Consumers are still skittish about spending on home remodeling in the economy, according to statistics from Remodeling Magazine. The magazine’s highly respected Cost vs Value Report comes out annually, ranking projects by return on investment and citing home remodeling trends. For 2011-2012, consumers earned the best values on attic bedroom conversions, minor kitchen remodeling, garage [...]
Does your new or remodeled home meet the minimum energy codes for construction and design? If you’re like most consumers, Alliance to Save Energy (ASE) believes that you have no idea.
Last fall, the nonprofit agency reported that energy bills in an average new home that doesn’t meet the minimums are consistently higher. In fact, they’re [...]
Of all the doors or gates to your home, your garage door and opener probably experience the greatest amount of wear and tear during a year of ordinary use. Imagine how many times that door has opened in the last 365 days; how many round trips have you made to work, school or the local [...]
Daylight harvesting, once deployed only in large commercial and industrial settings, is getting lot of airtime with home builders and renovators. The process is just like it sounds: You install a combined window treatment and lighting system that coordinates the amount of heat and light that comes through your windows into living spaces. It’s not [...]
It’s my nature to surf the world of online home improvement blogs. There’s great information out there, including home improvement ideas if you’re rebuilding or going green. But I’ve yet to see a blog give any bandwidth to a discussion about home safety and security. Are we just numb to the same old ideas of [...]
You’ve heard a lot about green remodeling. Many new homes are constructed with green building materials, appliances, windows and doors. Green, in short, means that the initial builder or homeowner making a sustainable home improvement is concerned with energy efficiency, indoor air quality, the conservation of natural resources and, ultimately, home value.
Let’s look at the [...]
If you’ve ever had to live in a home a while with only half of your remodeling project completed, I feel your pain. Planning ahead for overages when you’re budgeting can spare you the headache of working your life around open walls or unfinished woodwork. Sometimes it’s just a matter of neglecting to deal with [...]
The most-famous motto for all contractors and DIY handymen/women is “measure twice, cut once”. I’d prefer to move the phrase, “work safe, work smart” to the top of the slogan list. A report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) cites 37,000 emergency room visits a year to treat catastrophic injuries caused by nail [...]
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