Here's another great tip from BobVila.com. Homeowner s insurance is probably the single most important tool you have for protecting your biggest investment and your family s security, but it isn t a buy-it-and-forget-it deal. Besides just keeping your premiums current, you should review your policy every year to be sure it covers any changes to your property, like that new boat in the garage or the home office you added. Take out the camera and create a photographic inventory of everything you own. Keep the records with your policy in a fireproof safe or in a bank safe deposit box. Things like testing your smoke alarms, installing deadbolts, shoveling the stairs when it snows and getting a building permit for that new deck are all pretty much common sense, but they re also commonly neglected, leading to claims due to accidental injuries, theft, fire and, most often, water damage. Frequent claims lead to higher premiums, so give yourself a break: Work out a home maintenance schedule that covers all the bases and put safety projects at the top of the list. Find out more at BobVila.com: The ultimate home improvement web site! BobVila.com 2008

The new family room is all done and furnished and looks terrrific. Bob talks with Sarah Monzon, the homeowner who also acted as the general contractor on the project, about the remodeling work done on the room. The room was a "cave" according to Monzon before the project was started. A pitted soapstone sink was previously used as a laundry and had become an eyesore. The room was also cluttered with accumulated junk. Because of the shortage of space in the house, the family decided to finish the basement to add to the living space of the home. Monzon acted as the general contractor for the project because there wasn't money budgeted for the expense, which was not necessarily an experience she would choose to repeat. The local inspectional services department provided a large amount of information for the novice general contractor. It is imperative before homeowners do any work on their home that they obtain the necessary permits and find out what is safe and what is not. If homeowners do work on their homes without a permit and anything goes wrong, insurance will not cover the damage. Before any work was done on the house, the basement floors were concrete and heating ducts crisscrossed the ceiling. There was flooding damage in the basement during the past fall which needed to be corrected and prevented in the future. Basement Systems was called in to install a perimeter drain and drainage system. A lot of existing plumbing was then moved from the ceiling to make more headspace and a new HVAC system was installed to move the heating ducts. The new central air system complete with an air filter made the house much more livable. In one of the smaller spaces in the basement, a new bathroom was installed with the help of technology from Saniflo. Owens Corning Basement Finishing Systems was then called in to install new finished walls. Many of the mechanical devices in the basement are now hidden behind the walls but are still accessible as the walls can be easily removed. A new entertainment center was then installed in the finished basement featuring a S1 Digital Media Center. The media center allows the homeowner to browse digital pictures taken using the family's digital camera or to set the image as wallpaper for the screen. Television shows can be watched or recorded using a schedule guide. The media center also can store home videos, movies, and music. New reclining chairs from Bell'O were put in the entertainment room. When laying protection from flood damage in a basement, it is important to elevate wood from the concrete floor. Instead of using a plywood underlayment, a plastic tile system was used which interlocks and can be screwed down onto the concrete. Plastic webbing underneath the tiles diverts any water which may come up through the concrete or spill in the basement to the perimeter drain. Slide-Lok cabinets were put in the basement to increase storage space. The Slide-Lok wall system was put in place to hang tools in the workspace. The husband of the family is a musician and uses much of the storage space to hold his instruments. Because the room can double as rehearsal space, two and a half inches of fiberglass are in the walls to reduce sound transmission to the outside. The basement has a small office space for the husband as well. Accents throughout the space correlate with other things in the room. The lampshades on the desk have a design which relates to the flooring product. The floor does not have a wall-to-wall carpet although it looks as if it does. The floor is from Binvetec and features tiles of carpet which stick to the floor. The product has interlocking patterns which can easily be layed down. Bean bags from Sumo were put in the room for lounging in and the kids love to play on them. A stairwell fishtank from AquaVista is only four inches deep.

More and more baby boomers are looking to expand space in their homes to make room for aging parents. Bob talks with Howard Brickman, an old friend of the show, who specializes in hardwood flooring installations. Brickman is adding space to his home to make room for his mother-in-law. The house was originally built by Brickman 24 years ago and the family has been living in it ever since. The home is two stories, approximately 2,500 square feet with four bedrooms and a full basement. The size of the home will roughly double to make room for the new space. A full bedroom, bath, kitchenette, and a large living area will be created in the project. The home is in Norwell, Massachusetts, hwere glacial activity left a mix of soil types, large rocks, and groundwater in the area surrounding the home. There were some conservation issues that delayed the building permit for about eight weeks.