All posts in Home Improvement

Fall Home Improvement: Tips for Staying Warm

by eclectic on September 25, 2008 in DIY, Home Improvement with 1 Comment

Summer is officially over. Even the calendar tells us it’s fall, regardless of what the thermometer says. The forecasts for this winter from the Energy Information Association says that if your house is heated with natural gas or heating oil, you’ll see a dramatic increase in prices over last winter. In fact, heating oil costs are up 39%.

You can make some basic home improvements to ensure that the warmth stays in your house and keeps your wallet more comfortable. Popular Mechanics offers these tips. (follow the link for more explanation)

  1. Find Your Leaks: Have your house inspected with an infrared camera to find the leaks. A 2500 square foot house runs about $350.
  2. Attic and Ceiling: Use foam insulation to seal the gaps under your regular insulation. Be safe when handling these products.
  3. Ducts: Duct sealant can fix leaks and help prevent major energy losses through the duct work.
  4. Foundation: Caulk and spray foam insulation can seal gaps big and small where the foundation slab meets the first floor framing.
  5. Fireplace: Keeping heat in when you have a conventional fireplace is a challenge and the fixes vary based on whether you use your fireplace or not. Always remember to close the damper when it’s not in use.
  6. Windows & Doors: Caulk the window’s inside and outside edges. Even renters can get rope caulk to reduce air escape. And weatherstrip around the moveable part of the doors and windows. You can also use EcoGlue Extreme for caulking and sealing. It does a top-notch job and is also environmentally friendly.
  7. Walls: Sealing a few common leaks, even in houses with uninsulated walls, can make a big difference. Removing baseboards and sealing with nonexpanding foam and installing insulating pads under sockets and outlets will make a big difference.

For more info, visit the Popular Mechanics tips or visit your local home improvement store.

Best Podcasts for DIYers

by eclectic on September 20, 2008 in DIY, Home Improvement with No comments

Most home improvement podcasts are either related to or a take-off of a syndicated radio show. However, depending on your media market, you may never have heard any of these experts. There are a few podcasts, such as our fave, The Handyguys Podcast, with content just for their Internet audience, but those are few in number.

All of these podcasts are available via the individual Web sites or via iTunes (I did a search for “home improvement podcasts to come up with a list).

The Money Pit: Hosted by Tom Kraeutler and Leslie Segrete, this podcast is focused on answering your home improvement questions. You can call in 24/7 and ask a question to be answered. 1-888-Money-Pit.

Tom and Leslie are friendly and have some basic tips and good ideas for callers. One gal called in on the September 1 show (in the 2nd hour) to ask if she could paint linoleum. Tom told her no, but she could get a remnant for the room inexpensively at a flooring store. Leslie’s suggestion was to get a quality canvas drop cloth and paint it as a cool area rug.

The Home Show with Tom Tynan: Available via iTunes or through the show’s Web site. Tom has a lot of great advice for callers from basic to serious home improvement. I would agree with the review on iTunes about the large number of segments that you need to download to get the whole show. The September 8 show has 14 different short segments, for example.

The radio show is from an AM channel in Houston, Texas so there are some region-specific questions, but most advice is still useful. There was a discussion about utilities in segment 8 of the September 8th show that went into a lot of detail about how utilities work in Texas, but it was still a good listen, even for an Oregonian.

Home Wizards with Cindy Dole: Another radio show, this one from the Los Angeles area. Her archives are found on her Web site as opposed to iTunes. You’ll need to subscribe through your RSS feeder (such as Google Reader or Bloglines). I listened to the most recent show and really enjoyed the interview with Nicole Sassman, an interior designer who specializes in small spaces. Having just moved to a smaller space, these tips are suddenly relevant to me, anyway. Cindy is knowledgeable and has a lot of interesting guests.

If you have a favorite podcast, let us know! We’d love to share it with our readers.

Prep Your Home for Foul Weather

by eclectic on September 15, 2008 in DIY, Home Improvement with No comments

We’re a little more than mid-way through hurricane season and have already seen several storms wreak havoc. If you’re in a hurricane-prone region, we’ve collected some tips or prepping your home. If you’re not, your average winter storm can still do a good deal of damage and these tips will help you protect your property.

The National Hurricane Center offers lots of great tips for preparing for a major storm. According to the hurricane preparedness site, the most important thing to do to reduce damage is to protect areas where wind can enter. And specifically, there are five critical areas:

Roof: You can retrofit both gabled and shingled roofs to protect against storm damage. You need to use adhesive to adhere each shingle to the one under it. Time consuming? Probably. But it could save your roof in a storm.

