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What is sustainability? Just another trendy word in the remodeling and construction biz? Not at all. In fact, sustainability is our future (literally) and it's very important that not only construction professionals but homeowners are aware of it.

According to the folks over at Thinksulation, sustainability is "about designing and building for the long term while conserving the environment. And industry professionals are choosing building products more conscientiously than ever before.

They're choosing building materials such as fiber glass insulation that minimize the impact on the environment.

Fiber glass insulation is a proven performer when it comes to saving energy. We all know a building that is thermally efficient reduces the amount of energy used. But this also means less fossil fuel is burned to produce that energy, resulting in a reduction of polluting gases released into the atmosphere and less need for new power plants."

According to Smart Homeowner's Market Focus only 14 percent of new homebuyers say that their contractors told them about green building options or energy-efficient upgrades and products.

Make sure you discuss all your options when you talk with your remodeling contractor. Talk about energy savings and energy efficiency. Discuss products you can use in your remodeling project that will not only save you money in the long run, but will also have limited affects on the environment.

Homeowners are so much more demanding than they were generations ago. Many people want and expect the best when it comes to their house. After all, the home is where most people spend most of their life and... it is most generally their largest investment.

If you're considering a partial or complete home renovation, here are some factors to consider other than just getting what you want. Remodeling your home is not always a completely selfish act of indulgence. And, these reasons might help you convince your significant other that it's time to invest back into your home :)

Home Remodeling can:

- Increase Market Value of the house; Increase Home Equity: a home that has improvements in all the right places can be worth more. By having the house evaluated and appraised after renovation, it could be worth more than previously stated and could bump up your overall equity as well.

- Improve Comfort: along with cosmetic changes from a remodel, changes are usually made to a home to add, increase or make more efficient the insulation, heating & cooling, UV protection, ventilation, and more. The behind the scenes work on a house can make it more comfortable.

- Add Space: redesigning a kitchen, attic, basement, or adding on to those rooms can give you more room and more storage in your home.

- Improve Safety: old wiring, faulty connections, outdated products, and more will usually be replaced in remodeled rooms making the entire house safer than before. New items, such as fire sprinklers or at least fire alarms can be added. Even home security technology can be added during your renovation to make the house safe.

- Add Convenience: whenever a room is remodeled, new features and products can replace or be introduced to make the room easier to use. Lighting can be automated, new appliances can be installed, home theater speakers can be hidden, and electronic thermostats can be set up. All making it easier to use and to save you time.

- Save Energy Costs: a remodeling project can bring in new products and materials that will save you money in the long run. Simply updating to an Energy Star refrigerator, dishwasher, and installing halogen dimmable lighting can cut your energy bills in half for your kitchen renovation.

- Ease Maintenance Requirements: with today's new state-of-the-art materials (that didn't exist when your home was built) you could get a new floor, a new countertop, or new siding installation that could mean maintenance-free living. Some of the new replacement windows are easier to clean. Composite materials have been introduced in a lot of home applications and they don't need to be painted, sealed, or replaced for a very long time. Although, you'll still need to clean. Cleaning never goes away.

There are a host of other reasons to remodel your house - improved security, aesthetic appeal, having a healthier environment - but what matters is that you know you'll be taking care of your house, your family, and your investment by improving and remodeling when and where you can.

If you need to find a local home remodeler, contact Construction Deal and we'll help you find a perfect match. It's a fast, free, and easy way to find a reliable renovation contractor!

It's been a while, but you have been promising to renovate your basement and now is the time. When most people are buying their house, they tour the basement and talk about grand plans to add this or create that with the space. But after the laundry room is set up, many abandon the idea. Now, you can remodel the basement and give yourself the extra room you need to expand without breaking the bank. A basement remodel is usually a third the cost of a remodeling job on first floors and above.

A basement can mean more than just an extra bedroom or a playroom for the kids. It could be an art studio, a home office, a sewing room, a home theater, or… if you plan it right, you might be able to add a few of these options.

Before you call a contractor to help with the remodeling phase, sit down and plan out how you want to use the space. Think about what you need versus what you want. Consider that you may be losing some of your current storage space with this renovation. Go over your budget, too. It will affect your plan. Adding a bathroom to a basement can be very expensive, so working it out in the planning and budgeting phase means a lot.

Remodeling the basement might be the time to experiment. Many homes conform to the houses architecture on the main floors, be in traditional or country or modern. However, the basement is usually considered very separate from the rest of the house. It could be your chance to make a classical Art Deco escape or to try out some new wall textures or faux painting ideas. Try whatever you want in your new basement - even if it doesn't work out, you can always change it and not as many people will see it while you re-work it.

Once your new basement plans are in place, you can post your basement renovation project on the Construction Deal website. It's a free resource for you to find a quality basement remodeling company in your area. It beats choosing contractors at random from the yellow pages.

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Perhaps you're looking to sell your home or maybe you want to spice up the exterior of your house exterior. They say that "looks aren't everything" but then they also say that "you never get a second chance at a first impression." How the outside of your home looks truly does matter. But because it's your home, you've grown comfortable with how it looks and may not realize that it needs some help.

