Archive for the ‘Kitchens’ Category

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.

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:

•    Mounting heads
•    Elbows (if you’re adding tracks at 90-degrees)
•    Track
•    Mounting hardware

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.

If you’ve never sliced the top of your thumb cutting open the edge of a tube of caulk, you have greater dexterity than most part-time home handy workers. I grew up around ratchet-rod caulk guns and cursed a few. Today’s drip-free caulking guns operate by a spring-loaded pressure rod that works smoothly from the pressure of your finger.  A quick trip to the hardware or home improvement store can convince you that there’s a wider selection of caulks and guns than you’ve seen before.

You need the right caulk for your project-at-hand. Shop wisely and ask a clerk for help. Generally speaking, you’re probably looking for:

• Silicone Caulk: for a premium-grade, waterproofing job. Great for kitchens and baths
• Vinyl Latex Caulk: for a water-resistant, quick adhesive job in wet areas of the bath
• Butyl Rubber Caulk: for sealing outdoor gutter seams, storm doors, and windows

Caulking, Simplified

So you have the caulk in the gun and you’re ready. Hold on, turbo! Even the best-quality caulk may have trouble adhering to a dirty surface or crease filled with remnants of old caulk. It won’t adhere to soap, either, so clean the surface with plain, warm water.  To root out old caulk, you need anything from a sharp blade (for silicone) to a heat gun, screwdriver, or caulk softener (for latex or acrylic).

Cut the tip of the caulk cartridge at the business end of the gun to match the depth of your job. Use steady pressure on the trigger as you work the tip at a 45-degree angle to the area you’re filling. And here’s a tip you might otherwise overlook: always caulk a bathtub when it’s filled with water.  Otherwise the tub rides high and when it’s filled for the first time, the weight of water and bather can crack the new caulk.

It’s best to work at a careful, steady pace to get the caulk applied during a single repair. It can try your patience to match up your tracks and at the same time lay down a seamless, protective sealant.  Caulk, like other adhesives, cures as it sets.

If you’re caulking cracks in your exterior concrete, be sure to buy siliconized latex concrete caulk. Again, your success depends on how well you clean the cracks of debris and old patching compounds or sealants.

It’s neither fun, nor cheap to repair and replace burst pipes in the winter.  If you live where outside temperatures drop below freezing, you can spare yourself money and heartache by wrapping your exposed pipes with insulation. The process is straight-forward, and you should be able to complete it yourself.

There is a wide range of insulating tape and wraps in materials that should meet your requirements.  They come packaged as:

• Self-adhering tape
• Sleeves of foam
• Sponge-felt wraps
• Fiberglass jackets
• Cork wrapping
• Wool felt

You should wrap insulation wherever pipes run in unheated indoor rooms and crawlspaces, outside walls, and at junctures where the water supply enters the house.

Winterize Your Plumbing

For outside pipes in cold climes, you may want to try caulking pipes at wall openings and closing all vents along the foundation.  Turn off unnecessary outdoor faucets, disconnect the hoses and store them in your garage.  During a deep freeze, open your kitchen cabinet doors to allow warm air to circulate at the drain and basin. Many homeowners leave a small trickle of water running in the bath or kitchen during frigid days and nights to keep the pipes open.

In consistently freezing conditions, you might invest in heat wrap or heat tape.  These products are not recommended for plastic pipes. They’re plugged into an electrical outlet and work like a heating blanket to keep your pipes toasty. They can be an expensive option.

Repairing Leaks or Breaks

If you end up with a burst pipe, act fast to avoid flooding or a blocked water supply.  If you see a leak, you need to repair the pipe before trying to defrost it.  You need to turn off the main supply first, then open a few faucets along the line to promote drainage.  Then you can use a hair dryer or heat blanket directly on the pipe to thaw the line.

Home improvement stores sell joiners that can be used to couple plastic or copper tubing. They can even join threaded and unthreaded pipe together. Measure the section of broken pipe to determine size and materials, then cut out the part and take it to the store to buy replacements.

If the damage is excessive to the point you need clamps or soldering gear, you may want to call in a plumber. Then you may have to explain why you never wrapped your pipes.

Years ago I was visiting a friend in Tokyo and was astonished that she took water from the tap for tea, and it was too hot to drink. This was way back in 1979. I was amazed that all the hot water for the home’s kitchen and bath came from a heat-on-demand water tank powered by natural gas. Later that year, I saw passive solar water heating systems on the roofs of homes just outside of Tel Aviv. Thirty years later I’ve yet to see these systesm in widespread adoption around the states.

Then you consider that tank-less, heat-on-demand systems are available—with models that just heat your teapot, while others power the shower—they’re still a ways off from popular use around the states.  You’ll probably remember (or still have) one of those tea elements for plugging in and using electrical power to heat coffee. That’s as far as most of us go.

The Savings?

You might save a hundred dollars a year in energy bills from an on-demand system. But if you’re considering buying an on-demand heater to cover all your hot water needs, be sure to consider the size of your family, the cost of installing a system, the tank capacity, and the amount of hot water you need every day. The Department of Energy says a majority of systems can generate 2-5 gallons a minute, depending on the fuel source. From your own experience you know that gas-fired heaters are quicker to raise your water to the right temperature than electric ones.

