Big projects don’t always need planning permission

4 Reasons for a Home Improvement Loan Visions Federal Credit Union

If you have a porous natural stone countertop like marble, granite or quartz, you want to seal them regularly to prevent staining. Your countertop material will dictate how often you should reseal it and with what materials, so do your research beforehand. We usually think of kitchen counters with this DIY, but don’t forget your bathroom and laundry room. Remodeling a home can provide safety upgrades for both family and pets. Older homes are subject to more safety concerns like falling roofs or electrical issues. Renovations help to avoid these types of issues before they happen and can even make living conditions better for your furry friends as well.

  • That first, 13-episode season from 1979 initially seemed to be a Boston-area curiosity, accessible only to local residents via WGBH.
  • The program’s goal is to improve the energy efficiency of homes.
  • It can be easy to see the costs involved with big improvement projects and feel a little nervous about the numbers.
  • Our top-rated pros are ready to tackle all your home projects – big or small – on time & on budget.
  • For instance, if you’re planning a complete renovation of all your living areas or if you want to build an extension to your house.

Then, create an outline of everything you want to accomplish, and get quotes from multiple contractors for the cost and timeline. You don’t have to go with the cheapest option; go with the one that is most reputable. Before you go too far down the path to starting the project, make House & Home Improvement a plan for what you’re going to do during the renovation. Will you be able to live there during the construction, or do your plans call for gutting the home? If you need to relocate for part of the project, it’s important to figure out how to minimize those short-term living costs.

And front doors should be a minimum of 34 inches wide, with “swing clear” hinges to maximize the entry width. Home improvement loan programs help with home repairs and modifications. They are the most common type of government financial assistance for home improvements. Some programs are available nationwide, while others are only available at the state or county level.

There’s a cost to laying a good-quality foundation, but with reasonable skills you can keep the price of this low by doing it yourself. Whether you choose to add colour or refresh in white, painted floorboards are transformative yet highly affordable. Much like your first mortgage, a second mortgage allows you to borrow a fixed amount of cash, in a lump sum, with a fixed interest rate. Not sure what those must-do repairs are for your specific home? A pre-inspection can give you a good idea of the issues buyers are going to care about. Similarly, investing in expensive landscaping and water features doesn’t always pay off, as buyers can see them as a hassle.

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While the name implies a focus on home repairs, the Fix It channel actually covers a wide variety of different home renovation topics, repairs included. Each video is a short tutorial that focuses on a single aspect of a renovation, remodel, or repair and walks you through how it’s done. This is a great channel for DIY homeowners, as well as those that just want to get a handle on how things are done. Mark Donovan of HomeAdditionPlus offers more than 100 different videos on his YouTube channel related to DIY and all aspects of home remodeling. “It feels like there’s kind of a big reset happening,” Buhr says. “A lot more people are focusing on their family, their homes, you know, the stuff in our immediate vicinity. People’s bubbles have shrunk.”

Wall paneling

When This Old House launched, it didn’t look like the progenitor of a new genre of TV. That first, 13-episode season from 1979 initially seemed to be a Boston-area curiosity, accessible only to local residents via WGBH. But it struck a chord with viewers, almost 250,000 of whom tuned in every week to watch the titular house—a Victorian in Boston’s Dorchester neighborhood—undergo its gradual metamorphosis. The surge of interest allowed This Old House to vault into the primary PBS lineup a year later, where it has remained ever since. What could’ve been framed as a melodramatic battle of the wills is instead presented as a teachable moment between the tradesman and the homeowner.

From 2010 to 2019, homeowners largely relied on professional contractors, and remodeling activity was heavily concentrated in coastal metros. You could buy all new cabinets and save money by purchasing prefabricated cabinets and installing them yourself, but that’s more work and money than painting or staining your existing cabinets. White cabinets will brighten a kitchen, don’t usually go out of style, and are easy for a future owner to repaint if they want something different. You’ll need to remove all the hardware from your cabinets, including the doors. You’ll also need to clean the cabinets first, so dirt and greasy residues won’t ruin your work.

Doing so can help families save on heating and cooling costs while staying safe and healthy. Putting a few of these home improvement ideas into action will help you get the most value out of one of your most significant assets, whether you’re planning to stay or selling. And before a DIY project can even be considered, you need to make sure that any new additions or changes will still fit the house’s overall aesthetic, which the best home design software can help you with. We all know that moving into a new house is stressful, and the last thing you probably want to do is add more things to your to-do list.

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