Select Page

Home Remodeling

Interior Home Improvement Projects – Tinley Park

Are you searching to help make compact restorations around your residential property? But scared when it comes to the budget? Today we are going to talk about interior home improvement projects – Tinley Park and a good return on investment.  Click on the orange play button below to listen to Mark’s podcast on this topic.  Hope you enjoy it.

 

 

Interior Home Improvement Projects – Tinley Park

The main six jobs to address when it comes to finding the absolute best yield on your assets are undoubted:

  1. Replacing the Front Door or Storm Door
  2. Upgrading Your Garage Space
  3. Changing Up the Kitchen Space
  4. Incorporating LED Light Fixtures
  5. Creating a New Room in the Basement
  6. Upgrading the Backyard

Projects with the Best ROI

First Impressions. Anytime you invite guests over, two of the factors that these individuals notice are without a doubt, the front entrance and the garage doorway. If you don’t go overboard and get one that is over-priced, front doors are an outstanding enhancement to add to your property without breaking the bank. A new front door at the same time adds to the entire curb appeal. It also provides the ability to enhance the perceived worth of your home. Smart locks are an attribute that can be incorporated to front entrances and routinely take out the demand to look for your keys by making use of a code to open the front door.

Garages are one of the most readily available areas of your home to renovate. Like the front door, installing a brand-new garage entrance door will totally change up the overall aesthetic appearance. As well as replacing the garage door, you could renovate other areas in the garage area such as adding an epoxy floor surface finish. Epoxy makes for an excellent finish.

Whenever you are improving your garage door, you can bring in a smart benefit to it. Like an intelligent garage door operator. Which, in turn, allows anyone to open and close the garage door directly from their cell phone. By using a new garage door you are capable of obtaining a really good return-on-investment.

Updating the Lights in the Kitchen Area

Quite often, whenever people overhear the term ‘remodeling your kitchen space,’ they might expect that “ideal kitchen” that they checked out on Pinterest. Yet that isn’t usually the case.  Kitchen areas are without a doubt on the list of places in your home that will give you a great return-on-investment. This is due to the fact that the kitchen space is frequently the principal living space with regards to where you will spend most of your time with good friends and family members.

Quite often, a small remodel project works marvels in your kitchen space. And sometimes just repainting the walls or replacing kitchen appliances make a huge difference.  Some clients decide to reface the cabinets and at the same time install brand new countertops.

LED lights are an additional cost-effective technique to increase the market value of your home. It is a direct method to create a stunning appeal to your home. 

Adding in Extra Bedrooms

Almost every homeowner eventually considers looking to put in an extra room to their home. Including a basement bedroom is a fantastic means to help make even more space and to incorporate value to your home without needing to grow the overall size. Providing a spare bedroom appeals to sizable families searching for extra sleeping room space or smaller households looking to have a home center spot for the kids to play and store their toys.

Working in Your Backyard

Incorporating a new patio as well as updating your current deck are significant ways that add excellent living space to take pleasure in the summer months. 

Lotz of Logic

By using these six quick home renovation ideas, you can easily generate a good ROI.  And by following a small checklist, you can do it without the need of breaking the bank. When it comes to interior home improvement projects – Tinley Park it can greatly improve your home and your neighborhood.

Don’t forget, if you need an estimate on interior home improvement projects – Tinley Park, give me a call. My team and I have been serving Orland Park, Homer Glen, Mokena, Frankfort, Tinley Park, New Lenox, Lemont, Orland Hills, Palos Park, St John IN, and all of the Chicago area for 30+ years.

Let’s Connect On: YouTube | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | iTune Podcast | Alexa Flash Briefing |

Ways to get Use Out of Your Basement – Mokena

It’s helpful to be able to have all that space in the basement. But it is certainly more beneficial to be able to get use from it. There are numerous ways to get use out of your basement – Mokena, as well as a number of them being relatively cost-effective. It all depends on the needs of your household, and what you want the basement to be used for.  Click on the orange play button below to listen to Mark’s podcast on this topic.  Hope you enjoy!

 

 

Ways to get Use Out of Your Basement – Mokena

The routine of your daily life determines what needs your basement will perform and carry out inside your household. Let’s look at a few basement renovating solutions.

If you have a thousand square foot house on the first floor alone, then you can enjoy an additional 1,000 sq. feet probably within your basement, which will need some easy and straightforward basement renovating solutions to finish it off.

Finishing My Basement

Do you want your basement ceiling to look complete, without investing a lot of money into it? You can start by having a painting professional come and paint the ceiling joists with black paint.

Next, hang up your lights, such as LED lighting, strip lighting, or possibly track lighting—Mount those lights underneath the ceiling joists.

