While it most often refers to building projects that alter the structure of an existing home, home renovation can include improvements to lawns and gardens and outbuildings like gazebos and garages.
Home improvement projects generally have one or more of the following goals:
Beautification and added features
* 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.
* Replacing siding and windows
* Improving the backyard with sliding doors, wooden patio decks, patio gardens, jacuzzis, swimming pools, and fencing.
Comfort
* Upgrading heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems (HVAC)
* Increasing the capacity of plumbing and electrical systems.
* Waterproofing basements.
* Soundproofing rooms, especially bedrooms and baths.
Maintenance and repair
Maintenance projects can include:
* Roof tear-off and replacement.
* Concrete and masonry repairs to the foundation and chimney.
* Repairing plumbing and electrical systems.
Additional space
Additional living space may be added by:
* Turning marginal areas into livable spaces such as turning basements into recrooms or attics into spare bedrooms.
* Extending one’s house with rooms added to the side of one’s home or, sometimes, extra levels to the original roof.
A residential area is a type of land use where the predominant use is housing. In areas that are zoned residential, buildings may include single family housing, multiple family housing such as (apartments, duplexes, townhomes (or similar configurations), condominiums) or mobile homes. Zoning for residential use may permit some services or work opportunities or may totally exclude business and industry.
It may permit high density land use or only permit low density uses. Residential zoning usually includes a smaller FAR (floor to area ratio) than business, commercial or industrial/manufacturing zoning.
In certain places there is a lot of partying situations residential areas may consist of quite large tracts of land which have no services whatsoever requiring a trip to town in order to fulfill basic needs. Because of the large distances involved most of these numerous trips involve using a motor vehicle.
In the case of a land development the pattern of development is usually set forth in the restrictive covenants contained in the deeds to the properties in the development, but may also result from or be reinforced by zoning. Restrictive covenants are not easily changed as the agreement of all property owners (many of whom may not live in the area) may need to be obtained to effect a change