Home Remodeling Blog
August 2008
The Archives
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08.21.08Bathroom Renovations: One of the Best Investments You Can Make in Your Home
Bathroom Remodeling (1)Andy Bertrand St. Louis Post-Dispatch The bathroom is often the smallest room in the house. So you might think it would be one of the easiest and cheapest to remodel. You would be wrong. Bathroom remodelers say $25,000 to $30,000 is average for a total renovation, even in these tight economic times. In fact, the national average cost for an upscale bathroom remodel is roughly $50,590 and a midscale bathroom remodel is $15,789, according to Remodeling Magazine's 2007 Cost vs. Value report. But how much a homeowner actually spends will vary, especially if you do some of the labor yourself. The bathroom is still ...
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08.21.08Rain Gardens: The Eco-Friendly Landscaping Option Is Catching On
Green Remodeling, Landscaping (0)Bob Shaw Pioneer Press If Brown's Creek had arms, it would hug Elizabeth Brod. The creek is healthier now that Brod has installed two water-cleansing rain gardens in her back yard. Better yet, her homeowners association helped persuade 12 neighbors to do the same. "It was very worry-free," she said as she tended the new plantings in the fresh mulch of her Stillwater yard earlier this month. She is one reason Minnesota leads the nation in water-cleaning landscaping techniques, including lakeshore plantings. Another reason is the half-price sale on water-cleaning projects, subsidized by counties and watershed groups. If they have their way, ...
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08.21.08Yellow Punches Up Home Decor
Painting (1)Jennifer Forker Associated Press Step aside, orange. It's yellow's turn to shine. The primary colors blue and yellow are muscling back into the forefront. "Orange has started to run its course," says Jack Bredenfoerder, president of Color Marketing Group. As in the fashion world, with its punch of yellow in bangles, bags and high heels, the color often described as "sunny" and "energetic" is returning as a primary accent color in home design. The yellow he sees stepping off the runways is the shade's calmer tones, and combined with neutral colors. Yellow is especially attractive as an accent for whites, grays and black, although Bredenfoerder warns ...
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08.20.08Pet-friendly Landscaping Keeps Animals Safe, Happy
Landscaping (4)The great outdoors can offer both adventure and hazard to pets. So pet care and landscaping experts suggest releasing dogs and cats into a well-maintained, pet-friendly yard that's safe and fun for them to explore. Homeowners frustrated by urine-marred sod or emergency vet visits after a pet has ingested something mysterious in the yard may scoff in disbelief. But having a nice outdoor space that's also pet-friendly is well-advised, according to certified animal behaviorist Suzanne Hetts of Animal Behavior Associates in Littleton, Colo., a practice that aims to prevent and resolve pet behavior problems. An equal dose of realism and ...
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08.20.08At Home on the Island
Kitchen Remodeling (1)Mary G. Pepitone Universal Press Syndicate A kitchen island is no longer uncharted territory. Not only is the kitchen island a space for food preparation, it can also serve as a home's gathering place. The island's functional design has even migrated to outdoor kitchens. But the kitchen island wasn't always on the map in homes built prior to the 1960s, according to 92-year-old Chuck Williams, founder of Williams-Sonoma housewares. “In the 1960s, people were starting to remodel their kitchens to make them more livable, to accommodate everyday eating,” he says. “Prior to that, a kitchen could be treated as a utilitarian place to ...
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08.20.08Increase Your Home’s Value
Budgets & Remodeling (0)Amy Fontenelle Yahoo! Finance Think spending $50,000 on a total kitchen remodel or $10,000 overhauling the bathroom is the only way to add value to a home? If large, expensive projects are beyond your grasp, you're in luck: Increasing the value of your home doesn't have to involve large outlays of cash, especially when you're willing to put in a little sweat equity. Why spend big money when there are so many low-cost, do-it-yourself (DIY) projects? Whether you're planning on selling or just want a nicer place to live, read on to find out what you can do to add value to ...
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08.18.08How to Get the Most Out of Your Limited Remodeling Budget
Budgets & Remodeling (0)Sandra Levitt Lerner Washington Post When it comes to your home, every new light fixture, appliance and even the kitchen sink can become a gut-wrenching investment decision. What change will increase the value of your home more: The sensible beige tile or the fuchsia with hand-painted details that you really want? These decisions have become even more significant during a housing slump that has stoked competition among home sellers. For people on a budget, finding the most effective way to continue to increase the value of their home depends in part on the size of the property and its age, contractors and architects ...