Tips for Turning a Basement into a Living Space

Having polyaspartic flooring put in is undoubtedly a fantastic solution. Even though your basement has the possibility of flooding every once in a while. This coating is attached directly to your concrete floor, and will not peel or come up the next time it floods. It saves you a lot of time and money in the long run.

Areas for making wine or craft beer are two great renovation options for your basement. You can have a wine cellar and wine cabinets built directly into the vast space. Another option is looking into getting a home entertainment space set up in the basement. It is something that you and your guests can enjoy. 

Don’t forget, if you need an estimate on finishing off space in your basement, give me a call. My team and I have been serving Orland Park, Homer Glen, Mokena, Frankfort, Tinley Park, New Lenox, Lemont, Orland Hills, Palos Park, St John IN, and all of the Chicago area for 30+ years.

Let’s Connect On: YouTube | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | iTune Podcast | Alexa Flash Briefing |

Donating and Reselling When Remodeling

A significant number of my current customers get a feeling of overpowering guilt when it comes to tossing away one’s own used bathroom vanities, mirrors, toilets, and custom lighting straight into the dumpster — donating and reselling when remodeling is an excellent strategy for this particular guiltiness that you are feeling. Let’s uncover an entire range of suggestions regarding repurposing your bathroom furnishings in a more green way. 

 

Donating and Reselling When Remodeling

Not many people think of it when they are remodeling their home, but donating items or reselling them is a great idea. Especially when you don’t want to throw away cabinets or material that is still good after you finish doing a renovation. By donating or reselling something, you can bless someone else’s life as well as prevent waste by giving away your home materials. 

Or you might need some extra funds for the renovation in general. By reselling some of these items, you can easily make up the cost of the renovation. And there are also great opportunities to sell items that still have value and can be reused. 

When people think of repurposing items that are still in good shape when they start remodeling. They often have questions on how they can donate or resell these items. Listed here are three of the most common questions that get asked. 

  • “Where can I donate my bathroom fixtures?”
  • “Where can I sell my bathroom or kitchen fixtures?”
  • “Will scrappers take my metal tubs and sinks at the curb?”

Things to Donate When Renovating

When it comes to furniture and home materials, donating these items is one of the best ways to make an impact on the people who need it the most. By donating these items, you can make the home of your dreams while also giving back to the less fortunate. 

Habitat for Humanity ReStore is a storefront that is in many cities in the Chicagoland area and is a great place to donate new and gently-used items. They will take cabinets, countertops, used appliances, sinks as well as all kinds of other home materials that still have value. People can purchase gently-used bathroom or kitchen fixtures, that you donated, at a fraction of the cost. At the ReStore, they also help build homes for those in need. Donations like these can also help you when filing your taxes.

Other organizations are willing to come and pick up your furniture. And you can also find stores to drop it off as well. People often shop at these thrift-like stores to find very affordable furniture for their homes. Doing this is a great way to support an organization that is trying to fill the needs of impoverished communities. If you aren’t able to find a place to donate, never underestimate the community and friends that you already know. Think of the single mother, the parent that lost their job, or the neighborhood a few miles down the road that needs people like you.

Ways to Reduce Waste During a Home Remodel

People often renovate their homes because they are often outdated and needs a new look. And you will find that things that might seem worn-out can easily be repurposed. This is a great time to find the materials that still have value for them in your home. You can easily make some money off it. And the money you make off cabinets and other materials can be used to help cover the cost of your renovation.

When it comes to selling furniture, hardware, material, and more, there is a wide variety of apps and websites that you can post your items for sale. OfferUp is a great app to use if you want to sell your items in a small radius. Once you share your details with the app, it promotes the items in a five to 10-mile radius, which makes it super easy to sell to the community. Craig’s List is another good app to use. Especially for those items that are harder for you to sell. 

If you are selling your furniture online through places like eBay or Facebook’s marketplace, make sure that you are careful about the boundaries that you have there, when possible try to meet any potential buyers in public places. If you aren’t able to meet them in public, make sure that you carefully review the person’s profile on the app or recognize some accountability process with the platform has a safety measure or a rating system to keep you safe. 

In the DIY community, repurposed furniture is a big thing. If you think that your furniture has any value in it, you can try to promote it as a repurpose opportunity. Many fashion experts and interior designers are also on the lookout for these as well to make them their own.

Reuse and Recycle Material When Remodeling

When it comes to heavy pieces of furniture or a decent amount of metal, many people don’t know what to do with it. What they might not realize is that there is a world of people out there that are looking for scrap metal. Because many people are looking for ways to make some money off of metal. 

