Month: February 2023

Taking care of a house, managing repairs, keeping up with maintenance, and making personal touches is a full-time job in and of itself. But if you are looking for a way to do a little more, then some custom home updates might be just what you need. Going the extra step and working on upgrades and renovations that genuinely make your home into a house can not only increase your comfort levels but also boost your home’shome’s overall value. Why Home Updates Matter Custom home updates can be a great way to add value and functionality to your home. They can be as large or small and as simple or complex as you want. These home improvement projects are a great way to really make your house into your own personal sanctuary. Here are some tips to make the most of your custom home updates. Set your budget and stick to it: Before starting any home updates, you must know your project’sproject’s budget. Determine how much you’re willing to spend and prioritize your updates accordingly. It is also essential to know what you can and can’t afford to do before planning our that renovation to-do list. Identify needs versus wants: Think about what you want to achieve with your custom home updates. List the things you need and things you want and compare them to see what projects could satisfy items on both lists. Understanding your needs will help you make the most informed decisions about what updates to make. Work with licensed and experienced professionals: Consider working with a specialized contractor or interior designer to safeguard your home. Working with experts will reduce the risk of costly mistakes being made. A professional can also provide valuable insights and advice to get the best bang for your buck. Think about resale value: If there is a chance you will be selling your home in the near future, then these custom home updates are more critical than ever. Focus on updates that will add value and appeal to potential buyers, making it easier to sell your home when it comes. Preparing for this now will save you time later. Don’t put off regular maintenance: Once your custom home updates are complete, the work still needs to be done. Maintaining them properly is of the utmost importance to ensure they last. This includes regular cleaning, repairs, inspections, maintenance, and upkeep to ensure all your hard work and investment stay on track. From simple touches like changing out the furniture or lighting to massive overhauls that involve complete room renovations and improvements, there are many ways you, as a homeowner, can improve the look and feel of your home. Here are a few to consider. Address Fundamental Issues One of the critical improvements you can make to your home is taking care of fundamental issues and problems lurking around. Despite the best plans and most attentive maintenance, things need to be noticed. Calling in a professional contractor can help you identify problem areas you might need to be aware of. Minor issues that seem harmless snow can quickly become major ones if left unaddressed. Foundation and wall cracks, cooked door frames, and small yet alarming issues like these can be the first stage of your custom home updates to get you started. Repair or Replace Your Roof The roof is another vital piece of custom home updates that often get overlooked. Day after day, your home’shome’s roof is exposed to harsh elements and weather effects that will slowly break the shingles and other components down. Eventually, repairs will be needed, and a full roof replacement might be necessary. Calling your local roof contractors is a great way to get an inspection, repair estimate, and expert guidance for your roof repair or installation project. You can do a lot of good for your home by taking care of the roof ahead of the bad weather each season. Remodel Your Kitchen One of the most common areas of the home to focus on for renovations and construction projects is the kitchen. The reason is twofold. One, it is where the family spends a lot of time together, and it gets used often. Two, making a few minor improvements and seeing amazing results is easy. You can focus on cabinets or countertop installation work, upgrade the plumbing, improve the light fixtures, or add tile flooring and backsplashes. The possibilities are nearly endless, and you can do so much to make your kitchen your space and somewhere you actually like to be! Remodel the Bathrooms The bathroom is the other room, often at the top of the homeowner’s ”need to improve” list. Whether it is a bathroom you use alone or share with other family members, space is usually at a premium. Improving the bathroom space to be more user-friendly and comfortable is a great way to improve the home. It allows you to use the space and makes the home more attractive if you sell it later. This is one of the custom home updates that can quickly pay for itself this way. Improvements to the bathroom are something buyers are always looking for when shopping around. Refinish Existing Flooring One of the highest-traffic areas of any home is the floors. No matter what cover you have, it could use a good cleaning, renovation, or even a total replacement. Contacting your local flooring experts can help you see what options are available in your area. There are many options and ways to improve your existing floorings, such as concrete floor polishing services, carpet installation, or hardwood floors throughout. This simple improvement will transform your home and can change how the entire space looks without doing anything else at all. Make Your Home More Comfortable Whether you live in areas with frigid winters or sweltering summers, you want to stay comfortable in your home year rough. Heating and cooling maintenance is something many homeowners only think about once something goes wrong. You can call in a local…

