Types of home improvement
Wallpapering and painting walls or installing wood paneling.
Adding new flooring such as carpets, tiling, linoleum, wood flooring, or solid
hardwood flooring.
Upgrading cabinets, fixtures, and sinks in the kitchen and bathroom.
Repairing or increasing the capacity of plumbing and electrical systems.
Upgrading heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems (HVAC)
Roof tear-off and replacement.
Concrete and masonry repairs to the foundation and chimney.
Waterproofing basements.
Soundproofing rooms, especially bedrooms and baths.
Replacing siding and windows, both as a cosmetic improvement and as a way to
save energy.
Turning marginal areas into livable spaces such as turning basements into
recreational rooms or attics into spare bedrooms.
Reducing utility costs with:
Energy-efficient insulation, windows, and lighting.
Renewable energy self sufficiency with biomass pellet stoves, wood-burning
stoves, solar panels, wind turbines, and geothermal exchange heat pumps (see
autonomous building)
Extending one's house with rooms added to the side of one's home or, sometimes,
extra levels to the original roof.
Improving the backyard with sliding doors, wooden patio decks, patio gardens,
Jacuzzis, swimming pools, and fencing.
Emergency preparedness safety measures such as:
Home fire and burglar alarm systems.
Security doors, windows, and shutters.
Storm cellars as protection from tornados and hurricanes.
Bomb-shelters especially during the 1950s as protection from nuclear war.
