Surface water refers to any water on the surface or ground-level. Civil engineers would count puddles, lakes and streams as surface water. Surface water also includes water that is flowing down to the ground such as rainwater from your roof that gutters should lead away from your foundation. Surface water drainage is the drainage of water away from buildings to sewers and on to appropriate locations like lakes and streams.
When driveways start to lose their luster or are nearing the end of their lifespan, a lot of owners will consider the option of having their driveway resurfaced to cut costs. There are some cases when a good resurfacing job will do the trick. But in some other cases, you’ll have no choice but to have the whole driveway redone. So, how do you know when it’s better to replace or resurface your driveway?
Honestly, you don’t need advanced kitchen appliances to have a fully functioning kitchen. In fact, plenty of people get along just fine with only a microwave to heat up their frozen dinners. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t outfit your kitchen with the best tools and equipment you can find — it just means your kitchen probably doesn’t need all the bells and whistles that kitchen designers, appliance makers and others try to sell you.
But how do you know what you don’t need? It doesn’t hurt to review the best of the best Smart kitchen appliances out there — and it doesn’t hurt to buy a few of them if they truly will improve the functionality and appearance of your kitchen and home.
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Your oven can make bread, so why would you need a dedicated bread machine? As it turns out, bread has multiple steps and can take hours of hands-on time to prepare — which is why many people outsource it to their bread machines.
The best bread machines on the market transform bread and yeast into masterpieces. Top models mix, knead, prove and bake the dough, and they have programmable settings for different types of bread. If you can’t go a day without a fresh loaf, you might need to invest in one of these best kitchen gadgets.
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Rice can be the most infuriating part of any meal, mostly because it can be a mystery how it cooks. Some types of rice are ready in a few minutes while others need to stew for an hour or more to become more than al-dente. You’ll need to devote prime stovetop real estate to cook rice that long, and at the end you’ll need to scrub the rice pot.
However, you can avoid all the headaches and heartaches of cooking rice when you have a rice cooker. The rice cooker is one of the must have kitchen appliances because they have the exact right settings for different types of rice; they make getting whole grain into your meal incredibly easy.
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Americans go wild for ice; we put more of it in more of our beverages than any other nation — and that’s due to the long and profitable history of ice in North America. While most American households have a freezer that can produce ice, that ice typically isn’t the best quality or quantitative enough to sate Americans’ needs.
If you love ice and can’t get enough, you might want to invest in a dedicated ice maker. These top kitchen appliances come in many styles, from portable and countertop to undercounter to major commercial appliances, and the best are programmable, so you can achieve the exact size and texture of ice that you crave.
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Every educated wine drinker knows that their vintages need to be stored in a precise environment to retain the delicate flavors created by their vintners. The best wine coolers not only chill wine but also manage humidity, light, air purity. This is required to keep the bottles in pristine condition. If you enjoy wine for more than just the antibodies, you need a high-quality wine cooler to keep your flavors safe.
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Finally, beer aficionados have the opportunity to sample high-quality brews, like wine lovers have done for centuries. While most craft beer comes in bottles, beer fans agree that the flavors are best straight from the draught. Fortunately, you don’t need to journey to your favorite brewery anymore. Especially, if you have a beer dispenser in your kitchen. Also called kegerators, they make it easy to tap a keg of beer — and keep it in good condition. The best beer dispensers chill kegs to the perfect drinking temp and allow for the perfect pour, which is what you might need if you only drink beer the right way.
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There is little more frustrating than preparing a meal and having different elements be ready at vastly different times. You don’t want to serve ice-cold mashed potatoes — and for that reason, you need a warming drawer. Warming drawers keep food warm, so you don’t need to stress about coordinating your cooking schedule perfectly. Often, warming drawers are part of an advanced oven, so you might need to upgrade larger appliances to gain access.
There are so many things you don’t need in your kitchen. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have them or won’t take advantage of them. Whether you are redoing your kitchen or looking for ways to upgrade cooking skills, these appliances might be for you.
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IKEA doesn’t have the most spotless reputation — though no major corporation does. There are plenty of reasons you might not enjoy shopping at the Swedish budget furniture store, and we’re here to tell you that you don’t have to. If you like the cost of its goods, the user-friendliness of its flat pack items and its minimalist Scandi style, but you don’t like IKEA itself, you have a handful of other options for affordable, flat pack furniture. IKEA isn’t everything. Here’s the best of the rest.
New kitchen appliances are expensive, and as manufacturers add more bits and bobs to them — like fancy doors and smart connectivity — refrigerators, ranges, dishwashers and other appliances are only getting higher in price. If you bought a house that has older appliances, you are probably champing at the bit to replace them with updated models, but if you can’t afford to buy them outright, you should probably wait.
According to the National Sleep Foundation, 35 percent of Americans are not getting a good night’s rest. If you’re in that large group, the environment in your bedroom could be a contributing factor to why you aren’t sleeping. Take a look around your bedroom. You may have insomnia inducing problems like an old mattress, the wrong wall color, or too much ambient light. Rectify these issues to give yourself a more peaceful slumber.
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Your bedroom walls could be overstimulating you before you go to bed. Warm colors add energy to a room, so if you’ve got yellow or pink bedroom walls, paint over them. Choose a muted blue, turquoise, or teal. Blue hues will create a soothing sleep environment, calming your mind down before you fall asleep.
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Sleeping on an old mattress that doesn’t support your skeleton leads to joint pain and muscle aches. An uncomfortable mattress that’s harder or softer than you prefer could keep you up all night. If yours is more than a decade old, research mattress options like firmness and memory foam, and high-tech options like cooling surfaces. Get a mattress with a one- or two-month money-back guarantee, so you can test it out before you commit.
The human body needs to cool down to sleep, and the perfect bedroom temperature is typically lower than 70 degrees. Program your thermostat to drop the temperature in the house a bit each night to help you sleep better. You may find your ideal sleeping temperature is a bit outside this typical range. Play with it until you find the perfect cooling level, and then set the thermostat.
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You need to lower the lights about an hour before you go to sleep. Dim the lamps and turn off overhead lights to cue your body in that it’s time to sleep. In your bedroom, install room darkening curtains. Street lamps, traffic, and lights on at the neighbors filter through your windows and disrupt the dark you need to start resting. Pull those curtains to create a dark environment. Don’t ruin it by staring at your phone screen or watching TV while in bed.
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Aromatherapy may help you calm down and drop into slumber. Some of the most effective scents are jasmine, lavender, sandalwood, and chamomile. Get a reed diff user that you can keep on your bedside table to infuse your room with these soothing scents. Consider sachets of dried petals scented with your favorite of these options under your pillow, too. You can also get essential oils and dab them on a tissue, which you then put inside your pillowcase.
Poor sleep quality affects your ability to concentrate, your mood, and your health. When you suffer from insomnia, now is the time to dig into the problem. Discover if your bedroom environment is contributing to your lack of sleep and take the right steps to design a bedroom better for sleep.