Tool and Tie

In this podcast I cover off our status with the basement, where we are today, where we’re headed with the rest of the reno, costs and whether its worth it to DIY your basement. I’m going to cover off in future podcasts the steps I took to complete my basement including framing, electrical, insulation, sub floor/flooring and more. Listen to Poonam and Sats speak about their experiences and challenges. If you are contemplating whether you want to do your basement on your own, listen to this podcast first before starting.

Smart homes are being a popular DIY project for homeowners. The desire to have everything at the control of their finger tips is often a discussion at social gatherings. They are in ooh and ahh of all the gadgets I have in my house. From being able to control my video door bell, to opening doors or turning on or off just about anything in my house is a highly desirable trait for a house moving forward. In this podcast I explore my selected home automation platform and all the connected devices. I also share my top 5 use cases among of sea of hundred, thousands if not millions of options. Consider having your blinds go up and down at certain times of the day, answering your doorbell and opening the door from your smart phone? Ensuring your kids are safe and comfortable around the house especially when they are sleeping? Join me on this podcast to help make your home a smarter home.

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Early warning signs of a contractor can be subtle at times, but evident at others. As a homeowner you owe yourself and your family the obligation to ensure work is done in a safe and professional way. Failure to do so can cost you lots of money. In this podcast I cover off several early warning signs of a bad contractor. These include:

* Unlicensed contractors that cannot take out a permit

* Contracts without plans and therefore no direction

* Contractors that ask for large sums of money upfront

* Loan Wolves

* Contractors unfamiliar with completion payment contracts

* Unsatisfactory references

Tune into the podcast as I elaborate more on each of these and provide some real life examples on how these can cost homeowners tons of money if they are ignored. Remember you have to ensure you protect yourself because the contractor will not look out for your best interest if they are questionable contractors.

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Kitchen renovations are considered to be one of the best renovation projects in terms of payback. The kitchen is the heart of the home and often contributes significantly to whether a buyer will purchase the home or not. I know I have covered off kitchen renovations in the past but I want to provide you some feedback on a second major remodel that I did in an old 1920s style home and the return on investment associated with it. The cabinets were built in meaning there were no cabinet boxes to be removed. These were literally built in. The cabinets were old, dated and needed to be replaced for me to make this an attractive buy. Here is a look at what the existing cabinets looked like at this home.

The Before Picture of Kitchen Renovation

 

As you can see the kitchen is dated and very small. Notice all the available space above the stove and fridge? That is all potential space to provide more storage space and make the sell more attractable. Here is an image of the demo process.

Demo

I met with my kitchen cabinet fabricator who gave me an awesome deal on some custom kitchen cabinets. We agreed on the drawing and the final product for the kitchen is the following

The After Picture of Kitchen Renovation

 

In this image we expanded the kitchen cabinets, made them more modern and gave the kitchen some life. Keep in mind the backsplash has yet to be added so the kitchen will have even more flare once completed. Furthermore we found the wall tiles were dated and made the kitchen look out of place. We opted to add a wainscot headboard panel. Keep in mind this still needs 2-3 more coats before its ready. I don’t have images of the old tiles but here is what the rehab looks like for this kitchen

Wainscoting

 

 

At the end of the project we spent about $12,000 on this kitchen reno. The appraisal value from  a few agents averaged to about a $26,000 increase in equity. If this house sells at least 26K higher than originally anticipated, i look to make nearly 14K in value for about 1 month of effort. Good luck with your reno and be sure to listen to this episode to hear some tups and tricks.

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Before I get into my five tips to designing the ultimate nursery, I have to say i’m delighted to be back and humbled by all the emails I got over the past few months.

Yes I’ve been MIA for the past few months because life got super busy with my twins who just turned a year not to long ago. When they hit around 8 months life went on fast forward with them, work got super busy and now finally life has come back to somewhat of a steady state phew!!

Thanks to all who actually wrote to me asking to continue my podcast, its surreal to see that our audience actually want me to produce more high quality content. So i’m back again with my next podcast and its dedicated to those that are soon to be parents or new parents thinking about designing their nursery. So here are all the tips that I can possibly share with you.

When my wife and I found out that we were having twins, it was an amazing feeling. It really started to hit home when it came time to designing the nursery. Sure there were some mistakes we made but we learned quickly.

Here are my Five Tips to Designing the Ultimate Nursery

* You would be surprised with how much sorting you need to do with a newborn from clothes to onesies, diapers, bibs, wipes, jackets, hats…i can go on and on. It’s very important to keep things sorted for babies. We designed our closet keeping in mind we have twins. We delegated the left side to our son and right side to our daughter. We learned quickly the need to split uppers from lowers because your baby may spit up just about anywhere. The middle columns were used for diapers and wipes

 

 

To the left of this part of the closet I designed a few shelves and drawers for bibs, onesies, socks, hats and baskets for toys.

In case you little one decides to enter the room, you have to make the closet baby proof. I used soft clothes drawers, rounded all my edges and corners and installed locks on the inside of all drawers. So planning when designing your closet is key.

