If you are planning a home improvement project, congratulations for taking on what can make for exciting changes to your home. You’ll come away from the project with an updated living area and likely have a home that has increased in value.

To save money and to come up with the best plan for the money, the following tips can help make your project a success:

Evaluate Your Needs — Before you do anything, what are your specific needs? Do you need a larger living room? A new kitchen? Do you want to add a deck? Enclose the garage? It is much cheaper to define your needs now then to update them again later on.

What Is Your Budget? — If you have $30,000 set aside for the project, will that amount cover all of your costs? Blueprints, licenses, contractor extras, and more can quickly skew your budget. If you need more flexibility, consider taking out a home equity loan or line of credit to pay for your improvements.

Finding A Contractor — Will you be doing the job yourself or using a contractor? Ask around to have friends recommend who they used; get references and compare at least three quotes. Make sure that the people entering your home to do the work are licensed and insured. If multiple contractors are being used will you pay each one or will the general contractor handle it for you?

Getting The Work Done — Depending on how large of a project you are undertaking, you may have to look for other living quarters while at least some of the home construction is being done. If electricity must be off for several days, can you stand living in your home when the outside temperatures are topping ninety degrees?

The Aftermath — When the project is finished, check carefully to make sure that your contractor hasn’t missed anything. Make your final payment and make sure that you have original guarantees in your hand. That newly installed electronic stove may be someone else’s responsibility to fix, not your contractor.

Lastly, enjoy your updated living quarters. The hardest part of the project is now done, relax and have fun!

Tags: contractor, equity loan, Home Construction, Home Improvement, line of credit, new home

My neighbors were planning to put their 1975 sq. foot home on the market as it has become a bit tight for their family of five. With two teens in the house, space is at a premium and everyone wants and needs their personal living area.

These days, my neighbors are no longer looking to move, choosing to upgrade their current home by adding a family room. Although the project will cost them just over $30,000, they’ll save on moving, closing, and new financing costs, expenditures they would have had to contend with even if they had moved across town.

Tens of thousands of people will be adding on to their homes this Spring and Summer, choosing to stay put rather than putting up with the hassle of a move and having to familiarize themselves all over again with a new house, different neighborhood, perhaps even a completely different school system.

Most of the cost of adding on to a home can be recouped when you sell it. Over a long period of time that new family room can increase the value of your home significantly, paying you a nice dividend when you choose to downsize.

Before you begin your family room project, there are some things for you to consider:

• Is the property level where the room will be placed. If not, you may have to pay significantly extra to regrade the area where the room will built. Something to think about: If located on a slope, you could gain some valuable storage space underneath via the exposed room.

• Will adding a family room mean that changes will have to done to the adjoining part of the house? Some family rooms are designed to be virtually self contained, while others are more of an extension of the current home.

• How large of a room will you need? Will your new room be in proportion to the rest of the house or will it be a significant add-on?

• Will the roofing materials, exterior siding, interior walls, doors and windows match the rest of the house?

• Can solar panels or skylights be added? This can be a good time to create a highly energy efficient room, particularly helpful in light of today’s high energy costs.

The Construction Process

Will you be hiring a general contractor or overseeing construction yourself? Whether you are doing the work yourself, outsourcing it completely or doing a combination of the two, you will need to find people who can:

• Provide demolition services.

• Grade the property, if needed.

• Pour the foundation.

• Put up the framing, roofing, and walls.

• Install windows and doors.

• Run electricity, plumbing, and heating/air-conditioning.

• Install the ceiling.

• Build shelves, a fireplace, install flooring.

• Install light fixtures.

• Paint or wallpaper the room.

Familiarizing yourself with your town’s building code as getting all of the necessary permits is important. Making sure that your contractors are licensed and insured is also critical.

Finally, consider hiring an interior designer who can help you create a room that maximizes its livability and is enjoyable. Use the designer before construction begins to include ideas which should become part of the final blueprint. Have this person return when construction is done to help you lay out furniture, hang pictures, and add those personal touches to maximize the benefit of your new space.

A family room project can be completed within 2-3 months time, from developing the plans to move in. Pick the time of the year when disruption can be minimized and be prepared to enjoy your expanded quarters when the project is done!

Resources

Planning Your Home Expansion Project

All About Spec Planning

Home Equity Lending

Review House Plans

Tags: family room, home addition, home building, Home Construction, home loan

You don’t see them on too many homes, but when you find a home with spanking new copper rain gutters present, you quickly notice the difference. Elegant and stylish, copper gutters add class to a home and, if done right, can add value to your home’s worth.

Copper Turns Green, Right?

Of course, the one problem with copper gutters is that they eventually turn green due to moisture. If you live in the desert where it seldom rains, copper gutters make perfect sense, but not so in the rainy Northwest. Yet, even if you desire to install copper gutters in the wettest areas of the country, there are ways to limit tarnishing.

Copper Gutter Essentials

Before choosing coppper gutters you need to know the following essentials:

• Copper is expensive, therefore your gutters will be expensive. However, copper is durable and your gutters can last as long as your house. Even when turned green, copper gutters age gracefully and look wonderful on many estate homes.

• When sloped properly, copper gutters will not retain water which is the chief reason why they turn green. Pooled water also has a way of attracting debris and insects, therefore your copper gutters need to be installed by a professional who understands how to keep water from pooling.

• Your contractor should buy gutters with a sealant applied that will slow down the oxidation process. This will allow you to enjoy the copper look much longer before the gutters eventually turn green.

Of course, copper gutters are quite expensive, therefore what some homeowners are doing is having them placed on the front of the home while choosing plastic or metal gutters for the rest of the house.

Consider copper gutters if you want your home to have an elegant look while remembering that this will likely be the last time gutters must be installed on your home.

Further Reading

Copper Gutters — Bob Vila

Resources

Home Remodeling Center

Loan Calculators For Your Remodeling Project

Tags: copper gutters, downspouts, Home Construction, Home Improvement, rain gutters