The difficulty of home projects can be heightened if you are uneducated about the process. Since you may not be sure where to start in your home improvement planning, add these tips to your toolbox. You will probably find them to be solid advice for starting and finishing your projects in the right way.
Put old things in shoe boxes for extra storage space. Use fabric or old wallpaper to cover the boxes. They make terrific storage containers, and they can even give your room a little extra drama.
Use a porch light with motion sensors to illuminate your yard while saving costs on your electric bill. You can turn the light on manually, and on many models, you can also adjust its sensitivity.
If you want some new tile floors, think about getting radiant heat tiles. Not only do they look great, but they are the best for giving off heat. Luckily, it’s easy to install them yourself if you are able to follow instructions. You’ll be able to add this onto an existing project or do it on your own. When winters rolls around you’ll be happy you completed this project.
Get at that drywall with a sponge! Sponge drywall seams instead of sanding them. A wet sponge can smooth the seams of drywall just as well as sandpaper. The advantage is that sponging doesn’t kick up all of the dust that sanding does.
Pouring bleach on the inside of the toilet bowl can help keep it sparkling clean. Bleaching your toilets may smell bad for a while, but it will decrease your chances of getting sick and spreading germs as well as making your toilet nice and shiny. Finally, scented bleach helps eliminate odor.
If your wall has small holes from hanging pictures or paintings, use paint and spackle to make the walls look new. Spackle can be found at the local home improvement store. If the holes are small, you won’t need that much spackle. If the hole is really small, then you can use something as small as a bobby pin to apply spackle onto it. After the spackle has dried, use a rigid item (such as a credit card) to smooth out the excess spackle over the hole. Once this is done, you can start painting. This process will eliminate wall holes very quickly.
After moving to your next location, consider taking the first few weeks for insulating the interior and encapsulating the warmer air. Weatherstrip your windows and doors, for example. When you minimize the air flow in and out of your home, you can run your environmental and temperature controls with far better efficiency. This means a cost savings on your energy expenses.
One tool every homeowner should own is a drill. This will allow you to make holes of different sizes and then you can put the screws in as well. You should have a cordless, 9-volt power drill that come with a variety of drill bits and bits for Phillips and flat-head screws.
When you’re planning to tackle a major renovation job on your own, you can still benefit from a little professional expertise. Write extensive notes on the work you plan to do, and ask a contractor to review them for you. You can be very disappointed with the results if you skip a step when planning.
Fix any faucets that might be leaking, this is an easy fix. The simple act of repairing faucets can reduce leaks, keeping water from being wasted. The savings you get from this will add up since your water bill will go down.
If you are planning a big landscaping project, be sure you understand all the drainage issues before commencing. You will want to get rid of all water from your property. Though you may be tempted to simply drain onto the neighbors’ lots, this could cause lots of problems. If you can get together and come to an agreement it will be better for everyone.
Do you need to work with PVC pipe? Be sure to use the exact PVC products as generic glues won’t work as well. Also, make sure there is no moisture on the pipes.
If your water pressure has dropped, this might be an easily-diagnosed problem. The first thing you want to do is to ask your neighbors to see if they are encountering similar problems with water pressure. If nobody shares your problem, at least you know the source of it is inside your house. Next, you want to check every faucet throughout your home in order to determine if the problem is with one faucet or one that affects your entire home. You may need a simple aerator adjustment; if not, you need to call a pro.
When storing items in containers, glue one of them to the outside part of the container. Even the most organized system of supplies can be an issue when you’re searching for that one elusive piece of hardware. When you’re rummaging through all your containers in search of the perfect part, it’s easy to get written labels confused.
One of the most cost efficient improvements that you can make in your home is replacing old leaky windows with well insulated new ones. It can be a rewarding home improvement project if you choose to go through with it.
Sealant Strips
When the real estate market isn’t doing very well, it’s typically a good time to get professional help with home improvement projects. Contractors, building professionals and big home store outlets are all looking for work during a slump, so homeowners are in a prime spot to save. Home improvements don’t expire. Once the housing market becomes better, renovations will hold more value.
To stop air from going through your door, buy sealant strips and draft excluders. You put draft stoppers under the door to keep air from getting in or out. Sealant strips that are fitted around door frames will work in the same way. Any big box home improvement retailer carries them.
Do you enjoy hanging around outside, but hate dealing with bugs? Think about adding screened porch space to your home. A screened enclosure gives your family a nice shaded and protected area that keeps the bugs out but lets the fresh air in. Choose to add a matching ceiling fan for heat relief.
If you plan to hire a professional to work on your home, always get references. Consider this process as a business hiring an employee. You should probably search their background very thoroughly, and ensure that others who have worked with them are happy with their work.
Make sure you have a solid plan when getting ready to do home improvements. Before starting your project, it is best to have all your costs mapped out along with the time it should take you.
If you will be hiring a professional contractor to work on your home, it is important to ask for proof that they are insured. Should they cause damage to the house and lack proper insurance, you may end up having to sue them. Make sure to always request an insurance certificate before your contractor begins any work.
Work your water usage into your plans for home improvement. Low flow toilets, energy star water heaters and shower heads can all be added at relatively cheap prices. Not only will these new fixtures improve property value by having a more modern appeal, water bills will be a lot less.
Using these tips can help you gain more insight and understanding regarding the potential issues that can pop up during the phases of your home improvement project. You may also find these tips helpful in deciding if you can complete the project you are thinking about.
If you have anything that uses gas inside your house, you have to be sure that you turn it all the way off. Just because you don’t smoke doesn’t mean you won’t end up creating a spark. Also, you may have let some gas get loose, so be careful.
