Yoel Borgenicht

The Situation

Your wooden floors are looking tired (or maybe they just don't match your new furniture), and you want to upgrade them. You have a lot of choices, but only five things you need to know to move ahead.

The Deal

1. Determine the kind of floors you have.

Hardwood: If you have solid hardwood floors they usually can be refinished several times before they need to be replaced.

The Situation

You are about to embark on your renovation and have found the perfect contractor. Their references are excellent and the work is top notch. Now that you have found your match, you want to keep these folks happy through the life of your project.

Why, you may ask? A happy general contractor is one who works quickly and is willing to go the extra mile for you. Also, a professional general contractor is in high demand and if you are a customer from hell, they are likely to focus their attention on other clients and neglect your project.

The Situation

You just bought a pre-war apartment or townhouse with great historic details and are about to embark on your first renovation project. But how should you proceed? Of your friends and neighbors who own similar homes, half have gutted everything and built a clean, modern look, while the other half have performed painstaking restorations to bring out each and every pre-war detail. What should you do?

The Deal