---
name: home-improvement-planning
description: "Plan home-improvement / DIY installations end-to-end: measurements, material takeoffs, retailer shopping lists, tool lists for users with no tools, visual mockups, and step-by-step installation guides."
---

# Home Improvement Planning

Use this skill when the user asks for a practical DIY/home installation plan: wall panels, lighting, shelves, furniture mounting, trim, frames, cable routing, decor installs, or any task that needs measurements + shopping list + installation instructions.

## Workflow

1. **Extract constraints first**
   - Room/wall/object dimensions.
   - Product dimensions and material type.
   - Desired look/function, e.g. floating, centered, hidden supports, indirect light.
   - Whether the user owns tools. If they say they have none, include a separate tools list, not only materials.

2. **Do the arithmetic explicitly**
   - Compute final visible size, coverage, margins, offsets, quantities, waste/safety margin, and cut lengths.
   - Use tools for calculations when available; do not eyeball measurements.
   - If the user later supplies a real-world measurement, treat it as authoritative over product nominal dimensions and propagate it everywhere: visible size, hidden frame, cut list, LED length, positioning offsets, mockups, infographics, checklist text, and cache/version labels. See `references/real-measurement-revisions.md`.
   - Present the important formulas in compact form so the user can audit them.

3. **Shopping list by role**
   - Separate: structural materials, consumables/adhesives, electrical/lighting, fasteners, tools, optional upgrades.
   - Include exact quantities and a reason for each quantity.
   - If using online retailers, verify current product names/prices/availability where possible and provide **direct buyable product links**. Do not make the user hunt through a store homepage or search listing when they asked to buy a specific item.
   - For MercadoLibre/local retail, avoid recommending a link unless the extracted/listing text indicates it is currently buyable or you have a strong fallback. If a product page may be unavailable/login-gated, give at least one concrete backup link that is not just a search page.
   - When the user asks for “solo el link” or reacts with frustration about sourcing, answer first with one recommended URL and one sentence, then optional backups. Do not lead with analysis.
   - If the exact all-in-one product is out of stock, do not send the user back to search. Assemble a buyable equivalent from concrete components (e.g. strip kit + compatible WiFi controller), verify each component has stock, total the price, and explain in one sentence why the combo satisfies the original requirement.
   - For urgent/frustrated sourcing corrections, use a “buy this” format: primary URL(s) first, stock/price second, caveats last. Avoid apologetic paragraphs or process narration.
   - Say clearly whether the purchase can be completed online or whether store visit/cut-service/human payment/login is still needed.

4. **Design offsets for indirect lighting**
   - For floating panels or halo lighting, calculate a hidden backing/frame inset so LEDs do not show directly.
   - Typical starting point: hide the frame/LED about 5 cm inside the visible panel edge, with 4–5 cm standoff from the wall for a soft halo. Tune based on panel size and visibility angles.
   - Treat ~5–5.5 cm inset/lip as the practical sweet spot for EPS/slat panels: enough to hide LED dots and create a premium indirect halo, while keeping panel edges supported. Bigger is not automatically better: around 7 cm can weaken the halo and leave too much decorative cladding unsupported near the edges.
   - Clearly distinguish three widths in the output: visible cladding width, exterior backing/frame width, and internal cross-member cut length. If horizontals fit between vertical side rails, subtract both side-rail thicknesses from the exterior frame width. When the user challenges a cut length, show the audit formula explicitly instead of just defending the number.
   - Place LED on the outer side/canto of the backing frame, not on the front face, unless the user specifically wants direct light.

5. **Material compatibility checks**
   - For EPS/polystyrene/foam products: avoid solvent-based adhesives that can melt the material. Prefer PU/MS/polymer construction adhesives or manufacturer-recommended foam-safe adhesives.
   - For wall mounting through timber, account for timber thickness when choosing screws; short wall-plug screws may not reach enough masonry after passing through the frame.

