Your Home

Looking forward to the summer but dreading coming home to a hot and stuffy house every day? An efficient central air conditioning system can make your home a refuge during the hot months of summer. Air conditioning works not only to lower the ambient temperature but to remove the humidity that makes the heat of…

It’s summertime, and the living is easy – well, almost. With summer just around the corner, June is the month to get your home ready for summer relaxing. Tidy up the garden and finish planting, give your lawn some feeding and weeding and dust off the patio furniture. Here are a few other jobs for…

It is becoming harder to avoid a bidding war in today’s real estate market. For buyers, be prepared and for sellers, try and ensure that the bidding war process is done in good faith. Here are 5 lessons to remember, whether you are buying or selling, to increase your chances of success: 1. What should…

To prepare your home for listing – or simply to enjoy it a few years longer – check out these top five home improvement projects that will make your home more attractive to buyers: Give the front door a new look – The front door sets the tone for your home’s curb appeal and security,…

Buying a new garage door is no longer an open and shut case. Today you can choose doors made from aluminum, fiberglass, wood and steel in a wide variety of styles and finishes. A garage door is about 40 per cent of the average home’s exterior, so it pays to do some research before shopping.…

If your home features older windows, chances are 25 per cent or more of your heating/cooling dollars are going out the window. Drafty windows not only make your home uncomfortable, they waste precious energy and drive heating and cooling bills up. You can check for air leaks around your windows with a simple test: on…

Pop, sizzle, and calm are this year’s secrets to décor colour choices. “My favourite way to change the look of a room,” says Sally Morse, director of creative services for Hunter Douglas, a leading window treatment company, “is of course, to do something fresh at the windows. But my second favourite way is to paint…

May flowers are finally poking through in gardens across Toronto, a definite sign that summer is not far behind. It’s the month to get your hands dirty and your garden ready for planting. Here are some other items to check off your spring “to do” list to make your home ready for the glorious days…

Bathroom renovations are one of the most popular home improvement projects in Canada. Creating your dream bathroom can add greatly to both the value of your house, as well as your family’s enjoyment of your home. But bathroom renovations also offer a number of opportunities to include features that can dramatically improve the energy- and…

Roofing and waterproofing contractors are gearing up for a busy Spring. An exceptionally harsh winter, spring rains combined with melting snow and spring’s freeze-thaw cycles all contribute to ice damming and basement flooding. One of the simplest precautions to prevent ice damming and the resultant roof damage, is a well-maintained soffit and downspout system. Having…