Archive for the ‘Iron River News’ Category

We’re wrapping up our tour of metro area home shows this Saturday, April 6th in Waconia.  We’ll be joining other local vendors, visiting with the home town crowd, greeting old friends, and talking about some of the latest developments in home improvement.  This FREE event is a great adventure for the whole family, so mark your calendar:

Business Home and Family EXPO

Saturday, April 6th, 9 am – 4 pm

Waconia High School – 1400 Community Drive

Besides seeing all that local businesses have to offer, here are some of the highlights:

• Food vendors and kids’ activities
• Presentations and demonstrations
• Meet Wally Shaver, radio voice of the Golden Gopher hockey team, from 10 am-noon
• Register to win a “man cave starter package”

We’re proud to be a part of the business community of Waconia, offering quality home improvement services, inside and out.  And by the way, if you win the man cave package, we wanted to let you know that basement finishing and remodeling are on our list of popular projects!

Bring the whole family and come out to the High School on Saturday.  Be sure to stop by our booth and say hello!  We love greeting old friends as well as making new ones.

This event is sponsored by the Waconia Chamber of Commerce, of which we’re proud to be a member. 

With spring right around the corner, we’re gearing up for home improvement season by visiting home owners around the Twin Cities at the various home and garden shows scheduled over the next few months.  We’re booked for three consecutive weekends in the western metro area:

Chanhassen:  SouthWest Metro Home, Landscape and Lifestyle Expo

Saturday, March 9th, 10 a.m..-4 p.m.

Chanhassen High School,  2200 Lyman Boulevard

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Eden Prairie:  Home and Garden Everything Spring Expo

Saturday, March 16th from 9 a.m.-3 p.m.

Grace Church, 2200 9301 Eden Prairie Road

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Maple Grove:  Home Improvement & Design Expo

(Special Focus: Energy Efficiency)

Saturday, March 23rd from 10 a.m.-5 p.m.

Maple Grove Community Center, 12951 Weaver Lake Road

These free events are great fun for the whole family.  Lots of exhibitors with ideas for your home (inside and out) as well as your life.  Get some fresh ideas, check out the new products and services, and be sure to stop by our booth and say hello.  We’re excited about some of the home improvement services we’ve added to our regular offerings, such as kitchen and bathroom remodeling.

Home and garden shows are a great way to get in the mood for warmer weather, even when it still looks a little like winter outdoors.  But inside it will be warm and full of fun!  If you’re in the southwest metro area, bring the family out and see us at one or all three of these shows! 

After a period of “wait and see” by many homeowners waiting for the economy to recover, signs indicate that 2013 will be the year of a major surge in home renovation projects, both by do-it-yourselfers and those hiring professional contractors.  What does this mean for you?  Among other things, it means that your neighbors might have things planned which will increase the value of their homes, and if  yours might suffer from a valuation standpoint if your home doesn’t keep pace with popular improvements.  The other thing it could mean for you, if you’re thinking about planning a remodeling project this spring, is that you may have to wait – it appears that contractors will be busy.  Bob Vila has some good information on his blog about this current re-surge in home improvement, and what you may want to consider.

Keep in mind that it’s never a bad time financially to make needed repairs to your home, and it’s generally profitable to do anything which will increase your home’s value. 

If you’re looking for a way to simply and inexpensively add appeal to your deck area, one of the best things to do is to add lighting.  Deck lighting not only adds beauty and interest to your home’s exterior, it can also make your deck area more usable.  With your deck lit up at might, you may want to consider more outdoor entertaining in the evenings.  Even on a cold winter night, a cup of hot chocolate around a free-standing fireplace or chiminea on an illuminated deck can be a great way to gather with friends.

Deck lighting can run the gamut from elaborate to simple, depending on your tastes and budget.  If you don’t want to spend a lot of money, this article has some ideas for inexpensive lighting for your deck.

With the current economic conditions, more and more homeowners are turning to do-it-yourself projects in areas that they may have previously called a professional.  The success of the home improvement stores such as Menard’s and Home Depot are a testimony to this.  The contractors may shop there, but their main customers are DIY’ers.

While many handy homeowners may be able to take on some home remodeling and repair projects and get them done well, there are areas where you probably want the help of a professional contractor.  Plumbing is one of them.  Some of the products sold in the plumbing aisle are actually illegal for use in Minnesota, or are not legal for certain applications.  Ignore the pictures and advice on the product packaging – the manufacturer is not the final building code authority.  For some glaring plumbing errors, check out this article by a Minnesota building inspector.

When your home needs repair and remodeling, be realistic about what you can take on yourself, and when it’s time to call a pro.

Homes age just as people do.  And in order to keep their looks as well as their function, from time to time some adjustments and repairs are needed.  One major area of home maintenance and repair that really affects the overall look of a home as well as its protection is the roof.  Depending on the type of materials used and its regular upkeep, a roof needs a replacement every 15-30 years.

For many homeowners, a roof replacement can be an intimidating thought.  What’s under that roof might be an unpleasant surprise.  Tear-off of the existing roof might uncover structural problems or deterioration that need attention before the new roof can be put on.  And even before you start, there are a myriad of decisions that need to be made.  If your roof is coming to the end of its life, here are some helpful tips to help you survive a roof replacement.

The one exterior home improvement project that can both enhance your home’s appearance plus add functionality to your home is a deck.  Decks not only provide architectural interest but they also provide an “outdoor room” where you can relax and entertain.  The options are almost endless – style, placement, size, lighting, etc.  You can create a great space that gives you both more outdoor use for your home as well as making your home stand out from the others around it.  Decks truly can be unique additions that reflect the taste and lifestyle of the homeowner.

If you’re considering adding a deck (or two) to your home, keep in mind that this is one of the top improvements that you can do to make your home more attractive to purchasers.  While this very informative article is especially focused on the appeal of decks on a home in the winter, the information is applicable year-round.

Iron River provides deck construction and other home remodeling services for the Minneapolis and greater Minnesota area. 

The kitchen is one of the most popular rooms in the house and most appealing to potential home buyers. Sadly, modernizing a kitchen often means an expensiverenovation. (Ask Bob Vila.) Lower-budget renovations are possible if you focus on a few key items:

• Get granite countertops. It’s the hallmark of the renovated kitchen. If you’re renovating to sell the house later, it’s a must. Spend most of your budget here if you have to.
• Change the floor plan. Move around the appliances and cabinets; tear down a wall or two. Plan the final configuration on paper.
• Find stores with a large variety of storage units. Ultimately, a kitchen is room with a lot of items that all need to be put somewhere: baskets, drawers, baskets in drawers.  The combinations are endless.  The larges number of items you buy will be storage units; think Ikea.   
  
• Shop ’til you drop. The key to saving money on something is finding the one place out of many that sells it for the least. Whatever you’re buying, try to find at least 10 sources. If you’re buying online, be sure to factor in shipping.

If you’re considering a new residence and believe that new construction is preferable to renovating an existing house, after you take a look at these photos and their descriptions, you may think differently.  This detailed article – complete with extensive photos of glaring construction defects – shows examples uncovered by professional building and home inspectors.  Unfortunately for the home buyers, some of the listed mistakes were actually missed by government building inspectors.

If you’re buying a new home, don’t assume that it was constructed better than an existing home.  You may want to consider hiring a private home inspector to give the house a thorough going-over before you close on the purchase.  And you might want to have the inspector read this article first!