Tax Credits for Tank-less  Water Heaters

You can read up on the 2009-2010 tax credit at the Alliance to Save Energy website.  In essence, your potential credit for installing a tank-less unit for the credit depends on your finding a system that can heat the water to efficiency standards based on source (electric, gas, oil, propane). An acceptable energy factor may be hard to find. The credit may only be $300, but pennies saved by energy efficiency can add up.

According to the Department of Energy, the energy factor is determined by  fuel consumption and the speed of recovery,  and how much heat is lost in the cycle of briefly storing and pumping out the water. When shopping around, examine units for a high-number energy factor, meaning the most-efficient for home use.

Dedicating a tank-less heater to appliances, spas, or as a secondary power source can prove a wise choice if there’s no constant or huge demand.

There’s a wrench to fit every home-improvement nut. It’s an old joke, but true enough. Tools, sadly, are pricey if you’re after quality. Most contractors I know build up their tool collection over a period of years. They pack their trucks with the essential items, and carry indispensable tools in their belt.  As the adage goes, you need the tool the matches the job.

If you’re just putting together your tool set, look for used tools online or sales at home improvement stores. The exact tools you need vary by the jobs you intend to perform on your own. If you get in over your head, you can do more damage than it costs to call in a professional.

Essential Tools for Home Repair or Renovation

Experts at Popular Mechanics say a sledgehammer is the most-important tool, followed by a center punch, putty knife, adjustable wrench, socket wrench set, metal file, combination square, and combination wrench. I think you might survive without the sledgehammer if you’re doing home repair work on your own.

You can find this initial group of tools reasonably priced and put them together in short order. The power tools, of course, cost more and require stands, power cords and supply, and workshop space. Some of us are lucky enough to inherit tools from our parents or relatives, or have them around for myriad quick fixes around the house.

The second tier of tools, says Popular Mechanics, consists of a bow saw, jigsaw, coping saw, side-cutting pliers, crosscut saw, snips, roundhouse shovel, needle-nose pliers, and a cordless drill. The trio of indispensable tools for plumbing repairs include a pipe wrench, pliers of all sizes and adjustable models, and an adjustable and crescent wrench.

Squaring Away Your Repair Tools

Organizing your repair tools so they are there when you need them can be a project unto itself.  If you plan on doing work off property, you might want a toolbox for your truck.  In the garage, you can thrive with a well organized peg boards and hooks, shelves, and storage cabinets. Put each family of tools together in their own shelf, slot, or see-through plastic container.

While you’re building up your toolbox, consider whether you have duplicates and which tools are in need of oiling, repair, or replacements.  Relying on someone else for your tools can be tricky. Many home carpenters and fix-it enthusiasts are protective of their tools.

During repairs, you may want to strap on a tool belt with the leather pouches arranged intuitively with nails, hammer, screwdrivers, bolts, tape, and measuring tape in easy reach.

Not since Edison’s 1879 incandescent electric lamp hit the market has there been such a hubbub about lighting. One can only wonder if the American population was concerned about the quality of light produced by the filament bulb when compared with the illumination from gas lamps. They probably loved the convenience.

Now, forced by Federal legislation to save energy, American consumers may again face a quantum change in the way their homes and offices are lighted. Beginning in 2012, all new light bulbs will be required under law to use 30 percent less energy to produce the same levels of light that we enjoy today. The winners of the shift, according to The New York Times, will probably be the manufacturers of compact fluorescent bulbs. The losers: the aesthetically conscious consumer.

Compact fluorescent bulbs on today’s market are designed for use in kitchens, baths, and all the rooms between. They’re said to operate on 70 percent less energy than the traditional bulb, and last as much as ten times longer under normal use. But so far, manufacturers are well beyond the curve in offering lighting fixtures designed to cast the fluorescent bulbs in the most-favorable light.

Consumers Reluctant to Change
Wal-Mart has sold compact fluorescent bulbs for three years and the new items make up less than 20 percent of their bulb sales. Consumers dislike the overall color effects of the bulbs and complain that some models give off a disturbing buzzing sound when in use.

On the other side of the aesthetic argument is the government’s claim that 90 percent of the energy burned by incandescent bulbs is emitted as heat—not light.  The energy drain has led Australian legislators to ban incandescent bulbs by next year.

In America, the Department of Energy supports the end of the incandescent era, claiming that 25 percent of our total home energy bill is generated by lighting.  Compact fluorescent bulbs, reports the California Energy Commission, should not only reduce energy use by 75 percent, but should last 10,000 hours.

To consumers concerned about the quality of light produced by compact fluorescent bulbs, the Federal ENERGYSTAR team claims that newer models of compact fluorescents will come with “warm” colors to match the yellow tint of incandescent bulbs. The new bulbs will be offered along three settings in the Kelvin scale: yellow, white, and blue.

In the end, we may have to settle for some discomfort until manufacturers dial in the colors. But we’ll probably be stuck with fluorescent bulbs.