Arrrrugggh! Check out the new hardware

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 20/06/2004 (7809 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

WE recently attended the 59th Annual National Hardware Show in Las Vegas. We were in search of the latest and greatest in new home products. Some are so new they won’t be shipping to stores until later this summer.

Attic Dek: Need additional storage space for luggage, holiday decorations and the like? Don’t rule out the attic.

Laying sheets of plywood in the attic during new home construction is a simple and inexpensive task. However, if you’re already in your home, fitting a four-foot by eight-foot sheet of plywood through the attic access might be a problem.

Planking can be easier to get through the opening, but can be a heavier load on the ceiling than is plywood. We aren’t against using plywood or planking as attic flooring. There are, however, some disadvantages to constructing a wood floor in the attic:

Most attics are filled with wiring and piping. Attaching plywood or wood planking to the ceiling joist can conceal these items and make wiring or plumbing modifications difficult later.

Plywood is heavy and cumbersome. That weight could cause ceiling sag.

That’s why we were impressed when we discovered a new attic flooring product called Attic Dek. The product is a floor system consisting of nothing more than 16-inch-square plastic panels that look like drainage grates. Each panel or high-impact plastic tile, if you prefer, looks like a tic-tac-toe board because it is filled with a symmetrical pattern of square holes.

The holes make each panel lighter, less expensive to manufacture and buy. And, they provide a way to view wiring or piping that would otherwise be hidden by a solid flooring system. Each panel is attached to the top of the ceiling joist with five screws and is configured to interlock with other adjoining panels. Removing a panel later is as simple as removing the five screws used to mount it.

The Attic Dek has been designed to work with ceiling joist that are 16 inches on centre, which is disappointing for those with attic joist that are 24 inches apart. Fortunately, the inventor and owner of the company intends to release a two-foot panel later on this year. For more information on Attic Dek, contact the manufacturer by calling 800-676-6904 or reach them on the web at www.atticdek.com.

Easy Crown Moulding: Installing wood crown moulding is one of the more difficult and expensive trim projects. If you are on a limited budget, or live in an apartment where the landlord won’t help financially, crown moulding may be out of the question. Unless, that is, you decide to use a new product called Easy Crown Molding.

The inventor told us that he wanted to create a crown moulding that was extremely inexpensive and didn’t require special tools for installation. So, he developed a hollow crown moulding made of lightweight, paper-thin plastic.

Installation is easier than any prefabbed trim we have seen. It’s peel-and-stick simple. All you do is peel back the peel-and-stick cover and press each piece in place. There aren’t any fancy mitre cuts to make. Each piece comes with one end that is coped (precut to fit against the opposing piece in an inside corner connection). The other end is square.

Moulding patterns are limited, but a company representative tells us that additional styles will be available soon. At this point, we would not recommend the product for “high-end” installations as it is plastic. For more information on Easy Crown Molding, contact the manufacturer by calling 973-762-7700, or visit their website at www.easycrownmolding.com.

LED Flashlights:

We couldn’t believe our eyes when we got a look at the latest in lighting technology — LED lighting. We can look into most flashlights without having to squint or otherwise protect our eyes. However, when we were asked to take a peek at the lighted end of a brand new LED flashlight — in broad daylight, no less — we were surprised. It actually hurt. The flashlight was tiny (about five inches long) but the beam it projected was brilliant — incredibly bright. The one-watt LED bulb is designed to last for 200 hours.

For more information on all kinds of new LED lighting, contact the manufacturer by calling 866-607-3527 or check out their website at www.quality-items.com.

For more home-improvement tips and information, visit our website at www.onthehouse.com.

–Associated Press