Hot Home Improvement Tips

Home improvement projects have the potential to make or break your wallet, your investment and your resale value. This article will give you lots of great advice on how you can protect the investment you've made, get the best bang for your buck and not go broke in the process.

Add a fresh coat of paint to your doors to cover up the wear of everyday use. After a while the doors get a grimy bland color, so applying a new coat can make your doors appear new and add brightness to the inside of your house. Black is the latest popular exterior front door color that adds to the curb appeal and helps sell a home (if that’s your aim.) Speaking of color, exterior house painting will do wonders for improving the look and feel of your home. Not so much a DIY project, so call in your local painting company for this one. To make it easy, just Google “local painters” to get a list of options.

Here's a simple way of fixing gaps at the bottom of poorly fitted interior doors. Sandwich a section of timber (cut to the width of the door) between two pieces of paneling. Leave each piece of paneling sticking out beyond the upper side of the two by two by about one inch. Slip the extension over the bottom of the door and screw each piece of paneling into place against each side of the door.

Considering the cost of hiring a plumber, you will probably want to do some of the simpler plumbing tasks yourself. An essential tool is the pipe wrench. It is adjustable, so it can fit a pipe perfectly, and it provides an excellent grip and leverage. This one tool will more than pay for itself.

Adding attic insulation can help you save money on winter heating bills. Because heat rises, many homes with poor insulation lose heat through the roof during the cold weather months. Most hardware stores sell insulation, and installing it yourself is relatively simple.

If you are doing work near a kitchen, fireplace, or gas appliance, make sure you know where the gas shutoff for your home is located. If there were to be an accident, and gas started leaking into your home, the smallest spark could set it off. If you know in advance where the shutoff is, you can respond faster to the issue before it becomes an emergency.

For a personalized and one-of-a-kind wall covering, consider designing and ordering your own customized wallpaper online or through a local design studio. New websites offer a variety of options for wallpaper design, including enlarged photographs, murals, or even your children's artwork delivered to your door in a matter of weeks.

A chain-link or wooden fence may be a good idea if you've purchased a home near a woody area or undeveloped location. This can help keep annoying animals out of your yard.

One of the best lighting improvements for children's rooms, is adding in directional track lighting. This lighting can be adjusted to highlight artwork, different play areas or furniture. For an especially fun twist, replace one light with a brightly colored red, yellow, or blue light bulb. Track lighting is also timeless and makes the room more versatile, without appearing too childish.

As you can see, there is a lot involved in even the most simple of home improvement projects. But, if 

you follow this advice and use it to make really wise investment decisions, you should have no problem choosing the best projects and the best money saving ideas for your home.