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Looking to Kill Your Lawn?

Most likely, you're not. Typically, I prefer to write about the need for testing your soil pH, amending the chemicals, aerating your lawn, and mowing just the right height to avoid having to use pre- and post-emergent weed killers. But here in the Sacramento area where I reside, we're in the midst of another hot summer and lawns all around are tending toward brown…or dead. The local weekly, The News and Review, called on owners to do a gut check on whether it's worth the water waste and trouble to keep their lawns green in this relentless summer heat. A reporter drove around (wasting gasoline) to see if most green lawns had kids on them after school. When I was young, that's where you went in the summer to run through the sprinklers and keep cool. No such luck across the greater Sa

Trouble-free, Inexpensive Makeovers

Most homeowners would spend their limited resources on remodeling a kitchen or bathroom in a challenging economy. That's what a survey by Consumer Reports has revealed. Quality, rather than quantity, is the norm and fewer Americans are willing to plunge a lot of cash into huge additions or big ticket items. It does mean, however, that we're more than willing to invest in our homes during troubled times, rather than knock out walls in an effort to flip an investment. One common home-improvement strategy is to add patio space or decks to extend the reach of the kitchen or living room. Another is to open pantry or closet space by taking out a wall. For countertops, Consumer Reports says, homeowners are choosing less costly laminates and faux stone. Nearly 60 percent of poll participants

Congratulations to Alure Home Improvements for being selected for their 8th appearance on Extreme Makeover: Home Edition

Reliable Remodeler would like to congratulate one of its very own members, Alure Home Improvements for being selected for their 8th appearance on Extreme Makeover: Home Edition! Between 2004 and 2008 Alure teamed up to tackle seven home remodels for ABC’s hit show, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. Alure Home Improvements of East Meadow N.Y., with a long standing reputation in the industry as a leading and premier remodeler, and also with a history as a philanthropic contributor to the community, has become the show’s go to remodeler for makeover projects in the New York metro area. The full press release can be read here. While Alure is the main builder and a major contributor, the makeovers rely on numerous volunteers and community support. Alure will host a pep rally on Monday, Ju

Avoiding Unscrupulous Contractors

Even the more scrupulous building contractors may be tempted to manipulate the details in hopes of a sweeter deal. That's the word out this week from Josh Garskof of Yahoo Finance. In his column, he quotes the enforcement head of the California Contractors State License Board, who tells consumers to keep transactions with their contractors on the straight and narrow. The Yahoo article suggests that in the current struggling economy, some contractors try clever "fast and loose" tactics to get you to pay "boom-time" rates. Considering that many a contractor has been forced to drop prices as much as 40 percent to compete for fewer home improvement jobs, don't give them enough rope to tie you to higher rates. Instead, Garskof writes, you should do all you can to resist contractors assertions

Know Your State Green Remodeling Initiatives

By now, most of you know all about the ENERGYSTAR programs that can bring tax credits for green remodeling if the products are purchased by the end of this year. But there are plenty of other incentives around the U. S. for doing green remodeling. And some states and municipalities have their own provisions and covenants that apply to sustainable projects. That's why you should get acquainted with the Database of State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency (DSIRE). Established in 1995 and funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, DSIRE is jointly managed by the Interstate Renewable Energy Council and the North Carolina Solar Center. The DSIRE website provides a one-of-its-kind comprehensive listing of each state's Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency databases, along with federal ini

Openness and Natural Woods for the Hopper House

After Hollywood actor and director Dennis Hopper passed away this May after a long bout with cancer, his house went on sale. The Hopper compound--located on Indiana Avenue in Venice, CA--includes the main house, guest cottage, and a trio of two-story condominiums and it's for sale at $6.245 million. Hopper, who had been a serious student of fine art and an aficionado of Jasper Johns and Roy Lichtenstein, owned one of Andy Warhol's soup can paintings. He had the condos designed by legendary architect Frank Gehry. [caption id="attachment_1421" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Simon Berlyn photo"][/caption] The main house, offered by Jade Mills Estates, has 4,800 square feet, eight bedrooms, and seven baths on a 15,500-square-foot lot not far from the beach. According to Yahoo, there