2. Safety of children is obviously top priority when designing a living space for them. When it comes to safety window blinds come to mind as a potential hazard for your child. According to Consumer Product Safety Commission that they have seen a case at least once a month where a child has been hanged to death spanning decades through window blind chords. When we purchased the house we had window blinds with chords but were quick to replace them with cordless thermal blinds. First it not only eliminates the threat of strangulation but also acts to keep warm air in during the cold season and vice versa during the summer.

3. A product that I swear by is called Angelcare. This product essentially monitors your baby’s breathing and if your baby for some unknown reason stop breathing it will alert you. It works by placing a sensor pad under the mattress. I will warn you when your baby is tiny they may move to one end of the bed and off the pad which will trigger it. But to be honest i’d rather a negative reading every now and then vs something happening to my children. Definitely a worth while investment

4. In addition to providing a safe environment for your baby, you should also provide a comfortable place for them. For that reason i’ve installed a humidity sensor and temperature sensor. The temp sensor is connected my Nest thermostat so if it goes too low or high, my nest will trigger. We also have a whole home humidifier so I can adjust accordingly as well. If you don’t have a whole home humidifier, no problem you can pick up a standalone unit from your local store that sells baby gear. Here is one that I know a friend...

So you’ve decided you want to create a mancave? excellent choice. I’m actually in the process of creating a mancave myself. Now to really have a mancave there are 5 key things you need to have in order to earn the title of “mancave”. In the absence of these 5 key items, you just have a basement, not a mancave.

* You need some kind of kegerator or some kind beer dispenser. My pick is the bottoms up dispenser. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnZ08QvOFMc

* You need some kind of sports centre that allows your guests to kick back and have that sports bar feeling. You can purchase a pool table, dart board table, ping pong table and a whole lot more. If you really feel crafty you can make your own.

here is a link to making a pool table: http://www.hgtv.com/design/rooms/other-rooms/how-to-build-a-pool-table

You can google how to make any other items if you choose the DIY route.

* You need some kind of entertainment system. Built in surround sound in your walls or ceiling is an awesome addition

* A secret haven. Every guys needs a space where you can just hang out and relax. You can create this secret space behind an entertainment wall or bookcase. Again you can google some awesome ideas for a secret place for you guys

* You need a gym down there to keep in shape. Whether you are in great shape or sub par shape, it doesn’t matter. You need something where you can lift some weights before those guests come over or before you head out on a Friday night. You need to get those muscles activated and the cardio on to feel better and do better in general.

If you want more details tune into this week’s podcast for more details.

Finishing a basement can be an exciting but sometimes scary process. There are so many things that can go wrong if you aren’t careful or hire somebody who isn’t careful in getting the work done. While designing a basement can see multiple configurations, there are a few key fundamental things anybody looking to finishing a basement should look into before starting. Tune in to this weeks podcast to listen to my five basement finishing tips to help you get the work done properly the first time and avoid costly renovations down the line.

Many people have been contemplating whether they should cut the cord. The big question is whether they can stay away from that oh so convenient TV guide and the tons and tons of channels that come with those expensive cable packages. We contemplated the same and the result? Tune in to this weeks podcast as we share our experience with cutting the cord. I’ll speak to you about the pros, cons, alternatives, how life is without cable and more important what my wife had to say!

In this podcast I refer to several different products and services. Below is a link to the most important items that helped me get up and running with life without cable. We cut the cable, are you ready to do so as well?

Helpful Links

HD Homerun

Antenna’s Direct DB8e Antenna

Raspberry Pi Kit

Netflix

Hulu

 

Wouldn’t it be just great to get up in the morning and not have to beat traffic to make it to work in time? Well that possibility may exist for you depending on how diligent you are with your craft. Welcome to the 21st century where a large number of transactions are online driven. What if I told you that you can sell your stuff online and make a healthy margin? I’ve sold coffee tables, dining tables, cutting boards at margins of 50% to 1000%. If you’re interested then read on.

I’ve sold a lot of my creations online and i’ll share with you some of the places where i’ve found great clientele that were willing to pay the prices that I commanded.

1) Etsy.com is a great place to sell your craft. Whether it be earnings, a coffee table, or even toys, etcy is definitely something you want to check out. It has an enormous online presence and provides access to millions of customers.

2) Cragslist is another great way sell your already made products. Its free to list and you get access to a very large number of clientele. The thing to watch out for craigslist is the clientele will be looking for value hence lower prices. Be careful of what you put on craigslist because you don’t want to erode your margins.

3) Custommade.com is another popular website that connects people looking for custom work with those that can create their desired piece. Customers submit pictures or drawings of what they are looking for and a “maker” will go ahead and provide a quote to design what they are looking for in an efficient manner. The caveat is this is only available in the US at the moment.

Tune in to the podcast for this week to hear about the rest of the online resources that can help drive volume for you business.

In this weeks episode, I tackle 5 key questions that came from you, the audience. First off I want to thank you for taking the time to ask me these questions and second Poonam picked these questions because they resonate with a larger audience. Please continue to send me questions to [email protected] or send me a free voicemail using speak pipe. Thanks again and I hope you enjoy this week’s episode