When family comes for the holidays, potential buyers for the first day of Open House, or friends come over for the big game, the first thing they see when they get out of their car is the front of your house. How much curb appeal does your home have?

Here are a few tips to give your home a facelift and make it the envy of the neighborhood:

House Exterior

Is your home painted? A fresh coat of paint will do wonders for the look of your home. You might even think about a new color. Does everyone on your street have white paint on their house? Consider a khaki color with white trim. I've seen a lot of houses from the 80's and 90's that were painted a flat gray -- it might be time to try a pale yellow, a tan, or switch to an ivory color to be different from all the other suburban homes.

Is it covered in vinyl siding or stucco or brick? Stale, old siding or cracking stucco can really bring down the value of your home. Nothing says 1960's Split Level like a house covered in multicolored bricks. Consider having a siding contractor come out to give you an estimate and bringing your home into the 21st century.

Shutters? If you home has large windows on the front of the house with nothing else around them, it can make the house look flat and boring. A set of shutters, in a darker/contrasting color from the house paint can make your house jump up and demand your attention. If you've got shutters, a nice new coat of paint can do amazing things.

Landscaping

The landscaping around your house means more than planting a few flowers or bushes under the windows of your home. Sometimes it means removing what's already there. Overgrowth of bushes, trees, and plants can hide your home's architecture and curb appeal. Cutting back or even removing large chunks of landscaping can open it up and breathe new life into your aging house.

Try to get landscaping that is native to your area to make sure you don't need to water or care for everything more than you normally would. People sometimes install plants, trees, and grass that doesn't belong in their state. Then, they're forced to spend more time, water, and money to maintain it. Many give up and it ends up looking worse than before they started.

Consult a lanscape architect or landscaping company to plan out your yard to really draw attention to the home's best points and pull away from areas the house is not as strong in.

New Roof

It's a drastic measure, but if you're home is in need of a new roof (you've got leaks, missing shingles, sagging roofline, etc.) it can really add to the look of your home. The great thing is that there are a host of new roofing products and materials out there that can really liven up your house. Even if you go with traditional asphalt shingles again, there are dozens of styles, textures, and colors to choose from.

Driveway, Walkways & Sidewalks

Resurfacing or replacing your asphalt or concrete surfaces can be the final touch in updating your home's curb appeal. If you're interested in going beyond just a new coat of concrete or black asphalt, consider adding a unique look to your home. Going with brick or concrete pavers, acid stained concrete, or other decorative concrete will really make your neighbors jealous and improve your home value. Click here for some info on some acid staining options.

Accessories

A new front door can really do wonders for your curb appeal. Make sure that the door fits the architecture of your house. I've seen many people try to squeeze a set of double doors onto a 2 bedroom ranch and it just makes the house look even smaller than it is. If you can't afford a new door, consider painting your door to add some spice to the front of your house.

Don't forget about updating the porch light, street light, mailbox, and house numbers. Try to get a matching style for your house architecture and also make sure that all the accessories match each other (if not an exact match, then at least the same material or color.)

If you've got fencing on either side of your home exterior, you might think about updating the wood or chain link fences or maybe adding a decorative gate.

Making adjustments to the front exterior of your home is the first, best step to improving the curb appeal as well as the value of your biggest investment. If you need to find any type of home improvement guru to help with your renovations, contact Construction Deal - - we're your resource to find a quality professional and it's free to use for all homeowners!

With the housing market down in 2006, and probably 2007, it's going to mean that more people will be staying put in their current home. One reason many like to move to a new home is that they need more space. If you're staying in your house, you may be able to renovate your attic to give you some much needed room.

Most people hate the thought of even going up into their attics for anything. But the structure of your house may allow for a complete room, or maybe even a master suite and an additional bathroom. Some have even been able to add two complete bedrooms or a bedroom and home office up there.

If you're using your attic for store things, you may be hestitating about turning it into another living space because you'll lose the storage space. Keep in mind that most roofs slope downward and you may be able to create cabinets along the lower parts of the sloping roof. It could also give you a great excuse to throw away old junk and organize the area.

A home remodeling contractor can inspect your attic to see what your options are and to help you plan out what can be done in your attic. Not every home is built to have a living space in the attic. You'll have to consider many factors:

• Framing: if there are too many frames criss-crossing the space, it cannot be remodeled. You need to make sure your roof will still be supported. Some homes were not built with a usable attic living space in mind.
  

• Space: is there enough headroom and adequate roof space to make a room? Some attics have enough space to just walk down the center. Raising the roof is a possibility, but should only be undertaken if you need new roofing materials and can handle the expenses of the work, the new materials, and debris removal.
  

• Support: can your attic joists support the additional weight of the room and people using it? It could cause problems in rooms below if the attic becomes habitable. It might be necessary to talk with a structural engineer.
  

• Access: do you need to make stairs? If so, do you have room on the floor below for a staircase? You will need a floorplan that allows more access than just a square hole in the ceiling.
  

