Home Improvement Ideas
No matter how old your home is a few little updates can result in a new and improved appearance. Whether you opt to do it yourself or hire Super Stan Handyman, paying attention to a couple of details around the house can make a difference.
Little Things Can Mean a Lot Not all home improvement projects need to be a significant investment of time and resources. Sprucing up your home, even in seemingly small ways, can add significant value to your property. Even if you’re not putting your home on the market, little projects can be completed in less than a day can improve the look of your home and give you tremendous satisfaction.
Some suggestions for places to look for relatively quick updates.
What’s up? Check out the overhead lighting fixtures around the house. Many styles and options are available to put the room in a new light. Old, worn-out ceiling fans can be replaced with newer, more efficient models.
Noticeable accents: Interior design elements such as crown molding, trim, or a chair rail can add decorative accents to a room with a minimal amount of effort and investment. Small shelves can provide space to display items and complement the décor in the rest of the room.
Bathroom options: Replacing the sink or faucet can provide a completely new look for a bathroom. Even simple changes like a new showerhead or cabinet hardware can give you a sense of satisfaction.
Look out: The outside of your home may need some attention. A new front door or storm door can increase energy efficiency and provide an upgraded look. Replacement windows are a more expensive consideration, but many products can offer significant energy savings to counter-balance the cost.
These kinds of projects are a good fit for homeowners who have to do their home repairs over the weekend. Once you’ve done some planning and obtained the materials, projects like these can often be finished in a day or less. Or, consult with Super Stan Handyman to discuss details and receive a cost estimate.
Organizing the Home Maximizes Space and Simplifies Life
Almost every homeowner has called on their local handyman to take care of the little irritants around the house — a squeaky door, a dripping faucet, replacing the now non functioning ceiling fan.
Organizing the home is an often overlooked home improvement project, because it doesn't necessarily silence a squeak, halt a drip or light a room. The benefit of organization simplifys your life.
Simple built-in wooden shelves offer the perfect hideaway for toys. Cabinets, baskets or shelving built under beds or built into corners also keep toys, books, and shoes off the floor and out of the way.
Throughout the rest of the home, look for storage spaces that could benefit from a few design enhancements. Deep kitchen cabinets, for example, frequently become black holes. Installing a lazy Susan or slide-out shelving keeps everything at arm's reach and enables homeowners to reclaim lost space. Do you have a cabinet that is unnecessarily tall? Adding a shelf can double the amount of usable space. How about that junk drawer that every house has? Using well-designed dividers can separate the clutter and help you find it when it's needed.
Tired of tripping over tools and boxes in the garage? Installing peg-board with heavy-duty hooks can be the perfect option for garden hoses, shovels and rakes. Metal shelving, readily available at most home improvement stores, will get paint cans, household chemicals and smaller tools off the floor. Sturdy hooks hanging from the ceiling get bicycles and other large items out of the way.
Combat Gray Days with Colorful Interiors Keep an upbeat "summer attitude" by introducing vibrant colors to your home's interior.
Many scientific studies have established links between colors and moods. Blue is generally regarded as peaceful and calming. Red is associated with energy and action. Green symbolizes nature and can create a refreshing, rejuvenating feeling.
More and more homeowners are opting to use bold colors as they renovate or redecorate. When you're considering brightening up your home with new wall coverings, here are the primary materials you have to work with:
Paint: for areas where people gather, such as living or family rooms, warm colors such as reds and yellows promote sociability. To create a feeling of calmness and serenity, bedrooms should feature blues or greens. A different color on one wall, known as an accent wall, can make a design statement without dominating the room. Lighter colors will make a room seem larger, while using complementary colors can add dimension and additional depth. Wallpaper: wallpaper offers the advantage of multiple colors in a single pattern, which allows you more options in choosing your furnishings and accent pieces. Dark colors or dense patterns can seem confining in smaller rooms, so be sure to obtain a wallpaper sample and see how it looks in the room before you decide. Tile: although generally associated with the bathroom or kitchen, tile has become a more popular design element for introducing color into other rooms as well. Patterned tiles can be an especially effective complement to dining or transitional rooms.
Depending on your skill level, you may be able to tackle these projects yourself, or you can consult with Super Stan Handyman to discuss details and receive a cost estimate.
Deck Repair & Maintenance Warm weather and sunshine are just around the corner. For many homeowners, the early weeks of summer are an invitation to take the party out to the backyard patio or deck. Before you haul out the grill and light the tiki torches, however, take some time to do a little preventive maintenance.
The first step is a thorough inspection of the entire structure to ensure that it is safe and secure. Check for loose nails and screws, and either replace them or re-tighten them. Tighten any railings that have become loose during the winter. Then, look beneath the deck to confirm that beams and support poles remain in good working order.
As an additional safety precaution, replace broken or rotten deck boards before they break through completely. Boards that have become bowed or warped will also need to be replaced because they hold water and make the deck surface uneven, and create another potential safety hazard.
Once everything is secure, clean the deck boards with a biodegradable deck cleaner to remove dirt, mildew and algae. Even if your deck is made from a composite material, most manufacturers still recommend a thorough annual cleaning. During the cleaning process, also take a little time to sand down any spots that have become rough or splintered.
Finally, ensure your deck looks great all summer by protecting it from mildew and water damage with a high-quality finish and preservative. There are many good products on the market.
Buyer Beware When Shopping Online
Internet shopping may not be best bet for home repairs. The Internet has revolutionized the way consumer’s worldwide shop for everything from books to shoes. But sometimes, as in the case of home repair services, the risks may outweigh the benefits.
It is very important to make sure you're comfortable with who you're hiring to do the work. While online home improvement service portals can sometimes appear local at first glance, many such companies actually operate exclusively from a central headquarters and broker jobs to local contractors.
Most online companies have little or no personal knowledge of the contractor dispatched to perform the work and almost no direct connection to the communities they serve. Most such companies make money by selling leads to local contractors, so they really have very little obligation to the homeowner after that transaction takes place. So buyers beware. When there's work to be done around the home.
Hire a local contractor. Run by people who live and work in your area. Find out how long the company has been doing business in your community and ask for local references. Ask how they warranty the work they perform. If you don't feel completely comfortable with the answers move on.
It's fine to use the Internet to locate a contractor; just take the next step -& check them out. A responsible contractor will tell you everything you need to know.
Super Stan Handyman Guarantees all of our work.
All work will be performed in a workmanship like manner, conform to building codes and with homeowner approval.
We will start all work as agreed upon with the owner. Stan Handyman shall take out pay for Workmen’s Compensation and Public Liability Insurance, also Property Damage and all other necessary insurance, as required by the State of Washington and where the work will be preformed. Super Stan Handyman shall pay all Sales Taxes, Old Age Benefit, and Unemployment Compensation Taxes upon material and labor furnished under the contract, from the proceeds from this contract, as required by the United States Government and the State of Washington. No extra work or changes under the contract will be recognized or paid for, unless agreed to in writing before the work is done or the changes are made. No project or portion of a contact will be assigned by Super Stan Handyman without first obtaining the permission in writing from the Owner. The only exception being prearranged assignments to other Contractors by the Owner with the approval of Super Stan Handyman. All material is guaranteed to be as specified. All work to be completed in a workmanlike manner according to standard practices. Any alteration to specifications involving extra costs, will be executed only upon written orders, and will become an extra charge over and above the agreements contingent upon accidents, or delays beyond our control.
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