Charlotte, NC Home Improvement Idea Blog

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Flooring Your Home For Less

Ways To Save On Flooring Cost In Charlotte NC

Tips for saving money when installing new floors in your home.

Flooring is always one of the largest sections, in the big box home improvement stores located in the Charlotte, NC area. There are a couple of reasons why there is always a large selection of flooring products in the home improvement stores. One reason is many homes have products like carpet and linoleum, which need replacing and upgrading within 7-10 years, making replacement needs one of the top reasons. Another reason flooring is such a popular section in the home improvement stores is that it can drastically change the look of a room or home.   Flooring products are often one of the more affordable home improvement products on the market, as customers are continually upgrading and replacing flooring on a regular basis. With all these factors in mind, you can see why re-flooring your home, is one of the most popular ways to improve your home.

With all the flooring products out there in the Charlotte, NC market, customers can easily get duped into paying a lot more then market value for reflooring their homes. Large selections in home improvement stores unfortunately lend to sales pitches that might not always be honest.   For example, a lot of home improvement stores in the Charlotte area like to sell the installation with the flooring product. This in my opinion is a great way to market and sell your products, however big home improvement stores will advertise $.99/square foot installation prices. When you get to reading the fine print on the $.99/square foot installation prices, you see then that on top of installation cost there is also demolition cost for removing the old flooring product, cost for molding installation, and other expensive upgrades to complete the flooring job right. Although, $.99/square foot installation, additional cost of services to complete the flooring project properly, come as upgrades in many home improvement stores. Many homeowners do not know that there is often a lot more experienced flooring installer, that will do the price for a lot less, eliminating the big box home improvement store from getting their middle man fees and commissions. So how can homeowners save money on flooring cost?

There are a few different ways that homeowners can lower their flooring cost. The first way homeowners can save money is by starting with a budget. A good flooring budget can help you spend less in the long run. In preparing to write a flooring budget, a homeowner is going to need to know how to measure and calculate square footage. To get the square footage of the room, simply measure the length and width of the room, then multiply the two number together. The formula for square footage is:

Length x Width = Square Footage (Example: 6'L x 6'W = 36 square feet)

It is important to know the square footage because this will let you know how much flooring material to buy, and flooring installers like to quote labor prices using square footage. Having this little bit of knowledge will not only help you budget, it will also let you check the honesty of your flooring installer as well. Most flooring contractors will add about 10% to the square foot total for material as a waste factor, however they should be upfront and honest and show this 10% in their equation. For larger areas and more detailed products, this waste factor may be a little higher than 10%, however the waste factor for most flooring products is within a 10%-15% range. Anything higher should call for questioning.

Another cost often forgotten in the shuffle of shopping for new flooring is the trim pieces like the quarter round, transition strips, or baseboard. Its good to write down the dimensions of all your rooms, as you will use them to calculate the linear footage of trim materials needed. Knowing these cost will also help you get a true budget, and no surprise material cost popping up later. You will also need some semi-gloss paint for your wood trim as well, so make sure to count in a quart, or gallon of paint as well. Flooring contractors will generally charge for trim work separately, with modest installation rates that range from $0.75/foot, all the way up to $7.00/foot for more detailed trim pieces. Typical quarter round and shoe mold installation should be on the low end of the spectrum.

The second way homeowners can save money is by being patient. Shopping for building materials can be a tedious process, especially when its a finish material like flooring. Hundreds of different designs in every category of flooring. Once you have decided you wanted tile flooring instead of hardwood flooring, then you have thousands of tile pieces, with hundreds of different free tile patterns for homeowners to download. Being patient in this process of picking materials, can save you a lot of money, as you will be more patient in waiting to find the material you like, at the price you budgeted for. If your a good planner, you can watch the retailers with big tile flooring selections, and try to catch the tile flooring material you like on sale. Big box retailers have sales not only on the cheap tiles, but they run sales on tiles expensive as special order tiles.

In summary, to floor your home for less, the 3 key components to saving money is how to measure, having a budget, and shopping research. Knowing how to measure insures your not getting ripped off, and input for ordering materials. Making a budget is essential to saving money on flooring cost. Another good thing to do is put your work out for bid to a couple contractors as well, however finding a good contractor can make another article all in itself.   We hope this blog post has been both informative and helpful for anyone reading it. If you are a Charlotte, NC area homeowner looking to install new flooring, then give MB Construction Company a call for a free estimate.

Thanks for reading, and be sure to comment with new ideas for blog post.