6. **Visual outputs when useful**
   - If the user supplies a room photo, produce a visual mockup/render and a separate technical guide/infographic when requested.
   - Keep generated visuals grounded in the measured design; label conceptual renders as visual references, and keep the exact dimensions in text/infographic.
   - If the user wants a guide they can carry to the store or use during installation, build a mobile-first field guide/PWA: shopping checklist, copyable store order, measurement calculator, cut list, IKEA-style sheets, and persisted install checklist. See `references/mobile-diy-field-guides.md`.

7. **For interior/decor projects, lead with mood before math — but match the requested taste**
   - If the task involves a visible room aesthetic (living wall, slats, lighting, shelves, paint, panels), make the guide feel like an interior design artifact first and a technical manual second.
   - Use the user's requested visual language rather than locking into a default: Pinterest/masonry if they ask for moodboard/Pinterest; Apple/glass/VisionOS if they ask for premium glassmorphism; warm editorial/Japandi if that is the stated direction.
   - Preserve exact calculations and field-use utility, but avoid making the first screen feel like a dashboard, spreadsheet, or clinical manual. See `references/interior-diy-moodboard-sites.md`.
   - For major visual direction changes in a deployed PWA, add a visible version marker, bump query params/service-worker cache keys, and verify a phone screenshot so the user does not see a stale cached version.
   - If the user says the redesign still looks the same, do **not** merely add a moodboard section below the fold. Force a visible above-the-fold transformation: replace the hero copy/layout, lead with the room mockup or large inspiration image, add a clear version marker, default to the intended theme, and use cache-busting/service-worker updates so the phone cannot keep serving the old UI. See `references/field-guide-visual-iteration-cache.md`.

8. **Installation guide: de pe a pa**
   - Give a sequential guide from clearing the area to final testing.
   - Include marking coordinates, assembly order, dry-fit/proof-test steps, cure times, and what to leave accessible (drivers, power supplies, junctions).
   - Add pitfalls: level before drilling, pre-drill wood, test LEDs before final adhesion, keep power supplies ventilated/accesssible.

## Output structure

Preferred final format for a chat-only plan:

1. Short answer / verdict.
2. Key dimensions and calculations.
3. Cut list.
4. Shopping list with links and estimated subtotal.
5. Installation instructions.
6. Safety/material warnings.
7. Attach or link any generated render/infographic.

For field use, prefer a mobile web guide over a long chat response:

1. Local/deployed URL.
2. What the guide includes.
3. Verification performed.
4. One key default assumption, e.g. selected margin/position.

For interior/decor field guides, prefer this above-the-fold order:

1. Mood/vision headline.
2. Pinterest-style material/light/reference board.
3. Measured build summary.
4. Shopping/cut/install tools.
5. Technical appendix.

## References

- `references/living-led-wall-panel.md` — example session: EPS wall-panel installation with timber frame, warm LED halo, Easy Argentina shopping list, and centered/right-shifted wall calculations.
- `references/argentina-led-strip-sourcing.md` — plug-and-play LED strip sourcing rules for Argentina: 10 m RGB/RGBW kits, direct buyable links, availability pitfalls, and 2×5 m routing notes.
- `references/led-lip-frame-cut-audit.md` — cut-audit pattern for distinguishing visible cladding width, exterior frame width, and internal crossbar length; includes 5 cm LED-lip rationale and German stakeholder phrasing.
- `references/mobile-diy-field-guides.md` — reusable pattern for dynamic mobile/PWA guides with persisted shopping checklists, measurement calculators, copyable store orders, and IKEA-style image sheets.
- `references/interior-diy-moodboard-sites.md` — moodboard-first pattern for Pinterest-esque interior DIY guide sites that still preserve exact measurements and install math.
- `references/real-measurement-revisions.md` — checklist for revising a DIY guide after the user supplies physical measurements, including dependency recalculation and PWA cache verification.