Renovation & Design
Renovation & Design
Getting to the bottom of the clutter problem
In principle, basements are wonderful -- an area where sports gear, housing supplies, games, toys and unused furniture can be stored far from the more carefully appointed living areas of your house.
But if you're like most people, your basement doesn't fulfil its potential. Over time, it has probably become disorganized and as good a place to lose things as to keep them nicely stored.
"So often, I see basements that have got out of control," says professional organizer Andrew Neary. "Things are scattered randomly, items are buried in piles and half of the stuff has just disappeared under clutter."
Neary has a series of steps that can be used to infallibly impose order on even the most messy basement.
His first step is to remove everything from the space. This might be done in stages, but ideally, as much of the basement should be done at once as possible.
His second step is to clean the vacated area. If repainting is needed or there are insect or pest infestations, now is the time to deal with them.
The third step requires sorting everything that was removed in step 1 into categories -- sports equipment, cleaning supplies, toys, games and whatever other categories fit the case at hand. If there is anything you really don't need, now is the time to discard it. Be tough with your inner pack rat, because the less stuff you have, the easier it is to keep it organized.
Step 4 requires some imagination, a stage that Neary calls zoning the basement. What will go where? The most important consideration is how often you use each item. A bicycle used almost daily should be near the entrance of the basement, for example. Christmas ornaments and other seasonal items can be farther back.
In step 5, you're going to have to buy organizers so everything has its own place. Shelving is perfect for a lot of canned goods and cleaning and other house supplies. Hockey equipment, garden rakes and the like can be hung on hooks on the wall. Work tools need a storage cabinet. Transparent boxes can hold smaller items while ensuring they're easy to locate. Hazardous material such as flammable sprays, solvents, some cleaning fluids and paints should probably be stored in a cabinet that can be locked, especially if there are children in the house.
Home Depot and other stores have many products that are perfect for storage. Perhaps Neary's favourite brand is Rubbermaid, which he says offers fairly inexpensive products that are well made and easily assembled, including some that are lockable and perfect for storing hazardous stuff. You want to know that you can lock things up and walk away knowing that things are safe.
Once the organizers are bought and in place, the items you removed from the basement and plan to keep can be put in their appointed spots.
If you're going to have a handyman's corner for woodworking, painting of furniture and doing repairs, Neary has some special counsel.
"Anyone who's working on projects should have an area that's well ventilated and well lit," he says. "You need very strong overhead light, ideally coming from the ceiling, so you have really good lighting on whatever you're working on and you're not bumping into lamps. Accent lights are for the living room, never the basement."
Neary says dedicated places for each tool is crucial. "Every hammer, sander and plane has to have its own location or you're going to be losing track of what you have.
"I've had clients who've had half a dozen drills because they've repeatedly lost drill bits and attachments. My mantra is: 'Buy once, store properly and have things forever.'
"There are many tool cabinets available to ensure good storage, but simply using hooks on the wall can serve equally well," Neary says. "The point is not so much esthetics as functionality. If you group your tools by function and keep them in their place, you're organized."
The important points for the basement are safety and functionality, Neary says.
Your basement is like any other part of your home. If you want to enjoy it, it has to look good and it has to serve your purposes.
If you want it to contribute to your quality of life, it has to be neat and organized, and all the things you've chosen to keep have to be accessible.
Simple stuff, but people easily forget it.
-- Postmedia News
Renovation & Design
How to touch up your house for the market
At some point in a homeowner's life, there comes the time to sell.
Maybe it's a transfer to another city. Maybe it's time to move up to something bigger as your family grows. Or maybe the kids have moved out and you need something smaller for your retirement. You are downsizing.
As a contractor, I've gone through this process several times with my clients. Homeowners only ever do this once, and it's one of the most difficult things to come to grips with. It's overwhelming for many people and emotionally wrenching to leave a home where you've created a personal history.
The key to downsizing is allowing yourself enough time by starting well in advance. Not planning on moving for two or three years? That's perfect; it gives you enough time to first de-clutter, then make necessary repairs, before you put your house on the market.
