Home Improvement Projects

The Small Ranch

My first house. An 875 square foot ranch style house with a basement. This is where I started as a Do-It-Yourselfer. These projects are not perfect, some are even embarrassing, but here they are in all their imperfect glory.

Installing a pre-hung exterior door

One of the first home improvement projects I tackled was replacing the storm door on the garage with a new pre-hung steel door. I had ...
Read More

Budget bathroom update

When money is tight, and demolition is out of the question, a bathroom can still be updated with some paint and a couple of new ...
Read More

Widening a Closet Door

In a house that is only 875 square feet, every extra inch counts. Even though the closet in the master bedroom was about 6 feet ...
Read More

The Basement Renovation

The Basement Renovation When I moved into my first humble abode, it boasted a finished basement. Well, “boasted” and “finished” are stretching the truth. Wood ...
Read More

Wood Privacy Fence

I was minding my own business one day when my next door neighbour approached me about a privacy fence he was thinking about building across ...
Read More

The Cape Cod

Okay, it’s not really a traditional Cape Cod, but that’s what it was called in the real estate listing. We call it a money pit.

The Snowball Effect in the Home Office

The Snowball Effect in the Home Office One of the features that attracted us to the house was the comfortably-sized computer room in the addition ...
Read More

The Kitchen Remodel

The Kitchen Remodel A complete kitchen remodel can be a stressful undertaking in the best of times. Ours was done in 2009, during the depths ...
Read More

Installing a new deck railing

Installing a new deck railing The large back deck was one of the things that attracted us to the house. Our home inspector warned ...
Read More

Structural Repairs: How to “un-butcher” a house

Structural Repairs: How to “un-butcher” a house Moving or removing walls, enlarging window openings, altering doorways– these are major renovations that, while not especially difficult, ...
Read More

The Attic Renovation

The Attic Renovation Our house is 1½ story with two bedrooms upstairs in what is essentially a finished attic. Shortly after moving in, we became ...
Read More

Tips and Advice

This section is meant to be an additional resource to compliment your research on common DIY projects. Sharing what I have learned….