Alternative Energy Sources for Your Home

By Tina Gleisner in Building Green Homes, Heating & Cooling, Heating & Cooling, Saving Energy & Water
solar panels capture energy from sunlight, a renewable energy resource

Alternative energy isn’t something we think about every day. Most homeowners only consider alternative energy sources when building a new home yet some of the choices we’ll review here can be added to existing homes. First let’s review some of the terminology surrounding alternative energy.

Alternative energy refers to energy sources that don’t burn fossil fuels or split atoms, as both of these affect the environment in undesirable ways. Renewable energy sources are ones that are continually replenished, including water, wind, the sun, the earth (geothermal) and biomass energy from energy crops like corn. 

This article focuses on emerging energy sources covered by... 

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Luxury Custom Homes Are Like Custom, Heirloom Quality Furniture

By Tina Gleisner in Curb Appeal for Buyers, Custom Homes & Additions, Decorating Tips
antiques-give-custom-homes-unique-personality

Custom homes have many similarities to quality furniture, but each of us defines quality differently. We shop for our clothes at stores with different levels of quality, we buy different car brands based on our desire and budget for quality and the same is true when building a custom home.

Borrowing from Williams-Sonoma’s article, How to Find Well-Made, High-Quality Furniture, let’s use their definition for different quality levels as people wonder if custom homes are “built-to-last” the way historic US homes have withstood the test of time. It’s not that one level of quality home is better than another, it’s a matter... 

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Home Repair Estimates & Why They Vary

By Tina Gleisner in Handyman & Contractors
every home repair takes careful planning and prep

Home repair estimates are never easy. You might think common repairs are easy to estimate but our homes are built one at a time, making them unique. The person estimating repairs often doesn’t have access to all the information needed to know how long a job will take, so they rely on the average of similar jobs they’ve done in the past. When a home professional, whether a plumber, handyman or builder gives a homeowner an estimate, it really is an estimate … not a fixed price!

For example, one of my handyman jobs where we remodeled a bathroom in Portsmouth,... 

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Home Builder Warranty – What’s Included or Not

By Tina Gleisner in Building & Remodeling, Home Inspections
appliances are not covered by a home buyer warranty

Home builders make their money, and buyers rely on their home builder, to bring together quality products, materials and workmanship to build your house.  When we built a house in New York, it helped when the local building department told us we were working with a B builder, meaning good quality and affordable. Years later, we only talked to home builders recommended by our architect for a 4-story addition in Portsmouth, NH (see Remodeling a 100 Year Old Victorian).

You’re thrilled at the closing when you get the keys! You tend to overlook the fact that you’re also assuming responsibility for... 

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Saving Water at Home Makes WaterSense

By Tina Gleisner in Building Green Homes, Electrical & Plumbing, Saving Energy & Water
WaterSense helps us focus on saving water

Saving water isn’t really an option if we look long term because less than 1% of the water on Earth can be used by people! You might not feel the pinch yet, but communities across the US are focusing on the challenges of maintaining healthy and affordable water supplies, and there’s a new WaterSense program similar to EnergyStar, to help us use our water wisely and not waste it.

Still not sure why saving water is important (facts from VisualEconomics.com)?

World population growth is expected to grow from 6.7 billion in 2010, to 9 billion in 2050. People need water to drink, to bathe... 

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Landscaping Ideas for Water Conservation

By Tina Gleisner in Gardening & Landscaping, Saving Energy & Water
drip irrigation lets you deliver water to only the areas needing it, for water conservation

Landscaping comes last when building a house and homeowners often defer landscaping until after they move into their new home. That’s not the best idea as now you’re juggling lots of added expenses – window coverings, new furniture to fit new living spaces plus landscaping. You guessed right, if you realized that landscaping because it’s outside, tends to fall to the bottom of the list.

Landscaping is also really hard until you have a plan. Your home has rooms so you’re able to decorate one room at a time. Until you draw up a landscaping plan, you don’t really know what types... 

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House Windows, Window Styles & Shutters

By Tina Gleisner in Doors & Window, Doors & Windows, Lighting, Fans & More
houses can use many different window styles & coverings like shutters, drapes & more

House windows play an amazing role in our homes and yet we often overlook them, or we fuss about decorating them rather than focusing on what makes them great. When you’re looking at one house, you might not realize how many different window styles there are and what fun it is to mix several window styles like the homes (learn how to mix and match window styles) shown here.

Creative window combinations let you add windows in unique places where there may not be enough room for matching windows, where you want extra interior wall space for furniture or you want... 

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Spring, Open Houses and Curb Appeal

By Tina Gleisner in Curb Appeal for Buyers, Remodeling Trends
roofs and gutters on your home exterior affect curb appeal

Spring means lots of open houses, for prospective buyers and neighbors too, and great curb appeal is important to invite people into your home. Everyone likes getting ideas for updating their homes and open houses are a great way to learn what your home is worth, based on similar houses in your neighborhood.

Most prospective buyers start their home search online, so curb appeal is the first impression when they drive up to your home. What they see first – the mailbox at the curb, the front door or even the garage door varies so it’s hard to decide which home improvements... 

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Caulking Basics: How to Pick the Right Caulk

By Tina Gleisner in Handyman & Contractors, Home Maintenance Team

Caulking is a skill every homeowner should develop. Knowing how to caulk isn’t as obvious as learning how to paint a room or your entire home, but it’s actually more important. Caulking is the application of a flexible sealing compound to close the gaps in your home against water, air and if that’s not important enough, insects!

Maybe you’ve noticed cracks where your windows don’t quite meet the walls or in my house, there are gaps where the baseboard trim doesn’t meet the floor and it’s noticeable when going up the stairs. Hmm, maybe I should get out my caulking gun and... 

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Remodeling & Home Repair Estimates: Honesty or Sales Tool?

By Tina Gleisner in Building & Remodeling, Handyman & Contractors
screens are an easy home repair project, except for finding the right screen fabric

Remodeling and home repair estimates are a lot like price tags on clothes in the store. For those who only want to buy things on sale, you’re going to pick the lowest price. With clothing, you tend to forget about the seam that splits open on the first washing or turtleneck sweaters where the elasticity doesn’t last through one season … or like me, you might figure out the problem and change where you shop for clothing.

So let me share some real stories (I could write a book) from my experience and peers still running handyman and remodeling businesses, plus my... 

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