DIY Guys: How to Revive and Refresh Your Home, Even with the Pandemic

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DIY Guys: How to Revive and Refresh Your Home, Even with the Pandemic

Jonathon Thigpen • Apr 16, 2022

How to Revive and Refresh Your Home, Even With the Pandemic

When the first shelter-in-place orders came out in March 2020, they changed daily life for the masses. Many schools shut down, leaving children to learn remotely. Professionals also started telecommuting full-time, keeping them home far more often than usual.

Since houses weren’t just places for personal time, people began looking for ways to revitalize and refresh their spaces. If you want to improve your home during the pandemic, here are some ways to get moving in the right direction.

Start With Air Quality

Air quality matters if you want to stay healthy and keep your home feeling fresh. If you’d like to give yours a boost, replace your air filters. If you have the ability, choose HEPA filters to remove airborne particles and pollutants as effectively as possible. If that isn’t an option, select air filters with high MERV ratings to get the best experience.

Another step you’ll want to take this winter is to get your chimney cleaned and inspected. Chimney issues could push smoke back into your house, leading to poorer air quality. Plus, built-up soot or debris and blockages are fire hazards. By hiring a professional chimney sweep, you’ll know that your chimney is clean and in good repair.

Additionally, you can help keep your home fresh with regular professional cleaning. Transparent Cleaning Co. offers customized home cleaning services to meet your specific needs.

Make Your Space Relaxing

Many people experienced higher stress levels during the pandemic due to concerns about the virus and the challenges created by restrictions. By making your home a relaxing place, you can make sure you have a respite that lets you recharge and rejuvenate.

A straightforward way to start is by repainting. You can completely reinvent a room by going with a new color, such as a soothing blue or green. In lieu of paint, you could try custom wallpaper. It’s far less messy than painting. Plus, it’s a project you may be able to DIY, and it’s relatively low-cost, particularly when you consider how much of an impact it makes.

If a good soak is what you need to unwind, installing a new, larger bathtub in your bathroom or adding a hot tub in your yard could be a great option. It gives you a place to kick back and unwind right at your home, making it easier to keep stress levels down.

Another great project would be adding a fireplace. Being able to nestle up to a warm fire during the winter can be incredibly soothing. It also makes rooms seem cozier and gives you another way to heat your room.

Considering the Financials

Around $420 billion was spent on home improvement projects in 2020. However, that doesn’t mean every penny was spent wisely. Some projects have a better ROI than others. If you accidentally pick the wrong ones, you may not get all of your money back if you sell soon.

Before you pick any home improvements to do, research current trends and project ROI estimates. By focusing on what buyers prefer and projects with stronger ROIs, you’ll increase your odds of recouping what you spend. By also tracking your receipts and saving before and after photos, you can easily highlight the value of your improvements, too, making it easier to secure a higher sale price.

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Nestled at the foot of Pike's Peak in Colorado Springs, CO, Transparent Cleaning Co. has humble roots: we're just a couple of young professionals who are good at cleaning and passionate about customer service.

'Honest & Good' is what we strive to be as both individuals and as a company; integrity in both the quality of our work and the pricing of our services, as well as treating everyone with respect and a heart of service.

For more information, please visit our website or contact us today!

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If you're a senior and the thought of flipping houses has always intrigued you, but you think it may be too late to start, we have good news: it's not! Flipping houses can be rewarding and profitable, but only if you are dedicated, knowledgeable, and patient. If not, a fixer-upper can turn into a money pit really fast. If you’re up for the challenge, Transparent Cleaning Co. has teamed up with the DIYGuys to offer this detailed handy guide to house flipping for seniors. Let's jump right in! Find the Proper Property It's crucial to do plenty of research before you settle on a house to flip. Consider the state of the neighborhood, any up-and-coming developments, public transportation access, schools, shopping, and other factors that may affect housing prices in the future. Avoid buying a house that requires too much TLC. Homes with a weak foundation, plumbing issues, or structural damage are sure to be bad investments. Ideally, you want a house that can be turned around quickly by knocking down a couple of walls, fixing up the floors, and adding a few coats of paint. This type of flipping is also referred to as microflipping . Gather the Funds In most cases, you will require a loan to buy and renovate the house. These will include loan interest, fees, and other related costs. To increase the chances of getting a loan, improve your credit score, resolve any debts and issues, and create a bullet-proof business plan. Of course, if you can, use cash to buy the house. It will help you avoid interest and other fees associated with loans. Recruit and Hire the Right Contractors Chances are, you won't be doing all the work on your own. Hire a general contractor who has experience in house flipping and a good team of subcontractors. Be sure to check online ratings and reviews and their licensing and insurance policies before deciding on a contractor. Expand your search and get the message out that you’re hiring by adding a banner to your Facebook page. To create an attractive banner, simply use a banner template and then modify it to add your own copy, font, and colors. Also, online business software is essential for teams in 2021. Project management applications (such as AirTable and Trello ) help you share information and collaborate with your team instantly. These apps sync across all your devices and are easy to use, so you should use them! Manage Payroll Effectively Your books can get messy when you have to deal with multiple contractors and employees, but it's vital to have an accurate, safe way to pay your workers. Many online payroll services can organize and automate payments, taxes, and other payroll duties so you can focus on other tasks. Also, to be successful at house flipping, you must stay on budget. Numerous financial tools are available online to help you keep track of your business's financial health and maintain your spending plan. Bear in mind that accounting software can help you streamline your projects and ease the complexity of the accounting side of the business. It can provide real-time financial reports for your balance sheets and income statements, plus project profitability reports, payroll, and workflow automation! This way, you stay on top of your financial responsibilities, as well as have a quick overview of your financial performance. Grow and Expand – and Protect Yourself If you’re thinking of expanding your business and hiring more employees, you might also want to consider going back to school. You’ll gain crucial information to give you the inside track, and thanks to the flexibility of online programs, you can pursue a business degree while still working, thus gaining valuable skills you can implement into your own business in real time. It’s also important that you protect yourself – and your business. Especially if you’re conducting even a portion of your work online, cyber security data protection is a must. These days, hackers are everywhere, and it’s crucial that you safeguard your business to keep it from being hamstrung before it can really get started. Should You Flip Houses? It's not too late to get into flipping houses, but it's also not for everyone. House flipping takes a lot of dedication, funds, organization, and management. If you pick the right property, gather the funds, get a good team of contractors, and utilize online financial tools and project management applications, you can earn extra income by giving new life to an unhappy home. -- -- Transparent Cleaning Co. is built on Christian principles, which for us means that we treat every person as being created in the image of God and being worthy of respect and love. Our work is an act of worship to God, and service towards others. It's our goal that the quality of our work and the relationships we build display that truth.