Straps: If your roof has trusses, make sure you tie them to the wall by either anchoring to the top plate and then the top plate to the wall stud, or strapping the truss directly to the wall stud.

Shutters: Impact resistant shutters can protect glass from airborne objects or from sudden changes in pressure that cause glass to shatter. The American Plywood Association (APA) – The Engineered Wood Association offers a series of Hurricane Shutter Designs. Each design is available for $1, or you can download all five designs from the APA’s Web site at no cost.

Doors: Solid wood or hollow metal doors can typically withstand hurricane force winds, but if you’re not sure a few simple measures, like installing head and foot bolts on double-entry doors and ensuring each door has three hinges and a security deadbolt will help.

Garage Doors: The best way to secure your garage door is to buy a kit to retrofit it with horizontal and vertical braces.

You can learn more at the Institute for Business and Home Safety Web site DisasterSafety.org or at the National Hurricane Center’s Hurricane Preparedness site.

Photo by Shutter Sparks via Flickr.

Go Traditional With a DIY Wainscoting Project

by eclectic on July 28, 2008 in DIY, Home Improvement with 1 Comment

Picture 3

Adding wainscoting to any room adds visual interest and gives a little touch of New England even if your house is suburban bland.

We found several easy to follow how-tos for this easy DIY project. You can go green on this project in two easy ways, too – New England Classic wainscoting is made of furniture-grade hardwood veneers with an engineered wood core, making the fabrication and materials much more sustainable than custom designed systems for the same look. And for a construction adhesive, try Amazing EcoGlue Extreme.

  • DIY Network has an easy-to-follow video and step-by-step instructions.
  • This Old House also has instructions for installation of the recessed panel wainscoting – the most traditional of the styles.
  • And YouTube has several how-tos. This one was quick and gives a nice overview and enough detail to get you on your way.

Looking for New Magazines? Try these Home & DIY Titles

by eclectic on June 8, 2008 in DIY, General Information, Home Improvement, Lawn & Garden with No comments

The variety of home and do-it-yourself magazines available can be a little overwhelming. We scanned the shelves at our local bookstore and make these recommendations if you’re thinking about adding a new magazine to your library.

Backyard Living
Backyard Living Magazine is for hands-on people who love working and relaxing in their “outdoor living rooms.” It features backyard makeovers, easy landscape improvement projects, helpful gardening tips, great grilling recipes, fun entertainment ideas, new backyard product reviews and more, all with wonderful, full-color photos.


Smart Homeowner

Smart HomeOwner Magazine helps homeowners make sense of the choices they have for systems and technology for their homes. This magazine informs owners about new techniques and technologies. Each issue demonstrates simple solutions to problems they thought were unsolvable. Smart HomeOwner inspires homeowners with possibilities for making their homes more comfortable, more economical to live in, and more beautiful.

HOME Magazine

HOME is designed to motivate readers to transform their surroundings by personalizing current trends to create a unique style that reflects their individuality.

Extreme How-To

Extreme How-To provides the latest information on tools, techniques and home-improvement technology for the extreme handyman. From residential and remodeling contractors to homeowners and do-it-yourselfers, our readers are serious about tackling a wide range of home-remodeling, landscaping and automotive jobs.

Ready Made

ReadyMade is a bimonthly print magazine for people who like to make stuff, who see the flicker of invention in everyday objects — the perfectly round yolk in the mundane egg.

Family Handyman

Family Handyman Magazine is edited for the homeowner with an active interest in home improvement and remodeling. It covers topics including energy efficiency, garden care, woodworking, home decorating ideas and even auto maintenance. With fool-proof, step-by-step photo instructions, even amateurs can achieve professional results on a wide variety of home projects.

Repair, Don't Replace: Tips for Saving Money

by eclectic on April 5, 2008 in DIY, General Information, Home Improvement with 2 Comments

Having the right DIY tools around the house can help you save money. Before you buy something, take a look around. Do you have something you can repair? or modify to suit new purposes? Ingenuity is frugality at its best.

