Articles
Tips on Hiring a General Remodeling Contractor
Instead of moving to a new home, many homeowners today are choosing to remodel or repurpose their existing space. Many times changes in families needs will prompt these decisions to be made. Kids going off to college, job status changes, household members aging or additional family members in the household can affect the needs and uses of your home.
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Eliminating The Inevitable: Sustainable Carpets vs. Recyclable
With traditional recycling, an old carpet would be ‘down cycled’, or broken down for use as a component of another product, which, in time, will be landfill bound. With the sustainable carpet line offered by Shaw the production/use cycle is a closed loop meaning they will not end up in a landfill.
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Flooring: Distinction From The Bottom Up
Whether you are looking at wood for a warmer feel, tile or stone to make a statement or choose other options (such as carpeting), the visual impact the floor can make is huge.
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Replacement Window Shopping Basics
If there was one home improvement you could make that would enhance the look of your home, recoup up to nearly 85% of the
improvement’s cost in your home’s resale value, and allow you to save up to 45% in your utility costs, would you invest in it?
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Self Cleaning Windows? Are You Serious?
It’s getting tougher for the average consumer to keep up with the product improvements when it comes to replacement windows.
It’s easy for those improvements to slip under the radar because homeowners are familiar with windows, and as a result, are less inclined to study the products before a purchase. This can result in an inferior product selection relative to what the homeowner might prefer.
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Your Best Bet For Increased Energy Savings In All Seasons
Homeowners are becoming far more educated about each and every opportunity to save money on heating and cooling bills. As recent studies have shown, nearly 50% of a home’s energy dollars are lost through poorly insulated windows and doors.
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Stained Glass In Cabinet Doors - The Finishing Touch
Stained Glass in your kitchen cabinet doors is a marvelous idea! Whether you are building a new home or remodeling, stained glass could be that finishing touch that ties everything together.
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Sunrooms: ‘It’s Back To The Future’
“It used to be with homes built in the 20’s 30’s, and 40’s, a sunroom would automatically be part of the floor plan. But, in recent years, builders have gotten away from including sunrooms in the floor plans... family life is different, there is not as much home time or it just didn’t fit into the budget.
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Sunrooms For Every Season: A New Dimension For Your Home
It’s amazing what an additional three or four feet coupled with windows can do to transform the livability of a home. Technology has revolutionized the manner in which we go about meeting our customer’s needs.
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In Search Of The ‘Oh My’ Moment
A strategically placed sunroom can expand a living space in more ways than one. It’s an example of where the whole can be greater than the sum of the parts. If you add a sunroom, it adds very useful square footage, opens up walls and makes all of the areas more accessible and the living area more useful and fun.
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Looking Good: Maintaining Natural Wood Exposed To The Elements
“…cycles of wet and dry, swelling and shrinking, cause wood to warp, split, cup and crack. All of these
conditions lead to shortened wood life and expensive repairs or replacement without proper care.”
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How Green Is Green? A Good First Step
This article gives examples of LED lights that can be retrofitted in many common applications. They all operate off of standard house current, are available in SoftWhite or Daylight, have a lamp life of approximately 50,000 hours and have extremely low heat output containing no harmful gasses.
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Questions To Ask References Supplied By Contractors
The National Association of Remodeling Industry, a trade organization dedicated to promoting professionalism in the industry, suggests every homeowner interviewing potential contractors ask for references.
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Expert Floor Care From A Name You Can Trust
Expert Floor care from a name you can trust. That’s the bottom line. The relationship we nurture is not limited to a sale and installation. Our relationship starts with the premise we are going to be working with this customer for 10, 20, 30 or more years.
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Remodeling: Perk Up Tired Kitchens
People often get sticker shock when they look at the price of remodeling their kitchen. But, there are many, many ways to update a kitchen that are much less costly than a complete demolition and rebuild. Relatively small changes can have big impact both cosmetically and functionally.“
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A-Ha: The Moment When Budget And Remodeling Options Come Together
Deciding what to do with your kitchen is a more difficult decision than most people think. “The A-HA moment is usually the point where acceptable options coincide with budget available and when you realize that there are more options than tearing it all out and
replacing.
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Little Box Advantages In The Big Box World
How can the little box store compete in a world of the WalMarts and Home Depots? Does the little box store actually have some advantages?
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For A Successful Kitchen Or Bath Remodel… Prepare For The Process
Remodeling a kitchen or bathroom isn’t a project as much as it is a process which includes numerous smaller projects within it. With that perspective, there is a much better chance of getting the end product you really want.
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How To Choose The Right Cabinet Line
There are hundreds of cabinetry lines in everyone's price range, so how do you choose the right cabinet line for your home? It’s a mind-boggling process when you realize just how many cabinet lines there currently are on the market today. How do you start the selection process?
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What’s In Your Walls?
