The increased hours spent at home enable you to investigate all the nooks and crannies that need repairing in your home. If you’ve noticed that your home is a little worse for wear, now is the perfect time to embark on some home repairs.

The quarantine is the ideal time to organize your garage, swap out your ducts for a ductless system, and patch up any small tears in your screen door to keep the bugs from coming in during warmer months. Here are seven popular pandemic-inspired home repair projects for you to undertake.

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1. Patch Screens and Repair Windows

While your windows are closed against the winter chill, check all the screens for rips or wear-and-tear. You’ll thank yourself for your effort, come summer, when you can enjoy a summer breeze with no bugs. Remove the screens and look carefully around the edges for any sprung wires or holes. Screen repair patches are easy to find and easy to apply. You can also replace the entire screen for larger tears by removing the sealing tape and damaged screen from the inside of the window frame. Cut a new piece of mesh ½” wider than the interior frame on each side. Carefully replace the sealing tape and mesh, and then trim any excess with an X-Acto knife.

2. Swap Out Your Hardware

Handles, pulls, and knobs lose their luster, and drawer glides and hinges become squeaky over time, making your kitchen appear run down. A simple way to make your kitchen look like it’s just had a lengthy makeover is to swap out the hardware on your drawers and cabinetry. A screwdriver or cordless power drill is all you need to remove the old hardware and install the new pieces. Ensure you add a little mineral oil or WD40 to new glides and hinges to keep them moving smoothly.

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3. Switch from Ducts to Ductless

A ductless system is a modern heating and cooling approach that saves you space, money, and energy. This system uses an outdoor compressor and indoor units to heat and cool zones in your home with no bulky ductwork, making the most space- and time-efficient HVAC system on the market. Choosing a ductless heating and cooling system over a more traditional one is an investment in your future. Not only does it save you money, but it also increases the resale value of your home. And you can customize your system by choosing which rooms should contain the air handling units, so you won’t pay to heat or cool a rarely used room again.

4. Organize Your Spaces

Closets, attics, basements, and garages could use organizational attention now and again, and quarantine offers ample time to sort these often neglected spaces. With some inexpensive shelving and a handy wall-mounted storage solution, you can create a whole new system in which everything has its place. Stackable boxes, mounted hooks, and a sports rack provide a place for all your storage needs.

5. Install Solar Panels

Spending so much time at home may have you thinking about ways to make your home more energy-efficient. Installing solar panels raises your home’s value, conserves energy, and helps save the environment. Although a solar panel expert is best equipped to plan and install an at-home solar panel, if you’re set on doing it yourself and have the skills to do it, it’s not as difficult as it might seem.

To install solar panels to generate electricity and decrease your carbon footprint, you must design a system that works for your household’s energy needs, buy solar panels and a mounting system from a reputable dealer, and install them. You’ll also need a solar inverter to transform solar energy into electricity.

6. Assess Your Roof

If you ever decide to sell your house, your roof’s condition can be a deal-breaker for potential buyers. A leaking roof not only creates unsightly water stains and breeds mold and mildew but also damages the structural integrity of your home. Leaks happen most often when caulking or flashing has been breached.

If you have a water stain on your ceiling or walls, it’s a sign you have a leak in your roof. After pinpointing where you think it might be, head outside with your binoculars to scan for any curled or missing shingles. You can reattach any curled shingles by coating them with asphalt roofing cement or with a caulk gun. For missing or damaged shingles, you must replace them. Take special care when you’re checking the end caps—the tent-like shingles at the corners of your roof—as they can leak too.

7. Clean Out Your Dryer Ducts

There are two major reasons you should undertake this home repair job: energy efficiency and safety. The most pressing concern about build-up in your dryer vents is the possibility that all the dried-up debris could start a fire in your duct, igniting a larger house fire. This safety concern puts cleaning out your dryer vents at the top of your to-do list.

Your dryer works by pulling moisture out of your clothing and pumping the humid air through a vent into the outside environment. If your dryer is plugged up, then your clothes won’t dry quickly—damp clothes after a full drying cycle indicate a clogged vent. After you get the clothes dryer away from the wall, which is a two-person job, detach the vent duct from the wall and your dryer, and vacuum out the debris as best you can. You can also use a broomstick to dislodge the lint in the tube and expedite the process.

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The Takeaway

Living in a post-pandemic world has allowed us to make the most of our time at home. With all of this domestic downtime, you may have noticed one or two areas about your home that aren’t running as smoothly as they could be. Or maybe you’ve decided to repair and replace elements of your home like the heating and cooling system. Putting some time, effort, and resources into your home can add up to significant benefits later, by saving money and adding to your home’s resale value.

