Video tutorial showing how to make your own solar-powered wireless security camera using an off-the-shelf solar panel and any wireless webcam. Supporting details at: jakeludington.com
So you came up with a plot to complete a home improvements project, have you? Excellent. My name is Ryan M. Bruzan and I am here to help guide you through the most important phase of any DIY project: the plan. If you do not have a plan, then expect to make numerous trips to the home improvement warehouse and spend much more money than is necessary and that your budget will allow. Go ahead and ask me how I know. Better yet, let me tell you. I have been making a living doing DIY projects for my customers for eight years now and I still don’t know it all. But I have learned numerous tips and tricks along the way that are essential to accomplishing my goals in the least amount of time while staying within budget. Allow me to share them with you.
We’ve all watched those TV shows that turn an old, dingy kitchen into a completely made over modern kitchen in less than 30 minutes claiming that the project can be completed in one or two weekends. And some of us have even made the attempt to our peril. But what all those shows fail to show you is the process by which those projects get done so fast. Let’s face it, there is no way anyone can remodel a kitchen in a few weekends by themselves even if they know many of the tricks of the trades that help speed up the process. There are many questions to be asked and numerous issues to be considered and the time adds up very quickly. Here I am going to include a few of the most relevant questions as I can think of that you will need to consider to before you set off to make your project go well.
First off, you have to have a plan and a decent plan at that. Attempting to wing it because of your drive and determination will hit you harder faster in both your wallet and on your watch and most often will cost you much more than is necessary. Let’s look at a typical small kitchen remodel project. We will consider that you have an L-shaped kitchen and your goal is to replace the cabinets, add granite countertops, paint the walls, change out the pantry door, add a new hardwood floor and upgrade the trim. Without getting deep in details, I am going to help you through several steps of the process and start you with the questions that you must answer though I may forget a few as perfect as I strive to be, not to mention the mistakes that may occur along the way or any unforeseen issues that may arise.
Please, please, please don’t be hardheaded about the plan as it is always the most important part of any project. I guarantee that if you don’t have a plan in place, there will be no overall desired result. Without a plan, many of the processes have a strong potential of being compromised. Here are some things to consider and a starting list of questions to ask.
General Questions
What is my budget? How much can I comfortably spend to achieve the desired result and how will I keep within my budget?
What do I want to do and is it realistic?
How can I know if the efforts and investment I make will allow me to recoup the costs and add real value to my home at that 70-80% return mark upon sale?
What do I need to take into consideration before I sink alot of money into my project?
How much will the entire project cost not only in money, but also in time (which is much more valuable than money).
Even more importantly, is my project going to allow a tax write off?
Do I need a building permit before I do the project?
General Answers to the Questions Above
This all depends on how much you have saved up and how much you may have to borrow. Even though you may be ready for such a project, you have to know how you will pay for it.
Knowledge is the most important factor to reality. Your location also plays a role here. You must know the trends that are happening in your area. I highly suggest the you get others involved in your planning. By far the absolute best person to get involved in your project is your real estate agent. They know whats going on in your area and can offer you the best advice as to what you need to do and what you should do to accomplish your goal. After you get your agent’s advice, contact an interior designer. Note that if you are going to change the layout, it would be wise to contact a certified kitchen designer to ensure your plan is feasible as there are many standards and legalities that you must consider especially if you are to sell your home at a later date.
Again, a good real estate agent will have this kind of information. A good real estate agent will tell you that if you plan on adding granite over cosmetically improved low-quality cabinets, to put it bluntly, buyers and their agents will laugh and you will more than likely not sell your home based on your kitchen.
This will be dependent on what you wish to accomplish. Create a detailed list of each aspect of your project. Include everything and don’t leave nothing to chance. Determine the type of products you are limited to. Yes, limited to. Your goal is to gain the highest value possible while you enjoy the results, however long that may be. In this case, you are doing all the work yourself. Some things to consider: type of materials and where you will get them; are the materials readily available or custom ordered; if custom ordered, how long does it take to get them especially if you order the wrong item, miscalculate the measurements or get a defective item.
