Do-It-Yourself & Home Improvement Resource

Wood Floors are Growing in Appeal

Homeowners are pining for wood flooring GARY DYMSKI Newsday When it comes to floors, nothing's as good as wood. Just ask Lynn Luttenberger, who last year covered 1,100 square feet of her West Islip, N.Y., Colonial with red oak flooring. After 20 years in the same home, Luttenberger was adding on a great room and a master bedroom. For her floors, she wanted a combination of elegance and durability. "I just had to have wood," Luttenberger says. "It really is an eye ...
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Vinyl Siding Crew Takes Shortcuts

Here is a letter which illustrates why it is so important to hire a licensed professional, check refrences, etc.. when you have home improvement work done. Vinyl siding crew took shoddy shortcuts By Peter Hotton  |  September 29, 2005 Q. I hired a company whose workers are moonlighting civil servants to put vinyl siding on my house. On the outside it looks nice and I thought it was fine, until the job was being completed. (Yes, I paid the nearly $30,000 bill in full). But I noticed the lights ...
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Prevent Expensive Plumbing Problems

Prevent expensive plumbing problems 10/4/2005 5:11 PM By: Ivanhoe Newswire SEATTLE -- Mother Nature should be the least of your worries when it comes to flooding. Things around the home are much more likely to wreak havoc. Only 8 percent of water damage claims are weather-related, according to insurance companies. Appliance failures are to blame for 30 percent, and faulty plumbing systems are to blame for 60 percent. "A lot of leaks under your sink or toilet are caused from a nut being too loose,& ...
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Do-it-Yourself Limits

Know the limits with do-it-yourself projects 10/27/2005 By Peg McNichol Morris News Service HOLLAND, Mich. — Jim Dokter has seen almost everything in a decade of inspecting more than 4,300 homes. Pennies jammed where fuses used to be. Roof vents installed backwards so water rolled into the house instead of over the top. In one basement, he found 47 electrical violations. “That’s what we could see to count,” said Dokter, a builder for 25 years be ...
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Real Estate Slow Down

High interest rates mean a slowdown October 30, 2005 BY ALEKSANDRS ROZENS The last four years will likely be remembered as a gilded age for anyone in real estate, especially mortgage bankers. But with interest rates rising, the industry is preparing for a slowdown that might prompt some lenders to merge with their competitors. Consumers could be the winners from the mortgage banking industry's scramble for customers in the months leading up to this anticipate ...
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Winter Furnace Tune Up

We are all looking for ways to save money as heating expenses become increasingly hight. Below are a list of suggestions that can help reduce the cost of running your furnace during the winter. Look at your: Thermostat Check to make sure your thermostat is working well and is accurate on the temperature reading. Depending on the age of your thermostat or the placement of the thermostat in the room it may not be accurate. Install a new programmable thermostat to run your fu ...
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