Remodeling & Repair Advice — for Free!

(Slug photo courtesy Nature Notes by Rob Sandeli)

Who doesn’t love free things? I have a brother who is a dentist (too bad he lives in Philly, otherwise I would get free dental work), I have a sister who is a nurse (thanks for the medical advice, Carol!), I have a sister-in-law who is a lawyer (thanks for keeping me on this side of the law, Corinna!), and my parents owned a bar/grill (free beer! pickled eggs! Slim Jims! beef jerky! beer nuts!). Oh, plus, I was a journalist in the years before accepting freebies was a no-no. Lots of free stuff in my life.

So, when Zillow launched the Discussions tab and had Home Remodeling and Repair as a category, I was immediately inspired to enter two questions that I have yet to solve about my own home:

• Painting Brick With Whitewash
• How Do I Get Rid of Slugs?

Both are real issues I am facing and both of my questions inspired thoughtful responses, which was nice.  Not only do I get to see my questions answered, but I can  surf around to see if I can help anyone else. There are a few folks out there who are providing great advice to others, such as Robin Lynch of Century 21 in White Plains, NY (have the temperatures cooled down back there, Robin?) and Cher Wyskiel of Teardowns.com in Greenwich, CT (do you ever see Letterman driving around?), and Rob Robertson of Compass Lending in Irvine, CA (I love Robbie Robertson — any relation?).

So, if you have a home remodeling question or are looking for advice on something home-related, give the Zillow Home Remodeling Discussions section a whirl. Or any of the other categories. There’s a heck of a discussion going on about the best way to add value to a home.

Just a warning that entering into these discussions can be addictive.