Home Improvement

If you want a good idea of what yesterday's $19 billion Disney acquisition of Capital Cities/ABC Inc. will mean for television viewers, tune in to WMAR (Channel 2) at 9 tonight for Tim Allen's "Home Improvement."The series, TV's highest-rated sitcom, suggests both the synergy that makes this an obvious media marriage, as well as one of the main paths the Disney-owned ABC television network is expected to travel.As ABC Entertainment president Ted Harbert puts it, "ABC's comedy shows, like 'Home Improvement,' are made for America's families."

If you've decided to improve rather than move, you've got a lot of company. In 1989, Americans spent $100.9 billion on home renovations and the figure escalates yearly, says the National Association of Home Builders.Why the trend?One increasingly important reason is that homes are tough to sell in many communities. Many discouraged sellers have decided to spend their capital where they live rather than trading up to a new place. So in come the French doors, new kitchen cabinetry and basement paneling.

This year's record snow may seem a distant memory to you, but your home may still be feeling its effects. Don't just sit there and ignore the house's suffering. Pick up a toolbox. Pitch in. Help out. It's the least a homeowner can do. The Sun consulted some leading authorities on the subject and collected a top 10 list of spring maintenance chores. Step one: Take this page and post it on your refrigerator. There's no time like the present to get started. 1. Check out the roof. Even if you aren't comfortable making repairs, it's wise to check for potential lost or damaged shingles.

It's not enough that our home-improvement stars know how to improve homes. Now they have to have their own line of paints and tools (Bob Vila). They have to sing and dance on Broadway (Paige Davis of Trading Spaces). They have to design lines of furniture and window coverings (Christopher Lowell). They have to be sexy pinup boys and hunky pitchmen (Ty Pennington from Extreme Makeover: Home Edition). Or they settle for nothing short of world domination (Martha). The emergence of the home-decorating superstar is a natural outgrowth of the home-improvement show phenomenon.

Hechinger Co. debt ratings were cut by Moody's Investors Service yesterday, less than a week after Standard & Poor's took similar steps to reflect rising competitive pressures on the home improvement retailer.Moody's trimmed ratings on Hechinger's senior debt to "Ba3" from "Ba1" and on convertible senior notes to "B2" from "Ba3."Moody's cited the Landover company's deteriorating financial performance as well as the expectation that competitive pressures and a weak retail market in the core Maryland-Virginia market will continue to hurt earnings.

There's Tim as "The Naked Man," Wilson as Iron John, Al as the guy who so worships women that he can't bring himself to actually talk to them.And, then, there are the three Taylor boys, each wrestling with adolescence and trying to learn what it means to be an American male in the 1990s. Call it Guy Television.ABC kicked off its leg of the winter press tour in Los Angeles yesterday by presenting star Tim Allen, the producers and the cast of "Home Improvement," the most popular show on American television.

Bob and Norm started it all. Then came Steve. Now there are Joe and Ed, Beverly and Lisa, Walter and Tony, Dean and Robin and Lynette.They are the Dream Merchants of the '90s, those inspirational home-improvement gurus who make the most intimidating renovating, refinishing and remodeling projects look like a day at the beach. They use the best tools, the finest materials and, thanks to the wonders of cinematography, take the least amount of time to transform dingy rooms into palatial chambers.

Leave it to the do-it-yourself crowd to single-handedly try to repair the nation's weakened economy. Despite flagging consumer confidence and falling stock prices, homeowners armed with a never-ending to-do list are boosting sales and profits for home-improvement businesses this year as more people are remodeling their kitchens or building decks instead of investing in the stock market or flying to Europe. Helped by record-low interest rates and a post-Sept. 11 nesting instinct, new and existing home sales are near record levels and mortgage refinancing is on the rise, experts say - all of which are fueling a robust home-renovation frenzy.

With full knowledge that the refills will keep coming until she may burst, Patricia Richardson orders an ice tea, shoving aside the diet soda she likes so well for the promise of a beverage that knows no limits."

You're standing in the middle of the living room, trying to figure out just what it is that dissatisfies you about the space. It's too small, too close? Why not take out a wall -- the one to the dining room, for instance?Good idea.Zap.Hey, great space. Only now you can see right into the kitchen, the sink stacked with dirty dishes.How about switching the kitchen and breakfast nook?Great.Zap.Much better. Only that window is too tiny. How about a nice Palladian style?Zap.Nope, too formal. How about French doors?