Planning to remodel a bathroom this year?

Think shower, not tub. And bring in the light -- lots of it.

Those are two of the trends that turned up in a recent survey on bathroom remodeling projects by Houzz (houzz.com), the home design and remodeling website and phone app. Houzz invited its newsletter readers to share their remodeling plans, and 7,645 responded, said Liza Hausman, the company's vice president of community and marketing.

This was Houzz's first bathroom trends survey, so it's impossible to use the findings to make specific comparisons to the past. But the study does show what's hot right now in bathroom design.

One of those trends is what Hausman called the "amazing shower."

Showers are getting bigger and more elaborate, she said. More homeowners are installing two-person showers with multiple sprays, sometimes outfitted with accessories such as seats or shower heads that simulate rain.

Apparently, some homeowners are making room for a bigger shower by eliminating a tub, which Hausman found surprising. Forty-three percent of respondents said they're choosing to forgo a bathtub, even in the master bathroom.

The older the homeowners, the less likely they are to want a tub, although Hausman isn't sure why. Maybe they've been around long enough to know how infrequently garden tubs and jetted bathtubs get used. Or maybe they're opting for accessible showers that require more space, she speculated.

Those showers are almost always enclosed in all glass, especially in the master bathroom. Frameless glass is popular, with 54 percent of homeowners choosing it for the master bathroom and 37 percent for other full baths in the house. Glass block is out, Hausman said, but shower curtains are still showing up in 10 percent of master baths and 33 percent of other full baths.

The preference for glass enclosures is probably related to the popularity of light in bathroom remodeling projects. People are bringing an abundance of light through windows, skylights and even shower heads with LED lights that seem to change the color of the water, she said, and clear glass enclosures let that light shine through. Hausman said maintenance wasn't raised as an issue by survey participants, so apparently people are willing to squeegee their shower enclosures religiously, or they're willing to live with the water spots.

Read more here:
Survey shows bathtubs getting the boot, light getting a boost

Home Mail News Sports Finance Weather Games Groups Answers Screen Flickr Mobile More Celebrity Shine Movies Music TV Health Shopping Travel Autos Homes Yahoo Sports Search Sports Search Web Sign In Mail Help Account Info Help Suggestions Yahoo Score Strip Ice Hockey GER vs. SWE Live Women's 0 GER 1 SWE Curling SWE vs. CAN Live Men's 0 SWE 0 CAN CHN vs. USA Live Men's 1 CHN 0 USA GER vs. GBR Live Men's 0 GER 1 GBR RUS vs. NOR Live Men's 0 RUS 2 NOR Snowboarding Men's HP Qualification Heat 1 Live Men's HP Qualification Heat 1 Men's HP Qualification Heat 1 Run 1 Live Men's HP Qualification Heat 1 Run 1 Cross-country Men's Sprint Free Qualification Live Men's Sprint Free Qualification Ladies' Sprint Free Qualification FINISHED Ladies' Sprint Free Qualification Curling Denmark vs. Switzerland Final Women's 6 DEN 7 SUI Canada vs. Sweden Final Women's 9 CAN 3 SWE United States vs. Russia Final Women's 7 USA 9 RUS Japan vs. South Korea Final Women's 7 JPN 12 KOR Freestyle Skiing Ladies' Ski Slopestyle Qualification Run 1 FINISHED Ladies' Ski Slopestyle Qualification Run 1 Ladies' Ski Slopestyle Qualification Run 2 FINISHED Ladies' Ski Slopestyle Qualification Run 2 Ladies' Ski Slopestyle Final Run 1 FINISHED Ladies' Ski Slopestyle Final Run 1 Ladies' Ski Slopestyle Final Run 2 FINISHED Medal Event Ladies' Ski Slopestyle Final Run 2 Snowboarding Men's HP Qualification Heat 1 Run 2 5:35am EST Men's HP Qualification Heat 1 Run 2 Men's HP Qualification Heat 2 7:00am EST Men's HP Qualification Heat 2 Men's HP Qualification Heat 2 Run 1 7:00am EST Men's HP Qualification Heat 2 Run 1 Cross-country Ladies' Sprint Free Quarterfinal 1 7:00am EST Ladies' Sprint Free Quarterfinal 1 Ladies' Sprint Free Quarterfinal 2 7:05am EST Ladies' Sprint Free Quarterfinal 2 Ladies' Sprint Free Quarterfinal 3 7:10am EST Ladies' Sprint Free Quarterfinal 3 Ladies' Sprint Free Quarterfinal 4 7:15am EST Ladies' Sprint Free Quarterfinal 4

Go here to see the original:
Johnny Quinn gets stuck again, this time inside an elevator

As the congregation looked on, Anderson Chapel AME Church of Killeen broke ground on the future Marion J. and Alice W. Douse Community Center on a sunny, breezy Sunday afternoon.