Timing is everything. If you are living in the home, your are going to need a kitchen even while you are working on your project. Make sure your plan covers that. Whose kitchen are you going to use while you are working on your new one? How will you prepare your meals or even the kids’ lunches. A contractor knows that in order to deliver on time, he or she must take everything into consideration and most importantly, how to prevent a standstill if and when something goes wrong. You will too. When gathering your materials, where are you going to store them until they are ready for installation? If you don’t have a garage or a basement, will your supplier house them until you are ready to pick them up? If so, how long can you leave them there before they start charging a storage fee? Can you use a bedroom or living room for storage and how much of an inconvenience will it be to you and your family? Keep in mind that the bigger the items are, the more space they are going to take up. If you are purchasing raw materials, you will need to consider each individual project. For instance, if your are finishing your own cabinets, finish them before you start tearing up your old kitchen. If you are finishing you own floor, it will have to be layed before anything else gets started.
Check with your accountant. They will be able to help you realize the cost realities and how it will effect your bottom line.
Very important. Even if you aren’t planning to change the layout, contact your local building department to see if there are any requirements before you begin. The last thing you want to do is spend all this time and money only to be hit with a violation at the sales inspection of your house. Do not take this for granted. You may be capable of doing your own electric work, but if the building inspector cannot see your work before you cover it up with wall boards, you will most likely have to tear down a portion of the wall so he can see that the electical work was done by code.
Now that we have covered some of the questions you need to have answered before you even put a hole in your olds walls, it’s time to move on to the next phase: Methods, Tools and Purchasing. In my next report we will talk about the different means of procuring your materials and what to expect in terms of time acquiring them and the money you will spend that you probably didn’t think about.
Most importantly, take your time and be patient. Rushing into your project while thinking you might already know it all is more than likely a means to destruction of your entire project, not to mention the turmoil and inconvenience you will cause yourself and your significant others.
When homeowners run their property, they would rather be hands-on with the whole process. This is because paying someone to do the task for them is costly. The money that is supposed to be paid for labor can be kept aside to augment the funds intended for the basic necessities. However, before embarking on any DIY project, you have to ask the ultimate question: can I handle the job on my own?
True, savings is the common reason why some homeowners do home project all by themselves. However, there are certain things that must be looked into before you can be totally confident to do a DIY home improvement project.
You have to bear in mind that making a big home improvement does not only involve nailing big chunks of woods to make a four-cornered room. That’s not all there is to making a project. Aside from the nailing the pieces together, there are certain things that you have to worry about. You have to figure out how you can put together the materials to follow an intricate architectural design.
And of course there are other components like electricity. You have to ask yourself if you possess the necessary skills to create an electrical system or any other system for that matter to make a particular improvement functional. And take note, a room may need a water system; be part of the HVAC system; and of course, should have good insulation. If you know in your heart you are most capable of doing this job, then it shouldn’t be a problem at all.
Once you have addressed this question, the next question to ask is safety. If you will be able to build the improvement with all the necessary components to make it work, you need to determine if it can function without hurting the users. On the other hand, you also have to consider your safety. Do you know the impact of such project to you?
A DIY project is a great to make improvements for less. However, the quality of the project you are making can be jeopardized if you aren’t too sure of what you are doing. Not to mention, you can also put other people at risk, especially your guests, and you can be held liable for all the problems you have caused to them.
But you must also know that many projects may look difficult to do but are easy to accomplish. An example of which is building a small table or some shelf. That kind of carpentry jobs seem easy to do if you have the right tools. Making a garden or developing your lawn is sometimes a no-brainer task. If you are confident that you could pull it off, you can however try it. However, it is best that you educate yourself more about carpentry and other construction related stuff. There are tons of resources online that you could use to pursue a DIY project. Hence, it is also not impossible to learn whatever it is you are planning to do.
If you have an expensive project, the savings that you will be giving may not be worth it. Therefore, you have to know your capabilities and knowledge about this matter before making a project DIY.
So you want to begin a home improvement project but simply don’t have the money to pay a contractor. That’s why you decided on DIY home improvement. Good for you! Even without construction experience, most home improvement can be done by the do it yourselfer. But before you get started there are a few things you need to consider if you want your home to look like it was done by a professional.
The two main things we’ll be touching on here are having a good plan and having the determination to see the project through to the end. There’s nothing more annoying and less attractive than a half completed project in the home. You must have the end in mind and the plan to get there before you even begin.
