nearby site. Stabilized soil blocks eliminate the need for joining cement mortar in between the blocks. It also eliminates the need for plaster. It’s however recommended to paint it externally using water-proof varnish to make it more water –resistant. Specific sections can be painted using contrasting colors to create creative interior wall patterns. The walls though can still be plastered and painted. Advantages of Stabilized Soil Blocks • Soil is available in large quantities in most regions. • Cheap and affordable - in most parts of the world soil is easily accessible to low-income groups. In some locations it is the only material available. • Ease of use - usually no specialized equipment is required. • Suitable as a construction material for most parts of the building. • Fire resistant - non-combustible with excellent fire resistance properties. • Beneficial climatic performance in most regions due to its high thermal capacity, low thermal conductivity and porosity, thus it can moderate extreme outdoor temperatures and maintain a satisfactory internal temperature balance. • Low energy input in processing and handling soil - only about 1% of the energy required to manufacture and process the same volume of cement concrete. This aspect was investigated by the Desert Architecture Unit which has discovered that the energy needed to manufacture and process one cubic metre of soil is about 36 MJ (10 kwh), while that required for the manufacture of the same volume of concrete is about 3000 MJ (833 kwh). Similar findings were also reported by Habitat (UNCHS), Technical Note No. 12 comparing adobe with fired clay bricks. • Environmental appropriateness - the use of this almost unlimited resource in its natural state involves no pollution and negligible energy consumption thus further benefiting the environment by saving biomass fuel. Disadvantages of Stabilized Soil Blocks • Reduced durability - if not regularly maintained and properly protected, particularly in areas affected by medium to high rainfall. • Low tensile strength - poor resistance to bending moments, to be used only in compression e.g. bearing walls, domes and vaults. • Low resistance to abrasion and impact - if not sufficiently reinforced or protected. • Low acceptability amongst most social groups - considered by many to be a second class and generally inferior building material. Source Compressed Stabilized Soil Blocks Source Makiga Engineering Source a4architect For more information on the construction industry, handyman contacts and other insights, please visit our full site at www.fundimjanja.com