Do a 30-minute walk through your home and check for things that you can repair easily and save money in the long run. Some ideas;

  1. Walls & Ceilings: Check for loose molding and cracks.
  2. Floors: Look for wear and tear, like linoleum lifting at the seams or edges or cracked or loose stone or ceramic tiles.
  3. Hardware: Inspect for loose towel racks, door knobs and pulls, hooks and other objects attached to the walls.
  4. Countertops: Check for cracked or loose ceramic tiles or lifting laminate.
  5. Window & Door Frames: Look for openings and leaks in the seal, which could reduce the efficiency of any heating/cooling system and cause water damage.
  6. Household Objects: Check for broken toys, game gear and decorative or damaged household pieces like rubber coated dish racks or plastic pot handles.

You want a strong one-part adhesive that works on a variety of surfaces and dries to a rubbery, flexible, water-resistant finish. Our Amazing GOOP has all these characteristics (of course!). It’s one of the strongest one-part adhesives available.

Regardless of which product you use, follow these tips for best results:

  • The surface should be clean and dry. You can even roughen the surface a little (with mild sandpaper) to ensure maximum GOOP grip.
  • Hold the GOOP under warm water for easier flow. (It’s a good idea to store the GOOP in the house so it stays relatively warm).
  • Apply a thin coat of GOOP. Allow it to partially cure (dry) for 2 – 10 minutes before you bring the two surfaces together. This seems counter-intuitive, but we’ll trust the chemists on this one.
  • Carefully bring the two surfaces together. The bond is strong, so be careful about placement.
  • Allow the repair to dry for 24 hours, more or less depending on room temperature. Warmer rooms will cause the GOOP to dry faster and cooler rooms, slower.

For more on frugal living, check out Zen Habits. And remember, it costs nothing to be nice.

You can find Amazing GOOP at most home-improvement and hardware stores. Visit our Web site for more info.

Choose Green Materials for a Healthy Home

by eclectic on March 30, 2008 in Green, Home Improvement with No comments

A house becomes a home when we make it our place of renewal and family — a place where we unwind from our busy days and connect again with each other. We design interiors filled with the things we love to create a place of laughter, light and beauty.

But a home is more than a haven for us — it is a place that can have an impact our health and even the environment. More and more Americans are choosing building practices and using products that conserve energy and water and keep the air they breathe cleaner and healthier.

Organizations like the U.S. Green Building Council and the National Association of Home Builders know that the components in some materials used in building or remodeling your house can seriously affect your health and the environment around you —chemicals from carpets, adhesives and sealants, and paints and coatings, for example, are released into the air and your lungs. How do you know if your home is really a healthy home?

Ask your contractor what kinds of materials and products (such as caulks and adhesives) are used and what he does to make sure your home is environmentally safe and earth-friendly.

Investigate the level of “VOCs,” or Volatile Organic Compounds, in these items. In a 2002 bulletin, the Solvents Industry Group of the American Chemistry Council stated that “the solvents used in products such as coatings, adhesives and consumer products are generally classified as VOCs that can be emitted into the air after they perform their function.”

The building industry knows that solvents are an important component of a wide range of high performance products used in building and remodeling homes. It also knows that those products need to be as safe as possible. More and more manufacturers are stepping up by producing industrial “green products,” especially caulks, sealants and adhesives, which are high performance but environmentally safe for construction. You can ask that such products be used in the construction or remodeling of your home wherever possible.

You can also do your own research about what’s available.

  • The Green Home Guide offers solutions from granite countertop sealers to wall paint and wood stains to water-wise bathroom choices.You can even”ask a pro.”
  • The National Association of Home Builders has green home building guidelines available for download. “NAHB’s voluntary Model Green Home Building Guidelines are designed to be a tool kit for the individual builder looking to engage in green building practices and home builder associations (HBAs) looking to launch their own local green building programs.”
  • Your Green Home is a Corvallis, Oregon store that also takes online orders for green supplies and building materials. Pretty good selection and reasonable shipping costs. Of course it’s important to consider the shipping when calculating your “greenness.” If you’re on the east coast, find a local supplier and save the environmental cost of freight.
  • Want some inspiration? Check out the HGTV Green Dream Home. Seven basic sustainability areas were targeted during the building of HGTV’s Green Home 2008: innovation and design, location and linkages, sustainable site, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, indoor environmental quality, awareness and education. Find out more here.

Have more resources you’d like to share? Leave them in the comments!

Looking for a green adhesive for making basic repairs around the home? Check out Amazing EcoGlue. This water-based adhesive is environmentally safe (it has less than 1 percent volatile organic compounds), with virtually no hazardous air pollutants and no animal derivatives. The bottle and packaging are recyclable, too.
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