One of the best ways to get rid of any problematic pieces of metal furniture is to place it on the curb (on your property, not in the street). It is a tried and true method. Because when you put it outside, many people will be interested in bringing it to their own homes. Or they could sell the metal and make some money on the side since scrappers are always on the lookout for any valuable metal that they can sell. Especially when they say that “one man’s junk is another man’s treasure.”

Metal will always have value. Once you advertise it, people are still willing to get it off your hands. If you place it outside the night before garbage day, the metal will be gone within two hours or less. Be on the lookout for places that you can quickly sell and drop off scrap metal if you want to make money yourself. 

Lotz of Logic

When it comes to donating and reselling when remodeling, there are plenty of places and ideas listed above that can quickly help you out. With Mark Lotz and Lotz Remodeling, we want to make sure that you have the best experience possible while you get a quality home renovation. Because it is essential to us that you do. And we hope that you get some helpful ideas and tips from us today about what to do with your old materials. 

Don’t forget, if you need an estimate on donating and reselling when remodeling, give me a call. My team and I have been serving Evanston, Wilmette, Kenilworth, Winnetka, Glencoe, Highland Park, Lake Forest, Glenview, Northbrook, and all of the Chicago area for 30+ years.

Let’s Connect On: YouTube | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | iTune Podcast | Alexa Flash Briefing |

Finishing Your Basement

If you are lucky to have a basement in your home, then you will be looking to expand and use the space. However, it is undoubtedly much better to be able to get a lot of use out of it. There are genuinely a lot of things you can do with finishing your basement, and many of them happen to be very inexpensive

 

Finishing Your Basement

When it comes to completing your basement, it all depends upon the wants and needs of your family. And also what you want the basement to be used for. If you have kids or grandkids, then the basement is a great space for them to go and hangout. It is a great space to keep toys for the kids as well as putting a small couch and a TV down there as well. The basement is also a great space to put an extra bedroom for elderly parents or college students. And if you are an empty nester, then the basement is an excellent space for you to start enjoying by putting in a wine room or an area to play games like poker. No matter what you decide to do, there are a great many ways to transform the space in your basement.

If your basement tends to have water come through the walls occasionally or it floods every 5-7 years. Then you know the hassle of tearing up any existing flooring or carpeting. Take the time to research the many benefits of having a polyaspartic flooring put down in the basement. This flooring is durable that is also super hard and is also installed in garages. Don’t be fooled because this type of flooring looks a lot nicer than you think since they can be stamped to look like porcelain tile. But putting a polyaspartic floor down can be pricey.

Though in the long run, it is worth the extra money because you won’t have to worry when the basement leaks or the next time it floods.

How to Transform Your Unfinished Basement

A lot of times, people leave their basements unfinished and a little rough looking and don’t mind the walls getting a little trashed with things like paint or crayons. But if you are thinking of giving the space a fresh look, then you will want the walls to stay as clean and nice-looking as possible. Of course, one of the first things that people think of when they go to update their basement is an extra bedroom. If you don’t need a spare bedroom right away, then the spare room in the basement can work as an office. More often than not, people use an extra bedroom if they have a child in college who isn’t ready to leave home after graduating and wants some privacy and a space to call their own.

And if your older parents are going to be living with you, than the basement is a great space to incorporate an extra bedroom. As well as a bathroom and possibly a kitchenette as well. But the way that you remodel your basement is entirely up to you and what part of the ‘circle of life’ you are in.

Basements don’t just have to be for the extra bedroom. You can have your basement remodeled in a sophisticated way for a wine cellar or an entertainment room. Installing wine racks, new flooring, and a kitchenette make the space perfect for hosting a wine tasting or just having friends over for an evening of fun. And the kitchenette comes in handy because you can use it to warm up hors d’oeuvre. You can also purchase a nice TV and a leather couch to create a space for hosting football watching parties. 

Best Unfinished Basement Makeover Ideas

Quite often finished basements have drop ceilings installed in them. If you don’t like the way that the drop ceiling looks than you can consider getting a more industrial look downstairs. You can start by having a local contractor spray the floor, joists a dark color to create a dark void. Once the ceiling is painted, you can then install LED lights or track lighting. The lights will help with the much needed extra lighting in the basement. And it will give the basement a finished look that you didn’t expect.

When it comes to the basement walls, there are two ways that they can be done. The first is to paint the concrete walls to make the basement a workable space. Having painted cement walls isn’t something to be ashamed of. If you want the same finished look that you have upstairs, then you will need to have a carpenter come and frame out the basement and install drywall. Once it’s installed, then the drywall will need to be taped and painted. But this will be the best route to go. Because if you are framing out your basement, then you can have an electrician come and install more outlets as well.

