First of all, you should know that I only had cheap steam cleaners: two of them were the handheld type and the third one was for cleaning floors. The handheld steamers are lame. Not only they don’t disintegrate dirt and grime as they are advertised to do, but they also get damaged very quickly, after only a few times of using them. They start to leak, then you have to wipe the water from all over the place, plus the dirty water that results from steaming a dirty surface. Even when new, they need refilling very often, so it’s out of the question to be able to clean the whole stove before needing to add water again.

The floor steamer seemed to be a bit better. I’ve used it more than 5 times and it still works and doesn’t leak water. Its tank is a bit bigger, so I can do a room without stop. This is acceptable unless you’re living in a castle (case in which your housekeeper would do such stuff for you). What I didn’t like though, was that it doesn’t clean the grout and the shoe polish spots on the tiles. Rubbing is still king when it comes to such jobs.

So, I haven’t see much advantage to chemical free cleaning so far. I’d rather use some detergent and finish the chores in less than half the time. What do you think? Is cleaning with only water working well for you?

Home rental prices evolution in Ploiesti and all over Romania was steep. If in 2006 and even in early 2007 there were lots of offers for as little as 100 Eur – 150 Eur for 1-2 rooms apartments, in 2008 it was really difficult to find something decent under 400 Eur – 500 Eur per month. There were situations in which prices were higher than in Austria, Spain or Italy, although Romania is far behind those countries when it comes to the purchasing power of the average people. By the middle of 2008 and mostly in the beginning of 2009, the crisis that was already affecting the US real estate landed in Romania, causing a real crash of the local real estate market mainly in the segment of apartments in old buildings. A study done by Colliers has shown that in 2006 there were 17780 such apartments sold, while in 2007 there were only 16700, which means a 6% decrease. There were voices, in early 2008, who predicted a severe real estate crisis, but not many listened. As those voices belonged to important business people, there were rumors that they wanted only to influence the prices, so they can make even more profitable investments. When times proved those persons were right, the crisis was already affecting the financial and economic life of Romania. Anyway, for many developers it was already too late to stop their real estate projects which had already consumed huge budgets by that time, so they needed to be finished.

Speaking of Ploiesti or of Prahova in general, prices followed the overall trend: rental and sale prices for old apartments went on a steep descendant path, while newer buildings also decreased but not as dramatically. With banks becoming more severe when lending money to the population, developers had trouble in finding customers for their new dwellings, despite the fact that they tried to make them smaller, in order for the total price to be more accessible to a wider category of buyers.

Like other cities in Romania, Ploiesti has a wide offer of apartment rentals. One can find a nice place to stay for as little as 300 Eur per month, but if luxury and excellent area are a must, prices can go as high as 1500 Eur per month for the same number or rooms. Of course, comfort is much better, but if money is an issue, there are also cheaper apartments for rent which feature modern renovations and new furniture.

Have I convinced you already? If so, go buy one today and enjoy the spirit of Christmas without killing the real trees. If you don’t know where to shop for such a tree, just click on the previous link and you’ll discover an online tree store made with a cool Joomla Christmas template with falling snow. The snow has the role to keep you entertained while you search for your tree.  Isn’t that nice? Come and tell me what you think. All comments are highly appreciated.

There are even products on the market that will help you to find the best home landscaping idea out there. You can choose to use home landscaping software for one. These programs can be a great help to you as you are trying to figure out what will suit your home and yard the best. With these types of programs you will get to see a few different layouts and options are always good when trying to narrow down your choices.

If home landscaping software programs are not for you, then you can try doing a search online for some wonderful home landscaping ideas. The internet is full of great sites that you can use to get everything done the right way. It is important to do plenty of research before you start your own home landscaping so that you keep the number of mistakes made down to a minimum. If you do make a boo-boo, don’t worry about it, any thing can be fixed. Besides, you can always choose to go for homemade hydroponics, which can offer you fresh vegetables all year round, without all this hassle.

Before you start your home landscaping you will need to also look into any gas lines and electrical lines that may be running through your yard. This is very important if you are planning to be doing a lot of digging. You cannot afford to hit any of these things, not only can it cost you a bundle to fix, it can also be very dangerous. Hitting an electrical line with a metal shovel could put an end to all of your work, your life too.

You will also need to find out about zoning restrictions that could affect your home landscaping. In some places you cannot have trees too high and even some fences are not allowed. Find out these kinds of things before you start your home landscaping work and you could save a lot of time and money.