6 Bathroom Remodeling Secrets for Homeowners From an "extreme Makeover: Home Edition" Consultant

A renovation project, such as remodeling your bathroom can be one of the most stressful undertakings that homeowners can embark on.

Nevertheless, millions of people want and need to improve their living conditions. Remodeling IS the answer but how do you ensure that you don't become a victim of a remodeling nightmare?

You've heard it so many times from friends and relatives, "Expect a nightmare. It will take twice as much and take three times as long."

News Flash: Remodeling your bathroom doesn't have to be that way!
After 25 years in the remodeling industry and after running two successful remodeling and home building companies, I've seen it all. And, I've been able to boil success down into Matt Plaskoff's Six Secrets to Successful bathroom remodeling.
6 Insider Secrets to Successful Bathroom Remodeling From One of the Original Consultants for "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition"

Secret #1: Have a Plan!

Would you head off on a long expensive trip without a road map? Of course not! That's unless you were looking forward to surprises along the way.

Well, in bathroom remodeling, the only surprises are disastrous ones. Figure out what you want BEFORE you start. Put it on paper with your Designer or Contractor. Figure out:

• What is the layout?
• What are the exact products you want?
• What colors are you using?

Answer and document all of these answers BEFORE a single hammer hits your bathroom wall.
Secret #2: Don't Start Your Bathroom Remodel Until You Have Everything You Need!

So your contractor demolishes the bathroom (the only one you have in the home by the way) and then he decides to tell you that the tile you picked that he thought was going to come in today is delayed 6 weeks.

This is NOT a good scenario but an all too often real one. Order the products. Get them delivered. Open the boxes. And make certain they are the right color, not broken and fit together properly before you allow anyone to tear up your bathroom.
Secret #3: Hire a Professional. All Contractors are NOT Created Equal

A remodeling project is one of the largest investments you can make in your life and home. For example, a properly constructed bathroom remodel can return over 132% of the invested value.

In contrast, a poorly constructed project can create damage that far exceeds the savings you thought you had enjoyed by hiring "the guy your friend used to paint his room."

Protect your assets and your personal belongings by hiring a licensed and insured contractor to remodel your bathroom. Require a contract that lists EXACTLY what you are getting, a "guaranteed price" (a professional should be able to tell you exactly what it will cost) and a guaranteed time frame. Tell them to put their money where their mouth is and sign a penalty clause if they don't finish on time. This way, you'll find out who the real professionals are.
Secret #4: Hire Experience!

Jacks- of-All-Trades abound in the remodeling and construction industry. Everyone wants to be everything to all people. You wouldn't hire a heart surgeon to do a nose job so why would you hire a kitchen specialist to remodel your bathroom. Hiring someone who specializes in bathroom remodeling projects will lead to a much higher quality, more efficient and timely project. Don't let your general practitioner perform a chin implant.
Secret #5: Let Your Contractor Buy All the Materials

Yes, you can save a few bucks if you buy that tub yourself and cram it into the trunk of your BMW. The problem is that most homeowners don't know what to buy, what fits with what or how much to buy. Do you really have time to go back and forth from the plumbing supply house to return the wrong thing and get the right one... five times!

Secret #6: Don't Make Changes!

Changes are the single largest cause of remodeling nightmares. You've done everything right so far. You've followed the previous five secrets but you just can't help yourself and you make changes during construction.

Well... all bets are off.

The schedule flies off track, your contractor can't manage his or her time and new materials have to be bought. The key to not making changes is to LOVE your plan and be certain that your team knows exactly what you want.

