Design | Remodeling

Rebuilding after Superstorm Sandy involves updated flood hazard regulations and products specifically designed to withstand severe weather.

Small living spaces offer real benefits: small homes reduce your cost of living in terms of rent or mortgage and are easier to clean and maintain. However, smaller living spaces come with a set of problems, and insufficient storage space is foremost among them. Even if you don’t have many belongings, you will still be hard-pressed for storage in a small home. If you want to live free of clutter, you should focus on storage solutions.

Steep declines in housing prices and stiffer lending requirements have slowed home sales to their lowest levels in decades. As a result, a lot of us have changed our long term plans. Rather than climb the housing ladder any further, we would rather improve our existing home -- the architectural equivalent of “love the one you’re with.”

When selling, it pays to think like a buyer. The first thing buyers see, and on which they will base their very first buying decision -- to take a closer look -- is the exterior of your home. This is why investments in curb appeal typically have a higher payback than interior upgrades. Remodeling Magazine’s vaunted Cost vs. Value report, an annual survey of improvement costs vs. payback at time of sale, reveals siding as one the best investments, far ahead of upgraded kitchens and baths.

Ive Haugeland and Tyler Manchuck, of Shades of Green Landscape Architecture in Sausalito, Calif., spend many hours researching, debating the pros and cons of different products, asking questions, and working with sustainable manufacturers to provide landscapes that are not a posh-type green project, but rather areas that truly benefit the environment. Shades of Green used a newly completed residence in Sausalito as an experimental project in which to introduce new, sustainable grass seed. "The no-mow lawn uses a blend of fescue. It takes way less water and you only need to cut it once a year," says Haugeland.

Cash for Caulkers, officially titled “HOMESTAR,” is designed to entice Americans to make energy efficient upgrades to their home. Just as Cash for Clunkers increased auto sales by offering tax rebates to Americans who exchanged their inefficient cars for more fuel-friendly models, the Cash for Caulkers program hopes to boost the demand for building products by offering point-of-sale tax rebates for energy efficient upgrades such as insulation. Cash for Caulkers also aims to create jobs through installation services, reduce household energy costs by hundreds of dollars a year, and reduce the nation’s dependency on oil.

While catching up on my daily dose of news, I came across a rather interesting story out of Olympia, Washington.   After a local woman found out that her husband was leaving her, she allegedly tampered with his power tools, switching the positive and negative wires in an attempt to get back at him.

Remodeling is a huge investment - one of the biggest you will make after purchasing your home. Depending on your comfort level and general understanding of construction, hiring a contractor may be a necessity. It is important to know your limits. If you need to hire a contractor, then do so, but don’t just open a phonebook and call the first name you see.

Safety tends to be overlooked while working around the house.  I once tried to move a ladder while I was standing on top of it. Instead of climbing down and moving the ladder over a few feet, I attempted to save some time. As you can imagine, that idea did not turn out the way I had planned.

Homeowners spent an estimated $109.7 billion in 2009, which was down from $120.1 billion in 2008, according to the recent article, Home Improvement Spending: Looking Up.  Experts forecast that spending will bottom out early this year and will be on the rise again throughout 2010.