The Minneapolis Convention Center is hosting this event

Dates: October 17-18, 2009

Event Hours: 10am to 5pm both days

Location: Exhibit Hall C

Admission:
Adults $6.00 at the Door!

Featuring 100s of unique exhibitors and new products with FREE speaker presentations, demonstrations and entertainment!

Contact Information:
MediaMAX Events & Expos, Inc.
(952) 238-1700
www.mediamaxevents.com

Often as children get older, or you get new furniture, or you’ve been looking at the same wall color for years, you get the urge to paint a room.  You can always hire a professional, and if you do be sure to get a referral.  However, this is the type of project that can be fun to tackle yourself.  The personal feeling of accomplishment when you improve a space in your own home can be immeasurable.

To begin, you will need to prepare the walls and ceiling, which may or may not entail the following (you decide what makes sense for your room):

1. Remove as much furniture as you can.  Move whatever you are unable to remove to the center of the room and cover with old sheets or drop cloths.  Protect any exposed floor in the same manner and use removable masking tape (3M Blue) around moldings, doors and windows.
2. Cover the smoke detector with a plastic bag and turn off air conditioning or heating while doing any sanding or painting.
3. Sand or scrape loose and flaking paint with sandpaper and paint scrapers.
4. Fill all nail and screw holes with spackling compound and a putty knife; fill cracks with caulk.
5. If you have more serious damage to walls, use drywall tape and mud.  On woodwork, use epoxy filler.  Regardless of what you use, you will need to sand it down until it matches the area around the repaired area.
6. Wash all surfaces with TSP (trisodium phosphate).  This will remove grease and dirt allowing paint to adhere to the wall surface.  Also use a deglossser on any glossy surfaces such as trim.
7. Rinse walls and ceiling well with water to remove the TSP. Allow surfaces to dry thoroughly, and then dust and vacuum as needed. You don’t want sanding dust to get on freshly cleaned or painted walls.
8. Before removing cover plates from all electrical fixtures, outlets and switches, TURN THE POWER OFF.  Use small pieces of masking tape to cover switch handles and outlets, so that you don’t accidentally brush them with paint.  Remove heating and air-conditioning vent covers.
9. If you don’t need to turn the power back on to paint, leave it off, it is safer.  If you do turn the power back on, be very careful when painting around electrical areas.

Once the room is prepared to paint, it is time to begin the preliminary painting.

1. Use a stain-blocking primer to cover any dark mark you can’t remove (stains, knots, ink, dark paint); otherwise, that area will bleed through. Never paint over wallpaper.
2. Make sure there is adequate ventilation in the room.
3. Plan on three coats: one coat of primer and two coats of finish. Always use primer on patched and unpainted surfaces; raw surfaces will suck up paint like a sponge – or reject it.  If your primer is being rejected, you may need to better prepare the surface by sanding, rinsing better, or reapplying and rinsing TSP.
4. Using a 2-inch or 3-inch paintbrush outline the room (i.e. where the ceiling meets the walls (and where the walls meet the ceiling), around doors and windows and above the baseboard and any other trim in the room.  Also paint corners.  What you are trying to do is paint everywhere that you will not be able to paint with a paint roller or where you need more control than a paint roller allows.

When the room has been outlined with paint, then it is time to use the paint roller.  This is when you really start to see your room transform.

1. Pour some paint into the roller pan and roll the ceiling and then the walls with your prime paint.  Pour only a small amount of paint in your roller pan.  Doing this will keep the paint from drying out before you can use it.
2. It is best to start rolling before the brushed-on paint has had time to dry, so that the rolled-on paint will blend in rather than become a second coat. Roll the letter “W” about 3 feet wide and then fill-in until you have a 3’ x 3’ area fully covered.  Then move on to the next area, repeating the process as many times as is required to cover all the walls floor to ceiling.  This will assure an even application of paint.
3. Rolling out a W, about 3 feet wide, and then filling it in, assures an even application of paint. Get as close into the corners as you can without making a messy paint line.  Painting from dry areas into wet areas will reduce paint ridges, and you can feather (thin out) all edges as you go with a brush or a roller.

Be sure to cover paint cans when you are not using them.  Keep a rag and brush available to deal with drips and spills.

Repeat the outline and painting process for each coat.

If you do have a drip that is too dry to feather, let it dry.  You can come back later and sand it down, then touch-up.

Finally when paint has dried, remove tape and drop clothes, replace furniture and enjoy your fresh newly painted room.

Summer is a great time to clean out your garage, get rid of things you really don’t need or don’t use, and re-organize so you can find the things you do need and want to use.

