Begin by removing cabinet doors and hardware, then wipe cabinet fronts and doors with mineral spirits to remove any dirt, dust, and grease. Apply a gel-type stripper per manufacturer’s instructions, and then remove the stripper with a plastic putty knife. Next, sand the wood with sandpaper, and you’ll be set to begin staining. Whether an art-arranging project went awry or you’re tired of looking at dings around the house, concealing wall blemishes is a weekend-worthy project. With a putty knife and surfacing compound, you can easily repair nail holes and other minor wall imperfections. For larger holes, place an adhesive patch over the area and spread an all-purpose drywall compound over it with a trowel.
- Simple upgrades like adding a new light fixture, such as the semi-flush sputnik chandelier, to your foyer can make a bold statement.
- Rather than flipping an entire house, Olson focuses on renovating and refurbishing single rooms and bringing the owners’ visions for interior decor to life.
- Spice up your cabinets and drawers by replacing factory-issue handles and pulls with designs that reflect your personal taste.
- Make a worn dining table or old countertops look luxurious by transforming them into chic marble focal pieces.
- Most of your home’s exterior walls will be load-bearing.
Your choice should balance aesthetics with practicality. Dimmer switches quickly give your dining room the atmosphere of a swank restaurant. You can use fluorescent lights or special dimmable LED bulbs. A rotary dimmer switch is the most common type of dimmer switch. As you rotate the knob clockwise and counterclockwise, the intensity of the light changes. For an impactful weekend update, swap out the surface of your kitchen island.
DIY Glass Cabinet Inserts
People borrow against their homes, spending the money and draining the equity. Then, when they sell and receive, say, $50,000 after repaying their mortgage and home equity loans, they think that’s their capital gain. But it isn’t, and sometimes their tax bill is actually much higher than that $50,000. I asked the number crunchers at the real estate website Zillow to take a look. Currently, they believe that 3.8 percent of the homes around the country are already in the tax zone for single people and that 1.2 percent have reached the threshold for married couples.
The best time to get a skylight installed is when you’re getting a new roof. “Nobody will install a skylight on a roof that’s not brand new,” explains Pacific-Northwest agent Dawn Rushton in HomeLight’s guide to the added value of skylights. Put recessed lighting under kitchen cabinets to illuminate the countertop and reflect light into the rest of the room. Nvesting in a home renovation no matter the size is an important decision that will affect the value of your home as well as your quality of life. In House Home Improvement does not take that decision lightly.
#9 Color Splash
With Leanne’s interior design expertise and Steve’s experience as a carpenter and licensed contractor, there’s no stopping this dream team. Professional home improvement is ancient and goes back to the beginning of recorded civilization. One example is Sergius Orata, who in the 1st century B.C. Is said by the writer Vitruvius to have invented the hypocaust. The hypocaust is an underfloor heating system that was used throughout the Roman Empire in villas of the wealthy.
Maximize your outdoor space
Currently operating a home repair and DIY consulting service, he empowers his clients to be self-sufficient in their home repair and remodeling endeavors. Earlier, we talked about repairing your own plumbing. Part of the trick in plumbing is to avoid scratching fragile chrome or brushed nickel finishes on faucets or exposed drain parts. Plumbers use smooth-faced pliers and wrenches to achieve perfect results. You can avoid buying special tools for one-time use by wrapping your soft-leather work glove around the fitting and using your standard pliers or pipe wrench over the protective cover. It also comes with a long list of things to do to keep the home in working order or improve our surroundings.
Hosted by Bob Vila, Steve Thomas, and Kevin O’Connor, the series follows the remodel of a house — typically in the New England area — over the course of several episodes. The longer timeline allotted to each flip allows for an in-depth look at different aspects of the process and lends the show more of a how-to feel in comparison to many of its competitors. You’ll more than make your money back with a loft conversion, too, but it’s not quite as lucrative as other means of extending because of the costs involved. You’ll need to add some windows and a staircase, too, which can rob you of space elsewhere. Grab bars are one of the simplest ways to make an existing bathroom more accessible.
Season 44 starts with restoring the first black postmaster’s house in Atlanta, then the crew heads to Newburyport, MA, to remodel a classic New England-style home. Later, we start work on a 1720s Cape Ann Gambrel in Ipswich, MA. Multiply the gross income of the higher earner in the last income tax year by 2.5 and add the gross income of the other earner in the last income tax year.
Your foundation already has a big job to do holding up the house. The quantity of water in a small rainfall event is surprisingly massive. A common DIY home-improvement mistake, especially when finishing a basement, is making access to essential plumbing valves difficult. When you remodel, leave space or an access door to the main water valve, exterior spigot valves, water heater valves and any others your home may have. It’s probably less expensive and certainly more convenient to install a backyard shed or hire a handyperson to create access to hidden places in your house than renting space long-term. Home appliances and home mechanical systems are expensive enough.