Homes for Sale - 32019 GLASER Road, Rockwood, MI 48173
Property Site: http://tour.remax-detroit.com/home/NVP46N Extremely nice updated split level. Four Bedroom home has updates throughout and is move in ready! N...

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Lakewood home
Final landscaping plus tile work and bathrooms.

By: just1danijane

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Lakewood home - Video

Patience and perseverance are the virtues of an experienced conservationist. More so when the task at hand is a complex exercise to transform a dilapidated Mughal-era monument into an illuminating contemporary architectural delight.

Towards this years end, heritage lovers will be in for a grand treat when the decade-long conservation work would be completed at the historic Neela Gumbad, a part of the sprawling Humayuns Tomb complex. In all probability, this octagonal structure would become the Capitals pride of place and even end up bagging the coveted world heritage site title.

Without boasting its architectural triumph in restoring Neela Gumbad to a level where it appeals to heritage experts, the international community and denizens of Delhi, the Aga Khan Trust for Culture has been renovating the earliest Mughal-era structure. That the monument is located in a secluded corner of the Humayuns Tomb complex means that it is out of bounds for the Nizamuddin residents.

Though efforts to secure the Neela Gumbad have taken over a decade, in a few months, the one million annual visitors at Humayuns Tomb will be able to access the Neela Gumbad. This is easily the most striking Mughal era structure in Delhi and also up till now one of the least known or accessible, says AKTC project director Ratish Nanda. Just like in the Humayuns Tomb, no original tile was removed from the monument. Even those tiles which had lost glaze were retained. Lime plaster with additives such as gur, bel fruit pulp, egg white and marble dust were applied on the internal and external wall surface, adds Nanda.

The work is being carried out under the supervision of the Archaeological Survey of India and Sir Dorabji Tata Trust has co-funded it. After undertaking a six-year-tile research programme, the Nizamuddin youth have prepared titles matching the original tiles. The project has in a way improved the socio-economic conditions of the Nizamuddin bastis residents.

We are proud that our hard work led to the creation of over 15,000 tiles in a record time and we have managed to restore the tiles which were missing on the dome. The tile production mechanism has undergone a lot of development with constant innovation since we started learning from the Uzbek craftsmen. It has given us a respectful position in the society, says Salahuddin, a tile craftsman.

In the last seven years, we have spent hundreds of days creating stone elements for structures where conservation works are being undertaken by the AKTC. Never before have we had such an opportunity to work with pride and match the work of our forefathers. It is a pity so many stone elements have over time been removed from these monuments but we still have the skills and this project has allowed us to train our next generations, says Attr Singh, the head stone carver.

Before the tiles could be put, removal of the cement plaster on the internal and external surfaces applied between 2003 and 2004 was essential. Cement was responsible for the Mughal monuments ruinous appearance.

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Tile by tile

Nationally known tile expert Riley Doty is the tour leader for the July 20 walking tour, "Tiles and Terra Cotta in Uptown Oakland," sponsored by the Oakland Heritage Alliance. The tour begins at 12:30 p.m. at 17th and Webster streets, in front of the richly tiled landmark Howden Building.

On the walk, Doty will point out examples of the district's commercial buildings that exhibit a variety of styles built during the heyday of Art Deco and Moderne, from 1908 to 1931. The use of fired pottery materials for the exteriors of these structures will be highlighted, and Doty will provide information on the special maintenance, preservation, and restoration needs of such landmarks.

Go to http://www.oaklandheritage.org for further details about Doty's tour, and also info on opportunities for buying multitour passes for the other tours offered this season.

The Oakland Heritage Alliance tours are based in part on the work of the Oakland Cultural Heritage Survey and the resources of the Oakland History Room at the main branch of the Oakland Public Library.

Doty has his own tile-installation business and has been working on projects in the Bay Area for 35 years. He is one of the founders of Artistic License, a group of building restoration specialists. The members share skills and information at monthly meetings and seek to educate the public about the importance of quality restoration work.

Founded in San Francisco in the early 1980s at the start of the Victorian "Painted Ladies" craze, Artistic License soon became established as a respected consortium of painters, gilders, wood restorers, window specialists and the like with a growing "word-of-mouth" reputation among satisfied owners of old buildings.

Soon images from magazines and books profiling the group's work made their way into mainstream preservation circles around the country. Today, Doty and the other specialists are often called upon to consult on projects beyond the Bay Area.

Another of Doty's organizations geared to tile enthusiasts is The Tile Heritage Foundation (www.tileheritage.org).

