Friday 15 February 2013

Effective Home Improvement Tips For Everyone

By Sam Kallis


Today, home improvement is an incredibly popular hobby that is growing in popularity. The demand for products and techniques related to it are on the rise. Now is the time to start with it. Here are some tips that you can use to get you started with your home improvement plans.

A well known rule for doing any kind of construction, repair, or renovation work is to measure twice and cut once. This age old saying still holds up today in every circumstance. Following this rule will allow you to avoid costly and time consuming mistakes associated with projects by using less materials and saving time and effort on labor.

Take the time to find the studs before you start the install project for your new cabinets. This can be done easily with a stud finder and marked with a nail that will be behind the new cabinets anyway and not able to be seen. The studs are the only sturdy place you have to attach something to a wall.

When you need to replace a lock, you can opt to replace the entire assembly, or you can just replace the cylinder. The cylinder is the part of the lock that performs the locking action. If you've lost your key and want to change the lock for safety purposes, you can do a cylinder replacement. If you're upgrading the lock for added security or to make your door look better, replace the entire unit.

To see a return on your home improvement project, consider converting existing space into a new living environment for your family. Making an attic into a bedroom or finishing off your basement will earn you extra money when reselling your home because you are utilizing something that is already available to create a desirable feature.

Fix a nail that's popped partially out of your wall covering with a couple of drywall screws! Insert a drywall screw a few inches above the offending nail and another a few inches below. This will pull the drywall or other wall covering back into the wall stud so that you can hammer the nail back into place without blemishing your wall. Paint the visible nail and screw heads and you're done!

If you are planning a home improvement project, consider doing the painting or at least, selecting a color scheme first. Having the fresh new paint on your walls can make your home look nice enough that it doesn't need a whole renovation. If it still needs more work, the new paint might provide you with more ideas on where to go.

Always make sure your air conditioner filters are clean and are replaced regularly. When the filters for your AC are dirty, the airflow is restricted. This causes your AC unit to use more energy, driving up the cost of your energy bill. Therefore, keeping filters clean ensures you enjoy a reduction in your monthly energy expense.

Tear your chipped and broken plaster down to the lathes in the walls of your old house. If the plaster material is failing, the only solution is to get rid of the old and replace it with another wall covering. Believe it or not, the really old stuff was plaster mixed with horse hair. You can improvise a pretty good match with just drywall mud!

Give your bathroom a unique touch by deciding on a theme. Most people spend hours in their bathrooms, but apart from the coordinated colors, nothing seems to be unique. Come up with fun themes like pirate, under the sea, at the beach, or shipwrecked. Finding accessories for your idea can be fun and give your bathroom a sense of personality.

Having extra bathrooms in your home is invaluable to the homeowners, but it also increases the value of your home. If you have the means, then adding a bathroom would be a good long-term investment. Just be sure to stick to the theme that your house already has, and keep it in the same time period as the rest of your home.

In conclusion, you now have been provided with many helpful tips regarding home improvement. While you may have already known some of this information, we hope that you have either reinforced your curent knowledge, or learned something new. Use this information and be the controller of your own success.




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