Yes, back to secret #1: Have a Plan. But don't just have one... LOVE IT! Don't sign a contract until every product, color and layout is exactly what you want and then let the professionals go to work.
So, there you have it, six secrets to successfully remodeling your bathroom. I'm confident that if you follow these six secrets, you'll increase your chances of remodeling success one hundred fold.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/remodeling-articles/6-bathroom-remodeling-secrets-for-homeowners-from-an-quotextreme-makeover-home-editionquot-consultant-534230.html

Author: Matt Plaskoff

About the Author:

Premiere Bathroom Remodeling Expert Matt Plaskoff helps homeowners achieve remodeling dreams by avoiding the nightmares. As one of the original consultants for ABC's hit show, "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition", Matt can answer ALL of your contracting questions including, "How to Remodel Your Bathroom Without Getting Drained!" Get his FREE SPECIAL REPORT at: http://www.oneweekbath.com/articlecenter

Technorati Tags: Bathroom Remodeling, Bathroom Renovation, Contracting Questions, Extreme Makeover, Fixing Your Bathroom, Homeowners

Kitchen remodeling contractors aren’t hard to find. They are everywhere! The real problem is how to find the right contractor for your kitchen. With the many contactor options you have, you could end up with one that is inexperienced or incapable of handling your kitchen project in mind.

Getting a Contractor

First of all, you should understand why you need a contractor. Looking at the simple lay-out of your kitchen can tempt you to do things yourself. You might also be thinking of hiring different freelance workers, hoping that you might be able to save a few bucks. You should realize that you have your limitations and that you could ruin your kitchen just by planning things yourself. This will both decrease the value of your property and increase your expenses for repair.

You should know that your kitchen is an important part of the house and deserves only the best handling. That’s what a good contractor can give you.

Where to Look

Kitchen remodeling contractors can be found in the yellow pages, newspapers and advertisements. If you plan to pick your contractor this way, you have to do your own research on contractor background, reputation, credentials and experience. There are however, easier ways to get a good contractor than just looking through ads.

- Your friends’ kitchens are a good place to start looking for a contractor. If you find a kitchen that you think has been nicely done, you can always ask your friend to recommend his contractor. Often, this is a very advisable way to find someone to work on your kitchen. The sample work is enough of a testament to the contractor’s skill.

- Nothing can be easier than using an online search engine to find your contractor. Simply key in contractors and your location on the search box. Since there may be quite a lot of them in a results page, you can look into each of them. Compare various contractor services with each other before settling on one you like.

- There are also online listing services. These sites simply have an online list of available contractors in your area. As with manual searching however, this may require a little effort on your part. Listing services give you little information about a contractor other than its business name and contact information.

- A step above the listing service is the online contractor matching service. These are definitely more comprehensive than mere listing sites. They may offer a variety of services depending on the site that you are on. Sites may already conduct a complete background investigation on contractors to ensure that those who are in their site are the best and most reputable ones. Other sites will also allow you to provide your project specifications such as budget and preferences so you get a good contractor match.

You can never underestimate your need for kitchen remodeling contractors. The beauty and value of your kitchen depends largely on your ability to find the perfect contractor. Just look in the right places and you simply can’t go wrong.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/remodeling-articles/where-to-find-kitchen-remodeling-contractors-331119.html

Author: Ann Triune

About the Author:

Searching for reliable kitchen remodeling contractors? For custom kitchen remodeling, get only the professionals!

Technorati Tags: Kitchen Remodeling

Tips in Getting Started to Remodel the Basement

There is no doubt about it; if you remodel the basement you will add more value and equity into your home. In fact it is one of the best home improvement projects to do just that. It's basically "free" space that can give you plenty of extra square feet to put in a family room, bedrooms, baths, etc. But, before starting any kind of basement remodeling project you will want to accomplish several things first. Here's a look at a few good tips to keep in mind when contemplating a new basement remodel.

Of course, the very first thing you will want to do is decide on whether you are going to do the remodeling job yourself or hire an outside contractor. There are advantages to both, but if you do not have the necessary experience in areas such as electrical wiring, carpentry and plumbing, then hiring a contractor is your best bet. That said if you do have some basic carpentry skills, doing the work yourself will give you a great deal of satisfaction and pride that will last a lifetime.

If you do choose to remodel yourself you will next want to design the project and come up with plans on how you want to do it. Are you only going to basically paint the walls, add a floor or a few walls, etc?