So the first thing you want to do is determine exactly what you will be doing. It sounds obvious, but way too many projects are started without a full visualization of the finished project. Get ideas from the rest of your family. Check home magazines for ideas as well. Even search online until you find exactly the project that will make your home more appealing to you.
Now that you have the end in mind, let’s figure out what it’s going to take to get there. That means we need to talk about money. Figure out all the materials you need ahead of time, tools included, and how much it will cost. You’ve got a budget to stay within and the last thing you want to do is run out of money midway through the project. If the materials will cost too much, figure out if there is a less expensive alternative that will work. If not, perhaps it’s time to consider another less expensive project. You must have all this figured out before you start or your project will be a disaster.
Now create a time line. When do you want to be finished? Is it realistic for you to complete the project in that amount of time? What you need to do is create a schedule for each step of the project and stick to it. By forcing yourself to stay on schedule you’ll be able to get past those times when you just don’t feel like working or when your enthusiasm for the project begins to wane. And believe me when I say those things will happen.
If you have to be done by a certain date (perhaps you are hosting a wedding reception or party), make sure you can schedule enough time to get the project completed in time. And give yourself a little leeway. There will inevitably be setbacks that might throw you behind schedule. If the time frame is cutting it too close, perhaps it will be better to wait before you begin.
Creating a DIY home improvement plan is not that difficult, just take your time and do it right. The more time you put into the planning, the better your project will be when it is completed.
Any Do it yourself project is a fun and rewarding experience for the home handy person. DIY Solar Power kits are no exception, they do however come with the added bonus of helping to save the environment and save you a ton of money in the process.
The major issues in this day and age are how to lessen our impact on the environment and how we get through the current tough economic times.
Putting your own DIY Solar Power kits together and generating your own homemade energy is a simple and straightforward process, provided you first get yourself a good blueprint or guide to work from.
The materials can be obtained from your local hardware store for under $200, I actually spent closer to $220 but this was due to a bungle on my part. When you consider the price of retail solar panels which can run well into the thousands of dollars, you can see the large cash savings you can make by building DIY Solar Power Kits.
DIY solar power kits are great projects to get the whole family involved in. It’s not only a fun project to assemble the materials and get a work panel up and running, it’s a great educational process for your family, the kids in particular have an increased awareness when it comes to energy consumption and conservation and have now taken more of an interest in environmental issues.
It is claimed you can cut up to 80% off your power bill by producing your own homemade energy, personally I estimate I’m running at around a 60% reduction in my energy usage. This translates to some pretty nice savings, money which is sorely needed elsewhere these days and as I add more panels I project even greater savings.
So get started on your own project today, you will save a ton of money as well as help out good old mother nature!
Try Autodesk Homestyler (formerly Project Dragonfly) free online home design software at www.homestyler.com. This video provides a brief summary of the application features and their associated benefits for consumer homeowners, home improvement enthusiasts, and building product manufacturers. It also demonstrates the potential benefits for professional designers working with their clients by showing how designs can be exported from Homestyler to professional applications like Revit and AutoCAD.
You will want to have a miter saw when you are working with things like baseboards and trim work. They will not only help you cut on a straight angle, but it will also help you to cut on a horizontal angel too. Most will even do beveled edges. You will find that the miter saw quality that you purchase will depend on your budget. You will find that there are many additional features with the higher priced saws. Sliding saws will allow you to more the blade forward so that you can cut the larger pieces.
With compound miter saws you will be able to get the same things like a straight cut, horizontal angle, but they also have tilt motors. Meaning, they can cut bevels. Most of the typical miter saws that you will see on the market do not have the title and are unable to cut the bevels in the wood. You will find that the miter saw will sit on a table while the saw blade spins and is push down through the wood. These types of saws are very durable. Some are light weight and all are portable. You will find that this is because they need to be carried from job to job.
Dual power compound saws may even be known as double bevel saws. This is because they can cut straight and horizontally, but they are able to be tilted in either direction. This is why they are better for beveled edges. You will find that this type of equipment can be very expensive, but it is way better than the typical compound saw.
Sliding compound saws are great, but they work in a way that the compound saw works. There is just one difference that makes the sliding compound saw a little better. That is they can be pulled forward as the wood is cut and you will be able to cut larger pieces of wood because of that added feature.
