It’s easy to be overwhelmed by the selection of tools at your hardware or home improvement store. As a general rule, I rely on the old adage that you get what you pay for. That means, on a limited budget, I pay what I can for what I consider specialty tools and spend the most I can on standard tools that I use the most and hope will last the longest. A well-made, strong set of pliers can often spare me from tantrums and further damaging the stuff I set out to repair.
But the rub always seems to be how many, of what kind, and which quality of manufacture are appropriate for the most critical jobs around the home. When assembling your home toolkit consider which jobs you’re currently capable of doing and which ones you plan on punting over to the professionals.
A Dizzying Array of Pliers
Considering that my hands can only grip and apply a limited about of force on home hardware, I desperately need a reliable set of pliers—in fact several sets. My toolkit always has one-each of sturdy needle-nose, slip-joint, linesmen’s, and lock-joint pliers.
• Channel-locks are okay for tightening or removing nuts, bolts, and screws IF you don’t have a matching, open-end wrench that fits perfectly. They’re angled perfectly for getting my elbow grease into the job.
• Slip-joint pliers, the kind most people pick up at discount stores or garage sales, come in two sections held by a center axle that shifts from loose to tighter. They’re good for general use but, frankly, are terrible for gripping wire, or rounded pipe, or for getting a great hold on nuts and bolts.
• Linesman’s pliers are indispensable pivoting pliers that work perfectly well for gripping, bending, and snipping wire.
• Needle-nose pliers can save you from the loony bin when you have to get a purchase on a small or hard-to-reach piece of hardware.
While you’re shopping, you can also find cutting pliers, midget pliers, plumber’s pliers, crimpers and strippers, duckbill pliers, and parrot-nose pliers.
Confused? Consider buying a few of the pliers that serve the most-often uses where you have direct experience. You may be amazed how much easier repairs can be when you have the right tools.
We’ve covered kitchen remodeling, home lighting and historic homes, and now we’re moving on to bathroom remodeling with the guidance of another industry expert: Jill Moskowitz.
There are many ways to make a smaller space feel comfortable and inviting allowing you and others not to notice the size, rather notice how nice your space is.
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End of summer for many homeowners means the end of their big summer home improvement plans but consider these three things before you stop thinking about your home entirely.
Let’s face it: money is tight today. If you’re looking to get the most bang for your home improvement dollar, think about making improvements that make your home more livable today and valuable if you plan to put it on the market when times improve.
If you have the budget or access to a reasonable loan, then a major project, such as window or siding replacement can bring lasting value. New fiber-cement or vinyl siding can bring as much as an 87 percent return. Replacing windows with energy efficient wood or vinyl sets can bring nearly an 80 percent return.
Major bathroom and kitchen remodeling efforts also can bring a strong return, but less so than siding and windows. Adding an outdoor wooden deck can boost home value by as much as $24,000 and bring in a sizable return on the cost of installing it.
Mid-scale Improvements that Work
Minor kitchen remodeling projects put an incremental burden on your budget, but still increase home value and utility. Perhaps you want to add kitchen counter laminate or fresh paint.
Minor kitchen remodels can net an 80 percent return on your investment—higher than a complete remodeling project can bring. Or, consider remodeling an unfinished basement, a project that can bring more than 70 percent returns on your outlay.
Your region can also play a large part in determining ROI. For example, minor kitchen remodeling projects brought great returns in the West, while the ROI winner in the South was fiber-cement siding. In the Midwest, homeowners fared best with minor kitchen and major bathroom remodeling projects.
Remember to get plenty of quotes from different contractors and see which ones offer the best discounts on materials.
You’d be amazed how many people ruin their kitchen or bathroom faucets and shower heads attempting to remove the aerator and clear mineral build-up. While clearing a faucet is a simple job, you still need basic skills in how to protect your hardware from tool damage. It’s part of your Basic Home Repair 101 course, but if you’re like some of my relatives, you prefer employing brute force rather than common sense.
In a previous blog, I wrote about fixing leaky faucets and probably should have written about simple cleaning first. The minerals in your water source form sediment that cakes and clogs your sink and shower aerators. It’s mostly calcium and is harmless, even though it creates small maintenance projects.
At home my well water deposits white coatings on my shower head, which then distributes water right out the side window or on the curtain. I use an off-the shelf product that removes calcium, lime, and rust in minutes. Of course, old plumber’s folklore and present practice include soaking your aerators and heads in simple white vinegar. Warm vinegar melts the sediment off overnight.
Next, you puncture the spray holes in the shower head with a push pin to finish off the job.
Take Some Care and Save Your Hardware
You’re going to need a set of pliers to loosen the casing and remove the aerator from the faucet or shower head. Now comes the little class secret: wrap the teeth of your pliers (on the action end) with electrical tape to spare your hardware from scrapes, gouging, bending, or crushing. Once the end is safely rotated loose, you may need a thin blade or knife to pry out the aerator.
Here are other precautions:
• Be sure you close the drain and turn off the water supply to your tap.
• Loosen the casing with a set of pliers or monkey wrench.
• Remove the aerator and soak in vinegar or safe home improvement product.
• Clean all masks or aerators, gaskets, heads, and spray holes.
• Tighten, open water supply and drain.
I use gloves and take a stiff brush to the hardware before rinsing it with clear water. I have a friend who made the mistake of washing the hardware in the same kitchen sink where he had removed the aerator. Old habits die hard.
While you’re at this project, it’s not a bad idea to add in related work, like clearing your drains, and repairing damaged hardware. Need a new disposal? Now’s a good time to think about it.
As the winter months advance, we’re all making resolutions for the New Year. Not all of them are about personal habits that need changing. Home repair buffs and gardeners all look toward the new slate of months as an opportunity to begin and complete projects we’ve only daydreamed of undertaking.
