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Posts Tagged ‘Home Improvement’

5 Legitimate Reasons to Quit Repairing and Start Upgrading

04 Feb

When a home has been around for a certain number of years, it begins to become faded or rough around the edges. This means that, paint peels, pipes clog or rust, walls crack, roofs leak, sewers fill and all those things that make home owners realize that their house is no longer new. When these times come around, the onus of any home owner is to decide the best way to solve their predicament permanently where possible. The main debate is whether to repair or to upgrade. As people know, you can only repair for a certain period of time. Other times upgrading is more suitable. These are the times when there are;

Changes in the housing industry

When it comes to homes, new and better uses for many household fixtures and fittings are being discovered every so often. This means that, many old fixtures and fittings that were appropriate during a certain period in the houses’ history are no longer tenable. These changes have been seen in all areas including plumping, lighting, sewerage, and many other new developments in the housing market. Some of these new changes are more cost effective and safer to adopt over the long term. This means that, they may be expensive to invest in but prove their worth over the long term.

Family size changes

People are dynamic and families are always changing and growing. As families grow, the need to create more space arises. This means, that the need for additional sleeping beds and rooms becomes a priority. For instance, if the period between kids is big, it is better to upgrade to newer and safer baby cribs instead of dusting off old cribs for repair and reuse. Where the budget allows, it may also be more appropriate to move to a bigger house with a spacious garden to allow the restless youngsters room to play.

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3 Devious Ways to Increase the Size of a Room

02 Feb

Do you ever look at your home, or a specific room, and feel a bit down hearted? It’s not that you’re unhappy with your home, it’s just that it could do with an extra… something.

If you’re not sure what that something is, let me help you. It’s space. Here’s a little secret, no matter how big someone else’s home is, they’ll be just as frustrated as you about the size of a room. The great thing is that there are just a handful of ways in which you can give a room an effective illusion of space.

Décor

Perhaps the most obvious way of changing the look of a room is a fresh, new décor. There’s a temptation to go for bold colours when redecorating, as these can certainly add to the vibrancy of a room. However, even very large, airy spaces can feel overwhelmed or even oppressive if strong colours are used on every wall. The same is true of wallpaper, particularly if it’s a busy or large pattern.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that you can’t have something a little more colourful or dynamic. You can change a room to give it a sense of depth by adding a feature wall. Choose one wall in the room to decorate differently to the others. Think about where the sun comes into the room and when, as light against the wall makes some difference. You don’t even have to go with a solid wall of colour or standard wallpaper. You can now find companies that produce wall sized murals, featuring subjects such as olde worlde maps or landscapes.

Lighting

As I’ve just mentioned, the effect of lighting on a room can make all the difference. When we think about a change like this, we tend to look at our ceiling fittings, give a huff, and think, “it’s a bit of work to replace. Is it worth it?” Getting a professional to fit a new ceiling light can also create an impression of space. So what kind of lights would make a difference? It’s not always necessary to go with an elaborate fitting. In fact, the rule of less is definitely true here. Aside from the practicalities of taking care of an elaborate fitting, they can seem to absorb more space.

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Are You Saving for Home Repairs? You Should Be

31 Jan

One of the reasons people find it hard to save money is because the expense may not even be a reality. For example, people who don’t save for emergencies may believe that they will never encounter an emergency they can’t handle. Unfortunately, emergencies lurk around every corner. Whether it’s a blown head gasket or a leaky roof, emergencies need to be considered when saving money. Here are just a few reasons why you should be saving money for home repairs.

Home Repairs Can Cost Thousands

It’s important to realize that a home repair isn’t just a broken faucet or window. Home repairs can actually be very expensive. While you may think your home is in great shape, there are problems that can lurk beneath the surface. For example, your roof may look fine and then you discover there are several leaks. A new roof can cost thousands. Another problem that may arise is a broken furnace, which can also cost thousands to replace. Don’t let yourself fall behind on your bills or lose your home because these repairs took you by surprise.

You May Need More Than One Funding Source

Because these emergencies can be so expensive, you may not have enough money in your emergency savings account, credit card balance or checking account. This is why it pays to have a savings account specified for home repairs. More importantly, having this money available can help prevent the need for loans or the use of high interest credit cards and can help you to avoid foreclosure if you have to tap into other money and fall behind on your mortgage or loan payments.

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5 Handyman Tips Every Homeowner Should Know

23 Jan

Owning a home or investment property means being responsible for basic care and maintenance. Proactively addressing these issues will not only lead to savings on your utility bill, but limit the damage from wear and tear to the various systems in your home. Such maintenance will help mitigate the potential for expensive repair costs and make your home more attractive should you decide to sell. While these measures are not particularly difficult, they do require you to make regular checks. Here are 5 handyman tips every homeowner should know and make on a routine basis:

1. The Invisible Hazards

Every modern home has a HVAC system in place to provide seasonal comfort. When the summer heat becomes untenable, the air conditioner provides much needed cooling. During the winter chills, the furnace offers cozy, sustained warmth. Both of these systems rely on unobstructed air flow to deliver hot or cold air, and filters to prevent debris from clogging up the systems. However, if these filters collect too much dust and dirt, additional stress will be placed on the system. It will require more energy to reach the desired temperatures. Without proper air flow, the air conditioner can freeze and the furnace may overheat, leading to costly damages and repairs. Replace the filter every month to prevent these invisible hazards.

2. Leaky Faucets

When you add time to the equation, even the smallest of issues can compound into a large problem. Over long periods of time, cliffs get eaten away by rivers. Interest turns small loans into mountains of debt. A leaky faucet can be easy to overlook, but over time what begins as a tiny inconvenience can amount to a tremendous amount of waste. One drop per second becomes over 6000 gallons in a single year. Spilled water can rot away at the very foundation of your home. Lastly, damp environments are the perfect breeding ground for fungus and mold. A leaky faucet may not appear to be a big deal, but that is lacking the perspective to see the forest through the trees.

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Advantages and Disadvantages of Wood Blinds

19 Jan

Blinds have been used over many years in the more affluent homes. They were not a thing forthe poor or ordinary persons and that is why you found most blinds in the rich neighborhoods. However with the growth in furniture and textile industry, including the ease with which themachines can churn out the products, it is becoming easier to furnish homes of middle incomepersons with blinds.

Wood blinds are still preferred despite the pricy nature compared to other materials chiefly due to the benefits that it has. There are several benefits of blinds made from wood. The benefits far out-weight the coststherefore making a purchase of wood blinds more worthy an investment compared to those madefrom other materials despite the higher price.

We illustrate the benefits wood blinds, let us describe some properties of wood and howthey contribute to a better blind material.

1. Wood is a poor conductor of heat. While we often associate the word poor with anegative thought, it is positive in this context. As a poor conductor of heat, wood can beable to keep heat on either side of the divide that it forms. This means that when wood isused as a blind, it is would retain most of the heat.

2. Wood has pores that allow solvents to diffuse through the surface. The chief buildingmaterial of wood is complex glucose molecules called cellulose. They are often arrangedin layers with micro-sized and visible to the eye, but big enough for moisture to passthrough. This therefore allows solvents such as those carrying paint or stains to be used toimprove the appearance of the final products that is made from the wood.

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