A leader head can make or break the image that your home projects in general. An appropriate leader head can make “upgrade” it value beyond your moderate expectations. Choosing the right leader head can be compared to an artist applying the finishing touch to his creation. It puts everything in perspective, with its colour, design, and placement. It blends with the façade and provides a complimentary boost to the appearance. It lifts the image of the home from that of an ordinary traditional one to that of one with class.
A leader head or conductor head is primarily used to channel water from the rooftops safely to the underground drainage system. These serve the dual purposes of saving on the plumbing required and preserving the aesthetics of the building. They give an impression of orderliness and safety from dirty streaks forming across the surface, due to leaking joints. Market research has shown that in general people are ready to pay more for a house that may differ from others mainly in the design of the leader head installed. Along with the paint, the garden and the look of the building such individual pieces of art go a long way in making a statement about the architecture. Even a person, who is unable to appreciate art, will readily point out the mismatch between an ornately designed house and a PVC or aluminum leader head. A variety of leader heads are available in the market, which match with different types of traditional as well as contemporary architecture.
The leader heads contain different percentage levels of copper, which lead to difference in shine and durability. Modern ones have ultraviolet light stabiliser material incorporated in them, for preventing damage by long exposure to sunlight. This is important, since the gutters and downspouts can be replaced, but a uniquely designed leader head may be hard to get. These conductor heads are either molded using casts or formed out of sheet metal by stamping. Molding offers single items with no joints and fixtures. Stamping provides more variety in design, variations in sizes and freedom to manufacture within a short notice. The shape of the downspout, whether square or round will also influence the design of the leader head. Buy and install a conductor head that matches with the material and colour of the gutter fixed along the roof edge. Do not buy one just because you like it. Do a good research about the structure of your home, and categorize it into a suitable time period or style of architecture. For example your home may be built according to Moorish or the French way of design. This will help in short listing the designs that may be suitable. It is always better to foresee the type of gutter, gutter guards and leader heads to be fixed before beginning the installation.
Generally, the cost of leader heads increases proportionately with the size. However, the intricacy of design involved also influences the price. While the polyethylene, ones are far cheaper; they are mostly valued for their durability and lightness. Copper or lead coated copper are the ideal ones for a traditional home. The look of class and coppery shine lend a traditional look to the structure.
Hence, if you want to have an image makeover or a better price for your home, adding an appropriately designed conductor head may be the final piece for everything else to fall in place.
By: Mike Milliman
Archive for November, 2009
Berjaya Times Square – an Architectural Masterpiece
November 23rd, 2009Opened in October 2003, Berjaya Times Square is a twin tower complex that houses a shopping centre and two five star hotels located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Both towers are 203 metres or 666 feet tall, with 48 floors. With an impressive floor area of 7.5 million square feet, this superb architectural masterpiece is renowned as the world’s largest building built on such a floor area.
Today Berjaya Times Square is considered as a global attraction that offers shopping, world class lodgings, business, tasty food, beverages and plenty of entertainment. It is estimated that nearly 1.5 million people visit this magnificent complex each month.
Berjaya Times Square boasts of 700 exciting retail shops, 1,200 lavish service suites and 45 food outlets. However its offerings do not end there, as this mega-scale multipurpose complex is also home to Asia’s largest indoor theme park as well as the first ever 2D and 3D IMAX theatre.
Being the 13th largest shopping mall in the world, Berjaya Times Square is a haven for shopperholics offering a diverse selection of items. For instance, this stunning landmark houses the Borders Bookstore, Cold Storage, Timberland, Supermarket, Titan, Voir Gallery, Blush!, Dockers, Bossini, Esprit, Levi’s, and trimmings such as DeGems, Metrojaya Department Store, Dior, Tag Heuer, Ampang Superbowl, and entertainment points like the IMAX Theatre.
Yet another one of a kind feature at BTS is its 45 restaurants and cafes that lie in the 3rd and 4th Floors which are known as Gourmet Street.
Berjaya Times Square also features a Retail-tainment Zone which is known as the Hip Hop Town, designated for entertainment based merchandise, games, toys, adventure sports gear and specialty retailers.
Those who wish to fully explore this regional as well as international hub for shopping, entertainment, leisure and accommodation can choose to stay at a nearby Budget Hotel in Kuala Lumpur. For instance, Citrus Hotel Kuala Lumpur offers lavish accommodation amidst a contemporary setting.
By: Naveen Marasinghe
Crown Moldings For Contemporary Homes
November 20th, 2009Becoming popular in Georgian houses of the 18th century, a lot of individuals have the myth that crown mouldings are only appropriate in more classical, homes that have lots of architectural trim. However, crown moldings have been applied for more thatn a few centuries to elegant up rooms and add character to the otherwise darkened crimps ‘tween walls and ceilings.
While simple flat mouldings can be used at the top of walls, they sometimes dont make the same impact on the eye. By contrast, crown mouldings- elementary profiles to the very opulent – have always a number of planes that bounce back brightness back at differing angles into the setup & turn otherwise exanimate crevacise into architectural highlights.
A person’s house won’t be ready to feature the largest crown moulding profiles that can stretch up to a foot in to the ceiling or wall area. Nnotwithstanding, with the diversity of profile widths currently available ( some as little as 1 1/2′ ) and order of styles going from very simple to extremely flamboyant, you will select just the perfect moulding to style up your room.
With so many preferences, how then does one select the perfect size & shape for a personal occurance? Granting some folk can always go to a five-and-dime that sells a range of crown mouldings and visualise how a profile might seem in their house, most of us demand a little more assistance.
The best way to choose the best crown molding height, depth, and design for someones present position is to work out with a shop that will give you free a number of profiles to take back home or ask for a moulding pro to bring samples to you. Once that happens, then you can put them up in place and observe the way the light in your home will work off the curves and lines of the crown moulding profile.
Some folks use crown moldings only in their larger, public apartments such as the front room and dining room. However, crown mouldings can fancy up any location of the home’s bedrooms, studies, bogs, and kitchens. At those locations someone will likely choose a more tiny version of that used in a living room. Rarely can a house support more than 2 sizes of crown moulding without seeming too busy. If a smaller version is not available, one should ensure that the lesser moulding complements the main crown moulding you have picked.
Might you be able to install it yourself? Though home craftsman have been installing crown moulding for centuries, it could be a very challenging operation. Unlike base boards or casing mouldings, crown is installed at an angle further complicating the measuring and cutting. It often requires the employment of blocks cut at the right angle to hold the moulding against the wall and the ceiling. It is helpful to have a big enough hand mitering or power mitering setup to hold the moulding properly & angle it in place while you make the cuts.
To make certain you can satisfyingly join outside and inside corners together, you must be terribly patient and cut each piece precisely in both length and miter. And for most impressive results coping within corners is the selected technique. As a result of that rationalization, when it comes to crown moulding a bunch of folks wish to employ a professional having both the kit & the understanding to handle all significant crown moulding project.
By: Jordan Martin