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Page 22, Whitby Free Press, Wednesday, Febniary 10, 1993« A HOME DESIGN AND IMPROVEMENT FEATURE1 Combatting dryness, humidity in home If you're like many home- owners, you may have noticed that the floors in your home began te creak end grean at the enset of winter. Whiàle you may think these eound offocts are the product of tiny four-footed creaturos, your home is probably more likely te ho suffering fromn a case ef extreme dryness. A laek of humidity can cause problems throughout yeur home, such as furniture with warped or loose joints or cracked plester. In some extreme cases, even wallpaper can begin te, peel. Without a doubt, humidity, or a lack of it, is often overleeked when it cernes te home maintenance and personal comfort. Tee, much humidity aIse croates a heet of preblems -- like condensation en your windows, mould in closets and cupboerds, rotting wvindew sis, moiet insulation and peeling paint or wallpaper. Either wy if yeu find you have a problem in your home, there are sevoral, relativoly easy things yeu can do about it. Combatting dryness The reason, dryness can become more of an apparent problem during the winter months is bocause cold air holds much ls moisturo than wermn air. Se, when cold air enters a hoated space, its capecity te hold moisture is increased. And, if heated air isn't supplied with moisture, it tries te correct the imbalance by pulling moisture eut of evory ýavailable source -- including plants, furniture and humans. If you have an eIder home that is prono te, dryness, you can take a few relatively simple steps te effectivoly combat it. For example, you can p ut containers of water on hoet radiaters or cenvecter covers -- or MI1 Up trays of water and place them around rooms. (Obviously, these would have te ho replenishod as the water evaperates.) Place them in locations where they can't easily ho knocked over. This method, along with vapeur caused by cooking, showering and doing the laundry, will add some moisture te the air. However, if your problem is severe, you may went te try using a humidifier. These range in size and shape. You cen buy amall, tahletep models or central systems that cen be attached te y our.furnace. The propor type of humidifier will depend on the size Of yourhomand the amount of air1 eakae t'experionces. Be sure te follow the manufacturer's directions when setting up and operating, the unit. And i f you're having a large unit installed, ho sure te, consult a qua]ified contracter. Combatting bhumidity If your problem is the opposite and you feel like you're living in a tropical rainforest, your house is probably tee humid. Although this isn't always as much of a polm during the winter mnhit occurs and thore are several relatively simple things you cen do te, combat it. For instance, if yu home has double-glazed windows and you keep your thermostat at a temperature of 68 degrees Fahrenheit sud the eutdoor temperature is 32 degrees or more, the recommended relative humidity for indeers is 45 to 50 per cent. Keep in mind that this percentage reduces accordingly with the drop in outdeor temperaturos. Se, if the temperature outside is between minus one te, minus il degrees Fahrenheit, your recommended relative humidity is only 25 per cent. Simple approach Obviously, the easiest thing te do is te, increase the ventilation in your home, while aise reducing the amount of moisture produced. When showering, for instance, leave the fan on or open the bathroom window. Use an exhaust fan when cooking as well. It's aise a good idea te avoid hanging up wet laundry inside your homo or leaving bunches of damp towels lying about, since this aise adds to the humidity level in your home. You should aise check your basement carefully te make sure it's proerly dreined and damp-proofed. Earth floors in basements or crawl spaces should also be covered with a vapour berrier. In addition, make sure your clothes dryor is properly vented to the outside. There are plenty of other things you can do as well. Check te soe if yu friure is tee, close te outaide walils antd open drapes during the daytime. Allow air te circulate in your closets and leave doers te other roome open te increese air circulation. Aise check surface drainage areund your home te see if it's adequate. If not, you could be getting moisture in through the baement and this will lead te, higher levels ef humidity in your home. If you have a problem in one particular room, check your heplants. Tee many plents in one room cen aIse cause a humidity buildup. Thlis article is provided by local realtors and the Ontario Real Estate Association (ORE,4V. Who says it ail has to match? It used te ho that when you we]ked inte the average Canadien home, you noticed if ail the furniture in a given room didn't match. If. there was one piece in a different style, or that was made from a diff et material or was covered in a different fabnic, you just naturaly essumed that it was either an heirloom or someone elses castoif. Thats net the case teday. « Mx sud match' is the order of the day i home decorating themes these days. Today9s consumera, sud patcularly younger ones, are fesa hidebound sud fer more adventurous thsu their parents sud grandparents. Theyll i sud match almoat anything - fabrics, stylos, colours, materials -- te croate an exciting, vibrant, persenal environment. Themes, fer more thsu traditional groups, appear te ho their watchword. They dare te hoe different, sud the results are sonietimes wonderful. Some combinations you just have te see te -holieve; others you'll find only in the imagination of consumers. Wrought-iron hods are complemented by tinted pickled pine hodroom furnture sud glass and steel lamps. Treditional Shaker living room suites are accented by exciting blonds of 'oethnic' fabrics with vividly ce-ordinated colour splashes. Even leather, that most censervative of upholstery coveringa. is now hoing comple- mented by accessory pieces in everything from chromo and glass te raspberry wood finishes and oriental silhouette lighting fixtures. These new moves in the personal testes sud touches department are extending far beyend these nevel blendings of furniture, febncs, finishings, accessories and lighting. Today, they're even extending te where the fur-niture sits in the reem, including sofas sud chairs that look prec.e1y ight, even when thefe place smack in the middle of a room. Pleces that are 'customer- sized& for the man or womn who's larger or smeller than ther average statistical height are aise, comning inte, the forfront of furniture stylng today. Some even have adjustable bases that allow for changes at a mement's notice. There are aise many new linos of upholstered sofas- and chairs that are designed for the new condo market, where rooms are slightly emaller then in traditional homes sud where a standard size piece might seem overwhelming. For teday~s ceref'ul consumer, a1g these options mean more than just a lot more choices. They mean an opportunity te decorate for taste, spaoe and place, and the ability te do se over longe;r periods of time. Therels ne longer a need te purchase evoiything et once, ao it ail f goos together.' Vive la difference! Don't Forget Valentine's Day E-EBRUR I4TH dWhitby Mail has a large variety of stores offering a great selection. You're sure ta lind the gift that will please that special person at savings that will delight your budget. VA LE NTINE *IF2Ï HEADOUARTERS M HITBY.MALL Thickson Rd. & Hwy #2 a 579-2515