Home Remodeling Blog
April 2009
The Archives
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04.29.09Make Sure You’re Not Courting Disaster on Your Deck
Decks and Porches (1)Dave Murnan and Pat Beaty The Daily World Q. How do I know my deck is safe? I read about the horrible accident in Westport recently and want to make sure the same couldn’t happen at our house. A. Unfortunately, this question is all too rarely asked and ongoing deck safety issues mostly ignored. So, let’s begin by asking when your deck was built and whether it was inspected by a building official. Deck connection codes have changed over the years precisely because of failure, injury, even deaths. The most relevant changes and the first point of inspection will be the way the deck is ...
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04.29.09Kitchen Remodeling Trends Include ‘Green’ Cabinets
Green Remodeling, kitchen cabinets (0)Chris Matey Andover Townsman Here in Andover, we are seeing an increased interest in green home remodeling. Specifically, green kitchen remodeling is a growing area of interest. There are many ways to go green in your kitchen - floors, countertops, appliances, cabinets and finishes, including paints. Let's focus on green cabinetry. There are materials and finishes in a renovated kitchen that can cause air-quality issues. For example, inexpensive wood-based products offgass formaldehyde. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, formaldehyde can cause cancer or eye and upper respiratory irritation. The good news is that there are eco-friendly alternatives. Many homeowners have at least heard ...
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04.15.09Meet the New Bamboo: Natural Material Highlights Stylish Homes
Flooring, kitchen cabinets (0)Patt Johnson Gannett Bamboo is not just for tiki torches anymore. It's also for flooring, laptops and sinks. Eco-friendly homeowners are finding a growing number of bamboo products to use in remodeling and decorating their homes. Bamboo bowls, picture frames and other decorating items have been common items for years, but now the lightweight-but-durable wood stems are being used for furniture and fabrics. It's everywhere -- wallpaper, doors, garden benches and kitchen countertops. Asus, a technology products company based in Taiwan, makes a bamboo laptop (powered by an Intel processor) because it promotes green living. The manufacturing process for bamboo "uses less energy than traditional ...
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04.15.09The Perfect Paint Color
Painting (0)Dorene Weinstein Argus Leader Brown by any other name is mahogany, russet, bronze, henna or chestnut, and Midwesterners love it. Chocolate brown has been popular for nearly a decade, says Ruthanne Hanlon, national color and design manager for Pittsburg Paints of Columbus, Ohio, who visited Sioux Falls to conduct two seminars on color trends last week. The warm shade offers many pairing options. "It goes with everything," says Jeanne Omland, color consultant at Norberg Paints. Her theory: "We have a longer season of colder weather, and warmer colors feel cozier. It feels familiar with our surroundings because it's the colors we see around us - ...
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04.10.09Homeowners: Now Is The Time To Invest In Remodeling
Uncategorized (1)Emilie Rusch Rapid City Journal The economy may be in a slump, but many homeowners at the Black Hills Home Builders Home Show on Saturday weren’t abandoning their plans for a new deck or kitchen just yet. With rock-bottom interest rates and contractors eager for work, they agree, now might be the perfect time to get the biggest bang for their home-improvement buck. “We’re spending our money anyway. We’re not putting it in a bag in the yard,” said Dede Sullivan of Newcastle, Wyo. “Let’s spend it and get the better deal.” Sullivan and her husband, Forrest, have been looking into buying a new home ...
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04.09.09Update Kitchen Without Spending A Bundle
Kitchen Remodeling (0)Bringing your kitchen into the 21st century is less expensive than you think if you know which upgrades to invest in. With a little creativity, our experts can save you from unsightly laminate cabinets and Formica countertops without over-spending. Just how expensive can it be? In order to compare cost, Remodeling magazine uses a 200-square-foot kitchen with 30 linear feet of cabinetry and countertops as the base for three kinds of kitchen remodels. Minor kitchen remodels include raised-panel wood doors, new hardware, a mid-priced sink and energy-efficient appliances. National average in 2007: $21,185. Major kitchen remodels include stainless-steel appliances, a 3-by-5-foot island, new ...
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04.02.09Staying Put? There May Be Cheaper Remodeling Coming
Uncategorized (1)By Russell Grantham Cox Newspapers Despite the dismal economy, Ashley Lee launched into an ambitious remodeling of her family's home in January. With a growing 2-year-old daughter, Lee and her husband decided they needed more room than their two-bedroom, 1940s-era home offered, but they did not want to move. "I guess we just decided (to remodel) now because our house was so small," Lee said after a recent meeting at her home to go over project details with her contractor. A few houses down, another neighbor recently demolished his home to build a bigger one after waiting for two years. "It was too expensive, and then ...
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04.02.095 Hidden Tax Breaks for Homeowners
Uncategorized (0)Luke Mullins US News & World Report As the real estate crash destroys property values across the country, it's easy to lose sight of one of the most appealing features of owning a home: tax savings. Uncle Sam has long used the tax code to promote home ownership. And although real estate prices are plummeting, those tax savings remain as lucrative as ever. While some of these benefits are well known--such as the mortgage interest deduction--others are less intuitive. At the same time, recently enacted legislation has introduced new opportunities for tax savings. Here are five easy-to-overlook, housing-related tax breaks you'll want ...
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04.01.09Uproar Over Chinese Drywall: Floridians Say It’s Making Them Ill and Hurting Home Values
Drywall (0)By Paul Owens South Florida Sun-Sentinel Homeowners in Florida and other states are mounting a charge against defective Chinese drywall, saying it's making them sick and damaging their homes built during the housing boom. As many as 36,000 homes in Florida and 100,000 nationwide may contain the imported wallboard, which can give off a sulfurous "rotten egg" odor, tarnish metals and ruin appliances and electronics by corroding pipes and wires. Homeowners claim the drywall is causing health problems, including nosebleeds, headaches and sore throats. Most complaints involve homes built from 2002 to 2006 during a building surge that caused a shortage of materials and resulted ...
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04.01.09Tropical Hardwood Looks: The Next Composite Deck Trend
Decks and Porches (0)Summer will be here before you know it. If you're like many Americans, you'll likely curtail vacation plans this year in favor of staying home and saving money. But even economy-wary homeowners are still interested in improving their homes - whether to enhance resale value or personal enjoyment - and they're looking for improvements with the biggest payback. Decks remain a top renovation, often cited as delivering the highest return on investment and homeowner enjoyment. The outdoor living trend is likely to remain strong this summer, and a great deck is the showpiece of your outdoor environment. "Fortunately, decks today are a ...
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