• Heating & Cooling: will you be able to add air ducts to the room? Will you be able to keep the same level of insulation? Adding an attic rooom removes some of the rest of your home's barrier agains the elements. Find out if a skylight or two are an option for natural lighting and heating.
  

An attic renovation could give you a new master suite, rooms for the kids, a library or den as a retreat. There are dozens of reasons to talk to a professional about your options in your own home. Construction Deal has a network of remodeling contractors waiting to give you an estimate. Post your request for free on our main site.

Good luck with the attic renovation!

Thanks to the soaring price of real estate, growing numbers of modest postwar homes are being gutted and rebuilt, not just to make them larger, but to bring them into current vogue as well.

When done with care, such drastic makeovers occasionally succeed. More often, though, they just obliterate the very traits that give a home character, replacing them with a confused muddle of real estate sales cliches.

The reason most makeovers fail is simple: Architectural style resides in the very bones of a building, not just on the surface.

A home's original style can't just be stripped away and replaced with another one, as you might throw a slipcover over an old sofa. Like the sofa, the basic form beneath will always show through.

The proportions of windows and doors, the pitch and style of the roof, and even the way a house occupies its site are all integral to its style, whether it be Victorian, Bungalow, Mediterranean or ranch.

Short of eradicating every trace of these features, it's no easy task to credibly transform one style into another. Nor is there much point in an exercise, which, at great expense, usually sacrifices a home's long-term timelessness for a few brief years of fashion currency.

Radical makeovers aren't a new idea, of course. During the first half of the 20th Century, when Victorian architecture was widely despised, those homes were often "modernized" into near-comical renditions of Spanish Revival, Bauhaus, or other more fashionable styles.

Ironically, now that Victorians are once again appreciated, those irreversibly remuddled examples are worth markedly less than their unsullied neighbors.

Today's makeovers are no less ludicrous than those of years past. We just don't notice how jarringly inappropriate they are, because the homes involved don't yet seem worthy of respectful remodeling.

Right now, it's the misfortune of postwar houses -- especially the tract homes of the 1950's and '60s -- to inherit the oh-well-nothing-here-worth-saving status once accorded to Victorians, Bungalows and every other style temporarily at its nadir.

Drive down any suburban street and you're likely to find a mid-century home that's been remuddled into oblivion.

Usually, these heavy-handed makeovers are meant to tart up the clean lines of postwar homes into something closer to the grab-bag traditionalism currently in vogue. More than a few such projects are carried out by speculative builders with a minimal grasp of the subtleties of postwar design. Many blithely load up on their favorite remodeling goodies from the local building emporium -- vinyl windows with divided lites, plastic six-panel doors and yard upon yard of crown molding -- convinced they're making some major improvements to that boring old ranch.

Yet such neo-traditionalist frou-frou has no place in mid-century homes, no matter how drastically revamped. The sort of frantic applique detailing so popular on today's tract houses is inevitably at odds with the intentionally calm lines of most postwar design.

Crown moldings and gridded windows won't change a ranch house into an Italian villa, any more than stucco and a red roof turned those Victorians into adobes.

About the Author
Arrol Gellner - Inman News


When you're ready to remodel your home, use ConstructionDeal.com to find a Home Remodeling Contractor!

What's the best way to find a quality home improvement contractor? Here's part of an article I wrote that's on our website on how to make sure you're getting the best remodeling service for your project:

"Where do I start?

The truth is... some jobs are too big, too complicated, or require too much time to handle on your own. Whether it's remodeling a kitchen, installing gutters, or electrical rewiring for your business - you'll likely need an expert.

A contractor can be a knight in shining armor when it comes to completing a home repair or remodeling project. You've heard horror stories connected with shady contractors and you're starting to rethink this remodel. Statistics show that the huge majority of contractors out there are honest, hard-working professionals. Most people are happy with any improvement project they undertake.

How can you protect myself and make sure I find a great contractor? Here are some tips you can follow to make sure your remodeling project goes well:

• Got License? Most states require that a contractor have a license to operate in that state. Once you find a contractor, check to see if he or she has a local contracting license to do the job. Check out our Resources Page for the State Licensing Board for your state requirements.
  

• Got References? Get at least three references from satisfied clients. And if you want to get really fanatical, go to the contractor's current job site. See if the site is messy. Are the workers taking care of the property?
  

• Got Bids? If you have the luxury, get multiple bids from several contractors. Don't always assume that the lowest bid is the best, because that contractor may be desperate for work or might cut corners on the job. But if you get contractor's from several sources, you could get a really great deal.
  

• Got it in Writing? The days of the "handshake deal" are far behind us. Get a detailed contract together and throw everything in (even if the project doesn't involve the kitchen sink!) The more you clarify, the fewer headaches you'll have if things go wrong.
  

• Got a Checking Account? Don't ever pay in cash. Can you say, "Proof of payment"? I thought you could... Keep logs of all payments (for example - 10% down, 20% by one date, another 20% by another date, final payment when work is complete) and pay with check or credit card only.

You can read the rest of the article on our Resources section on the ConstructionDeal.com website.