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© don.wing45

Home improvement which focuses on the exterior of your home can make a great impression on your family, friends and neighbors by giving your home real curb appeal. There are three major exterior areas to focus on where home improvements will have the biggest impact.

These are the windows, roof and entry door. These areas not only naturally draw visual focus, but they also protect your home from the weather. It is smart to perform a yearly check of your roof by climbing up a ladder or looking at it from your neighbor's house with a pair of binoculars. You should try to determine the general condition of the roof and keep an eye out for problem spots like shingles or tiles that are broken or missing. When checking the sides of your room, pay special attention to the southern side because it tends to weather faster.

© Piddleville

Major US home improvement retailer Lowe's is upgrading its website and distributing iPhones to its store employees in an effort to boost sales and take market share from competitor Home Depot. Lowe's will be rolling out a new online tool called MyLowes next month.

It will enable customers to access a variety of product warranties, owner's manuals, paint formulas and more online. The decision to invest in 42,000 iPhone 4s for employees is designed to make it easier for them to ring up purchases and answer shoppers' questions in store. It looks like Lowe's is playing catch up to larger competitor Home Depot, which equipped its employees with Motorola mobile devices last year. This has freed up more time for employees to assist customers, and translated into stronger sales for Home Depot.

© [F]oxymoron

Many home improvement scams target the elderly, and police across the country are cracking down on these predatory contractors to make arrests and shut them down. Homeowners should be aware of some common red flags to avoid home improvement scams.

Unscrupulous contractors will often pursue business by knocking on resident's doors repeatedly trying to sell them costly home improvements which they may not need. For example, one contractor was recently arrested for offering to re-pave an elderly couple's driveway for $6500. The contractor didn't provide paperwork which is required by law, and the work performed was unsafe. Parts of the repaved driveway began to crumble, there was a gap between the driveway and concrete walkway, and water also began to pool on top of the driveway. The contractor that performed the work turned out to have a criminal record in other states for similar crimes.