Home Remodeling Blog
June 2009
The Archives
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06.19.09Kitchen Do-Overs Require Planning
Kitchen Remodeling (0)Larry Greene Indianapolis Star Question: I want to remodel my outdated kitchen. Where should I start? Answer: Kitchen remodeling can be a complicated and intimidating process. The number of choices and decisions often is overwhelming. A successful kitchen remodeling starts with planning and ideas and an organized design process. Consider taking the following steps: Determine the big-picture goals. Consider your family situation. How long you think you'll be staying in your home will affect the level of investment you should make. For example, if you may be moving in the next two to three years, you will want to think more about resale. In that case, ...
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06.19.09Down With The Deck, Up With The Patio
Decks and Porches (0)Julie Young Richmond Times-Dispatch A silver anniversary is not a happy occasion for a wood deck. Twenty-five years of exposure to sun, rain, snow, temperature fluctuations, foot traffic and Chesterfield County's notoriously shifty soils had left Mike and Raylene Harton's deck in need of serious renovation or replacement. "Since we rarely used the deck except for grilling -- we spent most of our time in the attached screened porch -- the deck was expendable," Mike Harton said. Raylene Harton suggested a patio. Last fall, the couple rolled up their sleeves and decided to tackle the job themselves. "I guess you could say we're do-it-yourselfers," Mike Harton ...
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06.19.09Once A Deck, Now A Porch
Decks and Porches (0)Enjoy the best of summer from the comfort of a screen porch. Here are some smart ideas. Stifling summer heat and pesky bugs persuaded Kim Hitchcock to morph her Decatur, Ga., deck into a covered screen porch. Her deck was only a few years old, so she made plans to bolster the foundation and build the porch right on top of it. Built-in benches were removed to expand the floor space, and the builder then constructed the frame right on top of the decking, matching design details to the home's Tudor exterior. Garden-party perfect Double doors open to stairs wide and short enough ...
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06.19.09Home Q&A
Painting, Siding (0)Alan J. Heavens Philadelphia Inquirer Q:My daughter moved into a house that has aluminum siding. The siding is in good condition, but it is ugly -- it's white and chalky-looking and faded, if white can look faded. A handyman/painter has told her it could be painted. My son says it can be painted, but it would not be a successful project -- after a short time the paint would flake, and the siding would look worse than it does now. He says power washing is not the way to go, either. Can this siding be painted, and, if so, what is the proper way ...
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06.19.09Take Off That Mask: Paints Have Gone Green
Green Remodeling, Painting (0)Adrianne Stone Mother Nature Network Adding paint color inside your home can provide vibrancy, enhance your mood and create a sense of personality in an otherwise drab room. It can also give you cancer. Yes, those wonderful color palettes that have you swooning over the warm gold in your new living room, the pastel blues or pinks you're planning for your nursery, and the glossy peach tones in your bathroom contain something called volatile organic compounds — and they're deadly. Paints mainly release these chemicals into the air during application and drying, but fumes can continue to waft out for years. By ...
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06.19.09A Squeaky Floor Is Demanding Attention
Flooring (0)Gene Austin Hartford Courant Q: I recently moved into an older home with hardwood floors that squeak badly. How can I stop the noise? A: The squeaks, of course, are caused by wood rubbing against wood or nails when the floor is walked on. You have the best chance of fixing the squeaks if there is unobstructed access to the floor from below — a basement without a ceiling or a crawl space, for example. Go into the basement and have someone walk on the floor overhead. Mark the squeaky areas on the subfloor (the layer of boards or plywood under the ...
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