Prior to the groundbreaking, the church held a rousing service, featuring song, dance and ministry of the word by Bishop Vashti Murphy McKenzie.

The bishop traveled from Dallas to join in celebrating the churchs 50th anniversary in conjunction with the groundbreaking ceremony.

William J. Campbell Jr., pastor of the Anderson Chapel AME Church, highlighted the contributions of the churchs founders during the service.

When I arrived at the church almost 12 years ago, we had six of the 10 original founders living, he said. Today, three remain, all of whom attended Sunday.

In the denominations 227 years of existence, it has developed more than 8,000 churches and 19 colleges and universities worldwide, Campbell said.

Locally, the church has chosen to honor the Douses with the naming of the community center. The center will be the 11th structure on the growing congregations campus, allowing the church and community to use the facility for a number of purposes, including public meetings.

The church raised more than $220,000 for the construction project, accounting for more than 18 percent of the projected cost. Campbell said construction should begin in the next few months.

McKenzie instructed the crowd to remember the hills and the valleys good times and the challenges, and to take it higher, to the next level, of each members faith, before leading the congregation to the groundbreaking site.

The congregation cheered as the church trustees and elders, wearing hard hats and holding shovels, turned the dirt marking the site of the future community center.

View original post here:
Church holds groundbreaking, celebrates 50th anniversary

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) Thousands of devout investors who lost savings after a southern Indiana brokerage persuaded them they were helping to build churches will get the last of their share of the money that's being repaid by the end of the year, the official overseeing the payback said Monday.

Receiver Michael Rusnak said he hopes to finish distributing funds to investors who lost money in the Alanar scam by the end of the year. But most may get back as little as 50 percent.

About $60 million had been repaid to investors through the end of January, and a few more million dollars may be distributed. But Rusnik said the exact amount is up to the federal court in Indianapolis that appointed him.

"We're hoping to make a final distribution this year," Rusnik said. "Ultimately, what they get is what we collect."

The complex case has dragged on since 2005, when the government froze the assets of the brokerage based in Sullivan, a city of around 4,000 people about 80 miles southwest of Indianapolis, and began the lengthy process of finding investors and paying them back.

Seventy-year-old former pastor and Alanar founder Vaughn Reeves Sr. was eventually convicted of securities fraud and sentenced to 54 years in prison. Authorities said Reeves and his three sons duped investors into sinking money into bonds secured by church construction projects, then spent millions of dollars on themselves. Two of the sons have completed their time in prison; the third drew no prison sentence but was ordered to pay back nearly $500,000.

The group used prayers and Bible passages to convince about 11,000 investors to buy bonds worth $120 million secured by mortgages on construction projects at about 150 churches in 35 states, according to court documents. Instead, Reeves and his sons diverted money from new investments to pay off previous investors, pocketing $6 million and buying two airplanes, sports cars and vacations, investigators said.

The financial fallout left churches and nonprofits that had sold the Alanar bonds holding the bag from which the investors were repaid. Some of the more well-off churches were able to pay back all the money they owed, Rusnik said. The government worked out financial arrangements with others. A few churches were foreclosed on, though Rusnik said that was a last resort.

About $19 million has been distributed to investors in the larger projects, and about $42 million to people who sank their money into projects at what tended to be smaller churches. There were far many more small investors than big ones.

"They just didn't have the financial sophistication, they just didn't have the resources, they just didn't have the finances to pay their shareholders back," Rusnik said of the smaller churches.

Read this article:
Church scam investors may be repaid by end of 2014

Local Appliance Repair Company Chicago, IL - 773 278 2845
Call Now at 773 278 2845 or Visit http://www.aaxchicago.com Our Local Appliance Repair Company, Services Chicago #39;s Large Home and Commercial Appliances in Need of Repairs! A-Appliance Xperts...

By: A-Appliance Xperts Chicago

Excerpt from:
Local Appliance Repair Company Chicago, IL - 773 278 2845 - Video

Print Create a hardcopy of this page Font Size: Default font size Larger font size Salt Lake City blaze caused $1.5 million in damage

Firefighters battle a four-alarm fire in Salt Lake City, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2014. Lennie Mahler/The Salt Lake Tribune

Firefighters battle an apartment fire in Salt Lake City, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2014. The apartment building that was under construction. Agency spokesman Jasen Asay told The Associated Press that the Fire Department did a walkthrough of the building on Saturday. Lennie Mahler/The Salt Lake Tribune

Posted: Monday, February 10, 2014 2:34 pm | Updated: 2:45 pm, Mon Feb 10, 2014.