The best advice I can give is to de-clutter before starting any house repairs. Having your contractor work around furniture you're going to get rid of anyway just creates unnecessary delays and stress. Do yourself a favour: If you're going to get rid of furniture in the downsizing process anyway, get rid of it before you begin any repairs. If you're going to be passing on furniture and collectibles to family members, do it now. If you're putting things into storage, or donating to charity or selling it at auction, there's no time like the present.
Depending on the age of your house and how well it has been maintained, certain kinds of repairs or cosmetic updates might be needed to help the sales process.
For example, let's look at a house that's 50 years old. There's a trend to gut and modernize kitchens and bathrooms to make the house more desirable to prospective buyers. So a lot of sellers will spend money to do an inexpensive upgrade on their kitchens, hoping to get a better price.
I'm here to tell you that if you have a 50-year-old house, odds are, a prospective buyer is more interested that the house was built solid and has a big lot. In other words, presenting your house as a well-maintained 50-year-old house is more important than trying to disguise a 50-year-old house with some modern renovations.
From a buyer's perspective, she knows that any recent renovation is built into the selling price of the house and, given the choice, would prefer to do the renovation after the purchase -- to her taste and budget -- than get stuck with a brand-new kitchen that doesn't work for her on many levels.
So presenting your half-century-old home as well maintained might consist of plaster repairs to fix cracks from normal house settling, or fix any part of the house that shows more than average wear and tear. Let's say there is a vinyl floor that has seen better days. It's an easy upgrade that will help demonstrate that the house was well cared for, and won't blow anyone's budget.
When it comes to cosmetic repairs, there's one aspect of selling a home that always works: removing the layers of interior decorating to give the house an open, neutral look. This includes removing dated wallpaper, carpets and possibly draperies or blinds. That is tough to do for many homeowners who've spent the last 50 years maintaining, decorating and customizing their homes to their taste.
Painting walls and ceilings is essential in the repair and selling process. There are some other not-so-obvious benefits to painting. It neutralizes odours from years of smoking, or cooking odours and other smells that might draw attention. It's also one more way to demonstrate good effort in ongoing maintenance.
Generally speaking, if your home is in good repair, it will get a higher price (assuming the real estate market is healthy). If you've put in a new furnace, or repaired the roof or had the chimney repointed, that all shows consistent upkeep of the home and investment in the property. That's the really valuable evidence homebuyers should be looking at when purchasing a home.
What kind of repairs should you do before you sell your home? Well, that depends on your budget -- and your conscience.
I'm talking about "lipstick and mascara" -- the renovations that are coverups that are being done to trick the buyer. Yes, trick; that's the truth, isn't it? It's one thing to roll on a new coat of paint to freshen up a room; it's another thing altogether to put on a fresh coat of paint to cover up water stains on a ceiling that gives clues of a roof or flashing problem that needs repair. That's where the conscience comes in.
Unfortunately, in my experience, new homebuyers are often more impressed with the nice colours and scents that realtors suggest you fill your house with, or the staging that you might have had done, and, of course, by the new cupboard faces and granite countertop you had put in to spruce up the place. They aren't as likely to notice the less glamorous upgrades, such as closed-cell spray-foam insulation behind the mould-resistant drywall. (They can't see that, so take photos.)
-- Postmedia News
Catch Mike in his brand-new series, Holmes Inspection, airing Thursdays on HGTV. For more information, visit www.hgtv.ca.
Do you have a question about home renovations? Email mikemakeitright.ca.
Renovation & Design
ASK THE INSPECTOR: Attic access proves height of frustration
QUESTION: We have a 22-year-old house in Whyteridge that has no inside attic access. It has a small vented trap door on the top side wall. Our house is a two-storey and I want to get into the attic. The side hatch is right at the highest point and not easy to get at because there is a large tree on the same side.
What points should I consider when making an inside attic access hatch? Many of the houses in this neighbourhood have the same setup with no inside attic access. What is the reason for this style of construction? D. Baril-Bissett, Winnipeg
ANSWER: I empathize with the frustration you feel about not being able to gain easy access to the attic hatch on the outside of your house. I often run into this same situation during inspections and since I don't regularly carry a 30-foot ladder on my vehicle I cannot get in to view the attic. Most of my clients are more than understanding but often ask the same question that you have posed about the reason for the strange location of the hatch.
