Home improvement - Definition and Overview

Home improvement is the process of renovating or making additions to one's home. Often, a professional handyman is hired to perform the improvements but, typically, most improvements are done on an amateur DIY basis by the homeowner.

Bob Vila is a well-known author and televsion host in the home improvement field. Also, the sitcom Home Improvement uses the home improvement theme for comedic purposes.

Typical kinds of home improvement include:

• wallpapering and painting walls or installing wood paneling
• adding new flooring such as carpets, tiling, linoleum, or wood flooring
• upgrading cabinets, fixtures, and sinks in the kitchen and bathroom
• repairing or increasing the capacity of plumbing and electrical systems
• turning marginal areas into livable spaces such as turning basements into recrooms or attics into spare bedrooms
• reducing utility costs with:
  • energy-efficient insulation, windows, and lighting
  • renewable energy self sufficiency with solar panels, wind turbines, and geothermal exchange heat pumps (see autonomous building)
• extending one's house with rooms added to the side of one's home or, sometimes, extra levels to the original roof
• improving the backyard with sliding doors, wooden patio decks, patio gardens, jacuzzis, swimming pools, and fencing
• emergency preparedness safety measures such as:
  • home alarm systems
  • storm cellars as protection from tornados and hurricanes
  • bombshelters especially during the 1950s as protection from nuclear war

See also

• refurbishment
• repair and maintenance

External link

• Home Repair & Improvement -- Information and Directory (http://www.homerenovationscenter.com)