A true Minnesotan contractor doesn’t fear the cold. When their client needs exterior renovations in freezing temperatures, they put on their thickest long johns, fill their thermos with coffee that’s hot enough to melt iron, and they get to work.
If you are a Minnesotan homeowner, you have every reason to take advantage of local contractors’ grit and determination during the wintertime. Fewer homeowners schedule home repairs during winter. That means contractors are more freely available, and it also means you can negotiate lower rates for their work. Home renovation projects are also a great way to pass the time until the outdoors become habitable again.
Without further ado, here are Angell’s Construction’s top five home renovation projects for winter! (Don’t worry if you mean to do them yourself – they are mostly indoor projects.)
1. Seal Up Cracks
About 38% of the heat your home loses escapes from cracks around its walls, doors and windows. If you’re unenthusiastic about paying to heat the outdoors, then you can dramatically reduce your heating (and cooling) costs by sealing those cracks up. And if you combine a crack-sealing project with insulation installation, you can reasonably expect to save around 15% on your heating and cooling costs!
Sealing up cracks won’t just make your home more energy-efficient. It can additionally reduce moisture which gradually impacts a structure’s durability, as well as prevent insects and other pests from infiltrating your home. Just remember: caulk is only suitable for cracks around stationary components like window frames, whereas weather stripping is for sealing gaps around moving components such as the windows themselves.
2. Install Hardwood Floors
Winter is a great time for the installation of hardwood flooring. Floorboards tend to expand when the humidity is higher than 55%. That’s not a problem when the air is so dry, so you can count on your new floorboards to settle correctly in place. Cool winter air will also accelerate newly installed floorboards’ drying process, so you can begin walking on them sooner.
If you wouldn’t like to splurge on wood floors, consider a cost-effective alternative. Bamboo is surprisingly attractive despite its low cost, and it is even considered a renewable resource (it is technically a grass). Vinyl plank flooring has become especially popular over recent years owing to its durability, ease of maintenance, wide range of available patterns and extremely similar appearance to real wood.
3. Install New Countertops
Make this year the one when your kitchen finally ascends to natural stone countertops! Quartzite, granite, marble, soapstone, travertine and onyx slabs all have one-of-a-kind patterns. No other countertop in existence will look just like your own. Each material does have its own relative pros and cons, however, which is why a little research upfront is advisable. For example, as durable as granite is, you may not want to commit to regularly resealing it.
Engineered quartz is also an attractive option for countertops. Unlike quartzite, which is a natural stone, quartz is made of ground up silica crystal and polymer resin. The patterns quartz is available in aren’t quite as unique as those of natural stone, but they do look convincing enough. Its low cost, ease of installation, outstanding durability and immunity to bacterial growth certainly make up for so minor a shortcoming.
4. Paint Indoors
Winter is an ideal time of year to paint the interior of your home. Demand for painting is lowest during the colder months, which makes both the materials and the labor comparably cheaper. You can save up to 40% on the cost of home painting if you time it right! You’re even likely to receive higher-quality work during the winter, because all the college kids who do it as a summer job are back in class.
Painting also takes less time during the winter because cold, dry air accelerates the drying process. You will have to leave your home’s windows open to take advantage of that fact, but applying two coats in a single afternoon is well worth feeling the chill.
5. Replace Cabinet Hardware
Replacing cabinetry hardware is the king of all DIY projects for several reasons. Anyone can do it regardless of skill level. It costs next to nothing relative to other home improvement projects. You will be amazed by how dramatically you can transform your kitchen in less than an hour!
If you would like to invest a little more time and money into revitalizing your entire home, consider replacing its doorknobs as well. It is so simple that anyone could do it, and should take a single afternoon at most. If you would like to hop on the vintage trend, then you’re bound to love glass doorknobs – but you may enjoy experimenting with a more modern design as well.
Many winter home renovation projects are easy enough for any layman (or laywoman) to undertake on their own. But if you would rather hire the highest-quality general contracting service the Twin Cities has to offer, you can always depend on Angell’s Construction. We welcome you to reach out today!