If you are a homeowner in the Miami area, then you are no doubt aware that home improvement is a good call. The best home improvement ideas can not only make your property look its best, but also allow it to run more efficiently and cheaply, and you can make your property more appealing to home buyers later on. The best home improvement ideas will benefit more than one generation of owners, and this can involve your plumbing, the electric wiring, the climate control systems, and even your front and back yards, not to mention the garage. So, what are some of the best home improvement ideas to invest in before you prepare to sell your property? Invest in it just right, and you can enjoy a serious return on those investments, especially if you sell in the summer (June was 2018’s busiest month for moving, accounting for around 13.11% of all movers).
New Garage Door
Some of the best home improvement ideas are based on the idea that you should not take any part of your property for granted. Practically anything on your lot can wear out or break down, or at least look bad after many years of use. Anything can be fixed, renovated, or replaced, and that includes paying for new garage door installation. Some of the best home improvement ideas will make your property more functional in “invisible” ways, and that can go a long way in boosting its appeal. Not all home improvement projects are flashy, but the best home improvement ideas are all a smart investment all the same.
What might be going wrong? It’s possible that your garage door is simply old and shabby, and it may break if windblown debris hits it (a concern during Florida’s hurricane season), and homebuyers will not be impressed by a shabby old door with creaky wood and chipped paint. A very old garage door system might also be more prone to get stuck or break down, or its sensors might go bad. To prevent all this, you can hire garage door installation experts who can remove your old system and simply fit in a new one, and the new garage door will glide nicely on its rails, have a tough body, and have fully functional sensors. A new door with a fresh coat of paint also looks very nice from the outside.
HVAC Repair/Replacement
Hiring an HVAC company should rank high among the best home improvement ideas since a fully functional climate control system can make your house very comfortable to live in, and keep the electric bill under control. By contrast, a very old, dirty, and/or damaged system will be costly to run, since it is inefficient and has to use up extra electricity just to run. That, and it may struggle to properly heat or cool the house and control the humidity levels. If the system’s blower fans are caked with grime or very worn out, they may struggle to provide the proper air output, and work overtime to compensate. Or, the air ducts may be falling apart and develop huge air leaks, or the outdoor air conditioner is clogged with dust and pollen. The furnace might have busted or dirty components, too.
All this is why HVAC repair ranks high among best home improvement ideas, and once your system is cleaned and fixed, it can cool or warm up the house far more efficiently and save you a lot on the electric bill over time. This may also cut down on how much VOCs, dirt, and bacteria are spread around with the air conditioner (air ducts can become very dirty over time). If your heating and cooling system is very old, such as 20 years old or more, you are encouraged to consider having the entire thing replaced. An old system like that is dirty and prone to breaking down often, and wasn’t built with modern energy efficiency standards in mind. But a new system is installed in your property, it will be clean, need few repairs, and run incredibly efficiently, allowing it to pay for itself in the long run.
Plumbing Inspection
Naturally, you want steady, efficient flow of clean air in your home, and the same is true for keeping the water and sewage flowing, too. All houses need water, from dishwashing and laundry to cooking and showering, and leaking pipes or old toilets are going to work against you. A leaking pipe can waste a lot of water per day, often 90 gallons or more, and this will pad your water bill in a hurry. Worse yet, that loose water can stain your drywall (which requires repairs), spur mold growth, pool on the floor, warp and rot wood, and short out electrical components. Pipes can develop cracks over time, especially if their water freezes the melts, or pipes might rust out or break free of their fittings when they’re very old. Clogs are another serious issue, such as in the sewer main.
Hire a plumber to perform a plumbing inspection find and fix a leaking pipe, and you can also hire plumbers to root out a clog and remove it, such as caked-on grime in the sewer main or hair bundles clogging a sink’s pipes. Not only that, but a plumber can fix or install a sump pump down in your basement to keep floodwater from building up, and they can remove your old water heater and install a new one. If you so choose, you can have your old water heater replaced with a tankless water heater.
Roof Replacement
This is another example of the best home improvement ideas fixing the mundane but essential parts of the house. A good roof is often taken for granted, and a bad roof will really draw attention to itself. A leaking roof allows rainwater to get in, causing many of the same problems as a leaking pipe (and a leaky roof also permits air drafts that disrupt the climate control). Old roofs tend to have cracks and holes in them, or missing tiles or even animal damage, such as from squirrels. And don’t forget the gutters, either, which can become clogged with debris or break free of the roof.