Marshall Landscapes
You might begin drawing plans for an overdue kitchen restoration. Gardners might find the time just right to order seed catalogues or draw plans for a new wood or stone deck
It may be the right time to bring in a contractor to cut limbs on trees most susceptible to snow damage. If you’re doing winter planting, consider planting evergreens like hemlock, holly, pine, or spruce—all look great in snow and in your winter yard.
Considering Winter Home and Garden Improvements
If you’re doing any cold weather landscaping before the heart of winter, be sure to include the use of hardscape (fountains, masonry, statues, and walls). Much of this work can be done as long as it’s dry outside.
While you’re dreaming and resolving, consider installing synthetic lawns for the spring. You can save on water and maintenance. If you live in warm climates with mild winters and scorching summers, the winter can be an optimal time to install synthetics that won’t be damaged now by cold and later when heat comes during the summer.
Indoors, there’s “plenty to-dos” you can add to your list of resolutions. Perhaps you have the time and budget to install that home theater you’ve been pining for. Or, as you take down the holiday lighting inside and out, perhaps it’s time to replace your bulbs with energy efficient substitutes (compact fluorescent or LED bulbs and fixtures).
Inevitably, spring will arrive. You can get a head start planning home improvement projects for warming weather by creating mock-ups or designs, take indoor measurements, make parts lists, create a realistic timetable and budget. Contractors may offer winter rates on interior projects and give discounts if you engage them now in planning for projects that burst into action come spring.
Meanwhile, during the winter months, inspect your windows and doors for air and water leaks, clean out your gutters after heavy storms, have your furnace checked, fire up winter tools like your snow blowers and make sure they’re ready for weather ahead. And it’s a great idea to check all your fire extinguishers for charges and ensure that your carbon monoxide and smoke detectors are in working order.
One of our recent blogs mentioned how important it is to keep your thermostat serviced and maintained. This is sage advice. When you are faced with a home HVAC system that needs repair, you’ll wish that you had done a better job of doing routine HVAC maintenance, but also that you had an HVAC professional in your rolodex.
How do I know all of this? Unfortunately, I know from personal experience.
Once long ago, back in the days when I knew next to nothing about owning a home, I found myself without heat, the furnace was toast. My house was worse than cold and damp, there were freezing temperatures outside. I had never used an HVAC professional and I found myself scrambling with how to deal with the situation. Eventually I got someone to come out and fix it, but not before I had lived without heat for close to a week and had stretched my supplies of space heaters and blankets to the max.
Last week, I found myself in a house without heat, again. It happened on a lovely afternoon, and by lovely, I really mean a frosty, wet, terribly cold afternoon. With my poor circulation on red alert of the impending cold entering the surroundings, I was quick to call my local HVAC professional. Well, not I. I still haven’t learned from my first lesson, I don’t know any HVAC servicers in the area. However, my boyfriend who really should be credited with all the smart homeowner decisions between us, has an HVAC professional who has done all the work on the home’s furnace from day one. He’s a smart guy, which is one of the reasons I let him hang around.
But, really, that’s besides the point, because the next day, when the HVAC man rang the doorbell and fixed a faulty wire and made the furnace produce the lovely purr of heat coming through the vents, I felt I really had finally learned my lesson. Always keep up on HVAC maintenance and always, always, have an HVAC contractor ready to call. Not having to get out the Yellow Pages and hope and pray that someone trustworthy would be able to schedule an appointment with me on short notice was priceless.
The moral of this story? Don’t wait for problems to arise before calling on the pros. Make sure that you have professionals come and regularly maintain your home’s most important systems so you can avoid big problems and long waits for service. This advice isn’t limited to HVAC, some other day maybe I’ll grace you with another story from long, long ago: the time I went without water for a week and I really wished I had a reliable plumber to call.
Kitchen track lighting allows you to aim light where it’s needed most. Whether you want to spruce up a dark kitchen or target your lighting on critical work areas, custom or off-the-shelf track lighting can add functionality and warm up the aesthetics of the kitchen.
There are basic kits to get you going, as well as more expensive models. The best news is that most new kits are lightweight, easy to modify to your needs, and can cut energy bills when you install separate tracks and switches. Light only the fixtures you need, and dim the ones that you turn on only when people visit.
About Kitchen Track Lighting
The best thing about track lighting is its flexibility. If you’re going to do the work yourself, be sure to stipulate a “set” when you buy the kit or you may not get all the necessary components. These include:
You also want to shop for fixtures that operate with the track kit, put out the kind of lighting you need, and look great in the kitchen. Depending on the location of the electrical box for your existing ceiling light, you may not need any additional power source. If the light track is mounted on the surface of the ceiling, it installs easier than recessed lighting.
Because the track lighting sets are lightweight, you won’t need to attach them to joists. Some go into a hollow ceiling with molly bolts. Be sure your ceiling can handle the weight. Measure your distances carefully–especially if you’re installing track lighting under kitchen cabinets. The last thing you want is a swinging door to bash into your new fixtures.
Safety Tips
It’s a great idea to install the track lighting where you can use the existing wiring. Be sure to turn off the power source before working on any existing fixtures in the kitchen. Once you’re sure there’s no current, you can remove the existing lighting. Before doing any drilling to install the lighting tracks, it’s a good idea to mark your chosen locations with tape.
Read all the instructions to make sure you don’t overload the kit with fixtures. The manufacturer should include documentation. Choosing fixtures and bulbs can present a financial challenge. Many new kits feature LED lights, while conventional halogen lights can cost more than other options. Remember, don’t rely on incandescent bulbs–they’re being retired from the marketplace in the next few years.
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