The two things that can make or break a house purchasing deal are the kitchen and the bathroom. This is for a very good reason, since both of these rooms are visited by each household member at least once a day and by the time we die, we will have spent a large amount of our time in both of these places. So making them the most comfortable and pleasant rooms in the house to be in is very important to anyone wanting to stay in the same home for many years.
If you have purchased an older home in the hopes of remodeling both of these rooms, then you have a few structural and practical issues that you should think of before you get to the decoration design process. The fact is that the kitchen and bathroom are the two most humid and moist areas of your home and should be cared for accordingly. Be careful when choosing the type of flooring that will go down in these rooms. If you will be cooking for a large family every year at Thanksgiving or Christmas or you are expecting to, putting down a material a little more resilient than linoleum or tile may be the way to go.
Since so much water goes through both of these rooms every day and mold is always a problem in areas where there is a large amount of water, you should not put hardwood flooring down in either of these places. Wood is porous and mold loves to grow on any dead organic material. Not only this, but it will also soak up any water you spill on it. If you must have the look of wood in these rooms, try for a laminate, since they can give the look of wood, but not offer the drawbacks.
Natural stone like travertine is much easier to take care of than hardwood, linoleum, or tile, so if you can afford it, this may be the way to go if you want a floor that can last for a great many years.
You need an exhaust fan in both of these rooms to keep the humidity down. The walls and ceilings absorb much more water than you think over time and this can eventually cause the tape on the seams of the drywall pieces and eventually the pieces of drywall themselves to sag and crack. This is not only dangerous because the drywall can collapse on you, but also because mold grows on surfaces that are constantly moist. Install a vent that you can turn on and off to help solve this problem.
Showing posts with label home repair. Show all posts
Showing posts with label home repair. Show all posts
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Remodeling the Kitchen and Bathroom
The favorite and most frequented rooms of the house tend to be the bathroom and the kitchen and while these are the rooms that can add or subtract the most value from your home, most people do not realize just how important it is to take care of them. A great deal of time in everyone’s life will be spent in one of these two places in the home and making them the most comfortable and pleasant rooms in the house to be in can be quite a task, especially if you have just moved into a home where they need a bit of TLC.
Some of the giveaway signs that a kitchen needs a little remodeling are the cabinets and the flooring. If these are out of date, water damaged, or otherwise unpleasant to your eyes, you will want to replace these as soon as you can. Sometimes all they need is a simple coat of paint or a drawer or two replaced, but any cabinet that shows signs of severe water damage such as rotting need to be thrown out. It is hard to make a kitchen look new and modern with old, partially rotten cabinets still in it.
The same goes for the bathroom. A water damaged or molded vanity needs to be thrown out and replaced with a new one if you want your bathroom to look brand new.
Something else that you need to think of when you are remodeling your kitchen and bathroom is the existence of a steam vent so the moist air in the room can escape. Bathrooms and kitchens that do not have ways for steam to escape will be the victim of mold growth and a sagging ceiling if the problem is not dealt with. These are not too difficult to install, but will cost you maybe a couple hundred dollars and half a day’s time. If you are unsure how to do this yourself, you can hire someone to do it for you.
The floor of both these rooms should be waterproofed, but the bathroom floor is more important than the kitchen since a much larger amount of water flows through the bathroom every day. Rotting floors in the bathroom is a big problem, since there are a number of cases every year where the bathroom floor completely gives out due to the amount of water the floor joists have soaked up over the years.
Some of the giveaway signs that a kitchen needs a little remodeling are the cabinets and the flooring. If these are out of date, water damaged, or otherwise unpleasant to your eyes, you will want to replace these as soon as you can. Sometimes all they need is a simple coat of paint or a drawer or two replaced, but any cabinet that shows signs of severe water damage such as rotting need to be thrown out. It is hard to make a kitchen look new and modern with old, partially rotten cabinets still in it.
The same goes for the bathroom. A water damaged or molded vanity needs to be thrown out and replaced with a new one if you want your bathroom to look brand new.
Something else that you need to think of when you are remodeling your kitchen and bathroom is the existence of a steam vent so the moist air in the room can escape. Bathrooms and kitchens that do not have ways for steam to escape will be the victim of mold growth and a sagging ceiling if the problem is not dealt with. These are not too difficult to install, but will cost you maybe a couple hundred dollars and half a day’s time. If you are unsure how to do this yourself, you can hire someone to do it for you.
The floor of both these rooms should be waterproofed, but the bathroom floor is more important than the kitchen since a much larger amount of water flows through the bathroom every day. Rotting floors in the bathroom is a big problem, since there are a number of cases every year where the bathroom floor completely gives out due to the amount of water the floor joists have soaked up over the years.
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