Authored by:

Brad Basinger
MB Construction Company
224 Prescott Drive
Salisbury, NC 28144
Phone: 704-267-7763
Website: http://www.mbconstructioncompany.com

Home Improvement Services | Kitchen and Bath Remodelling | Flooring Installers | Tile Installers | Handyman Services | Rental Home Maintenance | Painting Services | Home Repairs | Charlotte NC | Concord NC | Salisbury NC | Kannapolis NC | Mooresville NC | Rowan County NC | Mecklenburg County NC | Cabarrus County NC | Iredell County NC | Home Improvement Blogger |

Friday, March 22, 2013

Changing Your Home's Look With New Paint

Changing Your Home's Look With New Paint & How to Hire a Contractor

Why painting is a top home improvement project in the Charlotte NC area.

Painting is ranked as one of the top 5 home improvement projects, listed by many popular home improvement magazines, when polling customers on home improvement projects they're likely to do within the next year or so. Not only is painting a more affordable home improvement project versus other home improvement projects, it is also a project some homeowners can, and often enjoy doing themselves. With big box retailers packaging tools together to lower prices, homeowners can often buy all of the required painting tools to do a room for under $100, or entire home for under $150.   Home improvement stores in the Charlotte, NC area are always running sales on paint, so materials for a painting project are often very affordable, easy to estimate for, and easy to transport. With a $400-$500 budget, a homeowner can change the look of their home drastically, improve living space, and when painted in neutral colors, improve the "sale-ability" of your home as well. Painting is a general maintenance requirement on most exterior siding products, in addition to a large variety of interior projects

There are many reasons why homeowners paint their homes. General maintenance is one of the most popular, however there is a number of other reasons why homeowners want to paint their home. Sometimes a new homeowner will paint a new home before they even move furniture in, just because they had a different vision for the interior design scheme, then the previous homeowner did. Then there is the homeowner whose kids have grown up, and stopped drawing on the walls, and want new colors in the kids rooms, and paint over crayon marks in the hallway. Rental home landlords and investors, also generally have policies that include painting a rental unit, as one of the requirements for preparing a unit for a new tenant. Most everybody reading this blog has been in a home improvement warehouse retailer and seen the size of the paint section. Then you also have paint manufacturers like Sherwin Williams and Benjamin Moore for example, that have brick and mortar stores to sell their own paint. With such a competitive market for paint suppliers, it has kept the cost of paint low, and homeowners interested in changing their home's look for a few hundred bucks.

The do it yourself homeowner, generally doesn't have a problem painting a room or two in the house, but lets face it, if you've ever painted, you know how tedious and time consuming it can be.  Not to mention frustrating, when you have to put 2 or 3 coats on because you didn't really know what you were doing when you got into painting. A flat wall paint probably wouldn't give a rookie painter to much of a problem, however eggshell and matte finishes are more common then flat finishes in today's market. Eggshell and matte paint products can show every brush mark and also roller marks, if your not experienced in painting with the products. For these reasons, homeowners will generally call a paint contractor or a general contractor, and let them use their professional experience to give their painting project a better finish and overall better look. Professional painters not only get the paint to finish better, they also make the painting surface look a lot better as well. Most painters can caulk and do light drywall finishing work, when they know a flaw in the material will show through worse with a colored surface.

So what do you want to look for when hiring a painting contractor?

Well first you want to locate one through either the Internet, newspaper, radio, word or mouth, or any other form or marketing. Nowadays, a lot of people simply do a google search, and get the same results as going to the newspaper. Usually the contractors on top, have put some time and effort into marketing their websites, and are rewarded in the search results by being at the top. Well maintained and updated websites always show up first in all the search engines. It's a good idea to call 3-5 contractors, to make sure that your getting a fair market price. Most of the bids are usually priced within a few hundred dollars, then its up to you to choose which contractor you felt the most comfortable with during the estimating process.

You should also no be afraid to ask questions, and if the sales person can't answer your questions, then you probably have an experienced contractor doing the estimate. Experience pays in painting, and they often have better equipment, and knowledge on how to get the job done right, and in a timely manner.

Another good idea is to look for a contractor that is going to do it in the time frame you need them to get the job done.  Another good thing is to ask them for pictures of previous work if they don't have a website displaying their work.