When it started to become common practice to put the attic access hatch on a gable end outside the home, several years ago, I initially applauded the idea. It is often difficult to get a good look inside an attic from a tiny opening cut between two ceiling joists, especially when it is located in the top of a small, crowded closet.
My enthusiasm has lessened in the last few years as builders have increasingly gone higher and higher with these hatches, often locating them above small alcoves that create another obstacle to entrance. If you have a bungalow or a home with multiple levels or vaulted ceiling, the outside location is ideal. It is even better when a gable vent is installed on the hatch, which allows much needed ventilation into the attic, especially above vaulted ceilings.
If your tree is planted in such a location to obstruct the attic hatch, perhaps it's too close to the house or in need of trimming. With an attic hatch on a two-storey home like yours, it may be at least 20 feet above the ground, which should require four to eight feet of clearance between the bottom of the ladder and the house for setup.
If the tree is tall enough to become a hazard and is closer than that distance to the home, you should consider other problems that could arise from its location. The branches and leaves could rub or sit against the house walls and cause moisture damage. If the top branches are above the roof line, they could cause premature wear or damage to the roofing, if not trimmed frequently.
Depending on the type of tree, the roots could cause some issues with the foundation or drying out of the soil in that area of the yard. Unless it is still small, looking into removal of the tree before it becomes too large or causes damage may be in order. In that case, installation of an additional inside attic hatch may be unnecessary.
If the previous issue is not a concern, and you are committed to installation of an interior access hatch, the location may determine the next course of action.
The ideal area for an access hatch is in a wide hallway or ceiling that will give you sufficient room around the hatch for access with a ladder. It may be unsightly to install this hatch in the upper floor hallway, so the next best location is in the ceiling of an upper floor bedroom. If you have a large walk-in style closet, normally in the master bedroom, this will be the ideal spot. This is the preferred location in most new homes that don't have the exterior opening. It's an area that is not normally visible to most guests, and will have enough room around the perimeter for easy entry.
Installation of this interior access point for your attic will depend on the style of roof framing and the spacing between the trusses or ceiling joists. The majority of homes your age, and in your area, will have pre-manufactured trusses with spacing between the members of approximately 22 2-1/2 inches. This is due to the typical installation of 24-inch centres for the trusses. This spacing should allow sufficient room for installation of the hatch without modification to the trusses, which is not recommended.
The first thing to do is locate the trusses in the area of the ceiling you wish to install the hatch with a stud finder, or old fashioned hammer and nail. Once located and marked out between the bottom cords of trusses, the drywall on the ceiling could be carefully cut with a small drywall saw or reciprocating saw, to make the opening. Once the hole in the ceiling is complete, and your hair and clothes are covered with loose fill insulation, you can frame in the sides of the new hatch between the trusses and secure the drywall with screws to prevent sagging.
Once this rough opening is complete, it should be lined on all four sides with plywood or OSB sheathing to provide a moisture resistant square box, tall enough to prevent the loose insulation from falling into the opening. The next steps are to nail thin wood stops near the bottom of the opening to support a plywood cover cut a little smaller than the inside dimensions of the box. This cover should be insulated with a couple of layers of rigid polystyrene insulation with a weatherstrip installed on the top of the stops to seal the hatch when in place.
The final step is to install casing or trim on the bottom, to cover the cut ceiling drywall edges, and paint on all the new material. If you have typical truss roof construction this installation should be straight forward, as long as there are no electrical wires or other obstructions in the attic.
Following these guidelines will provide a well-sealed interior access hatch for entry into your attic.
Ari Marantz is the owner of Trained Eye Home Inspection Ltd. and the president of the Canadian Association of Home & Property Inspectors - Manitoba (www.cahpi.mb.ca). Questions can be e-mailed to the address below. Ari can be reached at (204) 291-5358 or check out his website at www.trainedeye.ca.
trainedeye@iname.com