Out of all the compound saws, it is the dual compound sliding saw that is among the best. These can be used for the typical cuts, but they are able to be tilted in either direction. They also are able to more forward as the wood is cut. They can be moved from site to site with ease and it can give you a professional look for work or home projects.
There are other things like radial arm and miter saws that you can use for work or play. You will find that they can do a variety of cutes, even crosscutting. You will want to keep in mind that some of these power tools can be very expensive, but you have to decide what it is that you need to get the job down, and what features you can afford to invest in.
If your roof is in need of repair, then you may be considering a DIY roof repair project. Depending on the nature of the problem and how complex the repair process will be, you may be able to complete some or all of the work yourself. Before you decide to move ahead with a DIY roof repair project, however, make sure that you have all the facts and are prepared for everything that the job entails.
One of the first considerations in a DIY roof repair project is whether or not you are afraid of heights. If you are, a DIY roof repair project may not be the kind for you. If heights are not a concern, then it’s time to consider your level of expertise when it comes to repairing a roof. Have you repaired a roof with this type of problem before? If not, are you confident that you can complete this project correctly? When it comes to your roof, you will want to make sure that you have all of the information needed to complete the job.
Once you have considered all of the safety and experience aspects needed to complete a DIY roof repair project, the next step is to decide whether or not to proceed or to hire a contractor. If you plan to do the work yourself, you can find all of the supplies needed at a local home improvement store. Before beginning any project, including that which involves DIY roof repair, you will need a sturdy ladder, work gloves, a tool belt, quality shoes that provide good treading for climbing a ladder, protective eye wear, etc. A contractor, on the other hand, will provide all of the materials themselves so that you do not have to worry about supplying anything but the funds.
As for whether or not it is advisable to undertake a DIY roof repair project, that answer can be found by assessing the damage. Minor repairs, such as shingle replacement or repair, small leaks, etc. can be handled by most homeowners. For more extensive damage, such as that involving hail storms, hurricanes, tornadoes or other similar misfortune may be best handled by a licensed contractor who has extensive experience in these types of roof repair projects. At a minimum, many individuals prefer to have a contractor available for supervision. If this is your preference, hire a supervisor to work with you from the beginning as it will be much more economical to have someone with you from start to finish. This option will be more affordable than waiting until the project is complete, hiring a supervisor to check out your work and learning that you need to go back and redo a large portion of the DIY roof repair project.
Suppose you have a great home project idea, and you think you can do it yourself; you’re not sure if you can pull it off, but in theory, it sounds doable. There’s certainly a risk involved with doing a home project by yourself, but the joy of using a new, improved kitchen, bathroom, or what have you – it’s an accomplished feeling that millions of people experience nationwide. The following are tips on carrying out a successful DIY project. Knowing these tips and following them will ensure that your idea can finally become reality.
1) Identify what it is you’re working on. What need are you addressing here? If there’s no necessity in your project, what desire would you fulfill if you’re successful? Having motivation to do a DIY assignment is key to doing something well. But first and foremost, you need to know what you’re working with.
2) Make a list of things you’ll need, and a list of things you already have. Write an approximate timeline of how you think things will go. Here’s an example: “Need new shelves in the living room. Must buy: 20 screws, new drill bits, shelves at IKEA. Already have: screwdriver, drill, vacuum for cleanup. 1pm-2pm: hit the Home Depot; 2pm-230pm: remove old shelves; 230-4pm: install new shelves; clean up by 4:30pm.” Some projects can take a few days (landscaping, for instance). Make sure you allot time for lunch and water breaks if it’ll require a lot of energy. Regardless, nothing can delay your project like having to go to the home improvement store more than once for any one particular project.
3) Wear appropriate clothes, and don’t be afraid to ask for help! Family members can always lend you a hand in a DIY project.
As a homeowner, it’s natural to be afraid of screwing up and not getting a project done. No one wants to start redoing their bathroom or kitchen and end up with nothing but torn-up walls and exposed plumbing. Asking a professional can benefit your cause, but may be costly, and therefore defeat the purpose of doing a home project by yourself. Check your contact book and see if anyone you know has any relative knowledge in whatever it is you’re trying to do. However, if you approach a DIY task with a go-getter attitude, and tell yourself that it must be done (and more importantly, WHY it must be done), you will be successful.
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