The Best Apps for Home Maintenance-2.0
Back in June, we analyzed some of most recent home improvement apps available. (Need a refresher? Visit http://www.lindusconstruction.com/blog/2012/06/the-best-apps-for-home-maintenance/) This blog was our highest read in 2012 so we decided to again review the good, the bad & the ugly of home improvement apps.
iRoofingImage may be NSFW.
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Price: Free
Rating: 4 Stars
Features:This app is designed for contractors with an iPad. The app allows contractors to measure a roof and order materials. Rather than having to get up on a roof, the contractor can utilize satellite images to properly estimate the amount of materials needed. There’s a spot to show customers what their roof will look like by dropping in images of different roof patterns and colors.
Our Take: Great design; we love how handy it is when you’re on the go. In a dream scenario, we’d love to see a version for the iPhone too.
Measure Master Pro
Price: $5.99
Rating: 4.5 Stars
Features: This app features is useful because it lets users convert between metric & US measurements. Functions include feet-inch-fractions, inch fraction, yards, decimal feet, decimal inches
Our Take: It’s great for calculations on the go but we’d like to see it come with a stair calculator function the next time the app is updated.
ConcreteCalc Pro
Price: $9.99
Rating: 4.5 StarsImage may be NSFW.
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Features: This app assists contractors with determining the amount of concrete needed for a project, eliminating waste and speeding up estimates. On smaller jobs, it will even show you the number of bags of concrete needed. It can also convert measurements building different types of building dimension formats.
Our Take: More convenient than a physical calculator and much easier than doing the math yourself. The information the app provides is accurate.
iScape
Price: $9.99
Rating: 4 Stars
Features: This app allows you to take a picture of your home and import photos of trees, mulch, shrubs, grass, planters, etc. to see what they’d look on your property.
Our Take: We like this app because it allows you to see what different landscaping options would look like on YOUR home. It’s user friendly and has lots of different pictures to choose from and it even includes an area for you to see what holiday decorations would look like on your home.
Houzz Kids’ RoomsImage may be NSFW.
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Price: Free
Rating: 4.5 Stars
Features: There is a plethora of photos of kids’ rooms with information on the people that designed them and the products used. You can add them to your ideabook for future reference.
Our Take: We LOVE the Houzz app & website. (Follow us and we’ll follow you back!) This app is a really fun approach to designing a unique bedroom for your child and see what others have done with filters for different age groups. This simple platform allows you to sit down with your child and iPad and go over the endless possibilities.
HomeSnap Real Estate
Price: Free
Rating: 4.5 Stars
Features:Snap a photos of a house and find out its estimated value, bed/bath count, taxes, area schools, etc. You can also type in an address to get information.
Our Take: We tried a few houses in our area and the information was incomplete and we felt, a little inaccurate. It was disappointing to see current homes for sale online not be able to pull up complete information in this app. It might work well in other portions of the country or be great for amusement purposes but not anything to take seriously, let alone pay for in its current state.
DwellImage may be NSFW.
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Price: Free
Rating: 4.5 Stars
Features: This app is the official app for Dwell magazine. It has videos and slide shows of modern home designs and details on home design trends. It’s integrated with Facebook & Twitter too so you can keep your friends and followers up to speed on what you like.
Our Take: Decent app but not as good as those produced by Houzz. Fun to look at but we’d like to see more photos and an easier way to search for what you’re looking for. It’s not something we’d pay for but for a free app, it is better than most.
Handy Man DIY
Price: $1.99
Rating: 3.5 Stars
Features: App is designed to assist you with organizing your home renovation project. There’s a spot where you can enter your room’s measurements to see how much trim and flooring you need. There’s a how to section that links up with YouTube videos to show you how complete certain home improvement tasks.
Our Take: The YouTube section can be helpful if you need a refresher on how to do something or want to verify technique. We caution you from undertaking a project such as installing siding on your own if you’ve never done it before. The wish lists are good; we think the do it yourself tips could be better. Points for the app being easy to use; we’d like to see it become even more comprehensive in future editions but it’s a start.
Have a home improvement app you love or love to hate? Let us know by shooting us a message on Facebook and we may include it in an upcoming blog.
Tune into AM 830 WCCO on Saturdays from 9:00-10:00am hosted by Denny Long and Andy Lindus to ask questions regarding your home improvement projects. Call us now at 1-800-873-1451 or check us out on the web at www.lindusconstruction.com to schedule a free in-home estimate for your home improvement needs today!
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.