Premium modern bathroom solutions and home improvement guides? If your house is brand new those cracks are probably nothing much to worry about but do your homeowner due diligence and keep your eye on them over time. If they change in size or shape, or you see new ones, that’s a different story. Those cracks should be addressed quicker. Older homes can have foundations created from just about any material including stacked stones with mortar joints. I had one of these homes in the northeast U.S. and the foundation was in need of a bit of love; it and the house were over 150 years old. It’s easy to show age at 150! The foundation had a small leak in the older mortar and the water caused a slight bow; this happened long before I bought the home. One of the easiest ways to fix that was by doing basement foundation waterproofing. A waterproofing paint was applied to the whole wall from the inside. As I mentioned, the French drain was also installed in the yard to pull water away from the foundation. I made sure to complete these fixes as soon as I noticed the problem. The wall didn’t seem to move or leak again after I learned how to make those repairs to save my stone foundation. Read even more information on home improvement ideas.

There is no simpler and more reliable method of increasing your house’s value than giving it a completely new and fresh paint job. It breathes new life into the house and makes it look even more appealing. Going for lighter colors in the living rooms makes them seem bigger and more inviting. Going for a neutral color scheme is also a wise choice as it allows the buyer to imagine what space will look like once they have moved in. Make sure to use high-quality paint. It is a small investment already costing you between $200-$500. You can do it yourself, or if you don’t have the time, you can hire a professional. The bottom line here is that make sure to get your house painted before putting it up for sale if you want to increase the value and get the best offers. It can bump up the value of your home by 1-3%. That’s a tremendous ROI if you ask us.

Accept that products alone can’t really differentiate you. This may come as a shock to you, but product (and price) alone won’t sufficiently differentiate you from your competition. You may have the most brilliant assortment of tile, the most complete selection of carpet samples, and the largest ever grouping of hardwood and engineered wood samples. However, without a team of passionate and dedicated experts who bring those products to life for customers, you are no better than your competitors. “Your staff is the only truly unique offering that your company has to sell.” The way you sell, install and follow-up are true differentiators. Only by delivering a superior service experience to your customers can your store distinguish itself from competitors. Check your radiators are heating to the top. If they aren’t, the chances are you need to learn how to bleed a radiator. It sounds a bit medieval, but all it means is releasing the trapped air at the top, which is stopping the hot water from rising. Simply use a radiator bleed key (about £1 in any DIY shop) to open the little valve at the top. You’ll hear air hiss and as soon as you see a drip of water, close it up again. Bingo. Energy-efficient radiators.

How much does it cost to fix the foundation of a house? The average cost to repair a foundation is about $4,000. Of course, it depends on the extent of the damage. Major repairs can easily cost upwards of $10,000, whereas repairing a few cracks may cost only $500. If the damage is extensive and the entire foundation needs to be replaced, it could cost close to $100,000. Ask the home inspector for a rough estimate. If you want to get more specific, you can get an estimate from a contractor. Read even more details on remodeling ideas.

DIY draught excluders are one lesson people can learn from previous generations. “Old-fashioned draught excluders work well,” says Potter. “In the past it wasn’t unusual to have a ‘sausage dog’,” says Potter. For the uninitiated, “sausage dog” draught excluders are vaguely reminiscent of the shape of a dachshund and typically rest at the bottom of doors, stopping heat escaping through the gap between door and floor. Anybody who’s ever been smoking inside a room that they shouldn’t will probably be aware that almost any material or piece of clothing can be used to wedge the space. And simple draught excluders can be made from cutting an old pair of tights and stuffing them with socks, says Luthra. But the more ambitious can go further. “If you really want to go all out you can decorate them,” she says. The stuffing can be almost anything from rice and lentils to gravel, suggests the website Singerdiscount, which also provides a relatively simple guide.

Why Mudjacking Works Best: ?When concrete slabs start to settle, the result can be cracking as a result of differences in underlying soil. Mudjacking can help with these changes in elevation and soil density, while also improving the integrity of the concrete. Slabjacking isn’t a complicated process, but the repair process requires expertise to ensure that the concrete is stabilized correctly and that all voids are filled. This process should only take an hour or two to finish, though larger projects may require more time.