And more outlets means more lights downstairs. More lights in your basement means that it will look very bright and welcoming for your guests.

Lotz of Logic

When you utilize the basement to its capacity, you are creating a smart investment. With 800-1,000+ square footage of space in your basement, you can start using it for living, entertaining, or even office space. Before you do anything, start by figuring out what you want to use the basement for now. Then think about what you want to do with it ten years from now. By doing this, you can make some wise and perfect changes to fit your current and future needs for space. 

Don’t forget, if you need an estimate on finishing your basement, give me a call. My team and I have been serving Plainfield, Naperville, Lisle, Shorewood, Joliet, Oswego, Yorkville, and all of the Chicago area for 30+ years.

Let’s Connect On: YouTube | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | iTune Podcast | Alexa Flash Briefing |

Professional Paint Stores Secrets | Buying Local

Do professional painting designers and installers hold a secret to purchasing the ideal paint available? Are there genuinely great features of shopping local? Today I am talking about professional paint stores secrets | buying local.

 

Professional Paint Stores Secrets | Buying Local

So precisely, why do your local area painting professionals favor purchasing items local rather than shopping at the big box retail stores? Many people go to big-box retail stores, like Home Depot or Menards, without even glancing at the smaller local stores. This is because the big box stores are relatively accessible and have advertisements on TV. As well as in magazines and newspapers. And they also offer a large variety of things to the Do-It-Yourselfer. With one of them being a convenience, with hours that are more open and flexible and with the cost of the materials being lower and more affordable.

Some of the big box stores even offer special financing through local credit programs and even contractor discounts. 

While the big box stores offer excellent benefits and advantages, they aren’t always the right fit for everyone. Because this isn’t a one size fits all equation. This is because not everyone in a Big Box store will have specialized knowledge of the many different products and items that they carry in their store. And even if some employees have experience and training. The chance of them being at the store the following season isn’t always a guarantee. While the store strives to do its best to answer any specific questions that you have.

It can often be better that you only shop there if you are getting paint and nothing else. Because that is all a big box might have for you.

Shopping at Local Stores

In the Chicagoland area and other areas, there are many professional paint stores secrets | buying local. Some of these small local stores include Sherwin Williams, Benjamin Moore for buying paint supplies and paint colors. And these types of stores offer a more specialized service to both professionals as well as do-it-yourselfers. They can do that because of how dialed in they are to your needs, and that makes for an excellent and pleasant experience for everyone. When you are shopping at a local store over a box store, there are several benefits that you will receive there. Let’s take a look at what these local store benefits are.

  • The Local Store Staff is Well-Educated
  • They have Fine Tuned Knowledge
  • The Store Carries the Latest Products & Updates
  • There is Faster Service
  • Contractor Referrals

Working with a Local Store

When you are shopping at a local store, you will appreciate the fact that the store tends to educate its staff with training on paint and all of the related products. Because there have been times where you were shopping for paint. And the employee is unable to help because they don’t know anything about what you are looking for. Because they are only selling paint and paint-related products, the employees at a local store have fine-tuned knowledge and a greater focus. This is because they are dialed into the products that they carry at their store. And the staff at these stores are also super great about helping you pick out the perfect paint color for the project that you are working on. 

On the occasion that Sherwin Williams or Benjamin Moor puts out a new product. They make sure that they educate all of the staff in their stores. That way the staff know the benefits of the products and can properly assist you and let you know why you should try the latest products. And they also understand the benefits of applying the latest products in or on your home. Because of the size of the store and how it is frequented far less, the service is a lot faster than at a big box store. And since the professionals often shop at local stores, these stores know which contractors to refer you to when you are looking to hire a contractor for a large or complicated project. 

Lotz of Logic

While I sometimes shop at the big box stores, because they offer better hours and is excellent when you are out late running errands or are out super early. But the personal relationship that you can make at a local paint store with the staff that works there. The people at local stores get to know you, your business, and what type of customer you help if you are a professional. When you have problems with a product or a weird situation that happened while working at a customer’s house, they will help you out. Because of how well trained the local store staff is, they are often willing to come out to the job site to inspect a problem. And you can’t find that at the big box stores. Because you can’t beat the personal touch that you get at a local paint store, such as Sherwin Williams or Benjamin Moore.

So there are indeed benefits of buying local over the big box stores.

Don’t forget, if you need an estimate on professional paint store secrets | buying local, give me a call. My team and I have been serving St. Charles, Warrenville, Wheaton, Winfield, Geneva, Batavia, and all of the Chicago area for 30+ years.

Let’s Connect On: YouTube | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | iTune Podcast | Alexa Flash Briefing |