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Posts Tagged ‘garage’

The Best of 2009

December 25th, 2009 by Matthew C. Keegan | 1 Comment | Filed in Blog Recap

Our top five articles for the year

What exactly makes a website tick? In other words, why are some people drawn to one website and not to another one?

2009Well, there are a number of factors which can help answer those questions including inbound and outbound link strategies, social networking, advertising, and just plain ‘ole luck. But what really matters is having great content, information that will cause people who find your site in the first place to return again and again and again.

We like to think that SayEducate.com offers solid information to our readers in the form of timely tips, helpful news, good advice on the things that matter most to them. We wouldn’t know this for sure unless our traffic reports indicated the same which brings us to the point of this article: a recap of our top five articles for 2009, light reading for your Christmas Day pleasure.

Turn Your Garage Into Valuable Living Space – One of our top articles in 2008 was the clear winner in 2009, drawing in four times the amount of traffic as the second most popular article. We think we know why too: out of all the home renovations people might undertake in a recession, taking existing storage space within your home and converting it to living space is the most affordable improvement project out there.

Home Mortgage Rates Expected To Drop Below 5% Soon – When we published this article at the beginning of the year, the worst of the recession was being felt. Homes were being lost to foreclosure, jobs were disappearing, and people were desperate. Many people still are.

7 Ways To Reduce Home Electricity Consumption – If you’re going to save money, cutting back on your daily expenses can help you achieve just that. Your electrical consumption can spell the difference between finishing the month positively or finding yourself slipping behind. Fortunately, energy efficiency pays huge dividends and is less taxing on the environment.

Check Engine Light On? You Can Turn It Off! – Car maintenance is costly and can set you back $80 or more just to have a mechanic tell you what the message code means when your check engine light comes on. Spend about that same amount and you can get a tool that tells you the same thing, saving you hundreds of dollars in repairs.

Laying A Sure Home Foundation – One of the oldest articles on SayEducate is one published in November 2007 shortly after we launched this site. Why is it still popular? Probably because hope springs eternal: as long as people dream, they like to dream big. And, building a new home is as important for some people today as it ever was.

That’s it – our top five articles for the year soon to end. Merry Christmas and a have a wonderful 2010!


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What Will Inflation Do To Soft Goods Prices?

March 31st, 2009 by Matthew C. Keegan | 3 Comments | Filed in Home Tips

This past February we posted a pair of articles about food safety — Managing Your Food Storage Space Wisely and Should You Stock Up On Groceries In Advance Of Inflation? — sharing our thoughts about buying food in bulk and keeping it on hand for many years to come. Basically, we were looking at two reasons for taking such an important step: possible food shortages created by any number of events (political, natural catastrophe, etc.) and as a hedge against inflation.

basementAnother area for consumers to consider making bulk purchases is with soft goods items. That category includes napkins, paper towels, tissues, toilet paper, feminine products, paper plates, paper cups, etc. Oftentimes we can overlook buying these items in bulk for the simple reason that soft (dry) goods demand on storage space can be quite high.

Where to Store Your Soft Goods

Beyond stuffing a linen closet to the rafters, where else can dry goods be stored? Several places actually, some better than others:

Your Garage – If your garage is fairly well regulated as far as temperature and humidity goes, then you quite possibly have an area in your home ready made to store large quantities of soft goods. Even if your garage is humid or gets very cold in the winter, plates and cups have a better chance of withstanding harsh conditions, while some paper towels and napkins may turn yellow or attract a musty smell.

Your Basement – As with your garage, if your basement has a fairly even climate, then it could be the best place to create a dry goods storage area. Recommended: a dehumidifier. You want to control moisture and eliminate mustiness.

Your Attic – Not recommended unless it is finished off and used more like a “bonus” room found in some homes with a room above the garage. It probably isn’t worth your investment to redo this area of your house to turn it into a storage area especially if it is unfinished. You’ll also want to think of the potential fire hazard – dried paper goods can go up in flames in mere moments, taking your home with it.

Why Store Soft Goods?

So the question that remains is this one: why would you be interested in storing dry goods in the first place? Probably for one reason mostly: as a hedge against inflation.

Many economists are worried that inflation will rear its ugly head sometime in 2010, perhaps before this year ends. With inflation comes price increases, some which can be enormous. If your soft goods are petroleum based (cups, plates, plasticware) then these prices can increase sharply if oil prices climb as they did last summer. Few people expect gas prices to stay below $2/gallon for much longer with prices expected to climb above $3/gallon later this year, perhaps topping $4/gallon when expected tax increases become law.

Regardless of what takes place at the pump, a $3.6 trillion spending spree by Congress and the Obama administration will saddle generations to come with debt. Of course, one way to handle debt is to devalue your assets which has the same effect as inflation: it makes whatever you want to buy more costly to you.


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Turn Your Garage Into Valuable Living Space

July 9th, 2008 by Matthew C. Keegan | 8 Comments | Filed in Home Improvement

Home Improvement on a Budget!

cluttered garage

When it comes to unused spaces in many homes, garages are usually at the top of the list. After all, who really parks their cars in them anyway?

Seriously, if garage space could be better utilized for something else, then why not convert your garage into living quarters? Homeowners looking to add a spare bedroom, living room, or an office are the chief reasons to convert a garage and, compared to the cost of extending your home in a bid to add living space, a garage conversion makes perfect sense.

Of course, before you convert your garage for residential use, you’ll have to find a place to stash all of the stuff now stored in it. Do the following and you’ll get garage clutter under control in no time:

Hold a garage sale – Yes, sell off whatever you don’t need by holding a sale in the very room to be converted. If too cluttered for that, your driveway or lawn will do, but make this a top priority. Likely, you have boxes of old dishes, books, and knick knacks that aren’t ever going to be used again, so why not devote part of a Saturday to selling unwanted stuff off?

