DIY Pest Control Can Save You Money!

Spring is project time.  From DIY  home renovations and landscaping projects, even pest control becomes a big part of a homeowner's to-do list.  Unfortunately, pest control services can be pricey, rangig anywhere from $300 per year for a basic quarterly pest control service, to over $250 for just one ant or rodent job.  But there is an alternative to hiring a pest control company.

One option homeowners can turn to is do-it-yourself pest control.  Professional pest control products can save homeowners a significant amount of money, especially in today's economy.  they can also be just as safe to use as most other chemical household products, as long as customers follow the label.

The DIY pest control industry has grown significantly over the past several years mainly because of a new breed of internet pest control stores that sell professional pest control products.  These companies cater specifically to homeowners and businesses and often profile certified pest control experts on staff and a wealth of information to guide homeowners on how to treat their issues just like a professional, something people can't get from a big-box store.

Larger savings can be gained by replacing termite jobs and bed bug control with DIY alternatives.  For example, a termite job an cost anywhere from $1000 to $1500 for a typical residential home.  Bed bug control jobs can cost as high as $5000.    Compare this with DIY termite control products for $300 and DIY bed bug control kits for around $100-$250.  In general, savings by going DIY can be as high as 70% or more.

While there is no question professional services will be necessary in some cases, the fact is the majority of pest problems can be handled by a homeowner.  Customers are capable of reading a label and following directions and getting rid of pests on their own.  Pest control is not rocket science.  

Of course there can be risks with any DIY project, but the power of the internet is providing homeowners and businesses with the knowledge and products to solve their own pest problems safely and effectively.

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Places to Look for Home Remodel Ideas

Great article about inspirations places that may give you ideas for your home remodel!

Are you thinking about remodeling your home, but don't know where to start? By hiring a professional, you can be assured that you will get what you are looking for in a home remodel. But before hiring someone to turn your house into exactly what you want it to be, you should have a pretty good idea what that is. Start looking for inspiration while you are searching for the right contractor. Here are a few inspirational places to start looking for home remodel ideas.

The top home remodel magazines

Several magazines come to mind when I try to come up with some of the best home remodel journals. This Old House is one of the top resources for remodeling ideas and information. Not only will you find design and decorating inspiration here, but you will also learn some valuable information homeowners might use. Better Homes and Gardens is another good source of inspiration and information.

The top home remodel websites & blogs

Both This Old House and Better Homes and Gardens have websites that you can visit for home remodeling inspiration. Today, most magazines have websites or can be read online. Houzz.com is another website that has plentiful, up-to-date information and home improvement ideas.

Home improvement television shows

While home improvement television shows are not always realistic--you have to factor in the contractor's/architect's/designer's fees--they are a great place to start looking for design and style ideas. HGTV is where you will find home improvement shows running all day long. As you are watching, jot down any ideas you like or questions you might have for your hired professional regarding your own home.

Home shows or a "parade of homes"

If you want to visit one place to learn about all the local vendors, go to a home show. You will be able to see life-size displays, talk to vendors and bring home information to go over with your spouse. Another idea: find out if there is a Parade of Homes in your area, and when. This is a great way to look at recently-remodeled homes and see the work local contractors have done.

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Six Tips for Your Next DIY Home Painting Project

Whether you hire professionals or tackle the work yourself, few things are more stressful than home improvement projects. Although the thought of undertaking a job yourself can be intimidating, licensed contractors can cost much more than expenses incurred during a DIY project.

Even if you don't have any experience with a brush or roller, painting the rooms yourself can be a great way to save big and spruce up your home. A small investment in paint and supplies and a little bit of your time are all you need. But before you throw on those old overalls, be warned: home improvement projects require a lot of patience and preparation.

Here are six tips that can help you tackle the job properly and efficiently:

1. Prepare Properly
The common rule of thumb for home improvement projects is the seven Ps: "Proper Prior Preparation Prevents Poor Performance." Tape off your ceilings and baseboards with blue painting tape. Sandpaper the walls to ensure an even coat, and wipe them clean to eliminate debris. Next, lay down some protective matting or newspapers to protect your floors. Remember, your goal is a smooth, finished coat of paint on your walls -- not a home that looks like it was designed by Jackson Pollock.

2. Invest in Quality Paint
The last thing you want to do is let your paint dry, move your furniture back in, and then realize you need to repaint because you chose the cheapest brand of paint in the store. Consult the professionals at your local paint or hardware store to determine the best quality product available at the best price.

3. Spend the Extra Money on Brushes
Brushes can cost anywhere from $5 to $30 apiece. Don't purchase the cheapest ones available -- instead, invest in mid-range quality brushes for medium-scale home painting projects. They hold up well, and if you clean and store them properly, they'll be usable for many future painting projects.

4. Coat Well
With a good coat of paint, the color stands out and imperfections on the walls are better camouflaged. Don't be afraid to dunk your brush all the way into the paint can and apply liberally to the surface. Do-it-yourself newbies and experienced professionals alike should give a wall at least two coats of paint, so make sure you let that first coat dry for at least four hours before applying the second.

