Nashville Home Improvement Help

Revitalization of older neighborhoods closer to urban centers is happening all over the US. There are many reasons why this has been a popular phenomenon, but perhaps the most important reason is the driving force behind all real estate: location, location, location.

While most cities historically have built new development “sprawl” outward as population expands, there has been a trade off: transportation infrastructure. While the housing boom saw more and more farmland turned into expensive subdivisions, there has also been the simultaneous revitalization movement that remodels the run-down areas close to where the action is - within biking or walking distance from downtown and the many great attractions of the city.

No area better illustrates this point than the East Nashville area. In the 80s and early 90s this neighborhood was considered a high-crime zone, and had one of the worst reputations in the metro area. Since then, there has been a stark turnaround. In the past decade, younger progressive home buyers have flocked to East Nashville for cheap housing and superb access to downtown, I-24 and other perks.

Today, along with the high dollar west-end and Belmont sections of town, this area is possibly one of the smartest places to live in Nashville. With a thriving community identity, convenient location, and exclusive perks, such as the largest greenspace in the Metro area (Shelby Park), the east side buzzes with bicycles and pedestrians who eat at locally owned restaurants, drink gourmet coffee at locally owned bistros, and congregate at some of the best bars outside of downtown. People know each other, and know the owners of their shops. It’s like the old days. Some folks literally never leave the east side. Why would you need to?

New suburban developments on the other hand are distinctly planned corporate entities. SUVs and newer cars line the many parking lots of commercial spaces that look like any other in the US. The same restaurants, the same stores, the same anonymity. People drive instead of walk, very little if anything is locally owned, and most people have to commute farther into town for work. Depending on your taste, this could be considered an alienating paradise of friendly strangers compared to the “small town within a city” feel of east Nashville.

With gas prices rising rapidly, this contrast also outlines the advantages of access to community transportation such as the metro bus system. Despite previous low-income associations, bus use is on the rise, especially for work commuters who live in places like east Nashville. A short bus ride downtown is virtually free, and there is no headache with parking.

What’s the most powerful tool you can employ in your home improvement project? It’s not a great contractor, creative architect or even a lot of do-it-yourself know-how.

“Your good credit score is a powerful tool for achieving your home improvement objectives,” says Maxine Sweet, vice president of public education for Experian. “Your credit score can impact the financing you need to pay for your home improvement project.”

If you’re considering a home improvement project this year, the first step to accomplishing it should be to make sure your finances are in order. A recent Experian-Gallup survey indicates that most people know their credit rating is important, and 19 percent actually say their happiness depends on it. A third of those surveyed said they intend to take steps this year to improve their credit rating. More on Credit Score: A Secret Weapon For Home Improvement

Spring brings warmer temperatures, longer days, greener lawns and home repairs and improvements to Nashville. It also brings increased complaints about home improvement fraud to the Consumer Protection HotLine.

You should remember some simple precautions can reduce the possibility that the repairs or improvements to your Nashville home will not lead to despair later. To protect yourself from home improvement fraud you should take the following steps:

1. Only do business with local and well-established businesses. Never do business with someone who shows up uninvited on your doorstep. Or, use an online service such as BeaverBids.com to do a background check on contractors and get bids anonymously.

2. Never allow anyone into your home who you do not know and trust. Report any suspicious visitors to your home to local law enforcement.

3. Never allow someone to pressure you into a hasty decision. If someone tells you there is a serious problem with your home, get a second or third opinion before proceeding with the repairs.

4. Before doing business with any company, check its record with the Middle Tennessee Better Business Bureau at www.bbb.org or (615) 242-4222.

5. Get a written or online home improvement contract spelling out what work will be done, what materials will be used, what it will cost and when work will start and when it will be completed.

6. Verify that the contractor has workmens’ compensation and liability insurance before any work begins on your home. Have yourself listed as an additional insured on the contractor’s policy.

Thinking of painting your Nashville home anytime soon?  You might want to check out Cool Wall, the amazing new wall coating that cuts energy costs, and will last a lifetime.

Cool Wall coating, a space age exterior coating designed and manufactured by Texture Coatings of America. Cool Wall coating has received a green product stamp after a 2 year study performed by the US Department of Energy proved that the heat reflective coating cuts energy costs as much as 21.9 %. Cool Wall coating is sprayed on to exterior structures using a special application, similar to applying paint, but is 10 - 20 times thicker. The coating is guaranteed for life, which radically reduces chemicals introduced into the environment by continually re-spraying a structure with standard paint over the years. All the ingredients in Cool Wall are environmental friendly.

The patented technology also allows the structure to breathe. Textured Coating of America’s spokesman John Soyak says, “When a structure is painted, the paint traps moisture that is trying to escape from the interior of the structure. Since the trapped water contains contaminants, over time problems can develop such as dry rot, and stucco damage. Cool Wall coating, through advanced technology, allows the product to breathe, and the trapped water to evaporate thus eliminating the problem.”