A thermal imaging camera allows us to view a wall and see everything that is behind the paint by virtue of the temperature differences. This includes water, electricity, drywall, screws and other hardware, insulation and virtually any other material behind the surface.
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Project Management: A New (Web Enabled) Era
A new web based system for tracking and reporting the status of a project provides a new level of availability of information. An entire project to be conceived, planned, scheduled, altered and tracked throughout the process in a nearly transparent fashion.
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Cooling Deals That May Not Be Cool
Most air conditioning units have a life span of about 13 years, give or take a year or two. Homeowners having air conditioners approaching the end of their life spans should prepare to make a choice between which type of freon their new unit will have R-22 Freon or the new R-410A Freon refrigerant.
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Ask The Home Improvement Expert
We have a 30 year old house that we love. The problem is, we have cracks in the drywall, and some doors don’t latch. Help!
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Water Protection: Offense Is The Best Defense
When it comes to being ready for spring water management, fall is when you have to prepare. The spring thaw signals the beginning
of water problems if you are not prepared.
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Avoid Big Expenses With A Gutter Strategy
It’s no secret, we live in Wisconsin. We have rain and snow and trees and wind all depositing things on our roofs and filling our gutters. And, if you ignore them, you’ll be reminded of why water is considered the most powerful element on Earth.
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Green Links
Green building and remodeling encompass a wide range of material, design and building disciplines.
To gain a deeper understanding of the perspective and processes, please visit these websites.
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What Is Green?
Green can mean different things to different people. However, as Green relates to remodeling and building in general, it focuses on increasing a building’s efficiency in terms of their locations, use and harvest of energy, water and materials, and reducing the building’s impact on human health and the environment. Green building and remodeling take into account the complete building lifecycle.
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Granite: Every Installation Is Unique
Granite is like many natural things. No two pieces are exactly alike in terms of color, patterns and other distinguishing characteristics. To match granite from application to application, the consumer must order granite from the same production lot.
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Granite: More Accessible Than Ever
In the past ten years, the price of granite has become very competitive. Being more affordable allows more homeowners than ever to use granite to give their home an upscale look that can not be duplicated by any other substance.
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Replace My Roof? Why Now?
So when is it a good time to replace your roof? The age and leaking would be the most obvious signs but other factors such as, previous unfixed hail damage, high heating and cooling costs, ice damming, staining on your interior walls, musty smells, and carpenter ants can all give you additional clues that it is time for a new roof.
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Porch Enclosures: Expanding The Use Of Your Home
Screen porches are without a doubt one of the best things ever invented. They can be enjoyed three seasons a year, and, with a little thought, can be useful through the winter as well.
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Every Project Has Its Issues… A Case For Specialty Contractors
Specialty contractors use their unique experience to identify existing conditions before projects are started to ensure a superior outcome. There are many moving parts which are interdependent in every project. A typical project involves at least four components that all have to be on the same page. They are...
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Flex Court: Not Just For Basketball And Tennis Any More…
Roller rinks, play areas and patios are just a few of the ways to use a Flex Court Surface. The same materials used to create the toughest, most consistent and easily cared for athletic surfaces are great for other indoor and outdoor applications around the home.
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The Game Where Everyone Is A Winner
All weather surfaces, such as the Flex Court system and others like them, have been developed to be used indoors or outdoors and are engineered to reduce stress on back and lower body extremities.
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It’s Only Natural
Nothing makes a true Green convert shudder like the thought of all of the particle board furniture eventually destined to be deposited in a landfill. Being Green is a lifestyle, a value system. While some see it as a marketing tactic, it boils down to the consumer making choices consistent with being good stewards of the Earth
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Swimming Pool Realities: Wisconsin vs.The Sunbelt
Because a swimming pool is a product in which aesthetics plays a major role in the decision making process, it can lead to building the wrong structure in the wrong place because there are specific regional factors that will affect the level of enjoyment a
homeowner will experience.
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Durability, Style & Color: Decorative Concrete
Decorative concrete can deliver the best qualities in terms of the aesthetics of natural stone and the durability of concrete. Whether you are creating a special outdoor area or want a unique touch in the interior of your home, decorative concrete gives you
the opportunity to create the exact look you want and you know it will stand the test of time.
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Owning A Swimming Pool: Debunking The Myths
Nothing beats a sparkling clear swimming pool when the temperature rises and the humidity follows. Swimming pools can bring a family together like no other activity. Many times people decide against owning a pool because they are making decisions based on myths that are just not accurate.
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Re-Purpose or Re-Sell?
With the real estate market stagnant, many of us have chosen to move forward with ideas for improving our current homes rather than move. More and more frequently, people are enhancing their homes and making every day more enjoyable, all while improving the value of their best-appreciating asset.
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Customer Satisfaction Starts With The Customer
A satisfied customer begins with the customer themselves. Too many consumers confuse contractors with retail outlets. In retail situations, stores have product to move from the shelves or the storeroom. Conversely, with an informed professional contractor, there will be very little, if any, selling. Most of the process revolves around defining what the customer wants.
