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The 5 Steps for Planning a Home Addition

January 22, 2024

Everyone wants to find their dream home. Sometimes, that dream house might be out of reach because of price or location. Other times, that dream house just doesn’t exist – yet! If your family is expanding beyond their current space, or if changes in your lifestyle require more from your home, the answer may not necessarily be to find a new place to live. Instead, additions are a great way for homeowners to expand their homes into a space that better fits their needs. If you just love your neighborhood or you want to create your dream home without moving, here are the five steps to consider for planning a home addition. Step 1: Ask Yourself Why You’d Like to Add On to Your HomeWhile there are many great reasons to plan a home addition, the process comes with its fair share of drawbacks. First is the cost, which can vary widely depending on the type of addition and sometimes even approach the original price of the home. Additionally, the process of building a home addition can take a lot of time, some of which will include moving out temporarily or sharing space with building crews throughout the day. If

States that are Taking the Fight to Radon

January 15, 2024

As declared by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, businesses and government organizations devote their attention every January to increasing public awareness of the very real and often overlooked dangers of radon gas. Per the CDC, radon is an odorless, colorless gas that finds its way into buildings through the breakdown process of natural materials within the soil. Today, radon is the second leading cause for lung cancer only behind smoking. The good news is that the effects of radon gas can be avoided first through effective testing and then through mitigation. Your family’s health is no joke, so if you haven’t already looked into radon levels in your home, your kids’ school, or your work, let this article be your sign to take action. Officials across the nation are taking notice of the dangers of radon, but most people are unaware of what their state is doing to combat radon, or how their state compares to the national average. The American Association of Radon Scientists and Technologists offers a yearly report card, which dives further into things like whether radon testing professionals need to be credentialed, whether school testing is required, and what percentage of homes in the state are

Selecting the Right Area Rug for Your Home

January 8, 2024

When it comes to planning the design of your new home, there are a number of factors that have a mighty impact on the look and feel of each room. We’ve already touched on incorporating indoor plants into your home’s decor, the importance of even slightly different shades of paint, and how a room’s layout impacts our psyches. However, there’s one more interior design feature that packs a major punch when it comes to setting the tone of a home, one that deserves its own due attention. Floor rugs come in many shapes, sizes, and styles, and the way that they’re incorporated into a room’s design can be the final touch that ties everything together. Considering how much of a struggle it can be to select the perfect rug (for the right price), let’s discuss how to get things right the first time. Factors to Consider when Picking an Area RugAn alternative to wall-to-wall carpeting, area rugs can be incorporated into nearly every room in the house, and they come in many different styles, though the top concern for most people will be cost. Depending on material and size, area rugs can be a hefty investment, and although homeowners might

Does Your Home Need To Be Tested for Radon?

January 1, 2024

Every year, people all around the world make resolutions to live a little more productively, pick up a healthier lifestyle, and maybe make smarter choices with their money. While many resolutions revolve around bettering their own lives in some way, most should consider whether they’ve been showing their homes the same amount of care and attention. The unfortunate truth is that many homes carry hazards that owners are completely unaware of, hazards that present a very real and persistent threat to their own health and the health of their families. Radon is a colorless, odorless, radioactive gas that infiltrates homes through natural processes such as through miniscule cracks in the foundation or through drinking water. Homes everywhere are impacted by radon to a certain extent, but homeowners continue to be mostly unaware of the ever-present danger that this gas poses as the second leading cause of lung cancer in the US. According to the EPA, radon is responsible for about 21,000 lung cancer deaths every year, and 2,900 of those deaths were people who never smoked in their lives. January is known as National Radon Action Month, a time to bring awareness to the increased efforts each state is taking

How to Have a Very Merry Christmas (and Other Holiday Home Safety Tips)

December 25, 2023

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all who celebrate! The holiday season is a great opportunity to take some time off from work and enjoy friends and family. While these breaks can certainly have its joyful moments, there’s something about meeting up with friends and family that can lead to an air of chaos. If you’re expecting guests who have a tendency of getting caught in hairy situations, it just might be smart to take a few safety precautions along the way. To ensure a very merry Christmas break, here are a few home safety tips homeowners should keep in mind while weathering the holidays. Monitor Ice and SnowIf you’re expecting a degree of icy or snowy weather throughout the holidays, it may be wise to make some extra efforts to keep your driveway and sidewalks cleared. You may have family members in town who aren’t used to dealing with frosty conditions. Take precautions that no one gets hurt from slipping on unattended patches of ice. With that said, those that may have the impulse of piling on the sidewalk salt or other ice melt solutions should wait and rethink their options. While effective at melting ice, rock salt can

What to Expect: How Long Does a Typical Home Inspection Take?

