BobVila.com

Pablo Contreras from e-counters.com joins Bob to explain how shopping, ordering, and installation of all types of custom counters happen through their Internet service. Visitors can shop for materials and colors right on the site by logging in with a zip code. The location is matched to a fabricator and the counters that are available locally. Customers can order samples for viewing before measuring the cabinets and entering those measurements online to request a quote. Once a quote has been given, a local fabricator comes to the home to check the measurements and create a template for the counters using plastic sheeting. Custom cutouts are done at the fabricator's shop before the counters arrive on site. Bob watches as the Silestone counter seams are expoxied using a color-matched epoxy and hardener. The installer uses a putty knife to insert the epoxy into the seam, then smooths it across the top of the seam for a tight seal.

Before starting your next paint job, have your tools ready. For the prep, you'll need putty, a putty knife, sandpaper, masking tape, drop cloths, wash buckets, rags and liners. You may also need a step ladder for those hard to reach areas. Of course, you will also need the right brushes and rollers for the job.

Bob talks to Ken Lanoie of Owens Corning about adding sound attenuating insulation to the nursery. Lanoie describes the QuietZone Solserene Ceiling Fabric System used in the project. A Solserene ceiling is made up of three components, with high-density fiberglass boards to absorb sound installed in a track system that holds them in place. The boards are then covered with fabric. Lanoie reviews the installation process of the boards, followed by the fabric covering. After the boards are put in place, fabric is stretched over it and tucked behind the track, which has teeth to grab the fabric and secure it. QuietZone Solserene comes with a tacking knife to assist in the process. The system helps reduce the echo effect of noise in rooms with hardwood or stone floors, plaster walls, and other hard surfaces. The fabric is pulled so tight it looks like a normal plaster ceiling and can follow and architectural configuration, including angles, dormers, and rounded edges. It costs about six dollars per square foot.