Because of its unique properties, Cool Wall coating has been used on seven of the top ten bridges in America, on many famous corporate buildings, control towers, monuments, and thousands of homes. The US military has used this reflective technology to remove the heat signature from much of its equipment, including the Stealth Bomber.

While you can expect a continued stagnation in the Nashville housing market, around one in four Americans plan to tackle home improvements and most will spend more than $1,000 this year. Research shows that more people are heading to the internet to find information on how to do things themselves, and find competitive prices on both labor and materials.

The internet provides a new way for consumers to feel more confident about their decisions on a home improvement project because they can quickly and easily do research on what a project entails. The internet also offers new possibilities on connecting to local repairmen and contractors in the Nashville area, with services such as BeaverBids.com offering competitive quotes on your job.

To DIY or not to DIY?
Before starting on any improvement project, homeowners should consider if they know what they’re doing, have the right resources and can complete the project on time and within budget. If the answers to any of these are no, enlist help before starting the project.

Let’s face it, it’s easy to let inspiration run wild. Before you know it, you’ll be in over your head. Perhaps surprisingly, the percentage of men who admit to turning to others for help has increased by 10 percent, compared to results reported in 2005.

Project Know-How Pays Off
Having reliable resources in your back pocket helps simplify any project by saving valuable time and money. A study by Ace Hardware shows that the Internet has taken over the top spot as the go-to information resource for two out of three homeowners (66 percent), which is a dramatic increase from 41 percent reported in 2005. In response to the Internet’s growing popularity on the home front, many Web sites have become one-stop destinations with 24/7 access to all the information, how-to advice and merchandise homeowners need.

Ready to add a new deck to your Middle Tennessee home? There are quite a few things to consider before you begin, and finding the right contractor is a critical choice. We’ve outlined some important tips that every homeowner should consider below:

Make Sure You Follow Building Codes
Local building codes vary depending upon lot size, deck height, and the type of land for the depth of post holes. Even though Nashville codes may approve things like a floor joist of 2×6-inch dimensional lumber to always go 1-step higher such as a 2×8-inch joist. More on New Deck? Advice For Selecting Builders In Nashville

Selling a home in this market requires a lot of patience and compromise. You must negotiate on price and list your home on the market for months. The slow in home sales has convinced many folks in Nashville and Middle Tennessee to just sit this season out and focus on making their home more pleasant to live in and increase its future value.

Kermit Baker, a research fellow at Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies says, “There is a lot of attractiveness to thinking about staying put and making changes to the current home.”

While the Harvard research group says they are expecting remodeling spending to decline this year, there is likely to be a large group of homeowners that will invest in home improvement anyway, especially with the economic stimulus checks coming in. More on Not Selling This Season? Tips On Finding Contractors in Nashville

If you are looking for a more flexible alternative to rotate or move your in-ground plants, the Plant Exchange InGround Planter System is designed to not only give you more control, but it conserves water too.

The product is really just a 10-inch flowerpot that you place in the ground inside a permanently installed sleeve. A vented tray in the container allows the plant to sit above a reservoir, which holds up to a quart of water.

The water retaining design allows the water to stay with your plant, so less watering is needed than in conventional planting.  If your flowers fade and you want to exchange them for a different seasonal show, you simply pull the pot out of its sleeve, replant it and replace in the ground.

Practical for a variety of reasongs, the system lets you turn plants for better sun exposure, remove plants during winter months for indoor keeping and keep invasive plants from spreading.

A set of three polypropylene planters and sleeves costs $21.99 plus $10 for shipping and handling. It can be ordered at www.ingroundplanter.com or by sending a check or money order to P.O. Box 42802, Evergreen Park, IL 60805-9998.

A national consumer opinion poll released today found that 24 percent of U.S. homeowners are “considering using” their economic stimulus checks to upgrade or improve their homes. Also about one in five said they would “definitely use” their rebate cash for a home improvement. The study was conducted earlier this month by Johns Manville (JM), a building products manufacturer, and Opinion Research Corp., a market research firm.

“The federal government is hoping that Americans will spend these checks and help stimulate the nation’s economy, and this survey confirms that many Americans are prepared to do that, at least when it comes to their homes,” said Wayne Russum, senior vice president of Opinion Research Corp.

Among the people who said that they don’t plan to use their ‘gubment’ check for a home improvement, the most common plan was to put it in the bank (45 percent), paying down debt (40 percent), taking a vacation (14 percent), purchasing a luxury item (9 percent), or something else (5 percent). More on U.S. Homeowners Plan To Spend Their Tax Rebate Checks on Home Improvement Projects

A common place for improvement of your house is your bathroom. Ki Gray recently explained in the American Chronical that with a bit of preparation, planning, and hard work your bathroom can take on a new life.

Gray notes that the first thing to consider during any renovation is to begin with a budget that you will adhere to. When your budget is established, you should decide how difficult the job will be. A new coat of paint and cosmetic changes are cheap and easy, while changing the layout of your bath such as changing the location of your sink, toilet, or bathtub will be labor intensive and will be best competitively bid by contractors online using a free service like BeaverBids.com. More on Bathroom Renovations: Are You Ready?