Yesterday a customer asked me a question that spurred me to write this article about kitchen remodeling prices.

Here’s the story:

They brought me into their home and showed me the kitchen, said they wanted to remove a couple walls and replace everything. Then they asked the question; OK, what will that cost?

I hesitantly gave them a ballpark figure which I will most likely regret, each time I give a ballpark I seem to be held to it.

So now that you know the basis of the article, let’s discuss the differences in kitchen remodeling prices and why no one can give you solid ballpark figure without doing a little work.

· Kitchen Cabinets – The cabinets that are going in will be a major factor will you choose a discount kitchen cabinet or a high end cabinet? Discount kitchen cabinets will be imported from China and for a small kitchen will most likely cost in the neighborhood of $5000.00. High end cabinets like Plato will cost at least twice as much.

The least amount I’ve ever spent on kitchen cabinets was $6000.00 this was a small kitchen with imported cabinets. (I do not like using products from China but it was the only choice to fit the client’s budget)

The most I’ve seen spent on cabinets was $63,000; this was a large kitchen about 18’ x 15’. I forget the actual manufacturer of the cabinets used here.

I’m sure people have used cheaper cabinets and even more sure of others using more expensive cabinets, the point here is there is a huge cost variance.

· Next is flooring, you can choose a $.99 tile or a $200.00, another huge variance.

· Lighting would you like just a couple of fluorescent lights or some recessed lights with accent lighting?

· Appliances, refrigerators alone can be $400.00 or $6000.00.

To keep this article from running on all night I’ll leave the item costs alone. I think you get the idea that costs vary greatly.

You can remodel the identical room in two different houses and have huge cost differences.

So, in these days of many people looking for more affordable kitchen remodeling, what can be done?

I suggest getting a kitchen remodeling guide for a really good one click here.

I also suggest doing your homework. When asking people to do an estimate for your kitchen know your budget and let your remodeler or designer know what it is.

You can also check the average kitchen remodeling prices for your area here. Just be aware that these are only averages.

If you plan to be your own contractor then you have a lot of shopping to do, you may also want to purchase your own kitchen planning software, they can be bought cheaper than you probably think.

If you hire a designer to they will be your personal kitchen planning guide. A designer will work with your budget, knows what is available and the current trends as well as the latest products. They are well worth the money it costs to retain them.

No matter which direction you want to go we recommend having a solid plan, get organized and if you can find a remodeling mentor to help you. If you need help with any of these items click here.

Here are a few things I did while remodeling my bathroom to save a little money and ad convenience. Watch the video –>

To find out what is offered to our members click here.

Good afternoon, it’s been a couple actually a few days since I’ve posted anything here. Sorry, I’ve been busy remodeling things. I’m taking out a bathroom, I’ve put a lot in, but this is the first one I’ve ever removed. More on that in a later post.

What I’d like to talk about today is the “Do It Yourselfer”. Before you say, Hey he’s talking about me! read a little further.

I am posting a picture of a do it yourselfer that shouldn’t be doing it himself. If for no other reason than his own safety.

Here’s the story – I was driving home from a remodel I’m working on and saw a refrigerator in the bed of a pickup truck. No big deal, you can probably see this almost everywhere, everyday. The difference and the reason I felt I needed to include it in my blog is because when I started to pass the truck I saw a guy standing in the back holding the refrigerator! Do you see the potential problems here??

I passed him, parked and readied my camera because I thought you may never believe me if I just told you about this.
There he is, no straps or anything, just holding on to the fridge. (Straps would only cost another $15.00 and he could ride in the front of the truck)

Ok, so what does this have to do with Remodeling your home yourself?

Well, when I saw this guy it reminded me of a few do it yourself projects I’ve seen, all done by people like the guy in the picture.

They had good intentions and saw that they could save money by doing it themselves.

Their downfall was not knowing their own limitations. In this guys case, he thinks he’s stronger than he is. If the truck has to turn quick this is likely his last ride ever!

Now while remodeling incorrectly could potentially cause a fire and/or be fatal it will most likely just cost a lot of money to fix the mess.

You can save money by remodeling your house yourself, however if you do it wrong and someone has to come in and fix it you’d better prepare to write big checks and just count the money spent when you did the project as money you will not recoup. It is always cheaper to pay to have it done the first time.

