Home improvement

The concept of home improvement, home renovation, or remodeling is the process of renovating or making additions to one's home. Home improvement can consist of projects that upgrade an existing home interior (such as electrical and plumbing), exterior (masonry, concrete, siding, roofing) or other improvements to the property (i.e. garden work or garage maintenance/additions).

For other uses, see Home improvement (disambiguation).

Types of home improvement

While "home improvement" often refers to building projects that alter the structure of an existing home, it can also include improvements to lawns, gardens, and outdoor structures, such as gazebos and garages. It also encompasses maintenance, repair, and general servicing tasks. Home improvement projects generally have one or more of the following goals:

Comfort

Maintenance and repair

Maintenance projects can include:

Additional space

Additional living space may be added by:

  • Turning marginal areas into livable spaces such as turning basements into recrooms, home theaters, or home offices – or attics into spare bedrooms.
  • Extending one's house with rooms added to the side of one's home or, sometimes, extra levels to the original roof. Such a new unit of construction is called an "add-on".[1]

Saving energy

Homeowners may reduce utility costs with:

Safety and preparedness

Emergency preparedness safety measures such as:

Home improvement industry
Further information: Hardware store

Home or residential renovation is an almost $300 billion industry in the United States,[3] and a $48 billion industry in Canada.[4] The average cost per project is $3,000 in the United States and $11,000–15,000 in Canada.

Professional home improvement is ancient and goes back to the beginning of recorded civilization. One example is Sergius Orata, who in the 1st century B.C. is said by the writer Vitruvius (in his famous book De architectura) to have invented the hypocaust. The hypocaust is an underfloor heating system that was used throughout the Roman empire in villas of the wealthy. He is said to have become wealthy himself by buying villas at a low price, adding spas and his newly invented hypocaust, and reselling them at higher prices.[5]

Renovation contractors

Perhaps the most important or visible professionals in the renovation industry are renovation contractors or skilled trades. These are the builders that have specialized credentials, licensing and experience to perform renovation services in specific municipalities.

While there is a fairly large ‘grey market’ of unlicensed companies, there are those that have membership in a reputable association and/or are accredited by a professional organization. Homeowners are recommended to perform checks such as verifying license and insurance and checking business references prior to hiring a contractor to work on their house.

Aggregators

Aggregators are companies that bundle home improvement service offers and act as intermediary agency between service providers and customers.

Home improvement was popularized on television in 1979 with the premiere of This Old House starring Bob Vila on PBS. American cable channel HGTV features many do-it-yourself shows, as does sister channel DIY Network.[6] Danny Lipford hosts and produces the nationally syndicated Today's Homeowner with Danny Lipford. Tom Kraeutler and Leslie Segrete co-host the nationally syndicated The Money Pit Home Improvement Radio Show.

Movies that poked fun at the difficulties involved include: Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (1948), starring Cary Grant and Myrna Loy; George Washington Slept Here (1942), featuring Jack Benny and Ann Sheridan; and The Money Pit (1986), with Tom Hanks and Shelley Long. The sitcom Home Improvement used the home improvement theme for comedic purposes.

See also

References
  1. "Add-on". English Oxford Living Dictionary (US). Oxford University Press. Retrieved February 20, 2017.
  2. Use a Programmable Thermostat, Common Sense, to Reduce Energy Bills, Brett Freeman, oldhouseweb.com
  3. Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University, 2007
  4. "Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation - Société canadienne d'hypothèques et de logement".
  5. "Canada Homeowners Community - Example of Low-Cost Advices used by Canadian Homeowners (Community) for Home Improvement that boost the sale of your Home". Canada Homeowners Community.
  6. Cerone, Daniel (September 17, 1991). "Tim Allen's Power Tools : Television: The comic who had Disney and cable executives abuzz parlayed his luck to develop 'Home Improvement". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 16, 2015.

Further reading
  • Richard Harris, Building a Market: The Rise of the Home Improvement Industry, 1914-1960. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2012.
  • Michael W. Litchfield (2012). Chip Harley (ed.). Renovation (4th, Completely revised and updated. ed.). Newtown, Conn.: Taunton Press, Incorporated. ISBN 978-1600854927.


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