Rearrange the shed – Snow tires, tools, outdoor furniture and the like can be stored in your shed. If you don’t have an “out building” head over to the local big box retailer and invest in one big enough to store your seasonal items in and then some.

Recycle, reuse – Some stuff in your garage you may not find reusable, but throwing everything in the dump isn’t particularly environmentally responsible either. Give away what you don’t need as, even if something is broken, a handy person could see that piece of trash as a potential treasure find.

With all that stuff in your garage moved to the shed, up to the attic, or off of your property, you’re ready to begin the job. Of course, if you can do-it-yourself you’ll save thousands of dollars on a home renovation, but if you want to contract the project out you’ll need to hire someone to do the job for you.

When contracting out, consider:

Hire a general contractor to handle everything – Having one person in charge of the project is usually the best way to go. The contractor can determine exactly what needs to be done and get the right people to complete the walls, ceiling, floor, carpeting, electrical, heating, cooling, plumbing, etc.

Do some of the work yourself – Maybe you have a talent for drywalling or you prefer to hang your own lighting fixtures. Give those projects you don’t want to do to your contractor and handle the rest yourself.

Assemble a team of weekend professionals – If your garage conversion isn’t all that complicated, that is, only the garage doors need to be removed and replaced, one wall added, and flooring put in, assembling a team of handy friends could help you knock out the project in just one weekend. Naturally, if plumbing or electrical work needs to be done, then you’ll have to have one or two professionals among your team or hire these people to step in as needed.

What Will Your Town Say?

In some areas converting a garage to a home isn’t a simple process especially where local governments are concerned. Familiarize yourself with local building codes and check your association’s compact as any type of conversion could be a “no go”. Some municipalities will allow you to convert your garage as long as the exterior of that space still looks like a garage. In that case you can place a wall behind the garage doors or leave everything “as is” and convert the rest of the room.

Special Touches That Make A Difference

Natural lighting can be a problem in some former garage areas, necessitating the addition of a skylight or the conversion of a pair of regular windows into a bay window. Most certainly you can add recessed lighting throughout the room, but if you want to cut down on energy usage, considering maximizing natural lighting.

If extending the current heating and cooling system to the garage is too expensive, consider utilizing portable air conditioning and heating units to do the job instead. Modern, updated, and safe heating and cooling appliances can be a wise way to control your new room’s climate, regulating temperatures to meet the specific needs of that room. Besides, if you have plenty of computer equipment in the room, you may find having dedicated cooling equipment the best way for you to protect your investment.

Built in shelving can help you maximize floor space while keeping everything in order. A built in ceiling to floor wood cabinet unit can hold your television, stereo equipment, books, files, and much more.

Lastly, when deciding to choose a garage conversion, realistically assess how that new room could impact the value of your home. You may not have plans to sell, but if you do, would buyers want to change the room back into a garage to protect their Porsche 911 and Lexus LS? The more permanent your renovation, the less likely it could be easily changed. Then again, the addition of a new living area could add value to your home.

Resources

Finance Your Home Renovation

Look Over House Plans

Renovation Tips — Working With A Contractor

Take Out A Home Equity Loan


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For Sanity’s Sake, Organize Your Garage!

May 21st, 2008 by Matthew C. Keegan | 1 Comment | Filed in Home Tips

Your garage is cluttered and you can’t even get your car in it. Not that you imagined yourself wanting to leave your car inside the garage, but it is a nice thought. After all, a garage is built for cars, not storage.

Many homeowners long ago ceded their garage space, transforming the area into a storage room. As if the attic, basement, and shed weren’t enough, so goes the garage.

garage saleIf you would like to use your garage for storing household goods and for parking your car, you can do both. Read on and we’ll explore some tips on how to reclaim your garage as well as your sanity.

When is the best time to organize your garage? Right now! Seriously, winter is too cold and summer is too hot, so Spring and Fall are the best times to tackle a garage reorganization project.

Short of taking out a home loan to finance the work, you can do most of the work yourself and expend only a small amount of money on related supplies. Of course, if you need to actually expand the garage to make it work, then you’ll need to draft a blueprint, take your plans before the town zoning council, and plan on adding weeks to what shouldn’t be all that difficult of a project.

1. Keep It or Toss It! Go through all of the stuff in your garage and determine what you really want to keep and what you can get rid of. With the “I don’t need this stuff” pile, plan on holding a garage sale, donating the goods to Goodwill, or find some other way to dispose of it. If still useful, avoid adding your stuff to the landfills — you’d be surprised who thinks that your trash is a piece of treasure!

2. Check Out Home Storage Systems Once you have your “stuff” trimmed back to a manageable amount, consider what sort of storage systems work best for you. Shelving, hooks, pulleys, cabinets, and the like can all be used. Do some online research and/or visit your local home center for ideas. Tip: your home center probably has a free “organizing your garage” class which can be a wonderful way to get some ideas for your project.

3. Prepare, Then Get To Work! Before putting your home storage system in place, give your garage floor a good cleaning and paint the walls. You have the perfect opportunity to get this done before you move everything into place, so why not do that now?

Most garage organization projects can be completed on a Saturday or span the entire weekend if your garage is particularly cluttered. Hold that garage sale right away otherwise you could be tempted to restore what you don’t need. Whatever is left over, donate. You don’t need it and your garage no longer has the room for excess stuff and your basement, shed, and attic are already full.


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