David Wood, one of the owners of the Home Improvement Center in Butler, offers professional advice on design and installation.

Even someone experienced with home renovations can still use the assistance of a professional when tackling a project.

Many homeowners will find that it is unnecessary to hire an interior designer or a contractor when doing a home renovation, such as sprucing up their kitchen or bathroom.

But that doesn't mean it isn't necessary to consult a professional, take some time considering samples of flooring, cabinets and paints and plan the project accordingly.

“The weekend warriors and do-it-yourself projects enjoy coming in and talking with people with experience,” said Dave Wood, one of the owners of the Home Improvement Center in Butler.

Businesses such as the Home Improvement Center offer professional advice on design and installation and samples of hardware such as flooring and counter tops that can be checked out for free.

“Don't tear out your kitchen and bathroom without first making those decisions,” Wood said.

Paint chips and counter tops never look quite the same in a store or on a computer screen as they do in the house.

“Light is a big situation. Everything looks different in the space,” Wood said.

Home Improvement Center also offers a free service where customers can use a computer program to design a new kitchen and see what it would possibly look like.

Many of the homes in the Butler area were built more than 50 years ago before local building codes and federal regulations were as stringent as they are today. That means that do-it-yourself renovators could run into strange or unusual things as they tear out old walls or floors.

“You never know what you're going to find when you open up a wall,” Wood said.

A couple of things that homeowners with older homes should be aware of are asbestos and lead paint. Use of asbestos in various building materials was banned by the Environmental Protection Agency through a series of orders in the 1970s and 1980s. Lead pain was banned in 1978.

Since they can be toxic, safe removal or abatement of lead paint or asbestos should be handled by professionals, Wood said. Testing or evaluation must be done to confirm whether a house has asbestos or lead paint.

Lead is always a hazard, while some types of asbestos, in vinyl flooring or inside walls or ceilings may be safe if left in place, while others need to be removed professionally before renovation work can continue.

Kitchens and bathrooms are the rooms that are most commonly redone in people's homes and one trendy project in recent years is removing bathtubs.

“Folks today prefer showers,” Wood said.

He said while many younger people simply prefer taking showers, another reason is that many people who are taking care of elderly parents opt for the walk-in shower setup, which is easier to get in and out of.

Switching from a bathtub to a shower could require redoing plumbing. However, there are shower stalls made today that have drains on the sides instead of the center, which connects more easily to the piping typically in place for a tub, Wood said.