Posted by admin on July 6th, 2008 — Posted in Living With Home Improvement
There are many sad cases of home renovations not going as planned - often going way over budget or schedule, or unforseen complications popping up unexpectedly and ruining even up to years of work.
Most of these situations would never have gone so awry with some careful planning and early decision making sooner in the renovation process. Below are a few issues that it is vital to think about before you begin your home renovation.
10 Things to Think About BEFORE Beginning Work
- Prepare a budget
- Be aware of council regulations
- Find a tradesperson
- Know your start and completion dates
- Selecting Products
- Prepare plans
- Purchasing products
- What should I purchase myself?
- What services are available to my property?
- What sort of hot water unit do I need?
Prepare a budget
Before you start shopping for your new bathroom or kitchen you must know your spending limits. Whether you are getting a loan or paying cash, you need to work out how much your project is going to cost. Some businesses also offer finance solutions for approved customers.
Be aware of council regulations
Find out all the information you can before you arrange tradesperson. If your home is heritage listed you will need to meet strict council regulations. Many renovations must be approved by the council before work can commence. Contact your local council for more details.
Finding a tradesperson
Speak with family and friends who have done renovations or built a home. It is important to find a tradesperson that you can communicate with. Make sure you understand everything they are telling you. Book a tradesperson well ahead of time, as they can be booked for months in advance. Ensure that your tradesperson is licensed. Your product warranties are only valid if installed by a licensed tradesperson. In Australia, Trades@call provide professional, reliable tradespeople for most jobs, and all workmanship is guaranteed.
Know your start and completion dates
Communicate with your tradesperson and come to an agreement of realistic start and completion dates for your project. If you have a specific date that the job must be finished by, for example you have relatives coming to stay, let your tradesperson know. Keep in mind that unexpected problems can hold up your project, no matter how well you have planned it.
Selecting Products
It may take a few shopping trips for you to decide on the products that give you the look you desire and are also practical for your needs. Browse through a print or online catalogue. Once you have decided on a style (modern, heritage or easy living) this will narrow down your product choices. Be aware of any size restrictions of the room. Print out or write down product specifications and measure up your bathroom. You may use the online bathroom planner at the Bourne Bathroom and Kitchen Centre website to layout the products you have chosen.
Talk to your tradesperson about your choices. If the tradesperson tells you that a product you have chosen is unsuitable, find out why. It may just be that extra work is required that they don’t want to do. Remember, it is your home and you need to be satisfied once the job is complete.
Prepare plans
It is important that you draw up plans of your bathroom or kitchen. Discuss the plans with your tradesperson. Let him know what sort of products you would like, so he will know what work needs to be done. For example if you have chosen an inwall cistern, the tradesperson will need to know so he can set up the plumbing correctly before the tiling is done. It is best to have specifications of all of the products you have chosen so the tradesperson knows exactly what work is required.
Purchasing products
When selecting products, find out how long it will take for delivery. Some goods such as tapware and toilets will be in stock, while others such as spas and vanity units are custom made and can take up to 1 month to order in. Often these custom made products are non-refundable so confirm your product choices with your tradesperson before ordering. Find out from your tradesperson which products they will required first. Generally, the first products needed are the shower base, bath or spa and mixers if they are being installed on the wall.
As an owner builder, what should I purchase myself?
If you are owner building, make sure you purchase all of the main products for your bathroom, kitchen and laundry. This will ensure that you make all of the decisions and achieve the result you want. There will be things you will not think about when placing an order, such as different handle types on a vanity unit, the pump position of your spa, that you will need to decide on. It is important to make these decisions yourself as they will affect the overall result of your project. Smaller fittings for plumbing can be purchased by your tradesperson.
What services are available to my property?
It is important to know whether you need gas or electric appliances (hot water unit, cooking appliances). If you live further out from the city, you may need LPG appliances. If you currently have electric appliances and you want to change to gas, speak with your tradesperson to determine if this is going to be cost effective and worthwhile in the long run. If you are building a new home, decide on the appliances you want before building begins, as the plumbing will need to be roughed in based on your product selection.
What sort of Hot Water Unit do I need?