Once you have your plan it's time to clean out the basement. This is the perfect time to bring the kids into the mix! Make it a family clean up project. You definitely have to remove all the junk before you begin painting, nailing 2x4's and building walls, and the list goes on.

Once you have everything cleared out of the basement, do a good inspection. What do the walls look like? Is there any type of mold problem? Are there cracks in the foundation or floor? Do you have water coming in anywhere? These are all very important issues that can greatly affect your entire basement remodeling project, or even bring it to a screeching halt.

If you do notice problem areas that need addressed, be sure you address them. Don't make the mistake of simply trying to cover them up. It will always come back to hurt you later. I've seen it happen so many times. And then when it does, you're looking at spending even more money in the future to make it right. So do it right the first time and you'll be happier down the road.

Now that you have accomplished all the preparation work, you can begin your basement remodel project. Put these tips into action and you will make your home improvement project go a whole lot smoother.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/remodeling-articles/tips-in-getting-started-to-remodel-the-basement-385504.html

Author: Terry Edwards

About the Author:

You can find out more about how to Remodel The Basement as well as much more information on everything to do with basements and basement remodeling at http://www.BasementTips.com

Technorati Tags: Basement Remodeling, Basements, home, home Improvement, Remodel the Basement

Kitchen Remodeling Costs - A Handy DIY Review

Recently we had decided to do some home remodeling projects. While we all gathered together in our living room and took a glance through our kitchen, we decided that the best place to start would be the kitchen. For the most part of our time that we are home is spent in the kitchen especially with meal preparation, cleanup and eating. Besides it seems that guests tend to congregate in the kitchen area.

We started to research kitchen remodeling costs and promptly had to make some adjustments in our priorities as this was not going to be easy on the pocket. There are many hidden expenses when it comes to tallying up kitchen remodeling costs.

While talking to our local contractor, we were able to find out an estimate on having the remodeling professionally done. First he asked us to draw up a wish list of things that we wanted in the kitchen and to rank them accordingly in order from "have to have" to "it would be nice". This was very useful because with kitchen remodeling costs as high as they are you can quickly pare down your wish list.

At the top of our wish list was to change our cabinets. The cabinets were very dark wood and made the kitchen appear small and closed in. In addition we also wanted to put a tile counter top on to match the tile on the floor. As for the window area by the sink, I wanted to expand it in order to allow more light in. We also wanted to remove the wallpaper and change out the exhaust hood above the stove. Our appliances were neutral colors and worked well; though my husband wanted to convert the electric range top from electric to gas. In spite of all the things we had decided upon on the list, we felt confident that we would have enough money in our savings account to handle all the kitchen remodeling costs.

However we were shocked when the estimate for the kitchen remodeling costs came in. Although we would have to take out a loan to complete everything that we had put on the wish list, we began to look at alternatives to keep down the kitchen remodeling costs. First we learnt how to the surface of the cabinets for painting. By painting the cabinets, for instance, an almond color made the kitchen look much brighter. We procured new hardware for the cabinets and the change was simply fantastic. In order to make the kitchen window area look larger I merely removed the curtain that I had hanging in it. Just by taking down the curtain during the painting project I discovered that without it there was more light in the room. Our counter top also looked revived with the lighter cabinets, so we kept it and put up a tile back splash instead. All this really proved to be cost effective and was a part of the remodeling that we could do on our own! Subsequently we got rid of the wallpaper and painted the walls a lemon yellow. In addition we replaced the exhaust fan with one in an almond color to match the cabinets. Today our kitchen not only looks beautiful but we have the satisfaction of completing the majority of the work ourselves and in turn were able to limit down our kitchen remodeling costs. We did not use the local contractor but he undoubtedly helped us have a new kitchen within our means.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/home-improvement-articles/kitchen-remodeling-costs-a-handy-diy-review-91043.html

Author: Linda E. Joy

About the Author:
Linda E. Joy provides readers with up-to-date commentaries, articles, and reviews for family, home as well as related information.

Technorati Tags: kitchen remodel costs, kitchen remodeling costs