Winter is coming and Nuheat has an innovative concept to keep your home and toes cozy. Nuheat produces electric-blanket-esque radiant floor heating. The Nuheat system provides warm floors to keep tile, stone, laminate and engineered wood surfaces at your favorite toe-nirvana-inducing temperature. The system is electrical, making installation quite a bit easier than some other radiant systems. The Nuheat systems are pre-built, with no loose wires or complex calculations needed. Nuheat mats can be ordered to fit any room regardless of shape or size, and are thin enough to minimize increased floor height. For information on finder a dealer and for pricing inquiries, visit Nuheat.com online.

Last Christmas my wife and I, and other vital family members, were almost killed at Grandma’s house. I know, I know, it is always Grandma who is supposed to get run over by a reindeer. Well, not this year. It seems that in all the holiday festivities, no one checked to make sure the chimney damper was was opened. As a result, carbon monoxide filled the room and some really nice black soot stained the white brick around the fireplace. Man, if we only had the Soot Eraser afterward. Never mind the carbon monoxide poisoning. . . Grandma said cleaning the fireplace was a nightmare! The Soot Eraser is billed as ideal for occasional smudges and for cleaning soot and smoke-covered bricks and walls. It is like the eraser you used in school, only it is 3″ x 6″. The Soot Eraser is made of vulcanized natural rubber so it is safe, non-toxic, and eco-friendly. The manufacturer, who I could not find online, also makes a liquid version which sounds like less fun to me. Consider this a public safety announcement to make sure your fireplace damper is open when you have a fire this winter! Available for about $10 at Mitchel’s Fireplace and Patio Store.

Starting a screw on hard wood or especially metal can be a challenge. A couple years ago I discovered the joys of punching, with a center punch that is. I like the style that is spring loaded with adjustable tension. Once you set the tension, which controls the force of the impact, you just apply downward pressure until the punch shoots forward and dimples the surface. The resulting dimple then makes it easy to start your fastener. Available at most home improvement stores for about $10-20. Gemplers has them for about $15.

Do you have really ugly baseboard heating? If so, my condolences. In addition to my condolences I have a great tip: Overboards. Overboards are foundry-crafted of solid cast aluminum and are designed to install easily over your existing baseboard heaters. They complement your home’s classic architectural details with four styles including Traditional, Gothic, Federal and Shaker. Prices start at about $23 for small components such as corners and spacers and go up to $63 for a 30″ panel. They install with a standard drill, screwdriver and 3/8″ wrench. More details are available at Go-Overboard.com

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I don’t know about you, but I think painting is a drag. Yeah, sure, it looks good when it is done. . . but the prep work combined with the knowledge you will have to do it again in several years really puts a damper on my enthusiasm. I am all for any solution that rids me of the painting monkey on my back. And what better to rid yourself of a monkey than with a Rhino. Rhino Shield is an innovative product that is advertised to never chip, flake or peel. The material used is actually a ceramic coating system and comes with a lifetime warranty. It looks like fresh paint, comes in any color, and bonds permanently to surfaces including wood, stucco, brick, and aluminum. According to the manufacturer, ceramic coating reflects over 90% of the suns energy, giving it a 25-year fade rate that is virtually undetectable to the human eye. For more information, visit Rhino Shield online. Thanks to Darren for the tip.

UPDATE: It has come to my attention that several of the comments in the post have been posted under different names by the same persons and/or business(es). This violates our terms of use, and, as a result, I may delete several of them after further evaluation. This seems to be a heated product analysis, so I recommend taking comments with a grain of salt and performing non-Homefixated due diligence as you evaluate any of the products mentioned in the post or comments. -Marcos

Caulking is something just about every homeowner finds themselves doing at some point. Usually it entails lots of paper towels and results in caulk all over your fingers. Thankfully the team at Dap (makers of many caulking formulations) has devised a tool to make a smooth professional bead. All without coating your fingers with caulk. The foam tip smooths and finishes caulk beads and works with silicone or latex caulking. It is reusable or disposable depending on how messy and environmentally conscious you are feeling. Available from home improvement stores, or online from Builders Depot for about $2 for a pack of three.

So, you have purchased your dream 2 million dollar ultra modern one bedroom bachelor pad in California. Now it is time to accessorize and spice up that patio. Leave it to Germans to build an ultra modern, oh-so sexy firepit. I am afraid it will not fit in with our Spanish style casa, but I know one of you could use it. Made in Germany and available from Hart’s Hearth. At just about $600, it is way less expensive than a new BMW.

My wife loves candles. Anytime we have guests over and it is even close to dusk, she will run around the house lighting candles everywhere. I agree they look great, but I do not really like the threat of fire, or the carcinogenic byproducts many candles give off. I know, I am a party pooper. Thankfully, Philips, sees things my way and has a lineup of nifty LED “candles.” The Aurelle LED Candles consist of a frosted glass cover, light base, recharger and adaptor. The cover is available in four decorative shapes; round, triangle, square and tulip. I think the tulip one is pretty cool myself. The light even flickers for a true candle look. Each candle is reported to run for about 10 hours on a full charge. I found a set of four online for about $70 at Skymall of all places.
Update: My wife thinks the color of these is not convincing. I still think they are cool, but their glow is a little too yellow-ish to be fully convincing when they are in a clear or frosted votive. I am going to play around with putting them behind colored candle holders and I think that will do the trick.

As much as it pains me to say it, winter is coming. This means overnight temperatures here in San Diego might dip below 68. Worse yet, it gets dark right after work which severely restricts outdoor home improvement. Where am I going with this winter theme? Under the couch of course. If your dream interior furniture layout results in your couch residing on top of your heat vent, take heart. A company called Dundas Jafine makes a handy “Extend-A-Vent” to route your hot air from the register, under the couch and into the room. As much as the bottom of your couch appreciates being warmed, I am sure you will appreciate the heat even more. Available for about $10 from EFI.