This Static Spot is open for sponsor

Click Here to Sponsor MCT Eric Post in Full Page

Afrikaans Afrikaans Albanian Albanian Amharic Amharic Arabic Arabic Armenian Armenian Azerbaijani Azerbaijani Basque Basque Belarusian Belarusian Bengali Bengali Bosnian Bosnian Bulgarian Bulgarian Catalan Catalan Cebuano Cebuano Chichewa Chichewa Chinese (Simplified) Chinese (Simplified) Chinese (Traditional) Chinese (Traditional) Corsican Corsican Croatian Croatian Czech Czech Danish Danish Dutch Dutch English English Esperanto Esperanto Estonian Estonian Filipino Filipino Finnish Finnish French French Frisian Frisian Galician Galician Georgian Georgian German German Greek Greek Gujarati Gujarati Haitian Creole Haitian Creole Hausa Hausa Hawaiian Hawaiian Hebrew Hebrew Hindi Hindi Hmong Hmong Hungarian Hungarian Icelandic Icelandic Igbo Igbo Indonesian Indonesian Irish Irish Italian Italian Japanese Japanese Javanese Javanese Kannada Kannada Kazakh Kazakh Khmer Khmer Korean Korean Kurdish (Kurmanji) Kurdish (Kurmanji) Kyrgyz Kyrgyz Lao Lao Latin Latin Latvian Latvian Lithuanian Lithuanian Luxembourgish Luxembourgish Macedonian Macedonian Malagasy Malagasy Malay Malay Malayalam Malayalam Maltese Maltese Maori Maori Marathi Marathi Mongolian Mongolian Myanmar (Burmese) Myanmar (Burmese) Nepali Nepali Norwegian Norwegian Pashto Pashto Persian Persian Polish Polish Portuguese Portuguese Punjabi Punjabi Romanian Romanian Russian Russian Samoan Samoan Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic Serbian Serbian Sesotho Sesotho Shona Shona Sindhi Sindhi Sinhala Sinhala Slovak Slovak Slovenian Slovenian Somali Somali Spanish Spanish Sundanese Sundanese Swahili Swahili Swedish Swedish Tajik Tajik Tamil Tamil Telugu Telugu Thai Thai Turkish Turkish Ukrainian Ukrainian Urdu Urdu Uzbek Uzbek Vietnamese Vietnamese Welsh Welsh Xhosa Xhosa Yiddish Yiddish Yoruba Yoruba Zulu Zulu

 

 

Article Navigation

Back To Main Page

 

Click Here for more articles
Google
Kitchen and Bath Solutions
by: ARA
(ARA) - Home improvement has become one of our country’s greatest pastimes. Americans spent an estimated $214 billion on home improvements, maintenance and repairs in 2001, according to Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies research report issued in February 2003. Just how and where that money is spent can make a big difference when it comes to investing in your home.

Of all the rooms in your house, bathrooms represent the greatest and fastest return on your remodeling investment. According to Remodeling Magazine, more than 80 percent of your bathroom remodeling expenses can be recouped within a year of resale. Not every room in the house offers such a return. Surprisingly, kitchens are sixth on the list with just over 60 percent of the costs returned. Only bathroom additions beat bathroom remodeling with returns over 90 percent.

Despite today’s homeowner remodeling craze, you should weigh the pros and cons of taking on an entire bathroom project alone. Knowledge -- including admitting your strengths and weaknesses -- is the key to successfully completing any project on time and under budget. Ask yourself the following remodeling questions to ensure you are making the best decisions for your investment.

Is it a Remodel or Makeover?

“The first consideration should be the scope of work,” says Rick Peters, remodeling expert and author of “MoneySmart Makeovers: Bathrooms.” He asks: “Do you understand your home’s plumbing systems, such as where the waste/vent stack is?”

If the remodeling project involves more than cosmetic fixture replacements or surface redecorating, it may be time to call in an expert to assess your home’s plumbing and pipe placement. Peters suggests the following checklist:

Call a remodeling contractor when:

* Moving a toilet, sink, tub or shower

* Removing or adding walls

* Installing venting that runs through the roof

All of these projects require specific skills and knowledge of your local building and plumbing codes.

Try the following makeover projects yourself:

* Replacing a faucet, sink or toilet using existing plumbing

* Installing shower or shower-tub combination doors

* Installing new accessories, such as shelves or light fixtures

* Painting, tiling or wallpapering

These projects require some skill base, but even a first-time do-it-yourselfer may be able to complete them in a reasonable timeframe.

What’s the Real Deal on What You Want?

Tempted by what looks good? Check out the quality. Does that new faucet have rubber washers or plastic valves? A client of mine bought a faucet five years ago with plastic valves and it lasted exactly four and a half years. Cheaper versions of the real thing are not repairable and have to be replaced entirely. This means you are spending twice as much in 10 years as you would once in a lifetime for a better faucet.

Look for quality fixture manufacturers such as American Standard. The company’s Champion Toilet featuring America’s Best Flushing System, includes a Worry-Free Decade Warranty that covers the whole toilet inside and out. American Standard’s faucets come with a lifetime warranty on the washerless watertight seal, the function and the finish. Most of its sinks and toilets are made of vitreous china that resists dirt and bacteria. Even the acrylic tubs are made tougher with a fiberglass bonding for extra strength.