In addition to asking questions, you should also search the company online, and check social media review sites like Yelp and Google+, and look for reviews of the company. Sometimes no reviews is a good sign as well. People generally only leave excellent and poor reviews, so if you see a poor review, you can be sure that contractor did something really bad, to make the customer exert the energy of writing and publishing a bad review. Social media is a double edge sword for many businesses, and it is no different in the home improvement industry as well. The marketing benefits of advertising on social media brings more customers, however a bad review can kill your business as well. To avoid bad reviews at MB Construction Company of Salisbury, NC, we simply provide quality installation services, and document our work, by displaying it on our website. Our workers know that every job is a website photo job, so they pay attention to every detail, to give the best possible home improvement service possible.

So no matter which way you go, to do it yourself, or to hire a painting contractor, there is a lot more to take into account then just buying paint and brushes. If your going to do it yourself, I would recommend going to one of the free classes on painting at the home improvement warehouses like Lowe's, and Home Depot. We hope this blog post has been informative for readers looking to do home improvements this year with spring cleaning. So if your looking for a home improvement contractor in the Charlotte NC area, then give MB Construction Company a call at 704-267-7763 or visit us on the web at: http://www.mbconstructioncompany.com

Please comment and discuss painting tips. We also encourage readers to leave ideas for blog post topics. If we don't provide the service, it doesn't mean we can't research it, and get a good, general information knowledge of the home improvement service.

Saturday, February 23, 2013

Yelp Is Helping MB Construction Company in Concord NC

Check out MB Construction Company on Yelp!.

While we are blogging about social media in Charlotte NC...

We figure that since we are talking about social media, another great way MB Construction Company is finding new customers is through Yelp!. It seems Yelp! has taken an ever growing presence in the Charlotte NC home improvement contractor listing market. Any good Internet marketing expert will tell you, that a Yelp listing is a must. With from anywhere to 2-8 views per week, yelp generates 1-3 hits to our website every month. Although we don't spend money advertising on Yelp at the moment, we are very much considering it as a place to spend advertising money. So if you have a Yelp account, find us on there at the link below:

http://www.yelp.com/biz/mb-construction-company-salisbury

MB Construction Company

224 Prescott Drive

Salisbury, NC 28144

Phone: 704-267-7763 (Brad Basinger)

Website:

http://www.mbconstructioncompany.com

Friday, February 22, 2013

New Google Places Listing for MB Construction Company of Salisbury, NC

See Our New Google Plus Page!

Be Sure to +1 us on Google Plus

MB Construction Company of Salisbury, NC is now on Google Places and Google Plus. Specializing in home improvements, MB Construction now has another outlet to showcase photos of recent work, review products, and give potential home improver's in the Charlotte NC and surrounding Piedmont ares ideas and current home improvement trends in the Charlotte NC area. We offer a variety of home improvement services in the Charlotte NC area, and below is a list of our most popular home improvement services in the Charlotte NC area:

Popular Home Improvement Services in Charlotte NC and Piedmont NC area at our blog.

Flooring - Tile Install, Laminate Install, Hardwood Install, Vinyl Install, and more.
Kitchen & Bath Remodels - Mosaic Tile Back Splashes, Wall and Counter Tile Installation, Flooring, Painting, vanity, and fixture replacement.
Painting Services - Interior painting services and exterior painting services.
Door Installation - Interior Door Installs, Exterior Door Installs, Closet Doors, and More
Cabinet and Vanity Installation - Tile Counter tops, Pre-finished counter top installation, kitchen cabinets, vanity's, and more.
Trim Carpentry Services - Baseboard Installation, Crown Molding Installation, Quarter Round Installation, Chair Rail Installation, and more.
Rental Home Maintenance Services - Painting, Clean up, Roofing, Structural Repairs, Insulation, Waterproofing, and more.

For more information on our home improvement services in the Charlotte NC area, visit our Google Plus and Google Places pages at the following links:

Google Plus/Google Places: https://plus.google.com/u/0/b/108382784884071281483/108382784884071281483/posts#108382784884071281483/posts

Contact MB Construction Company for a Free Home Improvement Estimate at:
http://www.mbconstructioncompany.com/Contact_Us.html

Thanks for taking time to read a little promotional about our company. If your looking to do a home improvement project in the Charlotte, NC, Concord NC, or surrounding areas, then contact us today for a free estimate at 704-267-7763. Your project may be featured in our blog, with photos, product reviews, pricing reviews, and more. Stay tuned to our blog to see what your neighbors are doing as far as Charlotte NC home improvement trends.