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08.18.08New Bathroom Removes Barriers for Arthritic Homeowner
Bathroom Remodeling (0)Andy McCullough Columbus Dispatch THE GOAL At 60-plus, Paulayne Epstein says she doesn't look her age, even if her knees act it. "I'm not going to call myself elderly," she said. "Because I'm not. How about arthritically challenged?" Epstein decided to remodel the master bathroom of the more than 50-year-old home she shares in Bexley with her husband, Arthur, a professor at Ohio State University. She loved her old bathroom with its black and gray tiling, but she needed a change. Epstein had to stoop to use the cabinets. The rise of the tub made getting into the shower difficult. So she wanted to reduce the ...
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08.15.08For the Ultimate in Luxury Bathrooms, Stimulate Every Sense
Bathroom Remodeling (0)With more homeowners investing in their current property, there is increased interest in luxury upgrades that not only enhance a home's value, but can be enjoyed on a daily basis. One of the most popular areas to make these upgrades is the bathroom. With advances in design and technology, adding to your bathroom can offer luxurious stimulation for every one of your senses. Touch For the ultimate in luxury baths, look for a tub that brings relaxation to the extreme by combining sound and body vibration. The multi-sensory Fountainhead VibrAcoustic Bath by Kohler does just that by integrating water, light, sound and ...
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08.14.08Roy Wheeler and 45Fix Partner Up for Better Customer Service
45Fix News (0)Jim Brewer Charlottesville Business Journal Daily Progress Recently, 45Fix, a company that specializes in connecting homeowners with reliable contractors, became a referral partner for Roy Wheeler Realty Co. Michael Guthrie, CEO of Charlottesville’s oldest real estate company, said it was an easy decision once he heard about 45Fix’s business model. “We are constantly getting calls from our clients asking us to recommend various contractors to remodel kitchens, build decks or finish basements, etc. Now these clients are one phone call or one internet click away from getting help with whatever project they have in mind,” Michael said. In fact, Roy Wheeler Realty called ...
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08.11.08Homeowners Investing in Innovative Bathrooms
Bathroom Remodeling (0)Adrian Sainz Associated Press Tell me if you've had this problem before: You're enjoying your shower, someone in the house flushes a toilet, and all of a sudden it turns from heaven into Hades. That scenario has been an annoying facet of America's daily bathroom life for decades -- the rapid increase in a shower's water temperature when a toilet is discharged. But, thanks to digital temperature controls and single-valve technology, homeowners looking to remodel their aging bathrooms can make shower scalding a thing of the past. That's one of many technological and design improvements and trends available in the bathroom remodeling world, helping ...
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08.10.08Home Projects Can Be Earth Friendly
Green Remodeling (0)Arlene Miles Chicago Daily Herald Green is definitely the buzz word of the moment. From conserving fuel and finding ways to reduce greenhouses gases, being ecologically minded is on almost everyone's minds. But when it comes to remodeling a home, can one actually achieve green? Furthermore, what does green remodeling actually mean? Some consider it to be simply conserving energy, while others say it is recycling materials removed from your home so they don't end up in landfills. Yet, others worry about indoor air quality. In reality, it's a combination of all three and even more, encompassing the selection of sustainable materials and local ...
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08.08.08Five Things Sunroom Owners Wish They Had Done Differently
Sunroom Additions, Sunrooms/Solariums (0)Based on written feedback, Patio Enclosures, Inc., the largest manufacturer and installer of sunrooms in North America, shares the five most common things sunroom customers who have purchased a sunroom, solarium or conservatory say they wish they had done. "We wish we had bought a sunroom sooner." Most sunroom owners report that after they had their sunroom installed that it quickly became the most used room in the home. "We wish we would have bought a bigger sunroom." During purchase negotiations, homeowners sometimes focus on what they're spending rather than what they're getting in a sunroom, prompting final decisions about size ...
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08.06.08Sherwin Williams Unveils Color Forecast for 2009
Painting (0)What colors will help to define architecture and design for the 2009 season? The 24 shades selected by Sherwin-Williams color experts travel back and forth across the borders of four key trends: Techno-Color, Conscious Luxury, Local Momentum and Global Tapestry. New and recycled fiber technologies, an increased environmental awareness, and global influences--especially those of a new hot zone, Latin America and Buenos Aires in particular--have been woven together to inspire this color palette. In contrast to some previous trend forecasts, Sherwin-Williams has organized this one by color families. “Our goal with colormix ‘09 is to empower designers to use the forecast colors in ...
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