Four Easy Renovating popular Projects

1 Prepare and repaint the home interior. This requires lots of preparation and repairs, before one paints. Allowing for a prime coat, then two paint coats and plenty of preparation, plastering, taping and sanding.
Costs include materials $600, Labour $800, at four days at $200 a day. Total $1,400, compares to professional quote $2,200.

2 Remove an internal, non- load bearing wall. Allowing for plastering, adding trim, cornices, sanding and painting. Check by climbing in the roof that its a non- load bearing wall.

Costs include materials $600, Labour at four days work, $800. Total $1,400, compares to professional quote $3,000.

3 Install a tubular Skylight, involves cutting through ceiling plaster, hiring a safety harness and removing tiles.

Costs for materials $220, for three hours work labour at $80. A DIY total of $300. A professional quote at $550.

4  Render the front facade of a home. This entails mixing and applying mortar over the bricks, smoothing and painting afterwards. Modern paints can have a render type finish from one coat. Thus removing one of the processes.

Costs include materials $200, labour $1,000. A total of $1,200. Compares to a professional at $1,800.

My conclusion, for readers is if you are keen, all these projects are fun jobs.  But if you value your time more highly or dont enjoy the work, in order to, achieve a professional finish one can employ contractors. My view is, I would work with contactors on the first few projects, thereby gaining a free short term apprenticeship, then Do It Yourself, DIY.

New Masters Home Improvement stores under construction

Currently, Masters are building close to 20 new stores, right now. The ones expected to open this year, 2012, include, Cairns, Toowoomba South, Qld, Rutherford, NSW, Pennant Hills, NSW, Canberra Airport, ACT, Baldivis,WA, Forrestdale,WA, Bibra Lake,WA, Ellenbrook,WA, Mount Gambier, SA,  Mornington, Roxborough Park, Preston, Oakleigh South, Knoxfield, Carrum Downs, South Morang, Box Hill South,Victoria.  More stores will be built rapidly in Victoria, as they have a fast track approval process and have plenty of available retail land.

Masters, which is largely a Lowes,” look a like” clone, has plans to build 150 stores, at least, over the next five years. The new Masters stores will cost close to $2.7Bn, a vote in favour of home renovating. I think they will prove popular and have a great impact, as the Bunnings store sales where they are closely competing, have had store sales falls of close to 30%.

Masters, claims it has superior customer service, better quality products and a more comfortable shopping experience. Masters provides great value white goods, a home decor department, great service, credit, wholesale discounts, a McCafe, great value in Kitchens, Plumbing and many Kitchen displays.

Painting is the most popular easyhomerenovating

While painting is popular, below I enclose my top tips to achieve the best result.
1 Preparation is a key factor. Sugar soap and rinse the surface, in order to present the cleanest base. Its critical to remove dirt and grease, scrub if necessary. Peeled or bubbled base paint must be removed.
2 Ensure all plaster repairs are completed, dried, primed and sanded.
3 Make sure you have excellent drop sheets, cover the furniture.
4 Apply top quality masking tape, and remove it soon as paint is dry. I use an trim edger for preference and a “cutting” brush.
5 Measure your room to estimate the paint required, for example, a medium size, twenty square metre room needs six litres of paint for two coats.
6 Start painting the ceiling, first be sure to use a mould additive in Bathrooms and Kitchens. Some specialist paint for the wet rooms have incorporated mould additive.
7 If you are painting over existing paint you wont need a primer, it is usually only needed for bare timber or plaster.
8 Always allow plenty of drying time time between paint coats, time required varies upon temperature, air moisture and the paint type. Take Enamel and oil based paint, it always needs lots more drying time.
9 A light sanding between coats will enable a better quality of finish.
10 One can save time, by buying the best quality paint suitable to the home, for example,”cheap” ceiling paint will require several more coats for a good coverage.
11 Imperfections, in the wall surface like Biro, texta will need special treatment. This prevents this colour bleeding through the paint.
12 Always remember the best possible preparation, will reflect in the best quality of finished paint.
13 Hardwearing areas like doors and window trim, need particular care, as they are areas, which catch the eye.
14 When painting garden fences use a spray painter, it will save eighty percent of your time.
15 When painting any wall or ceiling avoid a “framed ” effect by completing your trim and main area in one session.
16 Paint in a steady orderly manner and avoid excess exuberance, least you generate a spray effect. This could require lots of cleaning up.
17 If you are painting is interrupted you can wrap the brushes in Gladwrap, Read more

Popular Trends to add value to your Home

Archicentre, advises that covered outdoor living areas are popular.
1 Families love the outdoor/indoor connection for entertainment living. A deck or garden conservatory adds great value to a home as everyone likes more living areas. An addition of an Outdoor room is one of the best ways to add value.
2 A dedicated Study Nook is very popular, even something as simple as a kitchen bench extension. A Home Office is a highly valued priority. In the USA, the work from home trend applies to nearly 25% of workers. Some value the Home Office, at close to 15% of the extra value for a home.
3 A peaceful home is also in demand. The best idea for this is double glazing, which can transform a noisy home into a peaceful haven. Given that many workers are now working shift work and need peace in order to, sleep during the day.
4 While, the open planning trend has been popular, currently people are asking for several living areas, so the parents can enjoy some peaceful separation from the children.
5 Intelligent storage is popular, like the attic room storage or under the stairs. Other storage areas include racks in the garage, walk in robes, handy roll out deep drawers, a linen press, a garden shed and build-ins in the laundry. One idea popular in the USA, is to move the Laundry from internal part of the home into a basement or garage.
6 Energy efficiency measures are also popular, given the rising cost of Utilities. Ideas like internal and external blinds, heavy curtains, ceiling fans, Northern windows, natural gas heating, energy efficient appliances, insulated windows and doors.

Australian Inflector window panels

Window Type Solar Heat Gain/Blocked With In’Flector
Single Pane 13% 77%
Double pane 28% 80%
Low E 38% 83%
In’Flector alone 73%
Window Type % UV Blocked With In’Flector
Single Pane 12% 78%
Double pane 20% 82%
Low E 35% 85%
In’Flector alone 74%
As part of our commitment to ongoing R & D we have been doing additional research and testing to the highest standards. Part of this testing involved using EDTM testing equipment, which is highly regarded equipment endorsed for use by industry rating companies like the National Fenestration Rating Council. The results were very impressive and even better than we had anticipated. Using the EDTM Solar Transmission and BTU Meter we compared single pane, double pane, and low E windows with In’Flector Window Insulators and then the windows with In’Flector Window Insulators. We then conducted similar test for UV rays which cause so much damage to curtain, carpet, and furniture. Look at these amazing results above:

Product application styles and features
Roller blinds -Reduces your heating and cooling energy costs
Vertical blinds -Reversible
Sliding panels -Daytime privacy
Skylight panels -Lightweight
Insulator panels -Virtually Maintenance free
-Beneficial for both Summer and Winter
Reference www.inflector.com.au

Next Page »