MB Construction Company

224 Prescott Drive

Salisbury, NC 28144

Phone: 704-267-7763 (Brad Basinger)

Website:

http://www.mbconstructioncompany.com

Sunday, February 17, 2013

Tax Credits for 2012-2013 Home Improvements - North Carolina

Home Improvement Tax Credits for 2012-1013 Help Homeowners Save Money

Tax Credits on Energy Efficient Home Improvements from IRS

With the economy still slow, many homeowners are taking advantage of little known tax credits, that can save homeowners a lot of money when making home improvements. As part of the deal that lawmakers in Washington D.C. passed in order to avert the "fiscal cliff", at the beginning of 2013, the American Taxpayer Relief Act was also carried over into 2013 as well. With the extension of these tax credits, homeowners can get a tax credit for up to $500 of the cost of improving your home. The extension has been made retroactively, meaning home improvements made in 2012, will also be eligible for the tax credit as well.

Only home improvements that improve the overall energy efficient home are eligible. However, with homeowners in the Carolina's and all over looking to save money where ever they can, saving money on your energy bill is only an added bonus to making a home improvement. Duke Power raised rates on both North Carolina and South Carolina consumers, making energy efficient home improvements a booming industry in the Charlotte, NC area. Here is a list of some of the energy efficient, and tax credit eligible home improvement products:

Insulation
Replacement Windows (with Energy Star seal)
Replacement Doors (with Energy Star seal)
Some Roofing Products - Metal Roofing, Coatings, and more
Central Air Conditioners
Heat Pumps
Furnaces
And more. See the Energy Star Website for more information http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=tax_credits.tx_index

The credit is designed to cover up to 10% of the material cost, excluding labor to install. As you can see from the list, these are some major home improvements, making it easy to get the full $500 tax credit for homeowners this year. You should always conduct a tax professional when filing your taxes, our article is for informational purposes only. For more information on IRS tax credits, please visit the IRS Website at: http://www.irs.gov/uac/Tax-Credits-Available-for-Certain-Energy-Efficient-Home-Improvements

Energy efficient home improvements are some of the best investments for homeowners, looking to live in their home for another 5-10 years. With the increase in energy savings over the years, the initial cost of the home improvement, is generally paid back to the customer, in the form of savings on energy bills. On top of all this, making an energy efficient home improvement is also good for the environment.

If your a Charlotte NC homeowner or business looking to make an energy efficient improvement to your home or building, then give MB Construction Company of Salisbury NC a call at 704-267-7763. We can help lower your power bill, and improve your home at the same time.

To contact us, visit our contact page at: http://www.mbconstructioncompany.com/Contact_Us.html

MB Construction Company

224 Prescott Drive

Salisbury, NC 28144

Phone: 704-267-7763

Website:

http://www.mbconstructioncompany.com

Saturday, February 16, 2013

Pergo Flooring Installation in Concord NC - Durable Flooring Product Review

Pergo Flooring Installations & Advantages for going with quality Laminate Flooring

Product Review of Pergo Flooring Material after installation in Concord, NC home.

When it comes to laminate flooring, nothing gets better then the original, and that's the Pergo laminate floor system. Lowe's and Home Depot sell Pergo products, so they are not very hard to find. As you have seen from many of the Pergo television commercials, they advertise high traffic durability, using a veterinarian's office where Pergo is installed, showing how well Pergo stands up against pet traffic. If you are a pet owner, Pergo is the best way to go, as far as durability is concerned in the home with pet traffic. In addition to superior durability to other laminate floor products on the market, Pergo is affordably priced and a wide variety of styles and colors to choose from. As a product overall, we would give Pergo high marks on durability, appearance, and variety. Here is a sample of one of the Pergo flooring products MB Construction Company just installed in a Concord, NC area home.

http://www.lowes.com/pd_322374-35938-LF000124_0__?productId=3191391&Ntt=pergo+laminate+flooring&pl=1&currentURL=%3FNtt%3Dpergo%2Blaminate%2Bflooring&facetInfo=

Here are some pictures of the finish product after installation. It's hard to tell from there photo of 1 square foot to picture the final product. So see the pictures for what this particular pergo flooring product looks after installation.

As you can see, this product goes really great in hallways, bedrooms, and other living areas in the home. With installation of laminate flooring starting at $1.00/foot, sometimes customers like to buy the product before installation. Leaving additional time, and proper installation guidelines of having the flooring in the home before installing, and time do do your own carpet tear out to save additional money, as this homeowner in Concord NC did.

For free flooring estimates in the Charlotte NC and Concord NC areas, visit our website and our contact form at:
http://www.mbconstructioncompany.com/Contact_Us.html

See our previous blog post on how to calculate square footage for flooring, to help come up with numbers for estimating material cost on flooring: http://charlottehomeimprovements.blogspot.com/#!/2012/11/how-to-budget-for-new-flooring-why.html

Stay tuned to our blog, for more home improvement product reviews and ideas.

