In House Home Improvement

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.

• You’ll need to add some windows and a staircase, too, which can rob you of space elsewhere.
• Having your fireplace and chimney professionally cleaned will also improve fireplace efficiency.
• “It actually makes the house feel bigger,” Monaghan explains.
• If the carpet is still good, give it a good DIY carpet cleaning.
• From air filter replacement to winterization and everything in between, get peace of mind knowing all your home maintenance is handled by pros.

A sliding barn door adds dimension to any home with a farmhouse flair. Perfect for a kitchen or den entrance, a sliding door provides privacy when needed or acts as eclectic decor when not in use. They are relatively easy to install; all it takes is assembling and mounting the hardware and door to a doorway. With just a stud finder and a drill, you can install a medicine cabinet in less than an hour. For quick installation, choose a flush-mounted cabinet that can mount directly to the wall above your bathroom sink, rather than cutting away drywall and recessing the cabinet between studs.

This Old House

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.

Calling a contractor to repair or improve every single thing gets expensive fast. What if there were a way to know what they know about home improvement? Here are 17 of the best time and money-saving home improvement and care hacks that only a contractor would know about. Good levels of insulation can make room interiors more comfortable as well as dramatically reduce your energy bills – by up to as much as 90 percent. A relatively small investment can pay back quickly, and add to the value of your home when you choose to sell.

“The process is simple,” says Mike McAllister, owner of Riverside Kitchen Center in Mount Vernon, Washington. “Remove the small flange that holds the existing insert, then replace the insert with your material and add wood or metal stops to keep it in place.” If you’re looking for a quick way to change the look of your room, hanging a new light fixture is your best bet. A well-made light fixture looks better, lasts longer, and gives clearer light, so inspect your fixture’s construction the way you would a piece of furniture.

It should take less than an hour to replace the current fixture, to the tune of about $100 for installation. Blue is as calming as the sky, silver reflects light, jewel tones are bravely bold — and just might work. Get the latest This Old House news, trusted tips, tricks, and DIY Smarts projects from our experts–straight to your inbox.

Replace Your Showerhead

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.

Hidden benefits of home improvement

Many utility companies provide free energy audits for their customers’ homes. However, you’ll have to spend a few hundred dollars for a company to do one in some places. Even newly constructed homes can see huge benefits from having an energy audit performed. The Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies advances understanding of housing issues and informs policy.

The set designers set out to make the home as normal as possible. It needed to be as middle of the road as possible to appear to be the house of a middle class family living in a suburb during that era. The Taylor house has a few personal details but it could easily be anyone’s home, a key part of making the series relatable to audiences. Find new homes for stuff during a reno.Donate luxury kitchen appliances, cabinetry, and bath fixtures to charity. Renovation Angel offers white-glove removal — plus you’ll get a nice tax deduction. Norm Abram, a regular fixture on “This Old House,” hosted his own home improvement series, “The New Yankee Workshop,” on PBS for two decades.