Archive for the ‘Landscaping’ 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.

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.

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.

When it comes to lighting in your bath, all is certainly vanity. Kidding aside, the kind of lighting you install in your vanity ultimately has more to do with how you look than how your bathroom looks to others.

Uneven lighting over the make-up table or sink can cause your eyes to look like you haven’t had sleep in weeks.  Poor vanity lighting can dramatically alter how you look when in the office or out on the town. If you’re the handyman/woman, you don’t want to skimp on providing adequate overhead lamps, mirror-side sconces, and light bars.

Getting Your Bathroom Lighting Right
Ultimately, the correct lighting around the mirror will light up the subject’s face from all sides. It doesn’t have to be flattering in an inaccurate way, but take it from the hospitality industry:  warm, full lighting provides a satisfying experience.  Experts at This Old House warn consumers that overhead, recessed lighting fixtures cast shadows of the undead on a subject’s face.

Fill-in, accent lighting can make the entire bath a comfortable place, and lighting above the mirror with sconces at eye-level can complete a satisfying effect. You’ll also prosper from an aesthetic standpoint by using halogen bulbs that illuminate the subject with natural tones.  Some homeowners love the effect created by installing a bathroom chandelier just above the vanity.

Low-wattage track lighting angled just right projects lighting into the mirror, and diffusers prevent glare. You may want to experiment with LED track lighting for effect.

Using Sconces in the Bath
You can create a warm and well-lighted effect by using a row of sconces above the mirror. Or, if you’re settling on single sconces, align them on the side of the mirror. Lighting suppliers recommend that your above-mirror vanity fixtures should be at least two-feet long and provide 150 watts at the minimum.

If you really want to dial in control of your bathroom lighting, consider installing an incandescent dimmer on a halogen light. You can save energy when you’re lighting the bath just to find your way around or to use the shower. A combination of ambient lighting and direct vanity lighting on separate controls can provide the most-flexible solution.

If you’re working with a contractor, discuss options to install lighting directly in the mirror set. It can be expensive and risky to try it on your own.

While the actual ideas for decorating your home for Halloween aren’t so scary–they’re easy and practical–the end results will be. Lighting your driveway on Halloween night not only dresses up the occasion, it provides a safe walkway for trick-or-treating kids. Window stencils, styrofoam critters, and carved pumpkins are fun and simple to make. And, to top it all off, a faux Halloween tombstone in your yard ought to scare just about everyone.

When it comes to decorations, you can decide how much to do and how much to spend. It’s guaranteed that someone else in the neighborhood will outdo you. On the other hand, getting the family involved in making and installing the decorations can be a fun event unto itself. And making your own, rather than putting out store-made decorations, means your home will have character. (Or at least, chilling characters.)

Lighting the Way
Luminaries have come into vogue in Asian or Southwest theme outdoor parties. Now you can make your own for Halloween out of plastic jugs. You can download free patterns online from Better Homes and Gardens that wrap around the jugs and attach with household tape. You simply paint the pattern and add details with markers. Pour sand into the bottom of the jug and install your candles.

Build Creepy Styrofoam Spiders
This one’s fun. Buy two sizes of styrofoam balls and paint them black. The smaller size is the head. Now build the limbs from black pipe cleaners. Glue additional facial details with construction paper. Dangle the spiders from the doorway where kids are bound to see them. You’ll find photographs of the models and the building process at Disney Family Fun.

Jumpy Jack O’Lanterns and Terrifying Tombsones
Pumpkin carving can be an art. You’ll need a serrated blade to cut off the top and paring knives to carve holes for the face. A hardy kitchen spoon should be ample to dig out the seeds. Make the pumpkin last a few days longer with store-bought, non-toxic preservation spray and by coating the insides with petroleum jelly to ward off mold.

The tombstone project is more demanding. You’ll need foam boards, spray adhesive, PVC pipe, and rebar. HGTV has the complete, detailed process online for creating an especially spooky tombstone. Once the foam tombstone is assembled, you use a stencil from your computer printer to add the details. Boooo!

Laundry rooms are designed for utility, not decor. But so many laundry rooms become catch-all enclosures for clutter, storage, and other pack-rat activities. After a while, they can become home to hazardous chemicals or firetraps with over-extended electrical outlets, or danger zones for young children.

If you’re going to remodel your laundry room, consider replacing outdated or worn parts on your washer and dryer, as well as electrical and plumbing features that are either in disrepair or require efficient upgrades. And a nice coat of paint or wallpaper can make this often dingy room more pleasing to the eye.

Basements Are Best
If you currently have your laundry in the basement, you should consider keeping it there. The small convenience you gain by moving your laundry room to an upper floors is easily offset by the potential water damage to your home from leaks or flooding. One insurance company reports $170 million in water damage from washing machine hose failures.

A simple laundry room remodel project can include new flooring, expanded cabinets with utility drawers or storage, shelving, new lighting, and, if there’s a window, fresh treatments.

Size Matters
If you need more space, think before breaking out a wall.  There are stack-able and compact washing machines that may be more cost-efficient than breaking out walls. That’s if those models can serve your family.

You may also need to consider room for a new sink or ironing space. Installing new cabinets can double your existing storage and add comfort to working in the room.

