Hiring a Contractor (original article) At some time, most homeowners will hire someone for repairs or renovations. Even a homeowner experienced in home repairs may have to hire a contractor or renovator because of the size or level of difficulty of the job. This fact sheet will help you choose a contractor and work...
“Meet Nick, Nick’s a tradesperson…” and Nick is about to save big on taxes this year when buying new construction equipment thanks to Canada’s “Tradesperson’s Tools Deduction“. Deduct the cost of eligible tools you bought to earn employment income as a tradesperson (or as an eligible apprentice mechanic) with this deduction. Do you want...
Although it is ideal to pay for your renovations in cash, comparing financing options can ease the stress of the renovation process. Most renovators turn to financing their renovation using credit cards and personal loans. This can become quite costly as interest rates on these types of financing are typically higher (typically 6 to...
Do you get knots in your stomach every time you walk down to the basement during the spring thaw? You’re not alone! Water in the basement is a very common problem. You might assume that the most obvious cause is a crack in your foundation, but that’s not always the case. Check out these...
As if painting was not difficult enough… The most common difficulties encountered during the winter while apply quality acrylic latex paint is an uneven look due to roller marks, curtaining and picture framing (when cutting and rolling looks different). There is a very simple explanation for this and it has to do with drying...
Cansolair is a company based in Newfoundland that’s developed a solar heater that’s built with recycled pop cans (and by “recycled” we mean basically opened, cleaned and painted, there’s no expensive smelting and recasting involved). It’s pretty fascinating as this video attests: How the cansolair pop can solar heater is manufactured More info here:
If you’re like me, even if you hire contractors to do all of the dirty tasks, you are still going to pitch in here and there to do some renovation work such as patching, sanding, cleaning, painting, demolition etc. During the beginning of winter, when the air turns most dry and we use hotter...
Ijeoma Ross has put together a great article that lists and explains the Top 10 renovations that give you the most bang for your buck (10 renovations with big returns). Here they are: 1. Bathrooms Renovators can get 90% – 105% of their bathroom money back when they sell their house. Adding an extra...
Fall season home improvement “must do” projects around your home With cold weather approaching and heating bill season here for a while, we have some suggestions for this fall season. Get your furnace cleaned, whether hot water, forced-air or other, dirt and grime greatly affect your furnace’s efficiency Replace your furnace air filter. Forced-air...
After working for several years with geothermal energy pioneer James Bose at Oklahoma State University, entrepreneur Gerald McClain has developed a new geothermal heating and cooling unit suitable for homes that uses up to 2-3 times less power than conventional electric heaters. Heat pumps work as a fridge in reverse Heat pumps work as...
Well it’s that crazy time of year again for all of us, back to school means moms and dads are happy that school is starting! Students are heading back for another semester and moving companies are as busy as ever… As the September excitement hits us, we have some tips for home owners at...
That old house, best opportunity? I have renovated 3 early 20th century houses in the past 10 years. Beautiful, disgusting, challenging and financially rewarding, each of them! My first home was called the “Money Pit”, named so by a friend I invited over for a demo party, where we were tasked with taking down...
“Green” is now such a loaded word it immediately makes you think of… well… politics, consumption (like sometimes spending more to save more) and opinions less than our impact on the earth. “Thinking Green”, “Going Green” and “Green Movement” all should mean the same thing: doing things more efficiently, with less materials and less...
By Erik Kulakowsky, CA ( Kül & Associate … www.kultax.com ) At this point, the only way we’re getting rid of this tax is if the NDP get elected (NDP leader Andrea Horwath vowed to abolish HST should she win the next election), but since that’s never going to happen, might as well learn...
In Ontario, home owners don’t have to pay the 8% Ontario provincial sales tax on home renovations, they’re basically exempt thanks to current tax laws. However, with the introduction of the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) this year, home renovation contractors in Ontario will have to start charging the full 13% tax on any work...
Kitchen Renovations and Remodeling, home improvement contractors and kitchen renovators When renovating a kitchen, regardless of the age of the house, a kitchen renovation is an excellent return on investment both in terms of quality of life as well as increasing the value of the home. Modern kitchen renovation designs are ideal for updating...
Taking a break from hard-core renovation, we’re venturing into Interior Design/Decorating with these great pieces. Like art, they really need an open space to “exhibit” as they likely won’t get along with your IKEA furniture. It’s interesting that most of these fun and creative items are for the wealthy, but considering that they won’t likely...
At 1:41pm, an earthquake registering 5.5 on the Richter scale struck Ottawa June 23, 2010, at a depth of 19.2 km and lasting 108 seconds at the epicentre. If you live in an older home and heard cracking or breaking glass, check the house out for damage, being careful to watch out of leaking...
A great post on our friend’s site realsnoop.ca about mortar; it gives some great advice on mortar on old homes. Did you know: “Most modern mortar mixes are based on cement and sand. This produces a hard mortar, which is impervious to water, so moisture in the stonework is unable to escape through the...
Oh those crazy SEO guys… the Top 10 Craziest Comments we’ve received
You know, when you have a blog and you start posting on a regular basis, you start to get a lot of spam comments. I have friends who actually don’t bother using any captcha heuristics or even filtering comments for spam on their blogs, they just let everything through. The problem is, blogs become...
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