Renovating the Basics

Renovating your home doesn’t always mean taking a sledgehammer, destroying whole rooms, and rebuilding said rooms from the ground up. Refurbishing the less sexy parts of your house can commonly deliver the best return on investment. These include

• Painting walls
• Removing carpeting
• Adding new roofing and windows

Painting

Painting a room is regularly an under-appreciated home improvement. But a simple, fresh coat of paint can make your whole property stand out and look brand new. It’s perfectly fine to do this yourself, but a professional painter can ensure the final product is even more excellent. A professional painter can skim walls, repair minor damages, and do the other work before selecting the proper paint for each surface.

You can also consult with an interior designer to help discuss tones and colour palettes and whether a matte or glossy paint would be better for specific rooms.

Removing Carpets

A lot of older homes may still have carpeting everywhere. Decade-old carpets look worn and are plagued with stains. And potential buyers may look at a home’s carpeting and think of the chores they’ll need to do to maintain it. Unlike other floorings, carpet requires heavy vacuuming, chemical cleanings, and more. Although the soft flooring may be ideal for kids who play and could trip, temporary soft floor mats are a great alternative until they get older.

Vinyl flooring is a popular alternative to carpet because it’s durable and affordable. Unlike hardwood, it won’t cost an enormous amount. At the same time, it provides a similar aesthetic to your home. Or even better, maybe once you pull those carpets up, you’ll discover hardwood underneath. In this case, you only need to refinish the floors for an updated look.

New Roofing and Windows

No matter how beautiful a kitchen, if your roof is leaking water into the home or if the windows are letting in winter chills, buyers will still turn away. Ensuring that your roofs and windows are intact can prove that the integrity of your home is stable. If your roof is crumbling, then leaking water can cause water damage or mould. Less than airtight windows can increase the costs of heating and air conditioning. Depending on your property’s specifics, replacing roofs and windows can return 80 percent or more of your investment at resale.

Kitchen and Bathrooms are the Money Makers

The kitchen and bathroom are often the standout parts of your home. They’re what most people notice and what homeowners want to show off. That’s why it’s common for people to spend the most renovating these two areas. And it’s a smart idea to do so. The Appraisal Institute of Canada found that the kitchen and bathroom were two renovations with the highest return on investment. But precisely what renovations should be done to the bathroom and kitchen to increase your home’s value the most?

Kitchen

Kitchens are important gathering places for families and friends. It’s a place to show off marble countertops and induction stoves. There’s an unlimited number of ways to pour money into your kitchen, but generally, a minor remodel can deliver more returns than a big one. A minor remodel could include:

• New flooring
• Replacing appliances
• Refurbishing cabinets

When renovating these areas, it’s vital to choose traditional looks such as wooden cabinets, stainless steel appliances, and natural stone finishes for floors and countertops. Although you may want to get creative with personal tastes and trends, remaining conservative is best for your home’s value. Dark green cabinets may look good in 2020, but if you sell your home ten years from now, it’ll likely look outdated. Ensure that you use high-quality materials and that the quality is similar to the rest of the house.

It’s also important to not overspend on luxury materials when cheaper ones suffice for what your home’s worth. This is an essential piece of advice for renovating any area of your home. For example, if you live in a middle-class neighbourhood, laminate countertops will likely be good enough, while real marble countertops could be too luxurious for your home’s area. This could make your house too expensive or high-end for the area it’s in.

Bathrooms

Bathrooms are similar to kitchens because you can sink plenty of money when renovating your home. There are countless fancy tubs and countertops that you can add. It’s common for a home to renovate their bathroom once it becomes worn and damaged. Counters may start to crack, and mould may begin forming in the shower.

The best return on investment for a bathroom, however, is adding a new one. If you live in a home with three bedrooms and only one bathroom, and there’s space for a second one, a second bathroom could drastically increase the home’s value. More so than any bathroom renovation.

The Face of the House: Curb Appeal

Your home’s curb appeal is its first impression to anyone entering it. So, it’s not surprising that this is a great place to put your money if you want to renovate your home to increase its value. Common curb appeal renovations that provide a good return on investment include:

• Replacing or painting your garage door
• Installing a sturdy steel front door
• Adding a front porch

Any of these renovations can provide the front of your house with a fresh look. A front porch can add dimension in cases where the front of your home looks flat.

Like the interior of your home, you can liven the exterior with a new coat of paint. Although not every house may have a painted exterior, it’s an easy opportunity to increase home value.

Renovating your house is exciting and fun. At the same time, it’s a stressful process. We hope that this article explained what renovations increase home value the most and aid you in your renovation process.

The post Top Renovations to Increase Your Home’s Value first appeared on RankMyAgent - Trusted resource about Buying, Selling and Renting.

How about a beautiful, strong, intelligent and independent woman tackling that hole in the wall, or installing new faucets, or unclogging the toilet! That’s right. We’re celebrating all of those handy Miss or Mrs Fix-its this International Women’s Day (March 8).