Doty has long been fascinated with Oakland's one-of-a-kind Howden Building. He traced its history and learned that it opened as a showroom fore a family owned-tile business founded in the 1920s by Robert Howden and sons Robert Jr. and James.

During his research, Doty was even able to track down Robert Howden's grandson, now in his 80s, who provided more background about the company.

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Allen: Oakland's tiles and terra cotta features have a history

7277 SWAN POINT WAY #15-8, COLUMBIA, MD 21045
The Creig Northrop Team Presents: 7277 SWAN POINT WAY #15-8, COLUMBIA, MD 21045 For more information visit: http://www.homevisit.com/mlsTour?ver=1 id=80044 Welcome to this beautiful townhome...

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Artist Miriam Balcazar, sitting, continues her work, with the help of her visiting sister Eugenia Escarra, on a porcelain tile mural on a sound-wall between Indiana Avenue and Union Street along the south side of Curran Street in La Caada Flintridge on Tuesday, July 8, 2014. (Raul Roa / Staff Photographer / July 9, 2014)

Artist Miriam Balcazar has been hard at work on a porcelain tile mural on a sound wall between Indiana Avenue and Union Street along the south side of Curran Street in La Caada Flintridge.

The mural will be almost 90 feet long by 4 feet high and will take about 3 months to complete.

Balcazar, a ceramics teacher for the Community Center of La Caada Flintridge, was commissioned by a design company working with the city's Public Works Department to create a 90-foot-long tile mosaic to be installed at the sound wall.

The scene depicts various aspects of Foothills life, from hiking and biking to dog walking and horseback riding. The art piece will embellish an overlap in two sound walls through which pedestrians pass, making it the largest piece of public art in La Caada, Public Works Director Edward Hitti told the Valley Sun in May.

"The mosaic reflects residents' activities along the trail system in the city," Hitti said. "It is a creative element (intended) to soften the height of the 16-foot-tall wall in the city right-of-way."

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Sound wall mural depicting life in the Foothills underway

Motorists this weekend no longer need to worry about traffic from the Squirrel Hill Tunnel's last full closure on the outbound side, which has been postponed.

PennDOT spokesman Steve Cowan said crews working on the outbound side are not far enough along with their concrete work and tile placement to do the paving of the inside of the tunnel.

We want to make sure that we don't do any damage to the pavement, he said. The work that they're doing with the tile placement and the concrete requires lift equipment inside the tunnel.

Another date for the closure has not been set, Cowan said.

Drivers can still expect construction this week, including the first part of three major improvements to the Parkway West, which was scheduled to begin at midnight Wednesday.

The $3.72 million project to add an outbound lane between Rosslyn Farms and I-79 will continue Thursday night from midnight until 5 a.m., Cowan said.

Motorists will see significant investments that will ultimately provide safety improvements and much-needed repairs on the Parkway West and Fort Pitt Tunnel, he said.

He said there will be shoulder reconstruction, drainage improvement and sign updates.

Rebecca Jordan, 40, of St. Clairsville, Ohio, commutes for an hour and a half to work every morning and said although traffic from the construction will be a pain, the work ultimately will help commuters.

I think it'll be the best thing they ever did out here, to add another lane, she said.

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Squirrel Hill Tunnel wont close this weekend, PennDOT says

BOISE, Idaho (AP) The Environmental Protection Agency says Idaho inmates were exposed to asbestos when they were sent to work at an Idaho Transportation Department maintenance shop without proper training or equipment.

The federal agency announced Tuesday that the Idaho Transportation Department has agreed to pay nearly $56,000 to settle the allegations. Though the transportation agency agreed to pay the penalty, it didn't admit or deny the allegations.

ITD spokesman Reed Hollinshead wrote in an email that the state agency shares the EPA's concern regarding the health risks posed by asbestos, and the agency didn't become aware that the asbestos was present until after the inmate's work was completed.

The EPA says the transportation department hired inmates from the St. Anthony Work Camp in eastern Idaho last year to remove old flooring from an ITD building in Rigby. But the EPA says the department didn't test for asbestos first, instead relying on a 25-year-old test of a single sample taken in the building in 1989. That sample didn't show asbestos, but repeat tests done after an inmate and a correctional supervisor complained showed that the glue in the flooring contained asbestos and asbestos dust was on the walls. The federal agency says at least three recent samples should have been tested before the work began.

John Pavitt, an air compliance inspector for the EPA region that includes Idaho, said the federal agency discovered the problem when the correctional officer in charge of the inmate work crew contacted him last year.

"He told me that they had been on a job site in April 2013, and things had gone wrong on the job. They were worried that they were exposed to asbestos dust," Pavitt said. "Nobody had training, nobody had respirators, and the normal controls weren't used."

