Home remodel sites on the Web - World Wide Web sites

Home remodeling is a rapidly expanding Web category. Here's a roundup of sites to illustrate the broad range of offerings. One caveat: Websites are commercial ventures, and you should take into account the particular biases and promotional characteristics of each site.

* DoItYourself.com (www.doityourself. com) is a huge, comprehensive collection of tips, tricks, and tutorials covering everything from appliances to woodworking. If you're interested, you can join the DoitYourself "community," where users exchange questions and answers on all sorts of domestic dilemmas. You'll also find lists of helpful books, with links to the on-line bookstore Amazon.com.

* HomePortfolio (www.homeportfolio. com) combines home design products selected by an independent editorial staff with electronic brochures created for paying manufacturers. You are basically browsing through many different furniture and interior design showrooms. For example, in the category of desks, you'll find examples ranging from traditional to avant-garde, along with electronic brochures from more than two dozen manufacturers. HomePortfolio also has a very powerful category search that is broken into tightly, organized areas like bath sinks, bath faucets, and bath lighting - you get the idea.

* HouseNet (www.housenet.com) offers remodeling tips, home repair tutorials, money-saving ideas, and a do-it-yourself message board. One area compares average costs of professional and do-it-yourself projects. If your interest is in decor rather than hammer-and-nails stuff, a home decoration section offers design ideas for your every whim. Check the real estate links if you're ready to sell.

* ImproveNet (www.improvenet.com) purports to be a one-stop shop for remodelers-to-be: The site houses a database of 600,000 contractors and designers who have been screened for reliability using legal and credit records and personal recommendations. You'll also find a product showcase featuring cabinetry, appliances, and fixtures from 2,000 vendors. Contractors and designers must apply for entry into the database, so this isn't a comprehensive list.

* Kitchen.net (kitchen-bath.com) is a home improvement site with a sense of humor. Focused on two of the hottest home areas (the kitchen and bathroom, naturally), Kitchen.net features advice columns like "Corian vs. Kids: Will it Hold Up?" " Comfy Countertops for the Shortness-Impaired," and "Can't Fridges and Stoves Just Get Along?" Learn about the "Product of the Week" and peruse "Hot Stuff" write-ups on more than 170 kitchen and bath products, including sections like "Dishwasherpalooza!" and "The Toiletarium."

* Learn2.com (www.learn2.com) is a general-purpose tutorial site, offering step-by-step lessons on all sorts of subjects. (How do you tie a necktie? Find out here.) The Home & Garden section features illustrated explanations for fixing leaky faucets, soundproofing rooms, hanging pictures, and other useful skills.

* NARI Online (nari.org) is the website for the National Association of the Remodeling Industry. It offers design ideas, directories for finding a remodeling professional, and even hazards to watch for in remodeling.

* Remodeling Online (www.remodeling.hw.net) features design ideas, how-to advice, new products, and databases of building materials suppliers and top remodelers. When we checked, the site had articles on 50 of the most useful manufacturers' sites for contractors (selected by a panel of builders and remodelers), siding, decks, landscaping, porches and sunrooms, roofing, kitchens, and baths.

* Sunset (www.sunset.com) offers a good cyber-complement to what you're holding in your hands. This month you'll find a preview of our 1999 Idea House, which is nearing completion in Cupertino, California, and will be open to the public this summer.

COPYRIGHT 1999 Sunset Publishing Corp.
COPYRIGHT 2000 Gale Group