I guess you could say I’ve been involved in-home improvement projects quite often in my life. At this very minute my husband is finishing the drywall in our living room, and will soon be painting it. While it’s great to see the finished product, the process can be very messy.
When selecting a contractor for a home renovation, don’t be tempted to simply take the lowest estimate. There is no guarantee that it will be cheaper to use a lower-cost contractor and simply fix any poor work later. Lower prices usually mean that the quality of the work and the materials is also lower.
When renovating your kitchen, avoid tiled counters. Tiled countertops are less sanitary than granite or mock-stone countertops, because food and other contaminants can build up in the spaces between the tiles. Tile countertops can also crack or even shatter if a heavy dish is dropped onto them, unlike countertops made of more modern materials.
You need to improve your home in visible ways. Buyers will judge a home on visual appeal and may be deterred from buying if they notice something wrong. Although a number of important home improvements cannot be seen, if you want to sell your house you must focus on the ones that can be.
If you are taking on your project alone, consider hiring a interior designer for a consultation. An hour with a professional can help clarify what you want to do and help steer you away from those projects that sound good in your head but would be a nightmare to complete.
If you do run into complications when trying to remodel a section of your house alone ask for help. There is no shame in asking for help when you come across an obstacle. A home that is properly remodeled looks better than a home that was remodeled poorly and not done properly.
If you don’t like to nail pictures to the wall because of the holes the nails make, an easy solution is buying mounting squares. Mounting squares can easily hold a few pounds and can be quickly removed without damaging your wall. Stick four squares altogether, one in each corner of your frame to mount your picture properly on your wall.
Wallpaper borders are no longer as popular as they once were. However, you can add nice designs to your wall without them. Buy some stencils at your local craft store in a theme that matches your home decor and paint them in a line on your wall where normally the wallpaper border would go. This creates a nice visual effect for your eyes to follow in the room.
To make the roof on your real estate last as long as possible you should make sure there are power vents installed to draw hot air out of the attic space. This will keep the underside of the roof cooled down so that it does not cook your shingles the way a frying pan cooks and egg.
Take your trash out at least once a day. Don’t let your trash pile in the kitchen because it attracts flies and ants as well as mold. Make sure that you don’t let your trash take over your kitchen and set aside three minutes a day when you throw it out.
When a home improvement project includes landscaping working, attention should be given to drainage in order to avoid standing water anywhere on the property. Standing water looks bad, hurts grass and can even pose a health hazard if it attracts insects. Every point on a property should either be sloped for good drainage or equipped with alternative drains.
You can waste a lot of money and hot water by failing to properly insulate your hot water heater. Stop by a home improvement store and purchase an insulating jacket to enclose your hot water heater. Ideally, the insulation will be about 3 inches thick. This is an affordable and easy way to help your water tank to retain as much as 75 percent more heat that would ordinarily be lost.
If you are looking to replace your flooring with hardwood, consider using bamboo. Bamboo flooring has become a popular choice among homeowners because of its many advantages. Bamboo is environmentally friendly. It is exceptionally durable, and it is naturally tolerant of changes in temperature so it is highly resistant to warping. Bamboo is one of the best choices in flooring materials today.
Outdoor lighting emphasize’s unique garden features or your walkway. Place these lights in a tall tree so you can reproduce natural light. The lighting is also great for spotlighting outdoor dining areas or garden statues.
Don’t underestimate any home improvement project. You cannot be sure about all the things that might happen, but you need to be aware of what can go wrong. The more preparation you do at the beginning, the better equipped you will be to handle any issues that arise.
To keep your heating and air conditioning system in top shape, clean your air ducts at least once a year. It is a chore that no one really wants to do but it certainly easy enough to do on your own. During your inspection of the ducts, please note that if you see any mold growth you should call a professional.
We have a home which is over 100 years old and updating it has been an ongoing process over the past five years. We have a new dining room, two new bathrooms and half of a new kitchen. Recently, my husband installed four new windows and put new siding on half of the house. I can’t wait for the whole thing to be done!