Small budget remodeling ideas (part 2)

Start small and remodel one room at a time. What does this remodel usually entail? Three gallons of paint, about 200 feet of moulding, and a couple of interior doors. Now you might say that sounds way too easy, because it is. Follow these simple steps and you'll be on your way:

• Find yourself a carpenter first. Explain to him what your remodeling goals are and the time line in which you figure on completing each goal.
  
• Stop by your local lumberyard to pick up some moulding samples. I would stay away from the box stores. They notoriously reel you in on the $5.00 off a gallon of paint and then hammer the consumer on moulding and millwork. Trust me I've gone and done cost analysis on my spare time. In addition to the cost factor, you'll get better advice, better quality material and broader options. I assume most lumberyards give you free samples, we do it and it has proved very successful for our moulding and millwork sales. While at your local lumberyard stop into their showroom and view their interior door options. If your painting the doors, take a look at their molded door option (sometimes referred to as Masonite doors). Think outside the box. Manufacturers of molded doors do not typically upcharge for their different styles. So don't feel confined to six panel doors when you can buy a 2 panel archtop for the same price.
  
• Once you have made a decision on the trim, give the samples to the contractor so they can pickup the exact profiles. Then tell them of your door choice and ask them to measure the doors and place the order, most door slabs can arrive at our recieving dock the following day.
  
• I would anticipate it should take about two days for the carpenter to install the trim and hang the doors. The painting is then up to you. You will need a gallon of wall paint, usually eggshell, a gallon of ceiling white, and a gallon of semi gloss white for the moulding and doors.
• Use the existing door knobs and hardware if you want. But at this stage it may be the perfect oppurtunity to swap out your old knobs amd hinges. Finishes such as oil rubbed bronze and satin nickel are very popular and are at minimal upcharges from your standard brass or brasstone finishes.

My intent on the blog is to spark your remodeling ideas, offer insight from a suppliers point of view, and have a little fun blogging. If you ever have questions regarding your projects, please email me directly at mcurrie@niecelumber.com or give us a call at 609-397-1200.

Small budget remodeling ideas

Everyone understands that the money is not there for some people to build the home of their dreams or the large addition to accomadate the expanding family. But there are plenty of small budget remodeling ideas that should be looked at while you wait for your portfolio to rebound and the banks to start lending again. Below is the first idea, which will be followed up with more throughout the next two weeks.

Spruce up your front entrance! It starts with some very basic landscaping and ends with a new door or door and sidelight system. A study commissioned by Therma Tru doors and conducted by independent research organization TNS, asked 2400 consumers from across the United Statesto estimate the home prices based on the homes exterior appearence. The study found that an enhanced entryway can add as much as $24,000 to a home's perceived value. The added value was as much as five times the cost of the entry system. The new study also shows that an upgraded entryway can increase the perceived value of a home in the under $200,000 price range by $7,720, or 4.1 percent.

So what were the sample groups looking at when this survey was conducted? Each group looked at images of homes and was asked to estimate how much each one would cost, based on its appearance. One group looked at images of homes with standard 6-panel doors. This group of images was referred to as the "unenhanced" sample. Another group looked at images of the same homes upgraded with Therma-Tru fiberglass entry systems, including decorative glass, sidelites and transoms. This group of images was referred to as the "enhanced" sample. Both groups also viewed "control" homes, which were used to adjust for possible sample differences.
Essentially the homes percieved values jumped almost 7 percent with the new entry door systems.

Bottom line is a new entry system is one of many cost effective ways to ensure one of the best return on investments in the remodeling industry.

For more information on entry doors, please visit www.thermatru.com. For more information regarding the TNS organization, please visit www.tns-global.com

What makes a lumberyard green

Being a green lumberyard is more than just stocking FSC and SFI lumber and materials with huge amounts of recycled content. Being green is the way we operate our day to day business and running our business efficiently every single day of the week makes us more environmentally friendly in the long run.

We have FSC and SFI stamped framing lumber in our yard but we never asked for it and we are not a chain of command FSC facility. If we were a FSC accredited yard we would have to section off an area of our yard and store this material seperately from the rest of our inventory. Doesn't sound very practical from a business standpoint, ecspecially with yards already saddled with space constraints. So why is it that you may be framing your projects with FSC or SFI stamped material? Thats what happens when you deal with the best mills in the business and mills that have always practiced sustainable forestry practices and produce high end, clean, #1 structural lumber.

Training makes you green. If you don't know the first thing about the concept of green building, take some time and research green principles - there is tons of information available to you. As a dealer we were one of the first to take the plunge into the Certified Green Dealer program, sponsored in part by the LBM Journal. This online program trained our staff on the true meaning of green building practices and products. Its worked out very well and establishes our company as a go to source of green information for all of our customers.

Aligning ourselves with wholesalers and manufacturers who share our common interests is critical in the way we operate day to day. Nothing drives me more crazy then those manufacturers who aren't the first ones to take a green or sustainable position. They wait until someone else tries it and succeeds; then they follow suit. Although I totally agree that you should never get away from the foundation your business was built on, it nevers hurts to build additions to your foundation and stay with everything that is cutting edge.

I hope you enjoyed this blog entry. Our intent is to update the blog multiple times a week with pertinent information that is relevent to our customers and followers. Stay tuned and thank you for reading.

Test 1,2,3

No major happenings today in Niece Lumber. I'm just testing our new website to make sure my feed from blogger, twitter and facebook work. Also making a few corrections on content and format at www.niecelumber.com

Have a great weekend and we'll be live on Monday.