House Renovations

Home Renovation Ideas

Probably every homeowner eventually has home renovation ideas, but these may not be put into action on account of them not being “front burner” concerns.  For the home renovation newbie considering such a task, here are a couple of thoughts.  First off, home renovation is a term that can encompass many different kinds of home improvement work. While “home renovation” and “home remodeling” are similar terms and overlap in a number of different areas, there are also some differences. For example, your home renovation ideas may involve repairing and/or upgrading your home to increase its amenities, functionality, and energy-efficiency, whereas the term home remodeling is often more about upgrading décor, style, space, and fixtures.

Another example is replacing the old laminate countertop in a bathroom with a new granite one.  This would classify as a home remodeling project, whereas installing a bathroom ventilation fan would have to classify as renovation work.  Okay – moving on…having clarified the vernacular, it is also helpful to know that Your Home Renovation ideas need not cost a fortune, and both types of projects will add value to your home.  Home renovation comes in many different package sizes too.  Some projects naturally lead to others, whereas other home renovation ideas are very simple.  Following this paragraph is a short list to help prompt some home renovation ideas that will actually pay you back over time and serve as great investments in your home.

Doors and Windows – One of the most popular home renovation ideas is to replace doors and windows because it is relatively inexpensive.  Upgrading these areas of your home can increase your home’s efficiency and décor.  In addition to paying you back in energy savings over time, such projects also help the environment and so they can be considered “green”.  In fact, the green-est home renovation ideas all involve the savings of energy.  In this case, it would be the percentage of heat loss through window openings. If this becomes one of your home renovation ideas, be sure to install double or triple paned windows as this will optimize you objective in reducing heat loss as well as heat gain (solar load), air leakage, and condensation problems.  Coupled with this idea is often door replacement as well.  Over time, wood doors can shrink, swell, or bow causing a door to stick or otherwise make it difficult to open and close.  Such affected doors can also allow a draft to come in around the door perimeter.  Doors can be sanded down or even elongated to fix these problems, but it may simply be time for your home renovation ideas to incorporate a new door. This is rather easy to accomplish (though it took my father-in-law 3 days and my contractor 2 hours) and wood is the traditional, timeless option, but fiberglass or steel may offer better performance and durability.

Insulate and Ventilate – Roof insulation is one of the most overlooked home renovation ideas.  Heat rises of course, but most don’t realize that it keeps rising and can work its way out through the roof.  Roof insulation will help keep this heat inside your home, directly affecting the overall insulation performance of most homes more than any other insulation project. The key to proper insulation is to make sure you also install proper ventilation to prevent potential wood rot and ice dams.  Basement insulation is another one of the great home renovation ideas.  The best plan is usually to install basement insulation along your basement walls.  Many homeowners install basement insulation in their basement ceiling to prevent cold floors upstairs. This may help to a small degree, but this also serves to cut off valuable heat transfer through the floor resulting in an ultra cold, damp basement.  Ideally, your home renovation ideas involving insulation should first be the roof, but then include the basement walls.  With basement wall insulation you can turn what would have been a cold basement, into a livable space.

Add Storage Cabinets and Reorganize – Few people like the idea of spring cleaning, regardless of the season or the need.  However, if your home is being overrun by simple clutter, the sheer psychological weight of trying to clean the House can be overwhelming. Worse yet, you may not know where exactly your clutter can be stowed, forcing you to spend countless hours, trying to reorganize everything, knowing that in just a few weeks everything is going to have piled up again!  As a solution, another one of the great home renovation ideas is to install extra storage cabinets and hire an interior designer to come in and reorganize the home. They will often give you a plan to follow for stowing away your common household items in a way that will help you to maintain a clean house. Custom built storage cabinets will also help to motivate you and those living with you, to keep the house clean and reduce the time-consuming and psychological baggage of clutter removal.

So, when putting together your list of home renovation ideas, be sure to weigh the benefits as well as the costs of renovation or remodeling.  The first primarily improves value, whereas the second improves the aesthetic feel.

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Cost Estimate Spreadsheet – Extension/Renovation

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