Dirty or clogged gutters allow water to spill over the edges and possibly too close to the foundation, which could create problems even if the landscaping slopes away from the house as it should. Home improvement is much easier when you are well-informed. Learn about home improvement, home safety and home maintenance. Update these often-overlooked interior elements with form and function.
Redesigning your front yard can completely change the feel of your house. Something as simple as planting flowers in the entryway will draw in party guests, and, when the time comes to sell, curb appeal is attractive to prospective buyers. Improve your front landscaping, paint your front door, power wash the front walk or complete another curb appeal project this year. “You simply will not get your money back on those types of additions, and buyers might be more apt to reconsider if it’s not something they’ve always dreamed of, too,” Matke explains. For professional flooring installation, expect to pay between $10 – $12 per square foot for faux wood, and up to $30 for real wood. An average quality carpeting will cost about $8- $12 per square foot, installed, says Matke.
- When you’re hanging a heavy mirror, be careful to use anchors, cleats, or picture wires to ensure it’s properly installed in the wall.
- Funny, friendly experts with serious answers and great ideas to help with all of your home improvement projects.
- In each episode of the ultra-popular series, a couple buys a home in need of renovation and then “hires” Chip and Joanna to complete both structural and cosmetic work.
- So this article will explain the easiest way to connect multiple light fixtures to one switch.
- But the problem with an aging housing stock is that a lot of people can’t.
- Choose a fringe-style curtain for a boho look, go bold with large, moody florals or opt for a soft, modern ombre like designer Kerra Michele Huerta did here.
In addition to the amount of cash you can gain, getting a cash-out refinance can come with other benefits, too. Some jumbo products may not be available to first time home buyers. You can subtract your current loan balance from the appraised property value to determine how much equity you have in your home. And a lot of home improvement happens right before and right after a sale. She projects that home improvement spending will grow 17% this year nationally, partly driven by inflation.
Even if you’re not planning on moving, adding these can promote a sense of wellbeing. Conventional wisdom among estate agents is that kitchens and bathrooms sell homes, so if you’re thinking of improving with a view to selling on, this is a good place to start. A new kitchen can add 5% to the value of your home while a new bathroom can add 3% according to figures from Zoopla. To quickly and easily rehabilitate your existing fireplace, a gas or wood-burning insert adds energy efficiency to your home without tearing apart your hearth and mantel.
Please seek the advice of an attorney, tax professional and/or financial advisor for guidance to properly evaluate particular investments and/or strategies. The resurgence of the farmhouse chic aesthetic can largely be attributed to “Fixer Upper” and the design preferences of its hosts Chip and Joanna Gaines. In each episode of the ultra-popular series, a couple buys a home in need of renovation and then “hires” Chip and Joanna to complete both structural and cosmetic work.
Add good acoustic insulation when you renovate, and it’s easier to have peace and quiet in one part of the house when there’s noise in another. Contractors who work on the exterior of your home know not to leave ladder scratches and dents behind. They purchase special ladder bumpers and stabilizers to protect your property. They aren’t expensive, but if you don’t have them, you can save a trip to the store in a pinch by wrapping an old towel or t-shirt around the ladder ends and securing them with painter’s tape.
The products and services we review may not be right for your individual circumstances. Replacing your carpet means tossing out all of the old floor covering. Save several scraps of carpet, whatever kind, for use on the top of sawhorses, as a creeper mat for working on the car, to pad your knees while fixing your plumbing or use as drop cloths. It’s probably less expensive and certainly more convenient to install a backyard shed or hire a handyperson to create access to hidden places in your house than renting space long-term.
Add Grab Bars
“Small” homes are typically defined at 1,000 square feet or less, but they can feel a lot more cramped with the wrong paint color or layout. The Property Brothers aren’t the only siblings in the home renovation game! Brother-sister duo Leanne and Steve Ford specialize in transforming quirky spaces with unusual layouts into cool and contemporary homes. With Leanne’s interior design expertise and Steve’s experience as a carpenter and licensed contractor, there’s no stopping this dream team. This hit HGTV home makeover show made stars out of Chip and Joanna Gaines—and made shiplap lovers out of us all. Fixer Upper focuses on the design and transformation of homes in the Waco, Texas area while highlighting the power couple’s built-to-last love.
Everything I Know About Love & 9 More Powerful Shows About Female Friendship
You might also need to get approval for building regulations, planning, listed building or conservation area purposes. Another PBS series, “Hometime” made its debut after “This Old House,” expanding on some of the tropes that made its predecessor so popular. Each episode takes a deep dive into DIY or contractor-performed home improvement projects, choosing to focus on a single installation rather than the renovation of the entire home.
Give your bathroom vanity a makeover, replace the toilet and faucet if needed, update the shower head for a better shower experience and re-caulk the bathroom tub. After sealing the attic bypasses, push the insulation back into place with an old broom handle or a stick as you back out of the attic. Then finish up by sealing the access hatch with self-sticking foam weatherstrip. You may have to add new wood stops to provide a better surface for the weatherstrip and enough room for hook-and-eye fasteners. Position the screw eyes so that you slightly compress the weatherstrip when you latch the hatch.