The moral of this story is to know your limitations, if you are good at carpentry but not good at electrical and plumbing hire those things out and just do the carpentry, it will wind up saving you money in the long run. If you need to hire the entire project out, just realize that you are saving money by getting it done right the first time, even when a general contractor is involved.

General Contractors also work with electricians, plumbers and all kinds of other tradespeople everyday and they know who is good and who isn’t. Just that knowledge can be well worth the expense of hiring a general contractor.

So if you decide to do your remodel yourself my advice would be to “buy the straps” and make sure you have the knowledge and material to do a good remodeling job.

The new certification for remodeling buildings that “might” contain lead based paint has been coming for a while. It appears as though it will get here in April 2010.

What is the new certification? Well, it states that contractors and subcontractors working on “targeted buildings” (I’ll tell you what a targeted building is in a second) must carry an EPA certification to work on the building.

Targeted buildings are generally any housing or commercial facility built before 1978. There are exemptions; minor repair or maintenance affecting an area of 6 Square feet or less (pretty small, I suppose you can patch a hole in sheetrock?) of interiar painted surface or 20 square feet outside of painted surface. You the homeowner can do the work yourself and it is ok. Or there needs to be a certification that the work area is a lead based paint free area. Some housing may also be exempt if it is shown that no child under age 6 or pregnant women visit there regularly.

This rule will only affect contractors right? Wrong, this rule will affect everyone. Beginning April 2010 certain contractors any contractor that has anything to do with construction on a painted surface, (this is pretty much all general contractors and all trade contractors) will have to be certified.

I don’t know the cost of being certified yet but you the customer will ultimately be the one footing the charges as higher remodeling costs. So, if you have a remodel planned you may want to get it underway before April 2010, it’s only 11 months away.

Most lead based paint was eliminated in the 1950’s, I have had houses tested and even a house built in the 1940’s was difficult to find any lead based paint in. Don’t get me wrong lead based paint is a hazard but no more than I have come into contact with it, I feel this boiles down to another tax for the American people. We needed one more didn’t we???

Planning a much needed renovation, but working on a budget? What if you could manage the project yourself and save as much as 50% to 70%? Would it create some opportunities you hadn’t thought possible? Chances are, you may already have some experience. If you’ve ever hired a painter or had an electrician install some new light fixtures then followed up with them to make sure the work was done correctly, then you’ve had a small taste of what’s involved. It is basically planning and managing the project from start to completion. General Contractors (GC’s) provide a valuable service, but it can be an expensive way to go. If you have some knowledge of the work involved in your project and aren’t afraid of a challenge, then all you need is a little technical advice and guidance. Keep reading and I’ll show you how.. Let’s take a look at the basics.

* Cost Estimating-Having an understanding of the basic measurements and formulas that are involved in writing a construction estimate will enable you to plan an accurate budget for your project and negotiate better deals with suppliers and contractors. Learn to understand the units that are used for measuring different materials including: Carpet (square yards), tile and counter tops (square feet), cabinets (linear feet), and concrete (cubic yards). Just having a small amount of knowledge of this process will allow you to evaluate quotes and compare competing bids or plan a budget for your DIY project.
* Finding the Right Contractors-Whether you’re managing the project yourself, using subcontractors, or hiring a GC to oversee the work for you; there is a right and a wrong way to do it. In order to avoid being the victim a scam or just poor quality work, you need to have an interview and qualification process. Starting with selecting a few good candidates, through referrals from friends, relatives, and co-workers, to interviewing and checking references until you’ve narrowed it down to the best choice. This step of the job will determine the final result.
* Buying Supplies and Materials-When you’re doing a large job, knowing where and how to buy your materials can make a huge difference in what you pay. professional contractors use wholesale suppliers and vendor accounts to save as much as 50% and you can to.
* Scheduling-Understanding the sequence of the work will enable you to plan a construction schedule before starting the work. You can then revise it as the job progresses and use it as a tool to insure that the job is completed in a timely manner and doesn’t drag on forever.

Having some insight into these basic elements of project management will make it possible to have the improvements and renovations that otherwise may have been out of reach. For more in depth information on these topics, as well many other home repair and improvement ideas visit my visit my website by clicking on the link below. Thanks for reading and good luck.

