Here s another great tip from BobVila.com. Bathrooms are, like it or not, wet areas. Even if the rest of your house has gleaming hardwood floors, they re not the best choice for your bathroom. While some wood-look laminates can be glued and sealed to resist moisture, if water does get beneath the surface, the affected panels have to be replaced, which isn t simple or cheap. Cork flooring, properly installed and treated, can be a good alternative if you want that warm wood feeling. Cork is sustainably harvested, naturally anti-microbial and mildew-resistant. All it needs is a coat or two of eco-friendly acrylic binder to seal the joints and make it suitable for bathroom installation. Polished stone or glossy tile are slippery when wet, so if you re going with tile, look for a sandblasted or textured finish. Any stone or tile can be very cold underfoot, so consider installing a radiant heat mat beneath it. Stone and porcelain tile can be very expensive, but there s a huge variety of ceramic and glass tile available from $3 to $20 per square foot, installed. Tile installation is an advanced do-it-yourself job that can be physically demanding and time-consuming. But even if you hire a pro, it s a good investment. Some Realtors estimate that every dollar you spend on tile installation adds $1.50 to your home s value. For budget installations, vinyl tiles are the cheapest and easiest to work with. They don t last as long as sheet vinyl, though, and the gaps between them can be hard to seal. While it s a myth that sheet vinyl is an easy do-it-yourself project, there are lots of great new patterns and colors to choose from, costing between $2 and $7 a square foot. Find out more at BobVila.com: the ultimate home improvement web site! 2008 BobVila.com

Bob meets with the plumber to look at the air handler and then goes upstairs to check out a bathroom floor heated with radiant heat.

Here's another great tip from BobVila.com. It s important to make your home energy-efficient by sealing all gaps and insulating thoroughly. But don t overlook ventilation. Vent fans in the kitchen and bathrooms are required by code in most states, and they re a good idea everywhere. They help protect indoor air quality and get rid of excess moisture from cooking and bathing that can lead to mold problems and structural damage. In the kitchen, range hoods now come in all shapes and sizes to go with your cooking surface and d cor. They can be ducted through a ceiling or exterior wall. This often requires tearing out plaster or drywall and it s best done during a remodel. If you don t want a large hood, consider a cooktop with a downdraft vent ducted through the floor. Either way, ventilation fans should always be ducted to the outside, never into an attic or crawlspace. Bathroom ventilation fans have come a long way, too. Energy Star-certified models with built-in ceiling lights can do double-duty and save you money, especially since these are so often accidentally left on. And they re much quieter, too. Some installers recommend the roof-mount type of fan. The fan and motor are installed on the roof and ducted to the interior space. In some homes, this can make installation and service easier since the unit s out in the open instead of built into the ceiling. Find out more at BobVila.com: The ultimate home improvement web site! BobVila.com 2008

Bob looks at the tiles selected for the bathroom with homeowner and contractor NIck Beasley. They first look at the hexagon tile on the floor that is well-suited to an 1890s home. Beasley then shows Bob the white subway tile for the main field of the wall and the decorative glass tile for the edges. All of the tile is from Daltile. With work yet to be done, Bob wishes Beasley and his wife good luck as they anticipate the due date for their baby in just one week.

The EdenPURE Infrared Portable Heater can cut your heating bills and save you money. With over 1,000,000 EdenPURE heaters sold EdenPURE is #1 in both savings and reliability. Remember not all heaters are the same. There are many imitators on the market but only one EdenPURE.

Getting a Dremel® Multi-Max Oscillating Power Tool is almost like getting 5 tools in one. With it you can cut, grind, remove grout, scrape and sand. Powerful and heavy-duty, the Multi-Max is just the tool to help you tackle a wide variety of do-it-yourself projects.

Sustainable materials, non-wasteful practices and energy efficiency are hallmarks of eco-friendly housing efforts. Now, one organization and a federal program are looking more directly at how these efforts can make homes healthier for their occupants.

you and your family stay comfortable the entire season while protecting your investment. The good news is that it doesn t have to be expensive. There are a surprising number of easy things you can do at minimal cost that can maximize energy savings this winter. BobVila.

Many homeowners will have to deal with big heating bills this winter. But there is good news. Those bills are not expected to contain the huge price hikes 23 percent for heating oil and 18 percent for natural gas predicted earlier this year. A slowed economy has driven down some prices.

Advanced framing is the name given to techniques designed to reduce the amount of lumber used and waste generated in a residential construction project and to improve a home's energy efficiency.