MB Construction Company
224 Prescott Drive
Salisbury, NC 28144
Phone: 704-267-7763
Website: http://www.mbconstructioncompany.com

Home Improvement Services | Kitchen and Bath Remodelling | Flooring Installers | Tile Installers | Handyman Services | Rental Home Maintenance | Painting Services | Home Repairs | Charlotte NC | Concord NC | Salisbury NC | Kannapolis NC | Mooresville NC | Rowan County NC | Mecklenburg Coutny NC | Cabarrus County NC | Iredell County NC | Home Improvement Blogger |

Thursday, February 7, 2013

Charlotte, NC Kitchen and Bath Remodeling Service Trends for 2013

Kitchen and Bath Remodel Trends in Charlotte for 2013

Sales Increases in MB Construction Company of Salisbury, NC's, kitchen and bath remodeling trends.

It seems as if the Charlotte, NC home and remodelling industry in Charlotte, NC and surrounding areas has picked up a little in 2013. From our business perspective at MB Construction Company of Salisbury, NC, our Charlotte NC business has been up in the year 2013. From a recessionary recovery still lacking steam, many homeowners in Charlotte were current on their mortgages, and because of instability in the economy, these homeowners were basically forced into 3-5 years of equity. Also new lending laws have made it harder for homeowners who have stayed current on their mortgages, simply don't want the hassle of selling or larger down payment for moving into a larger home. With the combined factors, trends for our company's kitchen and bath remodelling services, have seemed to lend homeowners choosing home improvements over building new.

As our blog is intended to be an idea generator for our potential customers, MB Construction Company of Salisbury, NC, would like to share some of the information we have seen in our trends. Some items like mosaic tile back splashes in bathrooms, and tile shower installations, really add some pop to outdated bathroom fixtures. Just like new cabinets in the kitchen, or a new stove and counter tops.

Below is a list of our top selling kitchen and bath designs, that are trending in Charlotte, NC and the surrounding areas.

Top 5 trends in our Charlotte NC, Kitchen and Bath Remodelling Services

1. And the winner is...tile flooring in the kitchen and bathroom areas of the home. Tile looks really good in bathrooms and kitchens, and whether ceramic or porcelain tile, it is very durable and can hold up in two or three of the most used rooms of your home.

2. Coming in a close second to tile flooring, mosaic tile back splashes are very popular right now, in both the kitchen and the bathroom. They look really good and unique to the style of the colors the homeowners pick out for them. Affordable pricing rates have made mosaic tile back splashes, popular among Charlotte, NC homeowners this year of 2013.

3. New appliances seem to be trending very well this year, though based on just MB Construction Company of Salisbury NC sales, appliances seem to be selling very well this year. Our customers often need cabinets moved or cut, leading to a lot of small jobs for our company, in assisting with appliance installation.

4. New Cabinets in the kitchen. Many homeowners in Charlotte, NC are in tract homes, and often didn't have the more affordable options they offer now with cabinet design and cabinet installation.

5. Interior Painting Services. With big box retailers offering classes to customers on interior painting techniques, and do it yourself classes, a lot of homeowners in the Charlotte, NC area are doing their own interior painting. However, some homeowners just don't like to paint, so it has kept construction companies that have kitchen and bath painting services busy, and keeping it still one of the most common home improvement projects for homeowners in the Charlotte, NC area.

Although the year is young, we have seen an increase in these top 5 home improvement services in 2013 in the Charlotte area, among our own personal data through sales at MB Construction Company of Salisbury. Our blog is intended to give homeowners some ideas, when looking to remodel their homes. If your a homeowner in the Charlotte, NC area, looking to make improvements to your home, then give MB Construction Company of Salisbury NC a call today at 704-267-7763.

Please leave comments with questions, and other blog ideas that interest you as a reader.

MB Construction Company
224 Prescott Drive
Salisbury, NC 28144
Phone: 704-267-7763
Website: http://www.mbconstructioncompany.com

Home Improvement Services | Kitchen and Bath Remodelling | Flooring Installers | Tile Installers | Handyman Services | Rental Home Maintenance | Painting Services | Home Repairs | Charlotte NC | Concord NC | Salisbury NC | Kannapolis NC | Mooresville NC | Rowan County NC | Mecklenburg Coutny NC | Cabarrus County NC | Iredell County NC | Home Improvement Blogger |