There is a wide range of hot water units available and it can be quite daunting to try and choose one. If you are replacing an existing unit your choices can be limited, so speak with your tradesperson. The instantaneous hot water units are popular at the moment, but they use a larger gas line than the standard storage units. This can mean major plumbing changes which can be quite costly, though in the long run the instantaneous systems are cost efficient. See the Bourne Hot Water Selection Guide for more detail.
Many of these points seem somewhat obvious, but the problem arises when you start taking things for granted. When you don’t make sure that all your bases are covered, you may find that you have invested a lot of time, effort and money in a home renovation that you may end up unhappy with.
Richard Bourne is owner and manager of Bourne Bathroom and Kitchen Centres. Bourne Bathroom and Kitchen Centres (www.bournebathrooms.com.au) offer the largest range of bathroom, kitchen and plumbing supplies in Melbourne. Bourne’s exhaustive selection of home renovation supplies and great after sales service have helped thousands of people to buy “beautiful products at beautiful prices” since 1992.
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Posted by admin on May 16th, 2008 — Posted in Living With Home Improvement
Every year, various Realtor groups poll home improvement stores and other Realtors to come up with a list of home improvements that actually add value to your house. Year after year, the top results are the same. Kitchen remodeling is the home improvement job that adds the most value to your house. In fact, you’ll recover 80-90% of your kitchen remodeling costs in the added value to your house - more if you’re handy enough to do the work yourself.
At least as important as the added monetary value of kitchen remodeling is the more subtle benefit - a newly remodeled kitchen is more likely to sell your house than virtually any other home improvement you can make. The kitchen is the heart of the home for most people, and a welcoming, warm and modern kitchen is an overwhelming factor in the decision to buy one house over another.
But kitchen remodeling is an awfully broad term, and some kitchen remodels are more valuable than others in a buyer’s eyes. Which kitchen remodeling jobs should you tackle if your primary intent is to make your home more appealing to prospective buyers? The Realtors have the answer for that question as well.
In general, the recommendations are for cosmetic changes rather than major changes to structure. The top five kitchen remodeling jobs recommended by Realtors are painting, cabinet re-facing, new countertops, new floors and a modern cook-top range.
Painting is the easiest and most affordable kitchen remodeling job on the list - and it’s also the one most likely to be an effective selling tool for your house. Fresh, clean walls in a neutral color are best. Warm neutrals make everyone look and feel their best, and go with just about any décor. Don’t choose an offbeat or unusual color no matter how much you like it. The more distinctive the color, the more likely that prospective buyers will be wondering how hard it will be to paint over.
Re-facing your old cabinets to give them a fresh new look is the second most popular and effective kitchen remodeling project. If there’s plenty of cabinet space in your kitchen and the cabinets are structurally sound, putting a new face on them is a far more affordable option than replacing your kitchen cabinets.
New countertops can spruce up your kitchen and make it more appealing. Opt for ‘natural’ feeling materials like faux stone or one of the new wood composites. Tiled countertops are another option, but many women are going to be looking at all those little grooves and imagining all the time they’ll have to spend cleaning between the tiles.
A new floor can change the entire feel of your old kitchen. There are thousands of options available, but two of your best options are natural wood or a solid color linoleum.
A new cook-top range is one of the few appliance purchases that will actually make a difference in selling your house. It’s an instant update kitchen remodeling job that will make your entire kitchen appear more modern.
More extensive kitchen remodeling jobs like adding windows or a cooking island are iffy propositions if your main intent is to add value to your house. Stick with kitchen remodeling jobs that are most likely to appeal to the broadest range of buyers.
Chris Robertson is an author of Majon International, one of the worlds MOST popular internet marketing companies on the web.
Visit this Home Improvement Website and Majon’s Home Improvement directory.
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Posted by admin on May 12th, 2008 — Posted in Living With Home Improvement
At one time, ceramic tile was only for the wealthy. No more.
Today, for the same price as you will pay for manufactured cast
resin, imitation marble or other polymer, you can have a
one-of-a-kind piece of fine art, made by an American artist who
is willing to work with YOUR ideas and concepts. Suppose you
love plants and flowers, but the wall over your sink in the
kitchen has no window? Tell the artist your favorites, she will
paint your favorite ferns or perennials, in a basket or within
its own little garden. What if you moved south and miss your
paper birch trees so badly? A mural over your bathroom sink of
these gorgeous white and black trees, with or without
surrounding fall foliage, will guarantee a lifetime of the
perfect view. No wall space for a mural? How about accent tiles
placed every foot or so of your favorite cooking herbs in an
1800’s style, right out of the Farmer’s Almanac? Or an
easy-to-clean backsplash behind the kitchen sink of fruits
connected by flowering vines all in a lively color scheme?
