Experts In Your Home Blog

Many Chico area residents have heard of the Grinch who stole Christmas. What they don't know is the identity of the Grinch who “stole” the tax credits on insulation, windows, doors, skylights and roofs.

Experts in Your Home doesn't know, either, though it's obviously someone affiliated with a high-level federal agency. We do know that this is one of those times where looking at the proverbial glass as half-full helps since 2017 tax credits are still available on some solar projects.

It's difficult to argue that saving some money is better than saving none at all. So allow the Experts to explain how the IRS-U.S. Department of Energy program works.

Maybe you've noticed this phenomenon in your home: each new maintenance or home improvement task triggers a mad dash to your favorite home improvement store.

Need to plug some cracks around the windows? Better buy some caulk and a gun. Want to wrap that leaky pipe? Now you need duct tape. Want to hang pictures? Now you have to buy hooks and picture wire.

Some of these mad dashes cannot be avoided. No homeowner can be expected to have every tool within arm's reach, and many people build a tool collection over time. But if you're planning ahead and want to fortify your collection while you're at the store anyway, Experts in your Home recommends that you put these 20 must-have tools on your shopping list:

You'll look in your closets and your basement, if you have one. You'll look in that spare room that already holds so much of that household category known as Stuff. But it just could be that the obvious place you're overlooking is your garage.

When you need room for storage, your garage may seem like an improbable place. After all, you barely have room to park a car or two in there.

But the next time you pull a car into your garage, stop and look through the windshield, over the hood and up to the walls. Now you'll see a prime opportunity for storage on those vast, open walls.

Some homeowners who undertake their first home remodeling project register the news better than others: Before work can begin, Experts in Your Home must secure a building permit on their behalf.

After months of planning, these homeowners are understandably eager for work to begin and view the permit process as an unnecessary delay – and sometimes even a form of governmental intrusion.

We have capably navigated the permit process hundreds of times in many different communities. So let us explain why a building permit is necessary, as well as when you might need one and when you might not. Once you're informed and know what to expect, you're bound to face your home remodeling project with greater confidence.

The last 30 days of the year seem to sneak up on most everyone, especially if they're trying to squeeze in a home remodeling project before the holidays – and maybe guests – arrive.

Make your New Year's resolution early this year by resolving to get a jump start on a project that is sure to imbue your home with added holiday spirit. Just as there are 12 days of Christmas, there are 12 projects in particular that Experts in Your Home knows can wrap up a home for the holidays better than a festive red bow and ribbon. By category, they include:

The neighbors knew something was up; they just didn't know why so many contractors were visiting Nancy and Jim's home and spending so much time surveying the backyard.

In this close-knit (some would say nosy) community, the neighbors wasted no time finding out: Nancy and Jim were interested in building a full-glass sunroom addition on the rear of their traditional saltbox colonial, complete with a six-seat hot tub.

The neighbors – on either side and to the rear of Nancy and Jim's house – were quick to render their opinion: Nancy and Jim would only waste their hard-earned money on such an extravagance. But with every well-intentioned objection Nancy and Jim heard, they became more convinced than ever that the many benefits outweighed the one issue they hadn't yet reconciled: the cost of the project.

If you're considering building a sunroom – either to your current home or as part of a new construction project – it might help to understand how Nancy and Jim weighed the benefits:

In his 1933 inaugural address, Franklin D. Roosevelt famously asserted his “firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”

At the time, the country was in the throes of the Great Depression, but it is widely believed that Roosevelt tapped into his own life experiences to rally people to support his wide-ranging New Deal programs. Among those experiences: his forays into home remodeling, including his beloved Hyde Park home in New York.

In terms of remodeling, Roosevelt may have gotten it half-right; research since then has shown that people have legitimate reasons to fear home remodeling. Experts In Your Home not only knows what those reasons are, but has moved to erase them by assigning a project manager to every home remodeling project.

You're a grounded, budget-conscious person. But this doesn't mean you shouldn't dream a little as you create a bathroom worthy of being showcased in a glossy bathroom remodeling magazine.

In fact, this is a key point that the bathroom remodeling team at Experts In Your Home return to time and again as they guide homeowners through the exhilarating process of bathroom remodeling.

You can (and should) balance two objectives – creating a bathroom that is functional as well as stylish – when you follow what might be called our 10-Point Guide to Creating a Dream Bathroom. After the first step, you don't necessarily have to follow this progression in order, but these steps must be addressed at some point along the way. Let our bathroom remodeling experts help you:

For a room you zip into and out of at least several times a day, your bathroom should be a place you enjoy being in, too.

But maybe the fixtures are old and showing signs of wear. Maybe you can't move around as comfortably as you'd like. And you know that when the time is right, you definitely would choose a different paint color for the walls.

Maybe the time is right for a bathroom remodeling project, but you need a few nudges to assure you that the project is worth your time, effort and expense.

Let the home remodeling team at Experts In Your Home present some of the benefits that our customers regale us with after their bathroom remodeling project is complete. In general, these benefits fall under two categories: quality of life benefits and financial benefits.

It might feel old and tired – and you know it's out of date. For a room you spend so much time in – the room that might well be the heart of your home – your kitchen is not exactly swelling your heart with pride.

New knobs and pulls on the cabinets might help. So might new counters, the addition of some dramatic lighting and a fresh, different paint color on the walls. For these and other ideas, perhaps you've already consulted a previous article from Experts In Your Home, “Popular kitchen remodeling ideas when you're on a budget.”

In the final analysis, you've decided that only a full-scale kitchen remodeling project will reinvigorate your kitchen and properly frame the heart of your home. But where do you begin?