5. Only Buy What You Need
Most experts recommend one gallon of paint for every 400 square feet, so measure the surface area of your project to determine how much paint is required. Purchase a little extra to be used in the future when you need to do touch-ups, but don't go overboard. The last thing you need to do is blow money on gallons of unneeded paint that will only end up in storage.

6. Register Your Color
When you purchase paint, most stores offer to create an account for you that can be used to register your color in case you need it for future projects. Rooms that experience high traffic, such as kitchens and living rooms, often require touch-ups every few years. Instead of having to match your color to a swatch or rely on a photo and a salesperson's interpretation, register your color and you'll be able to purchase an exact match when the need arises.

Final Thoughts
When planning your time-frame for a home painting project, do yourself a favor and double your original estimate. Unexpected surprises are sure to occur, and you should not feel rushed to complete your job. If you plan well, you can save a lot of money and have some fun as well.

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Article source: Huffington Post

5 DIY Projects That Could Ruin Your Home

Great advise in this article!

Before you take an unsupervised plunge into your next do it yourself project, you may want to keep in mind these four DIY disasters.

Here are a few easy ways you could ruin your home from Yahoo! Homes.

1. Flooring - When you deal with bathrooms, you're dealing with water. You should really hire someone who knows what they are doing. This is serious stuff! Educate yourself and go online, because you can't cheap-out on doing a bathroom floor.







2. Toilets - Homeowners have ended up paying thousands of dollars to repair ceilings and floors after the new toilet leaked through one floor to the next. An extra $2 wax ring to seal the toilet and floor drain is one solution, or just hire a contractor or plumber for about $135 in labor costs.


3. Cabinets - You can have a professional painter do the job or have a company reface them. Cabinet refacing has become a quick, affordable, and less messy renovation process. Contractors remove and replace doors and drawers for a couple thousand dollars, depending on the size of your kitchen, which is a bargain compared to the more than $10,000 is can cost for new cabinets.





4. Walls - A load-bearing wall is one that bears the weight and force of a structure and transfers that weight to the ground. That means everyone and everything is safe from falling through to the bottom floor. But before taking out one of these walls, you need to first put up a temporary wall. If you don't do this series of events in tearing down walls, everything drops.

5. Venting - The ventilation in your home is vital to keeping the temperature regulated, so when doing things yourself be aware of where the ventilation is in your home. It could cost up to $15,000 to move ventilation. So if you want to DIY but ventilation proves a problem, it may be best to leave that project and move on.

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Top New Year's Resolutions for Your Home

The start of each new year is a hopeful time. People vow to get to the gym more often or to finally quit smoking. But as winter turns to spring, even the most steadfast determination can begin to wane, and resolutions often get sidelined. The same is true in remodeling. There always seem to be things on our wish lists that we never get around to.

We spoke with three experts to identify the home improvement projects most of us think about but rarely tackle. And we got tips on how to finally get these projects done.


1. Making Our Homes More Energy Efficient

Bob Vila knows a thing or two about the home improvement projects people dream about. One that he hears mentioned frequently is increasing a home’s energy efficiency. “People often ask me about energy conservation methods, from installing a programmable thermostat to adding insulation in an attic to replacing old windows and doors,” he says.

Why It’s Important: Boosting your home’s energy efficiency saves you money—a common resolution in and of itself!

What Holds Us Back: Budget concerns can be roadblocks to success, Bob points out, but they don’t have to be. “There are $50,000 window replacements, but there are also options as inexpensive as a tube of caulking to seal out drafts.”

How To Get It Done: “Take a realistic look at your finances and start with what you can afford,” Bob advises. “For larger projects, you may have to adjust your priorities in order to save money, like taking a one week vacation instead of two weeks.”

2. Remodeling a Kitchen or Bath

Modernizing an outdated kitchen or bath is a project that Amy Matthews, licensed contractor and host of DIY Network’s hit show “Sweat Equity,” is asked about time and again.

Why It’s Important: Aside from the aesthetic qualities, a beautiful new kitchen or bath can increase the value of your home.

What Holds Us Back: “I think people feel overwhelmed by the scope of these projects,” Amy reflects. “There are other rooms you can renovate for less money, but kitchens and baths can involve plumbing, gas lines, fixtures—they are expensive places to fix.”

How To Get It Done: “Begin by making a detailed plan of your dream room, but be realistic about the costs,” Amy says. To have the stove of your dreams, for example, you may need to compromise on cabinets—or the other way around. “A good contractor will be able to help you adjust your plan to fit your budget.”

3. Conquering Clutter

“Getting rid of clutter and finally getting organized is always on our readers’ list of New Year’s resolutions,” reports Amy Panos, Senior Editor for Home Design at Better Homes & Gardens.

Why It’s Important: Clutter-free spaces not only help you save time by making it easier to find what you need, they also foster an overall sense of serenity in your home.

What Holds Us Back: The urge to get it done all at once. “Remember, you didn’t accumulate the clutter in a day, and you’re not going to organize your whole house in a day,” Amy says.