We raise our glass of wine (or beer) to you! Whether you’re married, common law, single or whatever else! We applaud you and your efforts to take on the project yourself. Whatever it may be.

Thing is, we should all be able to tackle certain at-home projects, and yes, some we should leave to the professionals. But before we get into those, let’s take a peek into the toolbox to make sure we all have the essentials.

Homeowner’s toolbox necessities

• Hammer
• Rubber mallet
• Screwdriver set
• Measuring tape
• Stud finder
• Duct tape
• Utility knife/box cutter
• Pliers set
• Wrench set
• Adjustable wrench
• Level
• Wire stripper
• Hand saw
• Electric drill and bits
• Extension cords
• Electrical tape
• Plumber tape
• Caulking gun
• Zip ties
• Volt/Ohmmeter
• Safety glasses, gloves, respirator
• Flashlight

Now that we have tackled the essentials you’ll need kicking around to take care of minor fix-ups in your home, let’s talk a bit about the things you can do solo, and the things you should be leaving to the experts.

Swapping out a light fixture is an easy enough task for the ambitious DIYer, but please leave the actual wiring to the professional and licensed electricians. Yes, they’re more costly, but they have undergone years of training to gain their expertise and the outcome of their work will (most likely) not cause any further damages, or, worst case scenario, start an electrical fire that could burn your whole house down!

Too often, homeowners brave the breaker box and circuitry in hopes of saving a buck, but wires are easily crossed if you don’t have the know-how — and unfortunately, Grade 6 science doesn’t quite cover the basis in its electricity unit to help you rewire your home.

Frank Cohn, owner of Cohn Construction and host of the Home Improvement Show on Toronto’s NEWSTALK 1010 says electrical work is his No. 1 job that should be left to the professionals.

“I’ve seen too many electrical jobs where people have done it themselves, or had a brother or an uncle do the wiring, and a lot of these people are lucky they’re alive to tell their tale because I find all sorts of buried wires or things wired improperly. It’s so dangerous. I just can’t stress that enough,” he told Discover. 

The same can be said for major renovations, especially finishing the basement. Unless you have enlisted the help from professional contractors (that may also be in your friend circle), you should leave most of the major renos to the pros.

Often, things such as fire-blocking or vapour barriers can be overlooked in the planning and execution phases of these solo-embarked endeavours, experts say.

Once the base work is complete, you can certainly take over and finish with drywalling, painting and decorating, but like electrical work, leave the major design work to the professionals who know exactly what to look for.

The price to pay for mistakes made during these homemade renovations can cost tens of thousands of dollars, Discover says, so you might as well pay a smaller amount up front and get the job done right.

Next up is — you guessed it — plumbing. The water version of electricity. Go ahead, snake your drain, unclog your pipes, replace the toilet, even, but save yourself the trouble and potential (major) costs associated with mistakes and hire a professional for the bigger jobs. First of all, not many of us want to be stuck with the gross aftermath of a DIY plumbing job gone wrong… am I right? Yuck.

The need to knows

• Familiarizing yourself with the flush valve assembly will save you bundles if you encounter a running toilet. You can make the fix yourself, without a plumber and without the cost of a run-up water bill.

• Snaking the drain, or unclogging a sink is another must-know at-home fix-it. HGTV suggests avoiding harsh chemicals until you try using a small plunger and drain snake to fix the problem mechanically. The mechanical fixes will definitely clear up the problem, while the chemicals slow the deterioration.

• Seal doorways and windows with weatherstripping to keep the heat you are paying for inside the home, and the cold winters outside. Installing weatherstripping is an easy and sure-fire way to keep those energy bills low and the home efficient.

• Patching holes in drywall. Drywall is everywhere in the home and unfortunately, it can be super vulneable to the hard-knocks life brings. But, it’s an easy fix that will save you a bundle if you learn  how to DIY it. Fill small holes with a filler, or use a screen to cover up more significant knocks. Just be sure to check for electrical wires and pipes before cutting in — if necessary.

• Changing air filters on your HVAC system is a necessary skill that any homeowner should have. This easy fix will prolong the life of our system and it won’t go unnoticed in your home’s air quality. Be sure to always refer to your owners maunal to ensure you have the right parts.

Now with an aresenal of Miss fix-it tools and skills, we are set to take on anything our home can challenge us with. Plus, we know when we’re in over our heads, we should call the professionals and leave the more expert-level things to, well, the experts!

To all of the independent women out there, or to the ladies (myself included) with a partner who isn’t so much of a “handy-man,” happy International Women’s Day. You are all tough, brilliant, talented and beautiful and you are capable of anything you set your mind to!

Now raise your hammers high and get to fixing!

The post Mrs. Fix-it: DIY solutions for home improvements first appeared on RankMyAgent - Trusted resource about Buying, Selling and Renting.