The job was to remove tile and tile glue from the floor of a breakroom in an ITD maintenance shop as part of a renovation, Pavitt said. The correctional officer and an inmate both suspected that there was asbestos in the materials, Pavitt said, but an ITD official assured them the material was asbestos-free. The correctional officer was still wary, though, and saved a piece of the material so he could have it tested later.

The inmate crew used a mechanical buffer and other tools to chip away the tile and remove the glue from the subfloor, Pavit said, and then they dumped the old tile in a community trash bin. From there it was carted to a landfill that wasn't supposed to accept asbestos, he said.

The correctional officer sent his sample off for private testing, and when it came back positive for asbestos, contacted state health officials for help, Pavitt said. Those officials referred him to the EPA, but because of sequestration and the government shutdown during the summer of 2013, the investigation process was slow.

In November months after the two-day demolition job in April was complete Pavitt contacted the Idaho Transportation Department, which hired an independent consultant to examine the breakroom. Asbestos dust was on the walls, and a sample of the tile glue found under a baseboard was positive for asbestos, Pavitt said.

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Idaho agency pays $56,000 for asbestos complaint

A rogue trader who preyed on vulnerable pensioners has been jailed after he was caught walking an 83-year-old Solihull woman to her bank to collect cash for his shoddy work.

Traveller Harry Smith, who used the alias Michael, targeted Alzheimers and dementia sufferers charging them extortionate fees.

One of 24-year-olds victims included a 71-year-old woman from Knowle whom he cold-called on January 10 last year and offered to carry out roof repairs and tile jet washing for 1,200.

Eventually he presented the pensioner with a bill for 2,300 - more than five times what it was worth.

That bill included a 150 weed sealant which involved Smith splash a mystery solution from a watering can over her driveway.

The dodgy dealer - who may have amassed 33,000 from his scams - was sentenced to 25 months in prison after he admitted one count of fraud by false representation and at Birmingham Crown Court on Friday (July 4).

The judge also imposed a Serious Crime Prevention Order.

Smith will face five more years behind bars should he be caught touting door-to-door for for building or repair work during the next three years.

Smith, whose last known address was in Earl Barton, Northampton, was caught by cops on February 1 after a cashier became suspicious when he escorted the pensioner to her bank in the hope of getting a cash lump sum payment.

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Rogue trader who charged elderly fortune for shoddy work jailed

RIO DE JANEIRO On a recent sunny afternoon, Steve Johnson, a tourist from Salt Lake City strolling through Rios colorful Santa Teresa neighborhood, stopped in his tracks and whipped out his camera. Across the street was a fanciful mural featuring the Brazilian soccer team. Players fill a street car, as Neymar hoists the World Cup trophy and Argentinian rival Lionel Messi covers a face filled with tears.

I think its one of the best things Ive seen in all my time here, said Johnson, 48.

Theres plenty to compare it to. On the walls and buildings and in the hearts of many, the World Cup exists in bright bold colors a celebration of a game, a team and a nation. For others, though, its more crude, angry, dark and even vulgar.

Across Brazil, graffiti and street art is a popular, time-honored and unavoidable form of expression. The controversial and costly World Cup tournament has given street artists ample inspiration. While some murals celebrate Brazils passionate love affair with soccer, other buildings are plastered with protest art, often depicting themes of greed and deriding a nations misplaced priorities. In one, a favela child stares at a glistening stadium in the distance. In another, a man in a suit and a soccer player kick around a ball-shaped bag of money.

Others are much more succinct: stenciled lettering denouncing the tournament or hand-scrawled alliterative expletives directed at FIFA.

In a meeting of traditional soccer powerhouses, host nation Brazil will face Germany in a World Cup semifinal. The Brazilians have played the Germans only once before in a World Cup: the 2002 final won by Brazil. Here's a look at Tuesday's matchup. (Tom LeGro/The Washington Post)

I think it has a political attitude, said artist Paulo Ito, whose recent work has cast a skeptical eye on the World Cup. It is a political thinking, in a certain way. Not in all the works; others are more poetic than political.

Ito has done a piece with the tournament mascot, a cartoonish armadillo named Fuleco, standing in front of a stadium and directing a family to scatter. Another features a starving child at a table with only a soccer ball on his plate. The latter went viral on social media sites and drew a lot of attention to the issues that have enraged protesters here in the months and years preceding the Cup.

The response was very emotional, said Ito, 36. When people have emotion, it becomes a subject. Or more.

Not just ... paint on a wall

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At World Cup in Brazil, street art reveals conflicted feelings