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Ceramic Tile: The New Wallpaper?
There is certainly a new trend in the way we think about tile and how we will use it in new home and remodeling applications to form a piece of art, covering an entire wall or an entire room. Glazed and porcelain ceramic, glass, leather and metal tiles have been available for a years but now we are seeing larger sizes, different shapes, colors and textures within these tiles.
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The Truth About Interior Designers
Have you ever been inside a stunning home that really caught your eye? It’s not by accident that all of the design elements came together in such a pleasing manner. In most cases a professional interior designer created or enhanced the space, selected the finishes, determined the color schemes, arranged the furniture and finished with the perfect accessories.
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Avoiding The Excruciating Misery, Frustration And Expense Of A Remodeling Project Gone Awry
The goal we have at Gugger Home Improvement is to create an environment for complete understanding of the project and the process. An active communication process allows us to be successful in satisfying our customer’s needs. We know this because we have worked for many people over and over, sometimes in several different homes. Our customers tell us excellent service has kept them coming back time and time again.
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Making Your Home Feel New: Affordable Exterior Upgrades
Your home protects you from the elements every day of every year. Whether hot or cold, wet or dry, your home is working on your behalf. And, through it all, your home eventually needs maintenance and repair. When the time comes, you have a great opportunity to create a new look and a visual impact without breaking your budget.
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Remodeling Successfully And Recouping Your Investment
What are the most frequent questions homeowners ask when planning to remodel? How much should we invest in remodeling and what should we do first? Along with that, every homeowner is concerned about if and when they will recoup their remodeling investment.
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Qualities Of A Successful Contractor And Project
These days, the minimum you can offer customers is workmanship and quality materials. However, that alone may not be enough to set you apart and make your company successful. Success depends on the customer’s entire experience, from beginning to end.
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Updating: Three Stages
Updating your home can enliven your whole outlook on life. Expand Your Color and Design Possibilities…
Create “flow” and the “wow factor” that fits your personality and budget. Do your home design needs
fit one of these stages of updating?
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Enhancing Your Lifestyle With Natural Elements
Change Is A Natural Thing… Lifestyle changes occur for many reasons. It could be an empty nest situation, failing health or aging needs, or just wanting to create a living space that has a different feel or that may show a commitment to our environment. Whether it’s constructing a new home or creating a new functional living area with a remodel project, a great deal of thought has gone into the change and tends to signal a new stage of life for the homeowner.
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Updating? Receive Smart Color And Design Solutions
Great color choices set the stage for all you’re decorating. Do you need a new perspective on choosing a great palette of colors, the arrangement of your rooms, innovative space planning for furniture and art placement, using what you own, or editing to bring in a new look?
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In-Home Color and Design Consultations
Expand Your Color and Design Possibilities… Do You Wonder What To Expect From An In-Home Consultation? Read on.
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Evolution: The Era In Which Your Home Was Built Matters When You Remodel
Remodeling any home requires a sensible plan and awareness of the scope of the job. Each era of home has unique design, material and mechanical characteristics to be accommodated. With an older home, this can affect demolition, the design, materials and how the new addition is actually built. Often there are specific aesthetic requirements to be considered, affecting your planning process. All of this can affect the budget.
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Getting The Most From Your Home: Get Organized
Using space effectively can make your home more enjoyable and easy to use. Architects and Builders are using effective
closet organization designs to service their customer’s preferences.
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Stained Glass In Cabinet Doors: The Finishing Touch
Stained Glass in your kitchen cabinet doors is a marvelous idea! Whether you are building a new home or remodeling, stained glass could be that finishing touch that ties everything together.
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Cabinet Refacing: Common Sense Ideas To Expand Your Budget
When your cabinets have aged or the style is out-of-date, refacing cabinets can create a whole new look for a fraction of the cost. Refacing requires keeping the cabinets you have, replacing the doors and adding veneers to the existing face frames and cabinet ends.
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Custom Cabinets: When Do They Fit Best?
There are times when one cabinet can change the personality of an entire room. In spite of the many options available in manufactured cabinetry, often a custom built piece is the best choice defining a room. When function, uncompromising attention to fit, finish and design detail are paramount, a master craftsman can provide the exact solution
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Your Backyard: All Decked Out
How you plan building a deck is similar to the way you plan building a home. They can be as humble or as large and extravagant as you like. The real problem is assessing what you want from the beginning to reduce costs and increase your satisfaction.
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Technology: Custom Installers Can Help You Perfect Your Environment
A wiring plan with new or existing construction can ensure the best performance from your equipment and give you a neat, clean, presentation in your home.
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Interior Designers
Whether you are building a new home, remodeling or re-purposing an older home, just moved into a new place, or just want to update what you have and give it a new look and feel, you may want to enlist the help of an expert.
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