Just like death and taxes, homeowners insurance is a fact of life. It’s a major pain in the buttocks unless you need it; then, it’s a lifesaver. Like car insurance, there is inevitably a deductible which is just shy of the the amount of the claim you’re trying to file.

What’s a homeowner to do? For one thing, be sure that your homeowners policy is adequate to cover replacement cost because that is the intent of it. This is a mistake that many homeowners make, thinking that the price they paid is the correct number.

But in the passing years the prices for both building materials and labor have risen. Next, do what you can to keep the premiums at a minimum.

There are a few things that you can do to lower what you now pay or to keep it at its already low level as you make home improvements and increase the coverage amount by reassessing your higher coverage requirements.

So check out the suggestions below and try them on for size. Mix and match; have fun and run with it! (Yeah, right! I know this kind of stuff is about as entertaining as a root canal…)

• Install an automatic fire sprinkler system. Insurance companies like State Farm, Farmers, and Allstate will give you a discount. Although they have to strike a risk balance between water damage and fire damage, they recognize that the risk is lower with sprinklers.
• Have a metal roof installed. When it comes time to re-roof your home, if you are planning to stay for an extended period of time, go with a steel roof rather than asphalt composition shingles. The two things that the insurance company is likely to take into consideration is fire risk and hail damage.
• Raise your deductible. This works just like car insurance. The more you have to pay before they start to kick in, the less they will charge you in yearly premiums.
• Buy all your insurance from the same company. This is a powerful bargaining chip. Putting all your eggs in one basket allows you to argue for better rates and might just ease your paperwork load.

So do what you can to rein in your cash outlay in these hard financial times. A penny saved is a penny earned.

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A few weeks ago I was listening to a home improvement show on the radio as I drove to the gym. The caller was looking for a natural stone floor that wasn’t as expensive as marble tile but had that look. The show host recommended travertine.

Sad to say, I wasn’t familiar with travertine. To my ears, it sounded like a manufactured or engineered building material, like Silestone (natural quartz combined with dyes and a bonding resin) or Corian (an acrylic polyester plastic developed by Dupont).

One advantage of Corian, a brilliant marketing move, is that it comes kosher right from the factory!

As it turns out, travertine is a beautiful natural stone that has been quarried and used in construction at least since the days of the Roman empire.
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What about Granite then?

Granite gets a lot of press today because it’s the hot thing. Granite and travertine are similar in appearance, and depending on the grade, can be comparable in price. One of the big differences is that granite isn’t as porous. Regardless, both should be sealed to protect the homeowner’s investment and the property equity.

Both stones have been widely used in construction at much cheaper prices than they are presented today for interior home floors and countertops. Part of this is pure marketing hype but part of it is justified.

Modern stone products prepared for interior floors and countertops are the most select specimens and the finishing is more labor intensive than what’s used for things like exterior building cladding or crushed granite running trails.

So there it is; just two more environmentally-friendly building material to choose from. Have fun.

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We’re now running down the checklist of fall and winter holidays. Halloween? Check. Veteran’s Day? Check. Thanksgiving? Coming up! Christmas? Can’t wait!

Thanksgiving is all about giving thanks to God for the Pilgrim’s survival and their friendship with the Indians who helped them out in the New World. Sadly, of late, liberal revisionist politically correct historians in the public school system have been pushing pioneer guilt down the throats of our children.

How pathetic. They teach how our forefathers were actually blood-thirsty barbarians bent on wresting this land from the native inhabitants by sword and blunderbuss. Guess what, Mr. Academic? It was a harsh world that called for harsh actions at times. The world then was not what it is now. Your lily-liver predecessors did not survive and we have been the better for it.

But let’s forget them; they’re rapidly making themselves irrelevant. What got us through those times was a sense of independence and self-reliability. Inventiveness and perseverance. So what does that have to do with this post?

Just this - this same spirit has stayed with us with the inventors, visionaries, and most of all, we DIY types. DIY skills rarely come simply from natural ability. Oh, that’s an element of it, but it goes much deeper. It’s a desire to discover, to rely on ourselves, and to say no to the nanny state. Let us not go in the direction of Europe; that same Europe that we abandoned to get out from under the heavy foot of tyranny.

So yes, Thanksgiving is the time to give thanks that we still celebrate that “Don’t tread on me” spirit. I can do it myself, or with the help of my neighbors and friends. So I say to the current administration, take your nanny state socialism, your ACORN crooks, and your arrogance back to Chicago.

We can take care of ourselves. We’re Pilgrims, OK?

Want to get timely but not annoyingly frequent home improvement news and tips? Brilliant! Sign up for my newsletter at subscribe@icanfixupmyhome.com. Important: If you don’t get the confirmation email in a timely fashion, check your spam and/or junk folder and add listserv@icanfixupmyhome.com to your address book.

Why? Because some email clients filter out unknown domains. Ouch. Meanwhile, visit my main site by clicking on the banner below.