Put your smartphone to work on your next summer project
If you’re looking to get cracking on a new home improvement project, don’t forget to bring along your phone—it can be a great source of tips, tools, and time-savers for all kinds of repair and renovation jobs. We’ve put together a list of the very best home improvement and design apps from all over the web, for iPhone and Android devices.
1. Houzz Interior Design Ideas
This is a great app for finding inspiration for your next project—it’s a practically unlimited bank of new ideas with high-res images to match, so you can compare and mingle different styles to see how they’ll work in your home. You can also save images from their library for online access, and get tips from the Houzz discussion boards directly from your phone. It’s also free, which is tough to beat.
2. Handyman Calculator
Handyman Calculator is an essential resource for doing on-the-job math. It has dozens of different converters, including standard-to-metric, density, temperature, and area, as well as simple inputs to help you determine square footage, lumber weight, asphalt and concrete fill, etc. It even does sophisticated functions like calculating arc length, magnetic flux conversion, annular velocity, and buoyancy factor. Whether your job is a leaky pipe or a complex engineering project, Handyman Calculator is great to have on hand—and it’s free.
3. ID Wood
Different projects call for different woods—some are too expensive for large-scale use, while others aren’t tough enough for structural support, or shouldn’t be left in the rain. This app is a great way to make sure you get the right wood for the job. ID Wood features a colossal index of different wood types, showcasing their various pros and cons, so you can make an educated decision before you leave the hardware store with a truck bed full of lumber. It also features lumber conversions, pilot hole and nail size references, and information on each wood type by hardness, sustainability, specific gravity, and common uses. (Cost: $4.99)
4. Home Depot
This is a solid app for getting community advice on the tools and supplies you need—you can simply scan the barcode on any piece of hardware, and get consumer ratings and reviews, including advice on how to best use the product. It’s also a good resource to get the layout of your local Home Depot, as well as a store locator so you can stop in for advice, window shopping, or tool and truck rentals. Like their site, you can also save items you’ve looked at to compile a shopping list (or wish list) for your next project. (Cost: free)
5. Carpet and Floor Calculator
If the Handyman Calculator is a little bit more app than you need, this is a great simplified option that focuses on the price and square footage of your carpet and flooring. Use it to lay out your next flooring project, and it will calculate the total cost, both in labor hours and in materials. It also helps determine how many tiles you’ll need for a flooring job, so you don’t run into the headache of buying too much or too little. (Cost: free)
Guest article written by: Tara Wagner is a staff writer for [tp lang=”en” only=”y”]TechBreach[/tp][tp not_in=”en”]TechBreach[/tp]. She has worked from home for over a decade, and loves sharing news and advice with fellow telecommuting moms and dads. She’s fascinated by new tech and new ideas; and when she finds time to unplug, she enjoys long hikes in the mountains near her home. She lives in Denver.
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