Salt Lake City blaze caused $1.5 million in damage By Brady McCombs AP Writer SantaFeNewMexican.com |

SALT LAKE CITY A major blaze at a vacant downtown Salt Lake City apartment complex that could be seen for miles and brought onlookers from around the metro area caused at least $1.5 million in damage, fire investigators said Monday.

The cause of the four-alarm Sunday night blaze remained unknown, Salt Lake City Fire Department spokesman Jasen Asay said. Investigators cant begin digging through the ashes until inspectors determine if the remaining walls of the 40-foot-tall building are stable. They havent ruled out arson, but Asay says its too early to speculate.

An online service is needed to view this article in its entirety. You need an online service to view this article in its entirety.

Or, use your linked account:

Unlimited access to SantaFeNewMexican.com and PasatiempoMagazine.com. on your computer, smart phone and tablet.

Read more from the original source:
Salt Lake City blaze caused $1.5 million in damage

Flames and smoke from a fire engulfing an apartment building under construction in downtown Salt Lake City could be seen for miles, but it was almost completely extinguished Sunday night, the Fire Department said.

The blaze at 550 E. 500 South was under control but not completely out, Salt Lake City Fire Department spokesman Jasen Asay told The Associated Press. No one was inside the 40-foot-tall building, and no one was hurt.

Flames shot high in the air and winds flung embers, Asay said, prompting several 911 calls starting at 6 p.m. A Smith's grocery store and parking lot across the street and several nearby structures, including residential buildings, were evacuated as a precaution, he said. Some people have returned, and most should be able to get back in Sunday night, Asay added.

The spokesman estimated that more than 100 onlookers gathered to watch the dramatic flames, prompting the closure of areas surrounding the building for safety.

Sarah Preston was standing more than a half-block away.

"You could just feel the heat," she told The Salt Lake Tribune ( http://bit.ly/1eM0ylc).

Another onlooker, Kitti Smit, told the newspaper: "I've never seen anything like it before."

A cause of the fire was not yet known. Asay says he talked to the construction company, which he did not name, and said no work was being done Sunday, no utilities have been hooked up and there was no heating source.

The Fire Department did a walkthrough of the building on Saturday as it continued to monitor the progress of construction, Asay said, adding that it was in compliance. Investigators were interviewing witnesses and the company.

Exposed wood at the under-construction building allowed the fire to grow quickly, so crews pulled out and battled it from the outside over fears the structure would collapse, Asay said. About 60 firefighters responded. They worked to keep flames away from a large crane they feared would topple if it got too hot, Asay said.

See more here:
Salt Lake City blaze in building seen for miles

SALT LAKE CITY It was hard to miss the 4-alarm fire in downtown Salt Lake City on Sunday night, as evidenced by the crowds of people who lined the sidewalk to catch sight of a blaze that became as big a spectacle as it was an emergency.

There were so many flames coming down that we had to move, said Prescott Dunn, who filmed the fire from the Smiths parking lot across the street.

On Monday, Dunn and several others returned to the site to see construction crews begin demolishing a portion of the structure.

It puts it into perspective that something like that could happen, Dunn said.

The 64,000-square-foot building was supposed to house 61 new apartments upon completion, but after burning for hours, only its skeletal remains were left standing.

The fire last night was just giant, a lot of flames, a lot of damage done, said Jasen Asay, spokesman for the Salt Lake City Fire Department.

Because of the extensive damage, fire investigators were not able to go inside the property on Monday due to safety concerns. Construction crews knocked out the top floors of the structure to remove any obvious dangers, though, and Asay expected fire officials to enter the property by Tuesday.

Per protocol, the building had just been inspected by the city fire marshal on Saturday, leaving much room for speculation as to what happened between then and when the fire started.

The cause for this fire is still open and it could be a lot of different things, Asay said. And were not ready to get worried, or to be concerned about something when we dont have any reason to be concerned about that yet.

Investigators were expected to enter the property on Wednesday.

Visit link:
Crowds return to site of apartment building consumed by flames

HOTEL MOTEL FLOORING http://WWW.DECOSTONE.COM 781-595-5046
hotel flooring services NM hotel flooring services NV hotel flooring services CA Commercial Flooring Phoenix, Mesa, Tucson, Gilbert, Chandler hotel flooring ...

By: decostoneUSA

View original post here:
HOTEL MOTEL FLOORING http://WWW.DECOSTONE.COM 781-595-5046 - Video

Covered Patios WAXHAW NC 28173 Real Estate Listing
1213 Brough Hall Dr Waxhaw NC 28173 $369555 Attractive immaculate executive Orleans 2010 house features nearly 4000 sq ft in sought after Lawson- elegant do...

By: Apodaca Sheri

See the original post here:
Covered Patios WAXHAW NC 28173 Real Estate Listing - Video