Home Tool Tips

An outdoor kitchen is a wonderful way to make the backyard a more appealing place to entertain. Why spend your parties stuck inside, preparing food in your regular kitchen, when you can be outside, chatting with your guests, serving drinks, grilling hamburgers, and even making pizzas without ever leaving the part? If you have a backyard swimming pool or spa, an outdoor kitchen is a perfect addition. And if you’re thinking about selling your home one day, a well-built backyard entertaining area can only increase the value of your home. Today, dedicated outdoor living spaces are growing more and more popular with homeowners (and more potential home buyers are putting them on their want lists).

There are all sorts of features you can build into an outdoor kitchen. Examples include fire pits, pizza ovens, refrigerators, ice makers, granite countertops, deluxe gas barbecues, trash compacters, wok burners, and gas or electric stoves. Basically, anything you can do indoors you can do outdoors these days. The only limits are your creativity and your budget.

Before you run down to the home improvement store and charge up a big order, stop to think about what you want in your outdoor kitchen. Here are some of the questions you should ask while you’re still in the planning stages:

–Do you want to be able to cook complete meals, or will a charcoal or gas barbecue suffice?

–Is your food preparation area going to include a sink? If so, you’ll have to run a water line to your outdoor kitchen.

–Do you want a refrigerator, ice maker, or other appliances that will require electricity be run to them? Are you prepared to hire an electrician to handle the wiring?

–Do you like to smoke meat or dehydrate jerky? Rotisserie ovens, dehydrators, and meat smokers are good choices for outdoor kitchens, since the long cook times can make the smells overpowering indoors. Outdoors, no one is going to mind.

–Do you want to entertain right by the house or would a detached island be better, perhaps as a poolside bar? Take note that the farther away your outdoor kitchen is from existing electrical and water lines, the more expensive it will be to install.

–What’s the climate like where you live? Will you need to have a roof over your kitchen? If you don’t want to install a roof, you’ll need to order special waterproof appliances, which can cost more.

–Where do the prevailing winds come from in your yard? You don’t want to have your food and wrappers being blown away all the time. If possible, maybe you can build up a wall or use an existing wall to protect the area.

As you can see, there are quite a few things to consider. Outdoor kitchens can be simple or very complex. Either way, a well thought outdoor kitchen can be a wonderful addition to a home.

Hopefully, these questions have given you an idea of some of the decisions you should make before you actually start spending money on your new kitchen. As with all home improvement projects, it’s a good idea to spend a lot of time planning before you actually break ground.

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You have probably seen the value of real estate in your neck of the woods skyrocket over the past few years. Even though the property values have fallen slightly over the past year, homes are still selling easily and many are undertaking home remodeling projects prior to selling their home.

It is relatively common knowledge that a home remodel or a home makeover can affect the value of the home.

However, you need to be aware of the cost vs. value of your home remodeling project, in other words you need to take into account as to whether or not the costs of the improvements can or will be recovered when selling your home.

It appears that kitchen and bath remodeling projects tops the list of desired improvements. Master bedrooms and family rooms are also high on the list.

For kitchen remodels, people are looking for a larger more spacious kitchen with some elbow room. Large counter tops, newer appliances and quality flooring top the list of improvements.

Remodeling of a bathroom, particularly the bathroom connected to the master suite seems to be quite desired as well. And one thing that seems to really draw interest is the whirlpool bathtubs.

Just remember a kitchen or a bathroom remodel can get expensive really fast, so if you are planning on selling your home in the near future, it may not be a wise investment.

Some improvements that do not recover costs well are additions to master bedrooms or the finishing of a basement (surprisingly enough).

Please note that the list of desired home improvements seem to differ from region to region (sometimes from city to city) so before embarking on a home remodeling project, be sure to investigate what types of improvements turn people on in your neck of the woods.

It is recommended that you visit Realtor Magazine Online and review the cost vs. value reports before starting any home remodeling project as it seems that in the current market the costs of remodeling a home will exceed the value, so proceed with caution.

If you are simply looking to add value to your home because you are planning on selling your home, it may not be a wise investment to spend thousands of dollars to remodel your home.

The best thing to do if you are looking to increase value is to start from the outside and then work yourself to the interior. Start with things people can see as they first walk up to your home, in other words, start with curb appeal!

Do some yard work and clean up around the exterior of the house. Start with things that people can and will see first. If your house is in need of a coat of paint it may be a wise investment to either clean or paint the exterior. Investing a bit in landscaping will go a long way as well.

A word for the wise: Don’t over-improve your home because you will not recover the investment.

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The home of your dreams, whether an old colonial style or a rambling ranch, more than likely needs some updating. A great way to quickly and easily update your older style home is to replace the existing windows with vinyl replacement windows. A vinyl window is basically maintenance free, simply to clean, and adds beauty to just about any home.

Here’s why you may consider replacing your windows.

Generally, in an older home, the window frames rot and warp over-time, his is just a fact due to time. As well, though they were probably once sealed, very likely that seal has worn, leaving way for water to seep through flaky caulking. This then allows for the wood so soak up the water and warp or rot. This leads for the most part for terrible insulation, and easy escapes for air.

Your best bet therefore is vinyl replacement windows. They will not warp or rot, and since there’s no paint, it cannot peel. Basically you only need to clean them. A company like Pella Window will help you choose which window is best for you, and have a wide variety of vinyl windows to choose from.

Installing these windows is a fairly easy task, and anybody who’s little handy with tools can easily take this on. You can easily learn to complete this task and install your vinyl replacement windows.

What you’ll need to do first is remove the old window. Cut out any remaining caulking seal with a utility knife, scraping along the perimeter of the window ledge. After doing this you’ll want to get help to push the window either in our out with some consistent gentle pressure.

When the old window is out, then you’ll have to clean up the area that surrounds the window box by scraping any old paint or extra debris.

Next you’ll have to double-check your measurements. Square up any lopsidedness with shims. This is an extra step, yet it will make the window fit much better.

Now the windows will be secured by your screws. Last, you’ll just caulk the edges sealing them tightly.

Now that your windows are in, caring for them is simple. You just have to wash your windows. This is made even easier because the way that the windows tilt inward, it’s very easy to clean the outside from the inside. This makes it even more convenient if you’re living on a second floor.

By the way, these new windows of yours are double paned and insulated, therefore you won’t need the storm windows that came with the old ones.

Vinyl replacement windows leave no down side and they add a refreshing beauty to your home, while being virtually maintenance free. You really can’t go wrong.

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