Glenn Whitehead is a former general contractor with over 25 years experience in the construction industry in Houston, TX. He is currently the webmaster of http://www.yourselfhomerepair.com, a do it yourself home repair and improvement site with how to articles, tips for finding contractors, and help preparing contract documents

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Glenn_Whitehead

With the current green shift that’s going on in our society you’d think that the price of wind generators and solar panels would decrease. That however has not been the case. Wind generators are still way too expensive for the average person to buy and install. When we were first starting out with renewable energy we were floored at how expensive everything is. That’s why we decided to build homemade wind generators.

Building homemade wind generators is quite a bit cheaper than buying one. We’ve gotten the price to build one down below $150 by finding free sources for the most expensive part– the tower. I’m getting ahead of myself though… let’s look at what you’ll need to do to build your homemade wind generator.

There are 3 basic parts to a wind generator: the body, blades/hub, and tower. Each of these 3 parts are fairly easy to build and can be built using low cost materials from your local hardware store.

The body of a wind generator is what ties the whole thing together. It houses the motor which the blades are attached to. The tail is also hooked onto the body opposite the motor. There is a flange which is also hooked onto the bottom of the body to allow it to be mounted onto the tower. The body can be made from leftover PVC pipe that is used to build your blades. The whole purpose for the body is to tie everything together and to make sure that no water gets into the motor.

The blades are probably the most difficult thing to make for your homemade wind generator. They aren’t really that hard to make, but the hardest part of the project. For this you’ll need some 6″ – 8″ PVC pipe. The pipe is cut into a blade shape. It’s the most inexpensive way that we have found to make blades. They work very well, and look quite nice when painted. You actually will need to paint the blades because PVC gets brittle when exposed to sunlight. I usually paint the blades with two coats of tremclad paint. I use tremclad because it has UV protective particles in it. All that’s left now is to connect the blades to the hub. We used an old pulley as it was easy to mount onto the shaft of the motor. Simply drill a couple holes in the blades and hub and use some bolts to connect it all together.

The tower is usually the most expensive part of any wind generator installation, but we found a way to get it for free. I was helping a friend re-shingle his house and didn’t want to walk all the way to the other side of the roof to get down the ladder. I decided to climb down the old TV tower that he still had hooked up to the side of his house… than it hit me! I could use an old TV tower to get my wind generator up in the air! I asked him if I could have it because he had already switched to satellite a couple years before. He said no problem. You can find a tower for your wind generator just by driving around your local neighborhood and looking for anyone with a TV tower and satellite dish on a house. Ask them and they’ll be glad you’re getting rid of what they think of as an eyesore.

That’s pretty much it. Homemade wind generators really aren’t very complicated machines… you just need to break it down into smaller more manageable steps. It is possible to build one for thousands less than buying one and I highly recommend that you try it yourself… you’ll be surprised at how much money you’ll save.

Andrew Oke is very interested in renewable energy. He has 16 years experience living off the grid, and has completely built his own renewable energy system. If you want to learn more information about homemade wind generators just click the previous link. There is also more information about homemade wind generators you can check out at the previous link as well.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Andrew_Oke

Everyone now seems to be talking about “Green Remodeling”. Everyone has questions. Can your remodel be green without having recycled tires as your floor and a rood made of hay?

Sure it can, I made a little fun a moment ago but I do think we should do what we can. It makes the planet a better place to live. However, doing what we can is exactly that. You don’t have to spend a fortune that you may or may not have. There are some things that are fairly inexpensive that you can do, like making sure your windows and doors are caulked good and the weather stripping is in place. If you do you’ll also save money on heating and cooling your home.

Check your appliances. Energy efficient appliances may cost a little more, but they will more than make up the cost difference with energy savings.

Here’s a video that will offer some other things you might be able to bring into your next remodel.

How to remodel for a green home – Watch more Funny Videos

Prepare To Remodel is being remodeled. Yes, websites need remodeling just like homes. We will be back up shortly. Be sure to check back. The new site will be much more informational.

If you are getting ready to remodel you will definitely want to take a look at this site before you do. It may save you thousands of dollars!