Remodeling Goes to the Dogs

It happened early in August. The venerable New York Times ran an article by Sonia Zjawinski noting that homeowners were "remodeling with their pets in mind." That's like the tail wagging the dog when it comes to home improvements, isn't it? Not so, claims Zjawinski, who writes that simply laying out feeding bowls and water dishes on the floor is fashionably outré. The piece, reprinted in the San Jose Mercury News, claims that "animal-friendly design" is part of interior design's latest wave. Consider the Cape Cod resident that asked her designer to include specs for embedding niches and alcoves for pet feeding dishes in the newly ordered kitchen island, along with roll-out bins for doggy treats and kibble. One new idea is to create doggy doors and cat doors of proportionate sizes

Beware Failing Appliances and Suspicious Plumbers

You'd think that torrential rain gathering in clogged gutters or burst frozen pipes are the largest cause of water damage in the home. Not so, says a vice president at Safeco Insurance in Seattle. Two-thirds of water damage, according to Safeco's Jim Swegle, is caused by faulty plumbing. The balance? Household appliance failure. SmartMoney Magazine says it's largely up to you, the homeowner, to take inventory of your appliances and perform routine maintenance (or have it done) to minimize the damage caused by appliance or pipe failure. When appliances fail or faulty plumbing leaks, homeowners can cough up $5,000 per episode to clean up the mess. Start With the Water Heater Hot water heater failure is hard to predict. Count on replacing your water tank every decade. Swegel says there's

Watch that Nail Gun!

Between 1991 and 2005, hospitalizations for do-it-yourselfers for nail gun injuries rose by 300 percent. Obviously, part of the reason is that more people are undertaking DIY projects at home. Another contributing factor may be the decline in prices for nail guns. But, I'm pretty confident the main reason is that people never learn how to use them safely and think they can wield one like they're a wild-west gunslinger. Emergency room physicians across the land have taken nails out of skulls, lungs, and extremities of wounded DIYers. Duke University associate professor of occupational and environmental medicine, Hester Lipscomb, finds that homeowners are safer using nails guns that come equipped with a sequential-trip trigger. The New York Times reports that an emergency room nurse in Main

What's on Your Kitchen Must-Have List?

Much like they have opinions on movies and restaurants, everyone has their own view of must-have features to put in a new kitchen. I tend to think that the scope of your kitchen remodeling project and your available budget dictates most of the terms. There's a big difference between a dream kitchen and the best one you can build within your financial limitations. Better Homes and Gardens has its own ideas of kitchen essentials. They include: Double Ovens Dishwasher in a Drawer Island Cooktop Commercial-Style Range Pot Filler Coffee Bar On-Counter Appliance Garage Corner Storage Deep Drawers Full Extension Drawers Divided Storage Stainless Steel Pot Rack Pot Rack/Stainless Backsplash Utensil Racks Tray Storage Cabinet Home Office Computer/TV Glass Cabinet Doors Built-In

It's a Boom in Home Improvements

M.P. McQueen of the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) weighed in this week on the do-it-yourself boom. It seems as the housing market continues to circle the drain, the home improvement industry is about to profit from the first spending increase in four years. Driven by plunging prices, cash shortages, and ongoing house payments, homeowners are strategizing for—and completing—renovation, addition, or improvement projects. Remodeling spending is up 5 percent this year. Some renovations beautify and preserve the homes that people now realize will be theirs for the near future. The WSJ reports that 13 million recent borrowers are above water on their mortgages. One San Francisco bay area executive chose to complete a kitchen remodeling project on a $750,000 tract home, rather than to start an

Considering Solar Water Heaters

A lot of the world is already plugged into the sun for heating its water. I first saw entire communities with solar panels on the roof when I toured Israel. Of course, you can't beat the Middle East or the Mediterranean for long sunny days. I thought by now a lot of the American Southwest, Florida, and California would have roof-to-roof paneling, but I guess we're slow to change. There's a lot to consider when evaluating a solar water heating system, and where you live should figure prominently in your decision. Freezing cold temperatures at night or in winter can burst pipes in a solar heater if you don't install a drain-back tank or pipe monitor system with anti-freeze valves. Then there's capacity and needs. A typical four-person family needs about 72 gallons of hot water a day for sh

New Lead Paint Laws for 2010

It's hard to keep track of new legislation that affects home building and remodeling across the 50 states. Too often homeowners and re-modelers get going on a project that requires a local permit and suddenly discover they have to lay out additional money to meet building codes. I know people who have had to rip out improvements and start over when they neglected to observe the law. If you've ever had a surprise visit from a building inspector–-sent your way by a neighbor's complaint--you won't want a repeat experience! One of the most sweeping new federal laws that impact contractors in all states goes into effect the first of April 2010. The regulations, established by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), require that contractors, renovation builders, or home maintenance perso

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