When it comes to home improvement projects, there are a huge number of steps involved in order to get them done. That’s why it’s so easy to overlook things that you wish you had done after a project has been completed. So you’re bound to find a few of the tips below worth keeping in mind for future home projects.
1. Repair leaky faucets immediately. Even if a faucet only has a small leak now, it will only become worse with time, and that wasted water is costing you money. It will also cause stains in your tub, sink, or even countertop. Either replace or repair the faucet straight away to avoid cost and effort from many different sides.
2. Keep your indoor air clean. While it’s nice to make certain that your home is tightly sealed to ensure energy efficiency, this will lower air circulation, leading to indoor air which has pollution levels five times greater than outside. Install some exhaust fresh-air ventilation which will encourage the flow of fresh air while still saving energy.
3. Shop at recycle centers to discover less costly materials. Options such as ReStores run by Habitat for Humanity – that have around four hundred stores in the United States – sell materials that have been salvaged for about fifty percent of the price of the same new materials sold at home renovation centers. Before obtaining these materials, be sure that your contractor will work with materials that you have supplied yourself, and salvaged materials.
4. Arrange bathroom vanity lights to prevent shadows. Shadows make it tough to see what you’re doing in a bathroom vanity. Therefore, use recessed down lights at the halfway point between you and the mirror, at 24 to 36 inches, in addition to wall sconces on either side of the mirror.
5. Let the contractor or foreman about any of the laborers whose performance you feel is substandard. Remember that you are spending money on the work of each of those individuals. If you’re feeling that one is not doing a good job, express yourself and either have him or her removed from the team, or have the issue addressed so that the performance can be corrected.
6. Keep your utility elements together. Position your hot water heater, furnace, air conditioner, electrical panel, and other utility elements in the same part of your basement rather than spreading them out all over the space. By keeping them together (though not necessarily on top of one another), you won’t break up the usable space so that you can still access the utility elements, but you will have the most freedom to arrange the finished part of your basement. This will minimize design and layout concerns.