Bottom line: “Your bathroom takes a daily beating,” says Peters. “Buy quality.”

Is There a Great Cover-up Waiting for You?

A number of times, I’ve ventured into bathrooms that have been madeover by covering damaged tiles or walls with acrylic panels. “Sure it looks better, but the problem is still there,” says Peters. “In fact, panels like these hold in moisture and mildew that was the problem in the first place, and now it will get worse. Make sure leaks and damage are repaired and not just covered up.”

Peters also suggests using a mildew resistant drywall. “Standard drywall can’t stand up to the moisture in the air, even with proper venting,” he notes.

What’s your pay-off in investing time to answer these important questions before you start? You’ll end up with a successful bathroom remodeling project that adds to the value and enjoyment of your home.

Courtesy of ARA Content






About the author:
Courtesy of ARA Content




Circulated by Article Emporium


 


©2005 - All Rights Reserved

This Static Spot is open for sponsor

Home Improvement Information

Read Articles:


 Fix Minor Cracks Before They Require Costly Rep...

 What to Look for When Buying a Closet Organizer -

 A Guide to Antique Bird Cages -

 Start Your Next Home Improvement Project With T...

 Home Improvements That Increase Your Home’s Res...

 Making space at home

 1 in 4 homes in UK has one - The average costs ...

 Walk-in Closet Organizers -

 Kitchen and Bath Solutions

 A Nice Cozy Fireplace!

 Camps for Troubled Teens: Disciplines and Wild...

 A Look at Custom Shutters -

 Frightfully Fun Ideas for Halloween Decorating

 Granite Countertops: An Overview -

 The History of the Vacuum Cleaner: Perfection h...

 Choosing a Gas Fireplace to heat your home!

 How Stained Glass Can Add Elegance To Your Home

 Applications of 12 Volt Air Compressors -

 How to Replace a Circuit Breaker -

 Bathroom Interior Design

 The Benefits of Wood Closet Organizers -

 An In-Depth Review of Popular Air Purifiers -

 The Benefits of Bamboo Roman Shades -

 Adding A Floor Lamp to Your Home!

 The Benefits of Ceiling Fan Lights -

 Zebra Print Rug!

 A Look at Plantation Shutters -

 Custom Mini Blinds -

 The Basics of the Murphy Bed Plan -

 Should a HDMI DVD player be your next home thea...

More Article Pages 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5

 

 Home Improvements – The Fun Stuff
 by: Raynor James

Planning home improvements necessarily involves addressing numerous practical matters. That doesn’t mean you should ignore the fun stuff!

The Fun Stuff

The first thing to plan for in home improvements is the practical stuff. The second thing you need to talk to family members about is the fun stuff.

Most people have colors they like and colors they don’t like. They have things that interest them and things that don’t. Get your family to talk to you about those things. Each person’s bedroom, or bedroom area, should reflect his or her taste and interests.

A boy who likes green, football, and backpacking can easily have a sage green (it “reads” as more neutral than many shades of green if re-sale of your home is a concern) room with cream woodwork, cream interior shutters, and cream ceiling. Framed football posters and wilderness scenes might be pleasant. Bedding with a rustic motif (rows of stylized pine trees?) from L.L. Bean or Plow and Hearth would work right in. Add a touch or two of a bright color like red or yellow.

Does he need a desk in his room? A chest of drawers? A bookcase? Would he enjoy having a bulletin board? Even if they’re small, most rooms need at least three lamps so that illumination is general and even. The shades are usually best in warm, neutral colors. (Light coming through green shades tends to make people look sick.) Lamp shades should be level and the seams should be toward the wall so they’re not visible. When the bottom edge of most lamp shades in a room are the same height from the floor, the room tends to look serene and cohesive.

Hanging pictures usually look best if the bottom edges of the frames are the same height from the floor and level with each other, too. There are exceptions to this and every generalization of course. A grouping of pictures can have the bottom tier follow the “rule” while all of the other pictures are higher. A picture over a fireplace often looks good higher than the other pictures in the room.

Pictures usually look best when they have a relationship to furniture or an architectural feature. Pictures centered over a chest, bed, bookcase, or fireplace are good examples. Pictures don’t tend to look good if they’re scattered willy-nilly around a room, or if they’re up near the ceiling (unless they’re part of a grouping), or if the height at which they’re hung varies wildly with no rhyme nor reason.

A girl who loves pink, the ballet, and swimming can have woodwork the same cream as her brother’s while her walls are a soft pink (a pink with a hint of yellow in it tends to go well with cream), and her art work reflects her interests. If she loves to read, make sure she has a good reading lamp near her bed, or near a comfortable chair, or both.

A cream colored dust ruffle with widely spaced pink stripes and a quilted plaid coverlet in pink, green, yellow, and blue on a cream background might look nice. Add cream fabric window shades with large pink polka dots and I’ll bet she’ll smile.

The bigger point is to simply have fun with some of your home improvements. There is no need to look exclusively at practical matters.


©2005 - All Rights Reserved

JV Blogs Visit free hit counter