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HOW TO HAVE FUN WITH HOME IMPROVEMENT

When is the best time to repaint the exterior of your home?
Here in SoCal, the cooler, often wet months of winter are a great time to cozy up for a meal of hearty soup and freshly baked bread, enjoy a warm fire with friends around your fire-pit, or binge watch your favorite show with your family, buried under a warm blanket.
But it’s definitely not the time to repaint the exterior of your home. However, it’s a good time to plan for that job, as spring will be here before you know it, and that is the ideal time to give your home a facelift. With the arrival of spring, temperatures are rising and moisture is dropping. Dry and low humidity is what you want, with temperatures not higher than 90 degrees Fahrenheit. You want to get this job done before the high temperatures of the summer, which can cause paint to dry too quickly, resulting in a poor finish.

 

How often should I paint my home?
The type of exterior your home has determines how often you need to paint:
● Wood: 3-7 years
● Stucco: 5-10 years
● Brick: if painted, 10-15 years; if unpainted, brick should be power washed every 3-5 years.

 

 

 

What are the signs that my home needs repainting?
Stucco, which is what most SoCal homes have as the exterior, will start to crack with wear and tear. Small bubbles, chips and cracks will appear due to settling, the weather etc. The stucco can also get stained from rust, water and dirt. Some of this can be cleaned off, but if the staining is persistent or widespread, it’s time to repaint.

How often should I repaint the interior of my home?

A good rule of thumb is to repaint the interior of your home every 3-5 years. However, this depends on the frequency of the room’s use. High traffic areas, like kitchens, bathrooms and hallways, will need to be refreshed more like every 2-4 years, while bedrooms can go longer, 5-7 years. Baseboards and trim will require repainting every 2 years or so, as they are prone to dirt and scuff marks.

 

What are the best flooring options for my home?
Like many choices being made for your home, it’s important to take into consideration how the room is used, as well as your personal design aesthetic. For living rooms and dining areas, hardwood floors are great for style and durability. Kitchens, bathrooms and mudrooms will do best with a floor that is water resistant. This is why luxury vinyl or porcelain tile are both good options. These floors will stand up to the high traffic usage and the water that will inevitably end up on these floors. In the bedroom, carpet might be a nice choice, as carpeting provides warmth, softness and some sound insulation. However, it’s easy to stain carpet and challenging to keep clean.

Engineered hardwood is also a good choice for bedrooms. This type of flooring is often more economical than all hardwood but also looks beautiful. With engineered hardwood floors, only the top layer is actual hardwood, often oak, hickory or maple. This is what you see and walk on. The core is made up of several layers of plywood or high density fiberboard, stacked in a crisscross fashion.

If going with engineered hardwood, do your homework carefully and make sure you are picking out the quality you want, as these floors can vary quite a lot. A good quality floor will have a thicker top layer of real wood, 3-6 mm thick. When the top layer is this thick, it can be sanded and refinished 1-3 times and should last for many years. The core layers are also thicker boards, ½ inch – ¾ inch thick, with 7-11 layers. Lower quality floors have a top layer that is only 0.5 – 1.5 mm thick and cannot be refinished. The core layers are also only ⅜ inch thick or less and have only 3-5 layers. A good flooring company who delivers a high quality floor will offer you a 25 – 50 year warranty.

When choosing your floors, keep in mind the “Rule of 3” for flooring. This is a design idea that you want to have a max of 3 different floor styles throughout your home, so that you have a cohesive and balanced look. Try to have the same flooring throughout several rooms.

Lastly, keep in mind that hardwood floors are generally considered a valuable investment when it comes to the resale value of your home.
Whatever choices you make with your home, have fun! Your home should reflect your aesthetic and be well-suited to your needs and interests. Make your home a refuge from the often rough-and-tumble world for you and your family, a safe space where you can all be together, enjoying and loving each other!