Home Remodeling & Renovation DIY Article Links

Upgrading your home is a great way to add value and functionality. Here are some folks who started with an idea and along with a little money and a lot of personal effort made a real difference in their homes. Kitchen Overhaul This kitchen overhaul starts with a wish. "You know, it sure would be nice to have an open kitchen." So they dove in and started knocking down walls. Amazing what you can learn online if you're willing to take the time. Bathroom Remodel Here's a person who started a bathroom remodel with a lot of enthusiasm, and little...
12/07/2011

Finding a gift for a home handyman (or woman) can be a challenge, as most handy people are very selective and want to choose the "perfect" tool for themselves. The trick is to find something useful that the handy person on your list might not think of picking out. So, here are 5 different and useful tools your handy person will be glad to have. Even better, they all cost less than $25, so you won't need to break the bank this Christmas Tool bag Every home handyman has at least one tool box (some two or three). But metal...
12/07/2011

Even if you're not a handyman, at some point you’re going to have to do some work around your home. You’ll want to hang some pictures or stop a dripping faucet, so you’re going to need some basic tools. Creating a well stocked tool box isn’t expensive and while this basic tool collection won’t allow you to build an addition to your house, it will give you the tools necessary to do most routine fix ups around your home. The Things You Need Claw Hammer - A claw hammer is just about the most basic and essential tool there is....
12/07/2011

Every year it seems winter just creeps up on us. During fall we all enjoy the cooler weather and bright colored leaves, forgetting it won’t be long before the cold and snowy winter weather moves in. So, while we’ve still got a few weeks before winter takes hold, here are some things that can make this winter a little easier. Gather the Leaves off the Ground Unfortunately you have to get those leaves off the ground so consider a leaf blower. They’re available in electric and gas powered models (the electric ones are much quieter) and can save you...
12/07/2011

If you're a do-it-yourselfer you may have heard of PEX piping and wondered if it was something you should care about. PEX is a relatively new development (in North America anyway) in plumbing systems. PEX is an acronym for cross-linked polyethylene pipe and it's replacing traditional copper tubing in a lot of new construction and renovations. Used in Europe for more than 50 years, it started being used in water supply systems in North America in the 1980s as a replacement for not just copper, but also hard plastic pipe systems including PVC, CPVC, and ABS. What's so good about...
11/23/2011

If you live in North America it's quite likely you've never heard of a shower pump. Shower pumps are quite common in the United Kingdom, where often a home's hot water supply is in the attic and the water pressure is less than enough to power a “real” shower. However, shower pumps are starting to find a place in many American homes as people upgrade their bathrooms by installing high performance, luxury showers in their homes. Many of the features in a luxury shower such as multiple shower heads and jets, waterfall showers and steam generators require more pressure than...
11/23/2011

Updating a kitchen can quickly become costly. With a little creativity and some "sweat equity," though, there are ways to spruce up a kitchen on the cheap. Below we list several ideas that we hope with jump start your imagination. Think outside the box and you'll be surprised at how many more ideas there are for giving your kitchen a new look for less than $100. Paint the Kitchen When it comes to doing an update, most people think about painting and with good reason. A fresh coat of paint can change a drab, old appearing kitchen into a bright,...
11/23/2011

Renovating your home is a great way to add value while giving you and your family the extra space you want. We've all heard stories about runaway renovation costs and how a home renovation can end up costing way more than originally budgeted, but fortunately, there are a number of ways you can save yourself some money while renovating. Plan Ahead and Don't Rush Whether you're trying to save energy, add more space or simply upgrade your home's appearance, planning up front before diving in is important. Early planning allows you to space out the timing of your renovation and...
11/23/2011

Got an old bathroom that needs an update or is just an out of style you'd like to modernize? Totally redoing a bathroom can cost thousands of dollars and most of us just can't afford that kind of money, yet we still want our bathrooms to look attractive and stylish. Fortunately there are a number of things you can do to update a bathroom without breaking your budget or even spending a lot of time. Consider Paint Painting is one of the quickest and most adaptable ways to transform any room from old and dated to modern and bright, and...
11/23/2011

No matter how nicely the rest of the basement is finished, if the floors are cold and the room feels damp,  nobody is going to want to spend much time down there. It's a common problem in a finished basement because concrete floors continually release moisture (making a basement feel damp) and they act as a conductors of cold from the ground under the foundation. In the past, people have tried to address the problem by laying down a  wooden sub floor before installing their basement flooring, but over time a wooden subfloor in direct contact with the damp concrete...
11/23/2011

