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Dreams Abound: Find the answers to all your home improvement questions -- or the numbers to fill in your budget -- at Home Expo
By Marci Laehr Tenuta
Journal Times
Are you itching to do something really spectacular to your home this spring? If you could pick any dream project, what would it be? A new kitchen? A landscaped backyard? A high-tech home automation system?
If you’re looking to invest in a dream project, or still just dreaming, the Home Expo 2008 is a great place to gather information and find local resources to make your home improvement dreams come true.
This year the expo will feature over 100 vendors, who offer services and products ranging from bathroom remodels to entertainment systems to cabinetry to roofing.
They can give expert advice on fairly routine maintenance projects like window replacement to extraordinary dream projects, like an entirely new kitchen or a sunroom addition.
If you have high tech hopes for your house, a home automation system from Diversified Security Solutions might be your spring project.
Owner Phil Hill said a home automation system can be customized to a client’s needs so that they can control their lighting system, heating and air conditioning, security system, music system, sprinkler system, a video surveillance system, and even motorized window coverings from their cell phone or computer.
You can even sit at work and monitor your home’s security system or video surveillance system from your computer.
The home automation system is completely customized to a customer’s wants and needs, Hill said. “It depends on what the customer wants to spend,” he said.
The system costs about $6,000 on average, but starts at about $4,000.
Even if you have an older home, you can still go high-tech. “The systems fit best in new construction or a remodel,” Hill said. “But they can be retrofitted into an existing home.”
Making a plan
If it’s the exterior of your house that you have big plans for this spring, you may want to invest in a landscape plan, according to Tom McDowell of Tom McDowell Nursery in Burlington.
A landscape plan will help you spend less and end up with a great looking yard.
“Most people are on a budget,” McDowell said. “If they have someone draw up a design for them, as money allows they can work toward the design.”
He said people often make mistakes in their selections, like buying three plantings and then finding out they get too big. “When it’s done it looks hodge-podge,” McDowell said. “There’s no rhythm to it.”
With a design, homeowners will know what and how much to buy of different plantings. They’ll know where to put them to make the most out of their yard. “They also know when the end is there,” McDowell said.
If you are going to hire a professional for a large landscape redo, make sure you are comfortable with them, he said. “It’s about communication,” McDowell said. “If you’re not comfortable with the designer, send them on their way.”
A landscape designer should be able to tell a homeowner exactly what the different aspects of the yard will take to maintain, whether it’s plants, walls or fountains. That way homeowners know exactly what kind of upkeep they are signing up for.
If the yard of your dreams is extraordinarily beautiful with little input from you, McDowell, a self described low maintenance kind of guy, suggests plantings like dwarf conifers, shrubs he has in his own yard.
“I planted them 10 years ago, and I have never pruned them,” McDowell said. “Dwarfs grow very slowly. To me, that’s ideal.”
Planting perennials around the dwarf shrubs gives a homeowner color in the spring with the shrubs and floral color through the summer and fall.
In addition, McDowell thinks fancy weeping plants are a fun addition to a yard, because of their shapes and textures. He particularly likes the weeping Siberian pea shrub, weeping crabs and weeping evergreens. “Plant breeders have gone nuts and there is all types of stuff to pick from,” he said.
For Wisconsin yards, McDowell also thinks hardscape pieces are great focal points, because plantings are covered during our long winters. “It could be a boulder or a piece of ironwork, highlighted by plants that are around it,” he said. “Being a hardscape, you would enjoy it all year round.”
Bring the sun in
If you already have a beautiful yard, and just want to see more of it from inside the house, a sunroom addition can help bring the outside in.
Scott Bear of Bear Builders said, “The people who like sunrooms are the people who like the feel of outside.”
Whether it’s raining, snowing or the dead heat of summer, sunrooms make homeowners feel like their outside, without suffering through the elements. “These rooms get used a lot,” Bear said. “It makes you feel so different than any other room in the house. The walls kind of disappear. It makes you feel like your outside. People tend to use these rooms more than they thought.”
If a sunroom addition is something you have considered, but aren’t sure it’s possible, call to have someone come out and look at your house and yard.
“There are obstacles in the back yard that can make the project unrealistic,” Bear said. “But there are also obstacles that can be overcome, like the placement of an air conditioning unit or electrical meter.”
A consultant can talk to you about and even show you with a computer program, what type of sunroom would look best and get the most use. Bear said there are screen rooms, three season rooms and all season rooms.
The typical sunroom is about 150 to 200 square feet. Costs will include about $1,000 for electrical work, $3,000 to $5,000 for a wood or concrete foundation, and between $16,000 to $30,000 for a three or four season room.
The whole process from the time or contract to completion can take some time. Once permits are obtained, Bear said it usually takes four or five days to lay the foundation. The room itself typically takes about three days to construct, he said.
“The project, once you get going, goes very quickly,” Bear said.
Heart of the house
On the other hand, plan to be under construction for at least a few months if your spring dream project is a new kitchen.
Brian Roushia, specialty manager for Home Depot in Racine, said a kitchen remodel is a timely process. The most common mistakes happen when someone tries to rush it, he said.
But three to four months is worth the wait with all the great high-end offerings for kitchens.
In cabinetry, rich cherry cabinets have become very popular, Roushia said. To contrast, lighter exotic woods — like bamboo and maple — have become the rage for flooring.
When it comes to countertops, granite and Silestone are the best. Silestone is a combination of a man-made acrylic and stone mixed together.
“There’s absolutely no maintenance to it,” Roushia said. “And it comes in a huge variety of colors.”
Granite, being a natural stone, doesn’t offer the same color choice, but the countertop material can now be maintenance free.
Roushia said a new process in which the stone is dipped before being installed means homeowners don’t have to have it resealed annually.
Stainless steel appliances are still the most high end look for a kitchen.
Roushia said it looks great paired with brushed nickel or antique bronze faucets, cabinet knobs and light fixtures.
Be prepared to spend a lot in a complete kitchen overhaul. Roushia said the average higher-end kitchen remodel costs between $30,000 to $40,000.
“But it’s not the place to skimp,” he said.
If You Go
WHAT: The 2008 Home Expo
WHERE: Festival and Memorial halls
WHEN: Friday, Feb. 29, 2 to 7 p.m., Saturday, March 1, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sunday, March 2, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
ADMISSION: $5 for adults, children 17 and under are free, $3 for seniors on Friday only
PARKING: Parking is free is designated lots. A free shuttle service will be provided between Festival and Memorial halls.
MORE INFORMATION: A caricaturist will do free drawings Saturday afternoon at Diversified Security Solution’s booth on the lower level of Memorial Hall. Danny’s Meats will provide a fish fry on Friday from 4 to 7 p.m., and hot dogs, brats, burgers and chicken sandwiches on Saturday and Sunday. Beer and wine will also be available. With every paid admission, a raffle ticket will be given to attendees for a chance to win a Toro riding lawn mower, a gas grill or a $200 Stein Garden Center gift card.
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