The Do It Yourself Network (DYI) has a great video series on how to declutter and organize your garage.  You’ll have to bear with the Craftsman commercials at the beginning of each clip, but there are some logical and sensible tips.

One good tip that you might miss, is that donating things to charities is usually tax deductible, and much easier than saving them for a garage sale where they may or may not sell.  Put forth the effort on getting your garage organized and get the financial benefit as a write-off on your taxes while providing those less fortunate with useable items.

Get busy, this weekend is a perfect time to start!

With your help, Eureka Recycling can be awarded $20,000 from the SunChips/National Geographic Green Effect contest to grow their Composting at Home programs!

Vote up to once a day. Voting ends July 20.

For over 20 years, Eureka Recycling has been Saint Paul’s nonprofit recycler. Under a long-term contract with the city, Eureka Recycling provides recycling services to Saint Paul’s homes and apartments. In addition, Eureka Recycling is a leader in waste reduction education and advocacy.

“We entered this contest to help fund our work to strengthen the grassroots movement of composters in the Twin Cities and to spread the word about the environmental benefits of making dirt, not waste.”

Vote for Eureka at : http://greeneffect.nationalgeographic.com/  Their video is the one pictured with the woman next to the black compost bin.

Eureka Recycling  is one of the largest nonprofit recyclers in the United States and a leader in demonstrating the best waste reduction and recycling practices not only for the Twin Cities metro area, but for the nation.

In the Midwest many people still have wood docks that they put in and take out of the water every year at the cabin or home on the lake. While most wood docks are made out of Cedar, some are made from Spruce, Pine Fir or even teak.

Regardless of the type of wood, though, they need to be stained and protected. Certain types of wood turn gray over time. This is from being out in the elements, if they are not treated. They can also warp, crack and decay without proper protection. Protecting a dock is not a “set it and forget it” operation. It must be repeated every few years, and done properly if you want it to last that long.

In order to protect your wood dock you can paint it, but staining it is really the best way to go. It is important to finish any stain job with a good quality wood sealer. Another option is to purchase a stain that has a sealer combined with it. This way, instead of needing to cover the entire fence with two different products, you will only have to cover it with one.
Stain your dock sections immediately after taking your dock in for the season or immediately before putting it out for the summer.

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Before staining your dock, you should prepare an area to do the staining. DO NOT STAIN YOUR DOCK WHILE IT IS IN THE LAKE. You will inevitably drip toxic stain and/or sealer into the lake and that is not good for anyone or anything. Find an area that is out of the wind and lay down a tarp, drop cloth or newspaper. This will keep the stain from getting on your grass, shoes, driveway, etc.

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Next prepare the wood surface. Follow the manufacturer’s directions on the stain container in order to achieve the best results. Make sure that rain is not forecast for the next 24 to 48 hours. You don’t want your freshly stained dock to get wet before the stain has set. General rules of thumb are to make sure the surfaces to be stained are thoroughly dry, clean and free from oil, grease and other pollutants. Because of the application of a dock with water coming from above and below, it is good to plan to stain both the top and the bottom. Staining the bottom first is usually easier.

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The next step is to begin to apply the stain on your wood dock. Don’t forget to put on your protective eyewear and some latex gloves. Also be sure that you read and follow the manufacturer’s directions on the stain container in order to achieve the best results. Using a clean, good quality paint brush, apply the stain to the wood in the same direction as the grain. Starting at one end of the dock apply the stain on a small section at a time. Apply the stain in short, even strokes; thinning it out any heavy spots so it doesn’t puddle.

After you have finished the first side (bottom of dock), wait at least 12 hours or until the stain is dry to touch (see manufacturer’s recommendation). Then turn the dock sections over and repeat the process on the top side of your wood dock.

Tip: Mask off (with masking tape) any hardware that you do not want to stain. Remove masking tape when all staining and sealing is complete.

Make sure that you stain every wood piece of the entire dock, including the sides, ends, etc. Most manufacturers will recommend applying a second coat of stain to the wood after the first coat has thoroughly dried. Then, allow the stain on your entire wood dock to dry thoroughly. If you are going to apply a wood sealer your wood dock is now stained and ready to accept the sealer. Again, follow the manufacturer’s instructions on the sealer container.

Enjoy your beautiful dock!

Many people may already have their docks in the water for this summer season, so remember to refer back to these tips this fall. Or apply them to your wood privacy fence, you should treat them basically the same way. Although if you have a really long fence you and your drop cloth or tarp may need to work your way down the fence section by section.