Living in a large space can be overwhelming. It is more expensive and time-consuming to maintain. This is why you may start thinking about downsizing. But did you know that you don’t have to move houses to downsize? In this article, we guide you on how to downsize without moving. Let’s start by looking at your choice of colors. Change the Paint Color The larger the house, the more variety of paint colors it has. Every time you want to add new paint, you have to budget for multiple colors, which comes with additional costs. One of the effective ways of how to downsize without moving is to have the same color in all your rooms. Some colors can make your rooms look bigger than they are. While others make them look smaller. Others do not affect the real size. Your painting contractor will advise you on the colors you should choose based on your preferences. If your house allows a lot of natural light in, go with dark colors like deep purple. The dark colors absorb light and make the rooms look smaller. Refine the Bathroom While downsizing, there are some rooms that you’ll never want to be small. One of these rooms is your bathroom. Everyone likes a large or at least a medium-sized bathroom. You don’t want to have a small room where you and your family members have to squeeze yourself in to fit in. However, if you think your bathroom is too large even for normal standards, then you can call a bathroom remodeler to downsize it to your preferred size. Downsizing might be the easy part, but the difficult part would be what to convert the extra space into. Maybe you can create a corner where you store your shoes. If you have a large bathroom with a toilet and shower in the same room, you might consider partitioning the two sections, even if they will have one entry. This is how to downsize without moving the shower to another room or area. Just because you prefer smaller spaces doesn’t mean you’re not big on great finishings. As you remodel the bathroom to your preferred size, you can also have the bathtub refinishing. Refinishing your bathtub is a more cost-effective way of renovating your space than doing a whole bathroom remodeling project. Look for a good bathtub refinisher to get the best results out of the project. You can do the bathtub refinishing by yourself if you’re reasonably handy. A standard-sized bathtub would take you 3 to 5 hours to refinish. All you have to do is follow the instructions on the refinishing kit, and the bathtub should be ready for use 24 hours after completing the refinishing. Since you’ll be using some strong chemicals, take the necessary precautions while doing the project. However, if you feel like you don’t have what it takes to complete the project, you should hire a professional for the project. Cut Back on Your Septic Use A septic tank is one of the most essential systems in your home. You don’t want to imagine your septic system failing when you need it the most. One of the reasons why it may fail gradually or abruptly is placing too much demand on it, or overworking it. Cutting back on your septic use is one of the sure ways of maintaining the system. Taking good care of your local septic system will not only ensure that the system works properly but also give it a longer lifespan. Have a competent plumber that comes to inspect and do maintenance on the system on a schedule. Whichever type of repairs are needed, the plumbing professional should be able to fix the problem before it’s too late. Cutting back on your septic use means only allowing it to do the work it was designed to do, and nothing more. This is one of the measures on how to downsize without moving because the tank will take longer to fill up. This also means if you’ve been emptying the tank every 2 years, you can now take 4 years or longer before pumping. Some of the actions that can minimize the use of septic include disposing of food waste in the trash and avoiding pouring it into the drain. In addition, you should reduce the amount of wastewater that is going into your septic tank. This means taking shorter showers, repairing leaks, and running full loads of laundry. You should space out your laundry loads into several days of the week or month. If you have multiple loads on a single day, it can overload the septic system. Never flush condoms, diapers, cigarette buts, and feminine hygiene products down the toilet. These types of items will not break down in the tank and are likely to clog the system. You should only flush human waste and toilet paper down the toilet. Reduce Energy Use One of the reasons why you prefer a smaller house is the huge energy bills you incur every month. This is because the size of a house has a huge impact on energy consumption. You can save as much as 8% of your energy consumption if you downsize from a house with more than two bedrooms to a one-bedroomed house. Maybe you have an extra room that needs lighting, heating, and cooling, yet it is rarely used. If you’re stuck with the house and can’t move to a smaller one, you can still downsize to cut down on these energy bills. This is why we are giving you these tips on how to downsize without moving. Insulating your house can help you cut down on energy consumption. Ensure your ceiling and roof are properly installed. Your roof can waste around 25% of heat in winter if it’s not installed properly. Shut down your doors and windows during cold seasons. The same applies to your curtains and blinds, which can help you control inside temperatures. Proper ac installation and maintenance are…