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From upgrading your heating and cooling systems to redoing the kitchen, if you’re searching for ways to improve your home, you’re in luck! Home remodels have become increasingly popular, as they can enhance your living situation in both the short and long term! Read below to learn about pandemic-inspired home remodels and their benefits!

Upgrade to LED Lighting

Upgrading your home’s lighting is one simple and effective remodel. While you can simply replace some or all your light bulbs with LED models, you can also upgrade your light fixtures for a different desired aesthetic and increased control through smart lighting, dimmer switches, and more.

Since the majority of LED lights do not emit UV rays, they help create a more comfortable and healthier indoor environment. This helps in heavily trafficked areas and is especially advantageous for those who spend most of their day staring at a computer screen while working or learning from home, as this relaxed atmosphere helps eliminate headaches and eye stress. LED lights are also much more efficient than traditional light bulb types, which leads to lower energy bills and consumption.

Room Repurposing

With so much time spent at home recently, you may notice that certain rooms are not being used properly. Repurposing these rooms is an effective remodel, as it allows you to maximize space and provides a change of pace or scenery at home.

When assessing each room and its usage, be sure to consider your specific wants and needs to help find its best new purpose. Repurposed rooms are commonly used for at-home learning, working, and exercising. This may be especially beneficial during the pandemic, as schools, offices, and gyms or other exercise establishments may not be open or safe to use yet. You can also repurpose a room to be a studio for music, arts and crafts, or any other hobby. Many choose to repurpose sparsely used rooms for storage as well.

Depending on the room’s current layout and intended future use, remodels range in degrees of difficulty to complete. Some may simply require rearranging furniture and minor tasks that can easily be completed yourself, while others may require professional contracting work. Be sure to extensively research beforehand and contact professionals if needed to ensure that your room repurpose is completed properly and safely.

Outdoor Living Areas

Adding an outdoor living area to your home is an excellent pandemic remodel. Outdoor living areas allow you to take advantage of nice weather and relax outside without having to leave your home!

There are endless ways to design and customize an outdoor living area to your desires. Stools, tables, chairs, couches, chaises, grills, fire pits, and more are excellent furniture options, and you can also accessorize with fountains, statues, and other decorations … some even add an entire outdoor kitchen! An outdoor living area can also increase your home’s property value. For those in search of safe ways to socialize in small groups during the pandemic, an outdoor living area is an answer because you can space yourselves out in the fresh air!

Swimming Pool

Swimming pools are another popular outdoor home remodel. They are the perfect addition to any homeowners with families, as children can have hours of fun out by the pool during the summer! They are also ideal for those who host frequent gatherings, as the pool can create an excellent social atmosphere.

As for their benefits, swimming pools are an excellent option for those looking to exercise and de-stress at home. Swimming and the resulting sun exposure has been shown to increase your physical and mental health. You can also simply lie out by the pool and soak up the sun! Adding a pool may also increase your property value.

Sunroom/All Weather Room

Sunrooms or all-weather rooms offer similar amenities of an outdoor living area, but they differ in one major area. They are typically built with wood, aluminum, or canvas frames and windows or screens walls, meaning they let in high amounts of natural light while shielding from the elements. Therefore, you can utilize the area all year-round, regardless of the outdoor weather.

These rooms are very advantageous for homeowners, as they increase property value and can lead to lower electric bills. They also add more space to your home, and the exposure to sunlight can improve your mental and physical health.

Upgrade Your HVAC System

Upgrading your HVAC system can be especially advantageous with the increased amount of time spent at home. Your old system may be outdated and operating inefficiently, unknown to you. This can create an unhealthy indoor environment and lead to higher energy costs, but these problems are avoidable and fixable with a simple system upgrade. 

One way to upgrade your HVAC system is by installing a ductless mini split. These systems are especially beneficial for homeowners, as they operate so efficiently that they lead to lower energy costs and consumption! They also improve indoor air quality by removing any harmful airborne materials such as dust, dirt, debris, moisture, and more. This helps decrease your risk of illness and irritation while also leading to increased focus and productivity for those working or learning from home.

They are available in single and multi-zone systems, meaning they can heat or cool your home regardless of its size and number of rooms! Able to heat and cool your home regardless of outdoor temperature, mini splits also offer homeowners advanced control over their indoor climate through smartphone applications and other smart technologies that display temperature, airflow, humidity, and more. This advanced control leads to a healthier and comfier indoor environment for all family members!

These effective home remodels can help maximize your time indoors throughout the duration of the pandemic by increasing your comfort levels, productivity, and health. They’ll also pay dividends and make your home better after the pandemic, so get started with your remodel today!