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December 24, 2008
By: Debra
Category: House and Home, Remodel Ranch Home
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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December 16, 2008
By: Debra
Category: Remodel Ranch Home
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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November 07, 2008
By: Debra
Category: Floors, Remodel Ranch Home
Those considering making renovations to their homes are often plagued by doubts. They know what they want, and yet they’re afraid that their dream home may not have resell value in the future.
Many people will suggest that you renovate raised ranch homes to suit yourself rather than worrying about how well it will sell years down the road.
Knowing ahead of time how long you plan to remain in your home may make renovation decisions easier to make. If you plan on remaining in the home for a number of years, you’ll feel freer to make changes to suit yourself.
When you’re relatively sure you won’t be staying in your home more than a year or two, you may be less willing to make changes that won’t necessarily bring higher dollars on the sale.
If you plan to add on to your ranch house, try to use similar materials that were originally used in the house unless you plan on completely redoing the exterior. This will help maintain the character of the original house as well as keeping some of the outside elements.
Remember the basics.
When you renovate raised ranch houses, it is probably better to avoid thinking horizontal if you want to add on. Instead, try adding onto the rear of the house especially if the visual from the curb is already a long box. It would also be better to have an additions offset rather than plunked down at one end or the other.
In some cases it is alright to add onto the end of a raised ranch if it is a true split level house. It would be best, if you’re going to add onto one side of the house, that you also increase the window size nearest the addition. This will help the curb appeal and make the house not look lopsided.
Another option for adding onto the length rather than onto the back of the house is to incorporate the built-in garage into the actual living space. You can then build a new garage onto the opposite side of living area which will create a more of a symmetrical look rather than an asymmetrical one. Of course, if you move the garage, don’t forget to redo the driveway as well.
Check with the local building ordinances in your city or town. They may have restrictions to the type of additions that can be made on particular models of homes. It is also a good idea to have an idea of what you would like to do and then talk with an architect.
Your primary goal is to maintain the curb appeal when you renovate raised ranch houses in addition to giving you more space. Talk with an architect and listen to their suggestions. The ideas you have may be great, but then again they may be better left on the paper.
When you renovate raised ranch homes you want to maintain the integrity of the house without destroying the look of it. There are ways to make renovations that will help the curb appeal and things that you can do to destroy it. Your best bet is to look, listen, and then decide what is best for your renovate raised ranch style house.
Ranches: Design Ideas for Renovating, Remodeling, and Building New
photo credit: Yme Bosma photo credit: jared703 photo credit: Simon Davison
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