Home repair help on the Web

PEARL SALKIN SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH BULLETIN

Move or improve? Short question, long answer. If you hate the climate and can't stand the neighbors, maybe it's time to make a major move. But if you love everything about your location, it's time to explore the wild world of home improvement.

Need more room? Who doesn't? The more you have, the more stuff you accumulate. Before you know it, the closets are crammed and the pantry is packed. Space, like time, tends to evaporate without warning. If your problem is inadequate storage space, a simple solution might be to clean out the garage or buy some bookcases, closet organizers and shelving units. But if your family of six has to take a number to use your one and only bathroom, upgrading your living quarters will be a little more complicated and a lot more costly.

Paper or paint? Ceramic or vinyl? Plaster or wood? Natural or synthetic? The methods and materials for covering walls, ceilings, fireplaces and floors are limitless. If you're restoring a Victorian cottage, you can buy reproductions of 19th-century wallpaper and gingerbread molding. If your taste is more contemporary, try today's easy-to-apply texture. A variety of faux finishes, simulating suede, denim, linen and leather can be achieved with a sponge, a squeegee, a rag and the right mixture of glaze and paint.

Do you want to turn your bedroom into a home office and convert the attic into a master suite? Would breaking down the dining room walls and expanding that area make hosting Purim parties and Passover seders more pleasant? These are just a sampling of the many matters that homeowners must consider before they sign on the dotted line or undertake a monumental do-it-yourself project. And a good place to seek out solutions to your perplexing repair, restoration and renovation problems is the Internet.

Hundreds of helpful sources are now online. Here are some to get you started: If you're uncertain about your ability to tackle a task, check out www.homestore.ca/Tabs/homeimprovement/default.asp, probably the best on the Web, before you get in over your head. Many people overestimate their talent and most of us underestimate the time it takes for primer, putty and paint to dry on a damp day. Who wants a weekend project to turn into a never-ending nightmare? By selecting the How-to categories column, a menu of topics ranging alphabetically from carpentry to windows will appear. Clicking on any topic will take you to a page with dozens of subtopics, links to specific solutions to your building, installing, repairing, replacing or painting problems. This site's step- by-step directions will walk you through hundreds of projects. Detailed instructions, easy-to-decipher diagrams, realistic degree-of-difficulty ratings and fantastic photos that show you exactly what you are supposed to be doing at precise points in the project make this site a do-it-yourselfer's paradise. And even if you have complete confidence in your abilities, previewing a project's page beforehand will verify that you have the proper tools, materials and time to do it right.

Despite all the repairs that need to be done inside, when the weather gets nice, our fix-up focus shifts to the great outdoors. Well, the Home and Garden TV site (www.hgtv.ca) has both areas covered. Click on the Home tab to get to that section and the Garden tab to get the dirt on dirt ... and plants, planters, patio furniture, ponds and waterfalls. The wide assortment of articles, tips and tricks, and project plans just might contain the inspiration for you to make some changes to your home's exterior. The Home section is organized in a similar manner to the Homestore Web site – you pick a category, then you browse through the titles. For example, selecting Articles will bring up a list of features on topics like faux finishing, improving your home's curb appeal and building a sauna.

For more than 25 years, Canadian Home Workshop magazine (www.canadianhomeworkshop.com) has inspired and guided DIYers and woodworkers. Even if you're not a master carver or avid fan of the print publication, you can benefit from the wonderful collection of archived articles and additional information that are available on this Web site. By clicking on New Tools on the Home page, you can access an intriguing feature. Short articles about the latest tools, gadgets and gizmos might convince you to buy some of these electronic toys, wonderfully innovative products that can turn the more mundane aspects of home improvement (like measuring and levelling) into exciting adventures in high-tech electronics and laser wizardry. If you have a question about home improvement, select the Ask a Pro tab. Since your problem might have been addressed previously, there's a good chance you'll find a suitable solution in the archives. If not, posting your question via the online form
is simple.

The site www.homedepot.com is a billboard for the home centre of the same name. But besides trying to sell you building supplies and fancy fixtures, it offers a lot of useful information. The opening page is geared toward shopping. But if you look in the upper right corner and click on the project index, you'll be taken to the first of five pages of substantial listings for how-to help for a variety of problems and projects, such as patching a window screen and building a porch swing. Instead of a lot of intimidating technical talk, you'll find user-friendly, easy-to-follow instructions with headings such as "Stuff you'll need" and "Step-by-step." You don't have to be an accomplished home handyperson to proceed with most of these projects.

Bob Vila vacated the premises a number of years ago, but This Old House (www.thisoldhouse.com) still takes pride in calling itself America's first and favorite home improvement series. And the show and Web site continue to inspire dreamers and do-it-yourselfers alike. The know-how list on the opening page covers many topics related to repairing, maintaining and enhancing your home. By clicking on Bath, for example, you'll go to the opening paragraphs of four informative and interesting articles. They are short, easy-to-follow stories about solutions to common problems, like how to replace grout that has become grungy and gross.

And even if you don't decide to do one of the projects on these pages now, do yourself a favor and bookmark the site. On the bottom of the opening page, there's a link to the Home Renovators' Forum, a message board brimming with information. And since you never know when the remodelling bug will strike, it doesn't hurt to have the link on hand.

I love home improvement TV programs, almost to the point where I would tune in to watch paint dry. While I realize that lots of editing takes place between the before and after shots on these shows, they have given me the confidence to attempt many minor repairs and uncomplicated installations. And I feel as free and creative as a five-year-old when I grab a brush and a pail of paint. Sure, completing a small project might require a dozen trips to the home centre and one to the emergency room. But when I finally succeed, the sense of accomplishment is wonderful, worth every exhausting minute and frustrating hour spent as a weekend warrior on the home front.

Pearl Salkin is a freelance writer living in New Jersey.

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