Vinyl flooring has been a popular flooring choice in America for many years, and it still accounts for around 15 percent of annual flooring expenditures in the country. When most people talk about vinyl flooring they're usually thinking about sheet flooring. However, there are other forms of flooring  made from vinyl, such as tiles and planks. Since they're all are made from vinyl they share a number of common characteristics and have many of the same advantages and disadvantages. Advantages Affordability - Vinyl's primary advantage is its affordability. While it can emulate high-end flooring in appearance, vinyl flooring is relatively...
11/23/2011

A healthy, growing lawn is actually most likely to develop a thatch problem that needs to be removed (dethatched) for the lawn to keep growing strong and healthy. Towards the end of summer, most people might think the only problem with a healthy lawn is the number of times they've had to cut it. However, that's not the reality. If you don't know much about why or how to dethatch a lawn, here's a quick overview. Why is thatch bad? Thatch isn't all bad. It's a natural accumulation of grass cuttings along with a mixture of leaf bits, plant stems...
11/23/2011

Pretty well everyone loves fresh air and just like people, so do lawns. Giving your lawn some fresh air can make it healthier and better looking. If you'd like your lawn to look its best next spring, fall is the time to give it a breath of fresh air by aerating it. Here's why aerating is good and how to go about it. Why aerate my lawn? As soil becomes compacted over time, the grass roots can't reach down far enough to get the nutrients the plant needs to grow strong and healthy. When rain falls onto that hard, compacted...
11/23/2011

You have a couple of options when it comes to getting service on your car or truck--a dealership or an independent garage. When a vehicle is under warranty, the choice is easy, since the dealer will perform warranty service at no charge. However once a vehicle's warranty runs out, is a dealer or an independent mechanic the better choice for maintaining your vehicle? Here's an overview of some of the pros and cons of both options. Knowledgeable Staff Here a dealership should have a distinct advantage. A dealership's service personnel work almost exclusively on only one make of vehicle and...
11/23/2011

A drain snake can be a do-it-yourself solution to a professional level problem. A clogged drain inevitably happens in every home. When it does, you have a few options for clearing a clog. You can use a plunger (the least expensive option and proper first choice), you can try pouring chemicals down the drain (not good for the environment and potentially dangerous to anyone working on the drain), you can call a plumber (and deal with a bill for a hundred dollars or more), or you can use a drain snake to clear it yourself (at a first time cost...
11/23/2011

Fall is a great time of year to do almost anything outside. The sun is still warm (but not too hot) and there are none of those annoying bugs that can take the fun out of any outdoor activity. Take advantage of the beautiful weather by working in your garden. There are several things that can be done to ensure that next spring your garden will grow healthy and beautiful. Clean Everything Up Shovels, hoes and spades and all the other tools you use in your garden will all last longer and be easier to use if you take the...
11/23/2011

When the trees start turning color, gardening season isn’t over for the year. You can actually grow and harvest vegetables at least into the beginning of winter (even if you don't live in the South). If the idea of growing a winter vegetable garden intrigues you, here's some ideas that will be fruitful. Can you really plant vegetables in the fall? There are lots of vegetables you can plant in September or early October and be eating the produce of your own garden at Thanksgiving (or before). In fact some people feel that cooler fall days give vegetables more flavor...
11/23/2011

Decorating or redecorating a home is fun, but it can be expensive. To give a room a new look without breaking the bank, consider these budget-friendly ideas. Consider Things You Already Own You're not going to find anything less expensive than an item you already own. With a little creativity, many things can be repurposed. Some sanding and a few coats of paint can turn an ugly, old dresser into a good looking sideboard in the dining room, or perhaps a vanity in the bathroom. Kitchen and dining room chairs can be recovered and painted to give them a totally...
11/22/2011

You've probably figured it out just by driving around your neighborhood, but Halloween is the second most decorated holiday in America (after Christmas). Obviously people enjoy decorating their homes as well as themselves, but sometimes the cost of creating the scariest house on the block can just get to be too much. If you'd like your house to be the one the kids are talking about the next day, but don't want to spend a lot of money, here are some inexpensive ideas for decorating your home (and yourself). Around the Outside: Grow a spooky forest by gathering some broken...
10/31/2011

Halloween Jack-o-lanterns are traditionally carved with a scary face or for the more skilled carvers Halloween cats or witches. However, some younger children can be frightened by the scary images and if the kids are scared, Halloween isn't fun for anyone. Fortunately with a little "outside the box" thinking there are ways to decorate or carve a pumpkin so it doesn't end up being scary. Plus, you can still end up with the best looking Halloween pumpkin on the street. Here's some ideas on how to decorate your Halloween pumpkin while making sure no one gets frightened. Get the Kids...
10/31/2011