marksmith: Appliance Choices in Home Improvements

Monday, December 3, 2012

Appliance Choices in Home Improvements | SouthGate Chamber

When you?re tackling home improvements for your kitchen, you will likely choose new appliances. Use the suggestions below for improving your kitchen with an eye towards preventing expensive maintenance.

When you look at new appliances for your kitchen, consider the options you?re looking for and those that simply add potential for expensive repairs going forward. In addition to the cost of appliances, more expensive appliances usually have more breakable parts. Even with warranties, the cost of repairs for appliances with bells and whistles can run up into significant money.

Consider the finish you want for your appliances. While the aluminum finish remains popular, some companies are trying to introduce new finishes for refrigerators to update color and finish choices. Before you choose a finish, consider what pleases your eye and steer towards more neutral colors to avoid waking up and hating your appliances one morning.

Research reviews about your appliance choice in order to make sure you?re paying attention to all issues that can cause ongoing maintenance concerns. For instance, in some French-door refrigerators, problems have been reported with hinges on the freeze and because the freezer hinges are manufactured by a separate company, door replacement is necessary for the repair. This is okay if your refrigerator is still under warranty, but can be expensive if your warranty has run out.

When you?re choosing your oven/stove, consider researching how the product wears in terms of discoloration of cooking surfaces, chips and scratches. Warranties usually are very limited for such repairs and you?ll end up with expensive maintenance and repair bills.

Avoid remodeling based on how you wish you cooked and remodel based on how you actually cook instead. Wasting money on appliances that are built-ins that you are unlikely to use frequently uses valuable space that might be better suited for use as cabinet space to suit your cooking style.

Do not purchase appliances based on your once-a-year entertaining. Unless you?re running a cooking school out of your home, it is unlikely that you need to purchase an over-sized refrigerator, oven or dishwasher. Consider the cost of these items which can be about three times as much as more traditionally sized appliances and the increased cost of repair and replacement before choosing to include them in your kitchen home improvement project.

Avoid built-in appliances such as microwaves, in order to avoid having to find the exact size for replacement. While built-ins can look very sleek, you are committing to having a particular built-in and having to replace it in order to avoid a gaping hole in your kitchen design. In addition to the increased cost of built-in appliances, appliance sizes change so that you?ll likely find that when you need or want to replace your built-in you?ll also need to modify surrounding cabinetry.

Your kitchen remodel should not just include consideration for what you want to have in your kitchen now, but should be tackled with an eye towards the future. Use the suggestions above to choose kitchen appliances that will be less expensive in terms of maintenance and replacement in the years following your kitchen home improvement project.