How To Get It Done: Start small. “Think about the three areas that, if you could get them organized, would make the biggest difference in your daily life,” Amy suggests. “Work on one of them each month, even if it’s only for an hour a week. Focus on one and work on it until you finish, then move on to the next one. Let success breed success.”

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article source: bobvila.com

Decorating tips to bust out of gray winter days

Fresh colors and a few new or repurposed accessories can go a long way toward perking up winter-weary rooms.

A cozy scene can be created by using greenery and give your house a new look for the new year.

The days are gray and dreary, the holidays are history and those festive seasonal decorations that gave our interiors warmth and sparkle last month are now back in storage boxes.

It’s no wonder that we — and our homes — have the winter blahs.

So what to do?

You don’t have to undertake a major makeover to give your décor a big boost, according to interior designers. Fresh colors and a few new or repurposed accessories can go a long way toward perking up winter-weary rooms. What can you do for your home to give it the life and sparkle it had earlier?

Here are tips from designers on refreshing winter décor:

• Picture the possibilities
Take photos of the rooms you want to enhance, then study them to see what’s needed.

• Accessorize
Rooms are like outfits, according to Sutphen, and can be greatly enhanced by accessories. How many is a matter of personal taste, but in her view, homes tend to be under-accessorized most of the year. “Mantels are so nicely done during the holidays and so neglected the rest of the year,” she said.
“A few more important pieces are better than a lot of little tchotchkes,” cautioned Catherine Harrington, an interior designer with Waldenwood, an Eden Prairie, Minn., remodeling firm.

• Perk up pillows
New accent pillows can go a long way toward refreshing your interiors. “There are so many great fabrics, colors and price points,” Sutphen noted. Or make your own.

• Move things around
Harrington is a fan of creative rearranging. “Redecorating doesn’t have to be a lot of buying. It can be reusing things you already have,” she said, such as moving your living-room lamps to the bedroom and vice versa, or putting a small bedroom chest in the dining room. “All of a sudden it looks like a brand-new piece,” she said.

• Illuminate
“January is such a dark month,” Sutphen said. That’s why lighting — task, ambient and decorative — is extra-important during the winter.

“Proper lighting will bring a room to life,” she said. Try a new chandelier — they’re now popular in just about every room of the house, even over kitchen islands and bathtubs. “It can be a piece of jewelry for the home, and add a little bit of bling,” she said. “And adding a mirror to a room can do a ton to bounce around light.”

• Color therapy
“A fresh coat of paint makes everything fresh and new,” Harrington said. Try fresh spring or lime green on walls. “It’s very popular and has almost become a neutral,” she said.

• Rethink artwork
Try hanging a favorite piece of art in a new spot. Or group artwork in a new way, such as taking two prints with complementary colors or patterns and framing them as a pair.

• Add greenery
 It’s an inexpensive way to add height and interest.

• Add shine
To brighten up winter interiors, try an iridescent window treatment, a throw with some metallic threads or an antique book with some shiny gold on the spine.

• Invest in something new
Perhaps a patterned area rug. To find just the right size for your space, Sutphen advises spreading a bed sheet on the floor and folding it to different sizes. “That’s one of my favorite tricks.”

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*article source: seattletimes.com

Energy Saving Tips for Homeowners

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, homeowners can save 20 percent on heating and cooling costs by sealing and insulating their home. The typical home is said to have the same amount of air leaks as a home with a window open year round. Drafts can be eliminated by weatherizing the home.

“Preventing the unwanted circulation or infiltration of air not only improves the efficiency of a heating and cooling system, but also reduces humidity, dust and pollen; eliminates pests and noise; and even prevents the growth and spread of mold that may eventually compromise the structural integrity of a building. Bottom line, it’s an investment in your health and your home,” said Ruben Ornelas, owner of Beyond Construction & Remodeling.

Ruben shares the most common places to check for drafts and tips for weatherizing a home.

•         Check the attic – weather-strip and insulate the attic access door.

•         Seal around the outside of the chimney with metal flashing and a high-temperature sealant such as flue caulk.

•         Seal around plumbing vents, both in the attic floor and in the roof. Check roof flashings, (where the plumbing vent pipes pass through the roof), for signs of water leakage while viewing the underside of the roof.

•         Have a radiant barrier installed in the rafters or joists of the attic. This will reflect the radiant heat that strikes it.

•         Incandescent fixtures should be upgraded to compact bulbs.

•         Seal all other holes between the heated space and the attic.

•         Replace any broken window glass.

•         Re-putty loose window panes.

•         Install new sash locks or adjust existing ones on double-hung and slider windows.

•         Caulk on the inside around window and door trim.

•         Weather-strip exterior doors, including those to garages and porches.

•         Install foam-rubber gaskets behind electrical outlet and switch plates on exterior walls.

•         Use paintable or colored caulk around bath and kitchen cabinets on exterior walls.

•         Caulk any cracks where the floor meets exterior walls. Such cracks are often hidden cracks behind the edge of the carpet.

•         Close the fireplace damper, when not in use. Make sure it closes tightly when a fire isn’t burning.

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Article Source:  virtual-saving.com and http://www.wenatcheeremodelingcontractor.com.