Hire residential roofing experts who can get onto the roof safely and replace the tiles or unclog the gutters, and these experts can also remove intruding squirrels from the attic and patch up the holes those squirrels chewed in the walls. In addition, roofing experts can pour liquid rubber that will seal up all cracks and holes, and prevent new ones from forming (to stop air drafts and water leaks). If your roof is very old, though, it may make more sense to have it replaced entirely. The best home improvement ideas acknowledge that some old things are beyond fixing, and you will save money over time when you pay for a brand-new roof if your current one is extremely old or badly damaged. A new roof is in excellent condition, and also appeals greatly to home buyers. If you want, you can have a metal roof installed, and metal roofs are known for being durable, long-lasting, and relatively inexpensive to install. Metal roofs are often made from recycled steel and other metals, and can be recycled when retired.
Fence in the Yard
Should you install any backyard fences, or a front yard fence? An attractive fence can double as a form of landscaping, and this can make your property stand out on the real estate market, too. Fences are generally used for privacy purposes, as well as keeping out people and animals, such as stray dogs or squirrels. There are a few different types, such as chain-link fences. These are among the cheapest to install, and they don’t block your view of your attractive neighborhood. For keeping out dogs, chain link fences are sufficient, but they won’t keep out any burglars or intruders who want to invade your privacy. A wooden fence may be more costly and blocks your view, but it also blocks the view that strangers could have of your property, and if set up correctly, wooden fences can easily keep out any intruder.
Some of the best home improvement ideas take the yards into account, and many homeowners like to spend time in their yards, such as gardening. A painted wooden fence will look great, keep strangers from looking in, and keep out wildlife that would invade your hard and devour the garden.
Electrical Safety
You might also want to hire an electrician, who can fix the wires and components of any electric feature inside your house. In fact, some homeowners have access hatches built into the drywall, so an electrician can access the interior of your walls without having to cut apart the material first. If you have the skills, you can install an access hatch, and if you don’t, you can hire drywall experts to do so. An electrician will know when certain wires or components are fried or on the verge of failing, and they can overhaul your home’s wiring anywhere. This is a smart investment before selling your home, so the new owners can rest assured that everything will be operational for a long time to come. Electric experts can also find frayed or damaged wires, and in so doing, help minimize your risk of an electric fire. Many fires in houses or public buildings are caused not by dropped matches or cigarettes, but damaged cords or wires whose hot metal filaments touch flammable objects.
Water Filters
Even if you hire a plumber to fix your leaking pipes and install a new, water-efficient toilet, there might be other water-related problems in your property. You might be suffering from hard water, which is when minerals such as calcium or limestone are dissolved into the water. This will not necessarily cause clogs, but hard water may cake minerals onto a shower head over time, and hard water will make showering, bathing, dishwashing, and clothes washing inconvenient.
You can hire plumbers to install water softeners and filters on your pipes, either for the entire house or just a few features, such as the master bathroom’s shower and tub. These filters use electrically charged beads to attract the dissolved minerals and elements in your water, and these coated beads can scrub themselves off in a small tank and then resume their work. This will result in softer water that is more sanitary and convenient for all uses.
Pool Cleaning
If you live in Florida, then odds are good that you have at least considered having a private pool installed in your on back yard. Pools are a form of hardscaping, and they do cost a fair amount to install. But they can be a lot of fun to use, and they can greatly boost your property’s value when you choose to sell it. Whether or not you are about to put your home on the market, though, pay close attention to your pool’s condition, and take care of it. You can hire pool cleaning services to get rid of dead leaves or other debris, and in some cases, you can empty out the pool and have professionals dump in fresh water before its next use. You must also make sure to have a retractable screen over the pool to prevent evaporation under the hot sun, and you should also have any damaged plaster or missing tiles taken care of. Old, worn plaster is sharp and might scratch someone.
New Carpet
Carpet cleaning is a good call if you are too busy to perform deep cleaning, and you can hire maid services to aid you. Carpets can be much dirtier than they look, since their fibers can trap a lot of dust, bacteria, dirt, and other contaminants, and thus give off VOCs and lower the air quality of your home. Some stains might also prove difficult for you to remove. So, you can hire a maid service to perform a deep clean and vacuuming, and a deep cleaner uses water, shampoo, and brushes to scrub the carpets deep and remove all dirt. You would be amazed to see how much grime can be embedded deep in the carpet where vacuums cannot reach it.
Be A Good Homeowner
In conclusion: take good care of your home, inside and out, to maximize its appeal before you put it on the market. People interested in buying a home want to find a property that is attractive and well cared for, and they don’t want to perform a lot of repairs on their own once they move in. Instead, it is up to you to make your house look and feel its best, from fresh paint and landscaping to a new roof, stain-free drywall, and clean carpets, among many other. When you’re ready to move out, make your home look and feel the way you’d want it if you were just moving in. Don’t leave a mess or outstanding problem that you wouldn’t want to deal with yourself as a new homeowner.
