by Debra on Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Holmes on Homes: Season 1
Every do-it-yourself (DIY) home improvement cowboy knows how hard it is to ask for help, but sometimes you have to swallow your pride and pick up the phone to call in the cavalry.
So, if you’re contemplating an upcoming home improvement or home renovation project, there are a few considerations you should weigh before deciding between tackling the job on your own or hiring a qualified professional.
1. Budget
Can you afford the cost? If your budget is tight and you can’t afford the services of a full contractor, consider taking on help for particular jobs or as a consulting service.
For example, if you know you can handle redoing everything in your bathroom except for the wiring, you should only hire an electrician for that one small job. Hiring an expert for just a few hours also comes in handy during the planning stages.
If you’re unsure of where to start or have serious questions about load bearing walls or permit problems, bring in a contractor for an afternoon of consulting. Let him tell you what needs to be done and how to do it, then do the job yourself.
Another option is to hire labor as you need it. If you’re on a deadline, hire a few local workers or neighborhood teenagers to help you with the grunt work of digging holes, re-shingling roofs or painting rooms. This type of labor is fairly cheap and can save you a lot of time.
2. Know Your Capabilities – Be Honest with Yourself
Messing up a job can cost you more money in the long run, so make sure you’re able to get it done right.
Use resources like how-to books, your local hardware store, instructional DVD’s and the Internet to learn about the project you’re planning, and don’t be afraid to ask questions. Calling in an expert for relief after you’ve started can often be more expensive than hiring one in the first place.
3. Is it Safe?
If you ever feel like you’re in over your head, especially when it comes to electrical work or gas piping, always call a professional. Don’t risk your safety or the safety of your family for the hopeful savings of a few dollars.
Every home home improvement DIY’ers number one priority should always be safety, regardless of the project’s importance. So, if you find yourself facing exposed live wires, bursting pipes or active gas, call in an expert. That will be a relatively small expense for your protection.
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by Debra on Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Expert Paint: Painting Kitchens: How to Choose and Use the Right Paint for Your Kitchen Walls, Ceilings, Floors, Cabinets, Countertops, and Appliances
Most people use the color squares that are provided in the paint department, rather than going to the trouble of experimenting with colors on their own. This is simply because the paint manufacturer has already done that for you, but you can experiment with colors on your own.
Mixing colors to create that special color you want requires a little testing on your part. If you are really not happy with the color squares at your local home improvement or department store. You can take the time to come up with some very pretty and special colors that will be somewhat different than people usually see on the color squares.
It is not hard at all, however, you might want to purchase a color chart and play around with the different colors of the rainbow to find out just what colors you can mix together to create the precise color you are looking for.
You do not have to spend a lot of money purchasing all the colors of the natural color chart. You can save yourself that expense by purchasing a small set of watercolors. This way you can use them to get an idea of what you want. For instance, if you add a little yellow to red, you can get orange, and by mixing a little blue, the orange will turn to a brown hue. By adding various amounts of different colors from your water colors to the red will bring about many different hues of the red.
The same idea will work for other colors such as yellow, or blue. Blue and yellow will become a hue of green and by adding some of the white, you can produce a lime green. Then to lighten or darken the hues just add a touch of the lightest or darkest color. You can come up with some very beautiful blue hues, such as a Caribbean, Aqua, Sky, Wildflower or many other blue hues. Red can produce hues from Apple, Berry, Watermelon, and others. By adding different amounts of brown, you can make a Cinnamon or maybe an Orchid hue, a little more brown and you can produce a wine color.
Once you have the idea of the color you would like to paint you can then purchase some small cans of the same colors that you have decided to use. And begin testing the colors using real paint just to see if you get the same effects.
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by Debra on Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Ultimate Guide to Bathrooms: Plan, Remodel, Build
Proper planning and a reasonable budget can put you on a path to a new renewed bathroom. The tensions of the day are melting away, as you look upon the classic lines of your new renewed bathroom. That might be nothing more than a daydream – for now. But with the proper planning and research, and a budget, it can become a reality.
There are many reasons to renew a bathroom, the first one being, of course, for your own pleasure and comfort. It can also be relatively costly.
In that sense, the cost per square foot to renew a bathroom may be higher than any other room in the house, because unless you yourself are a contractor, or a handyman extraordinaire, you can expect to hire a plumber, an electrician, a tile installer, a cabinet installer, and a painter or wallpaper installer.
If your idea of a bathroom is as a strictly utilitarian space, necessary for daily hygiene and nothing else, maybe you can get by with just a superficial remodeling project, involving nothing more than replacing worn-out or broken fixtures and brushing a fresh coat of paint on the walls.
The main reason for this is the high cost of materials, like fixtures and floor and wall tile. Often, the bathroom tub is used as the focal point of the room. And though the only requirement for a bathroom are a sink, a toilet and a shower, such sparseness is rare in all but the smallest homes.
Just Choosing The Sink Can Be Overwhelming.
You can pick a customary self-rimming sink, an undermount, or maybe a vessel that sits on top of the countertop like an out of style wash basin. The countertop itself can be as simple as a laminate, or you can pick from among more exotic materials like granite, tile or marble. Faucets come in hundreds of styles and many different finishes, and can range in price from under $30 to hundreds of dollars.
There is now a dazzling array of sinks – some are undermounted, others self-rimming, and there is a new movement towards the old “wash basin” style, finished inside and out, sitting above the countertop. And don’t forget pedestal sinks, and wall-mounted sinks.
Be prepared to be overwhelmed with huge selections, in every color, texture, style and material. The same holds true with faucets, which have been honed over the years to art forms. You will see that in every aspect of your bathroom redesign, the ways and methods by which you can express yourself are stunning and seemingly endless – and so it is with faucets, too. Tile, marble, or simply just paint? Bold colors and designs, or muted earth-tones?
Coverings coupled with matching fixtures, enabling you to pick a bathroom right off the shelf – a custom bathroom ready-made! Yes, a new renewed bathroom can be a troublesome and costly task. But it will be a lot of fun making all the changes, and should provide you with decades of pleasure and relaxation.
Article Author – Frank Sarntarpia
small bathroom design
home remodeling
photo credit: MoToMo
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