Comments on: Easy and Cheap Home Remodels

By: Brooks Grillo

Brooks Grillo — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 01:49:47 +0000

I’ve recently moved into a new estate. The kitchen equipment (Fridge, washing machine etc) have no obvious switches on the wall to permit the power to be turned on and off. There are the fuse sockets on the wall for each appliance. Does this signify i will have to get rid of all built in appliance to switch them on at the back or might there be a knob somewhere less evident? Or might there be another reason no devices are operational? There’s electricity.

By: Jon Anderson

Jon Anderson — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 16:43:17 +0000

Susanna makes a good point – when doing something yourself, don’t go with the cheapest supplies out there. You still save over having it done professionally, and that step up to the next price point can make all the difference. We currently rent, and the owner clearly did all the work himself, and was cheap about the supplies. The peel and sticks in the bathroom are in bad shape. The basement had $5/sheet cardboard backed paneling that was destroyed by moisture. There are a million other little examples around the house – all of which would have been beautiful if he had been willing to spend just a little more on the projects.

By: HMB

HMB — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 14:54:30 +0000

I’m tempted to get some work in the house done. Tip: get 10% coupon from Home Depot on Ebay or Postal office to save money.

By: Susanna

Susanna — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 02:49:27 +0000

Just wanted to point out that if you decide to use the peel-and-stick floor tiles, do not put them on top of an existing vinyl floor. Remove the old vinyl first. Otherwise, the stick-on tiles will slide around and come up.

Also, don’t just buy the cheapest stick-on tiles in the store if you want your floor to look good for more than a year.

How do I know these things? The house we moved into last year has an ugly green peel-and-stick tile floor. The tiles (the cheapest Home Depot carries) are sliding around, coming up, and tripping us. Also, the finish on the tiles has worn off in places, making sections of the floor look perpetually dirty.

Sheet vinyl is almost as cheap and doesn’t have all these problems. We are currently saving up to redo the kitchen and replace this crappy floor.

By: Writer's Coin

Writer's Coin — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 23:07:07 +0000

I love the idea of making your home look better on the cheap, but increasing the value of the home? These kinds of fixes are things a home buyer (or at least a real-estate agent) would probably notice and therefore not consider when valuing the home.

Am I wrong about this?

By: Deals Queen

Deals Queen — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 21:42:20 +0000

Hey. Thanks for the great tip. I’ll get my husband to do this!

By: Handy Man Fix Home Repair

Handy Man Fix Home Repair — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 14:21:38 +0000

@LazyMan Thanks for the opportunity.

@LazyMan Readers What do you think? Any and all constructive criticism would be appreciated.