10 Best TV Shows About Home Improvement

For more information about your landlord’s responsibility to do repairs, see Repairs in rented housing. Mortgage-to-rent scheme Describes the mortgage-to-rent scheme, which allows people in mortgage difficulty to switch to renting their homes. Contact your local authority to check whether this scheme operates in your area. Norm Abram, a regular fixture on “This Old House,” hosted his own home improvement series, “The New Yankee Workshop,” on PBS for two decades. Occasionally, episodes also include information on how to maintain and restore antique furniture as well as short biographies of notable furniture makers from decades past. Light fixtures for dining areas or pendant lights can be a few hundred to thousands of dollars, depending on source and style, Norris says.

Ensure the ladder is stable and won’t slip or move before climbing up. Part of the trick in plumbing is to avoid scratching fragile chrome or brushed nickel finishes on faucets or exposed drain parts. Plumbers use smooth-faced pliers and wrenches to achieve perfect results. You can avoid buying special tools for one-time use by wrapping your soft-leather work glove around the fitting and using your standard pliers or pipe wrench over the protective cover. A common DIY home-improvement mistake, especially when finishing a basement, is making access to essential plumbing valves difficult. When you remodel, leave space or an access door to the main water valve, exterior spigot valves, water heater valves and any others your home may have.

  • These days “home improvement” spans a gamut of possibilities.
  • For more information about a landlord’s responsibility to do repairs, see Repairs in rented housing.
  • The amount of grant you get depends on your income and savings, unless the work is to meet the needs of a disabled person under 16, or in some cases, over 16 but under 19.
  • If you intend to carry out the work yourself, you won’t be able to claim for the cost of your labour.
  • Find new homes for stuff during a reno.Donate luxury kitchen appliances, cabinetry, and bath fixtures to charity.
  • Spice up your cabinets and drawers by replacing factory-issue handles and pulls with designs that reflect your personal taste.

You could gain access to some of your equity and lower your mortgage payment at the same time. The minimum amount of equity you’ll need to leave in your home when you refinance varies by loan type and by lender. If you want to take cash out with a conventional loan, you’ll typically need to leave at least 15 – 20% equity in your home. When you opt for a cash-out refinance, you refinance your mortgage for more than you owe and take the difference in cash. The more equity you have built up , the more money you can convert to cash.

The income test

The buyer can easily imagine for themselves what they’d like in the space, and you don’t have to spend a dime. You can also install fixtures yourself, but where wires are concerned, make sure you have a professional electrician to help. Some outlet centers have flooring stores, where you can sometimes find great deals on older styles that have been discontinued, Matke says. If an upgrade absolutely isn’t in the budget, then look to have your carpeting and hardwoods professionally cleaned. If you have a few worn/discolored areas on the hardwoods, touch them up yourself with a little water-based stain to make them less noticeable.

I have two solid oak corbels that I would like to use that m… Getting into interior design and need book recommendations. I have a question regarding sheathing the walls on a shed built on a concrete slab. The walls will be standard 8 high and I plan on using 7/16 OSB. Ive read that you should overlap the sheathing over the bottom plate an inch or two to prevent wa… My husband and I tried to install our new over the range microwave.

But the problem with an aging housing stock is that a lot of people can’t. Unless you’re a structural engineer, you’ll want to consult with a professional to confirm the wall you’re removing is indeed non-load-bearing. From there, you can expect to pay $300 – $1,000 for a professional to remove it or consider removing it yourself. Put recessed lighting under kitchen cabinets to illuminate the countertop and reflect light into the rest of the room. Check out the publication’s comprehensive guide to tackle this project in a weekend.

Hang items for overhead storage

Extending one’s house with rooms added to the side of one’s home or, sometimes, extra levels to the original roof. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Possibly the most classic move to make the Taylor home feel like a normal home were the mismatched dishes in their cupboards.

Look for windows labeled low-emissivity (low-E) or spectrally selective—they have a coating that reduces thermal heat transfer. Select the perfect self-adhesive wallpaper to create an accent that’s easy to apply, remove, and reuse. Like a giant sticker, peel the decorative paper off the backing and adhere it to a primed and painted wall.

Simple metallic hardware work best and is guaranteed to look great with any paint color for future cabinet makeovers. For a unique, eclectic look, scour antique shops for hardware pieces. One of the first living walls, window boxes have been a longtime favorite of gardeners.

In most episodes, Holmes is forced to start the project from scratch, allowing viewers to see how things should be done. Before you get carried away making these smaller cosmetic adjustments, spend some time looking at your home’s basic needs — are all the big things in working order? Buyers have certain expectations, and that includes getting a house that has been well maintained and is safe and livable.