Gene and Katie Hamilton
Gene and Katie Hamilton are veteran do-it-yourselfers whose column, "Do It Yourself Or Not," has been in newspaper syndication for 20 years. They've been in the home improvement trenches long enough to know when to hire a contractor and when to do a project yourself and share their sage advice with real life experience and dollar and cents figures.
The award-winning authors have penned 20 home improvement books. Their latest best-seller, "Fix It and Flip It," is a handbook for investors who want to buy, fix and sell houses. The Hamiltons are best known for their quirky, no-nonsense philosophy of home improvement and demystifying a home repair so it's not intimidating. Their offbeat humor can be found in a series of "Dummies" titles including "Painting and Wallpapering for Dummies," "Plumbing for Dummies," "Carpentry for Dummies" and "Home Improvement For Dummies." Gene and Katie are Internet pioneers who founded HouseNet.com, the first home improvement site on the Web. As home improvement experts they are frequent speakers at home shows across the country and have appeared on "The Today Show," "Dateline," "CNN News" and many other television shows.
Gene and Katie Hamilton Samples
Install an exhaust fan
A bathroom without good ventilation is a likely target for mildew and wood damage.
Install a flagpole
To see Old Glory waving in the wind always brings a sense of pride. A contractor will charge $932 to install a 25-foot pole in concrete, which includes the labor and material.
Build a redwood deck
Redwood is the top of the line of natural deck materials because even under the worst conditions it resists decay, insects and weathering -- and it always looks good.
Build a wood yard shed
When storage for lawn equipment and outdoor gear is needed in the back yard, consider building a wooden yard shed.
Lay a basement subfloor
A sound subfloor is needed when you're laying carpet, vinyl, laminate or engineered hardwood on a cement basement floor so the surface is warm, dry and resilient.
Clean and repair gutters
A working gutter system prevents soil erosion and water damage to the siding, and the low cost of cleaning and repairing a faulty gutter system is nothing when compared to the high cost of water damage.
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