Safety First
Using 2002-2004 data, the U.S. Fire Administration division of FEMA reported 15,600 fires, resulting in 15 deaths and 400 injuries-–attributed to faulty clothes dryers. That means, in addition to renovating your laundry room, you should renovate your maintenance routine on washers and dryers.

If you have foil or plastic ducting attachments to the dryer, replace them with modern, fire-resistant corrugated metal to increase the air exhaust. Make a habit of not only cleaning lint traps on the dryer, but cleaning behind the traps and behind the entire unit.

Go Green
And if you want to save energy costs when replacing your washer and dryer unit, shop for Energy Star appliances that can cut your water and energy costs in half. By washing in warm or cold cycles you can also slash your electric bills.

Another tip: Paint your renovated laundry room in light colors so you won’t feel like you’ve been banished to the cave whenever you do the wash.

Given all the cost and planning that goes into most every renovation or remodeling project, you want it all to go right. Practically everyone I know that has had to camp out in their living room or eat out in fast food joints while the hammers banged away in their kitchens or baths understands. And they have a story to tell, no matter how it all turned out.

Sharing your nightmares and your victories can spare others from renovation hell.  That in mind, the editors over at Repair-Home.com have launched a Share Your Project section on their website.  You can share your own experiences as well as garner tips from those who have been there.

Share Your Project Details
According to the site, you can write a post, upload project photos, and receive ratings for your home improvement project.  Categories include:

* Kitchens
* Cabinet Refacing
* Bathrooms
* Landscaping
* Outdoor
* Home Decor
* Flooring
* Windows
* Doors
* Plumbing
* Electrical
* Heating & Cooling
* Siding
* Roofing and Gutters
* Painting
* Home Building

I took a test drive through postings and found a great idea for completing a quick and effective bathroom makeover, made possible by changing out lighting, cabinets, and mirrors.

The homeowner describes an effective and inexpensive way to remove fluorescent lighting in the bath and lay in fresh sheet rock and textures to get plenty of bang for your renovation dollar.

Help With Renovating Bedrooms and Kitchens
Other homeowners posted details and photos of their efforts to remodel a small kitchen, choose a pergola over a deck, and install an effective coffered ceiling treatment in the bedroom.  The ceiling project involved plotting and installing coffer boxes in a ceiling that was not perfectly square.

Project galleries at the site enhance the homeowner stories and fire fresh ideas for your own project. One homeowner provided excellent views of the 1926 marina-style home in San Francisco where they remodeled the original, tired kitchen to open it up and add light. The renovation project involved adding space, knocking out a wall, and installing fresh cabinets and flooring.

The web is a sad repository of plenty of awful projects, too. In searching for additional victories and disasters, I discovered Dark Roasted Blend, a site that gathers photographs of renovation disasters.  Several commercial and home construction designers and contractors should have lost their jobs, since it’s clear they lost their minds when building doors or stairways to nowhere.

I need to change my opinion about hardscaping. When I was young, my neighbor ripped out his lawn and paved the front yard–to my dismay. But for people with severe allergies or those living in severe weather conditions that prevent green growth, hardscaping is a boon. Plus, most landscaping designs are complemented by judicious use of hardscaping materials like masonry, fountains, bridges, walls, trellises, wells, statuary, and patios.

Stone walls make exceptionally fine additions, whether to fortify a bank or garden terrace, or to set apart a patio or walkway from the lawn. Adding mortar caps can also dazzle, supporting bird feeders or ornamental elements.

Hardscaping and Landscape Design
As the saying goes, there’s no accounting for taste. But you can’t go wrong if you keep balance in mind between natural and man-made elements. A complementary arrangement of hardscape and landscape components can lead the viewer’s eye toward a central point of beauty: a patio, gazebo, rose garden, waterfall, bridge, or bubbling fountain.

Hardscaping materials give homeowners an exceptional range of decorative options. You can have your work done in brick or stone, or well-crafted wood. And it doesn’t mean you have to spend a fortune. Many pre-made flagstone sets, fire pits, pergolas, and topairy frames cost less than custom-built hardscaping accessories. Your project does not have to depend on a massive budget.

Tying Landscape and Hardscape Together
Hardscape can provide an effective means of transitioning between your lawn and garden elements, or between your indoor and outdoor settings. By bringing greenery into your patio or screened porch, you invite nature into man-made space. And the symbiotic effect is created in the garden by introducing furniture or lighting.

If you live in a drought-stricken area or find water at a premium, consider the use of low-maintenance native plants, cacti, or grasses in concert with stone walls, tiled patios,  and wooden decks. Varying the colors and textures of your hardscape materials can also lend pleasing variety without creating a garish, urban eyesore.

Stone archways also provide deft transitions between lawn, vegetable garden, barbecue pits, outdoor kitchens, or swimming pools.  It’s not a bad idea to visit garden shops or peruse online landscape design sites for ideas in developing a theme.

For example, the use of red brick, wrought iron, and terra cotta tiles, combined with junipers, lavender, azaleas, and olive trees can create a delightful Italian landscape design. Traditional brick or modern concrete pavers have their own personalities. The latter can be cut or shaped to fit your motif.