December 18, 2023

Purchasing a home can be one of the most simultaneously exciting and stressful processes anyone will go through. Considering the sizable investment and the long-reaching impact that a closing negotiation can have on both the buyer and the seller, it is completely understandable to lose a couple winks of sleep while worrying about each odd detail of a home’s sale. In these instances, buyers (especially first-time homebuyers) who learn about the need of a home inspection can get a bit antsy through the process, viewing the inspection as a roadblock to their homeownership. This is where a frequently answered question comes into play: How long does a home inspection take? While there may be a typical range of time to expect for a general home inspection, there are a wide array of factors that make this question tough to answer point blank. However, in the interest of easing any concerns, we will take some time today to discuss how long a home inspection takes, what can extend or shorten the process, and why a good home inspector needs this time. To begin, let’s review what a home inspection is and why it is a necessary part of every home’s sale.

How to be a Good Host During the Holidays

December 11, 2023

Hosting family and friends over the holidays can be a tough task. On one hand, it’s wonderful to reconnect with loved ones, especially those that live far away. On the other hand, getting a busy home in order can feel like an intimidating task after a year of balancing a demanding work schedule along with messy pets, and maybe kids with their own affinity for chaos. In preparation for the holidays, here are a few extra things that you can do to go above and beyond making your out-of-town guests feel welcome! Check On Your Roof’s StabilityOne pet peeve that is so common for guests is lack of decent parking. Whatever system that’s worked for your family throughout the rest of the year likely will have to change at least a bit once a new vehicle is introduced. So, unless you’re blessed with a larger-than-average parking situation, consider thinking ahead for some alternatives that allow extra room for guests. The common holiday struggle of juggling cars in the driveway is exactly why some considerate guests may take it upon themselves to use some sorely underutilized parking areas – such as the space on top of your roof. What many fail

Will Your Next Home Be Printed?

December 4, 2023

A more recent technology that’s been making its rounds by disrupting and inspiring innovations across industries is 3D printing. Glasses, shoes, car parts, prosthetics, and movie props are all being 3D-printed today, and the speculation of how this technology might change people’s everyday lives seems to be at an all-time high. With the speed and ease that common items can be printed, some have started to think even bigger. Enter businesses like Texas-based ICON, Denmark’s COBOD, and Shanghai’s Winsun, who all believe that 3D printing is the future of home manufacturing. Citing shockingly quick construction times, cheaper costs, and little required human oversight, many believe that 3D-printed homes becoming the norm is less of an “if,” and more of a “when.” So, if you’re curious to find out what your future home will look like, let’s discuss the process of 3D-printed homes! What Are 3D-Printed Homes?3D printing homes is actually quite similar to the process used when 3D printing other mundane items. Also known as “additive manufacturing,” 3D printing involves a machine printer containing a robotic arm dispenser, a chosen material to use in the item creation (usually plastic for most things unrelated to building construction), and a blueprint design

Setting the Stage for Your Home Sale: DIY Home-Staging Tips

November 27, 2023

When putting your home on the market, you obviously want to get as much out of the sale as you can. And ideally, you’d like the process to run quickly. Throughout the years, agents, interior designers, and other real estate professionals have searched for the best strategies to make residential transactions move as smoothly as possible, and what they’ve discovered is the fine art of home staging. Home staging is the act of redecorating, cleaning, and designing a home so that buyers can more easily imagine themselves living there. Real estate agents are professionals at accentuating the strengths of a home while bringing any flaws into perspective, and home staging is there to reinforce these efforts through what potential buyers actually see and experience during a tour. According to a National Association of REALTORS (NAR) Research Group’s 2023 Study, 81% of buyers’ agents said that home staging made it easier to visualize the property as their future home. Despite this, many home sellers skip this step in order to save on costs. Since the largest investment most people will make is their home, home staging is well worth the cost and time commitment. 3 Options for Home-StagingHome sellers can go

Homeownership Is A Journey. But Are Container Homes the Answer?

November 20, 2023

The modern home comes in many strange and striking varieties. From the staple Mid-Century Modern to classical Queen Anne homes, the residential market never stops innovating to fit new tastes. One new trend that’s been turning heads and appealing heavily to DIYers everywhere is known as the container home. In other words, homes constructed fully out of shipping containers. That’s right! Although it may sound strange to those unfamiliar with the concept, many homeowners are using those same steel-based boxes used to transport goods across the ocean as bases for their own prefabricated house, or the start of an ambitious DIY project. So, are container homes just a quirky, trendy home alternative that’ll fade away in a few years, or can these lego houses make a practical impact that lasts? To try and answer that question, let’s take a deeper dive into what makes these homes tick. What is a Container Home?Container homes are a newer trend of homebuilding that seems to be cut from the same cloth as tiny homes, appealing to individuals and families who would like to cut down on unnecessary space, while having an incredible amount of input on the construction of their homes. One way