The best part about tile is you only have to do it once. You
choose timeless and tireless motifs and place them where you
need something durable. Side-by-side with gold, ceramic is the
most durable substance we know. What else has told us the
history of human culture as accurately? Nothing the
manufacturers have come up with can surpass ceramic tile for
lasting beauty. Nothing.
Working with an artist as opposed to a factory has many
benefits. The artist has sentimental memories too, and usually
does the work she does for other reasons than moving out volumes
of product for profit, so she is more than happy to fill your
space with warm homey decoration. We all have a favorite old
pattern or print, maybe Grandma’s stitching or an old tapestry.
Everything eventually wears out and must be discarded. Except
ceramic. Have it painted on tile and installed for all time.
Framed paintings do not do well in steamy bathrooms or near
greasy cookstoves, gathering dust and needing cleaning way too
often. A tapestry or rug painted on tile will hang beautifully
inlaid into any wall. In the hall where people always bump
paintings is a great idea. Stair risers that always get scuffed
up can be painted in a myriad of design motifs, like
southwestern, Mayan or Aztec, any colorful design, and fill a
dull stairway with brilliant color.
Do you work too many hours to have pets? A brilliant parrot on
the wall in the corner of your livingroom, gleaming feathers
shining, will welcome you home, making no noise and quietly
demanding no food or attention! No other art medium can imitate
the iridescence and brilliance of bird feathers like ceramic
glaze. A skilled hand-painter can imitate textures and colored
objects from all around the world. Mayan stone carvings,
Egyptian hieroglyphics, even cave art paintings all look so real
in ceramic. Solid blocks of color in modern graphic shapes is
the other end of the design spectrum. Color makes a very
powerful statement, as we all know.
Please do not feel compelled to use what the remodelling stores
offer, the dull and unimaginative and very plain tiles they sell
in volume. Email a hand-painter and she will help you come up
with the only one in the world, a unique piece of fine art that
is yours alone. Timeless and elegant decor is only a few weeks
away.
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Posted by admin on May 5th, 2008 — Posted in Eating Fun, Internet Security Resources, Living With Home Improvement
Winter does not even starts and people start using fire pits because they have been waiting for this moment for the whole summer.
Although fire pits are a source of warmness and cozy environment, fire pit safety has to be kept in mind to secure ourselves.
It is thought that a gas fire pit is much safer than that which consumes wood. However, it is advised to call an expert for the maintenance of the gas fire pits as leakage of gas can produce great harms to the life and property. Without thinking and regularly, an expert should be called to check the appliances if it costs a little because there is nothing precious than your life.
Fire pits safety has many regulations, among them not placing any flammable or harmful things around a burning fire pit and have ventilation in the room so the room is not filled with smoke.
Special care should be taken if there are children in the house. They should be told not to prefer sitting very close to the burning fire pit or if they want to pick up something lying near the fire pit, should tell elders of the house to help them.
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Posted by admin on April 29th, 2008 — Posted in Help + Advice, Living With Home Improvement, Shopping + More
If you are looking for an appropriate solution to your home, then definitely you should consider vinyl flooring for the kitchen and the surrounding areas. Vinyl Flooring is an economical solution for your flooring needs. Its cost per square foot is lower than wood and porcelain/ceramic flooring solutions. Thus vinyl flooring is appropriate for every budget small or big.
However besides the price factor there are some other reasons why you should choose vinyl flooring. One of the man advantages of vinyl flooring is the fact that it does not wear out easily in its daily use. Thus if you have kids, pets or in general lot of guests, then you will understand the importance of this fact. Vinyl flooring will not wear easily and it is usually resistant to scratches and even dents. If you get it treated then vinyl flooring can also be resistant to spills and stains. Therefore it can be the perfect choice for your flooring needs and it is much easier to install compared to other flooring solutions.
However there are some disadvantages to vinyl flooring. It needs to be installed on a smooth surface so that it doesn’t come off unexpectedly. You should get a review from an expert on your surface before deciding on vinyl flooring.
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