
A resource for those seeking information on organizing and transforming spaces.
Keep Your Home Clean and Dry in the Coming Seasons
Keeping your home dry during wet seasons is a priority for most homeowners. Water damage can be messy and expensive to fix. And most homeowner insurance policies don’t include flood coverage unless you pay extra for it. So it’s important to prevent water from becoming a problem in the first place. The following are three simple tips to keep your home dry and clean.
Keeping your home dry during wet seasons is a priority for most homeowners. Water damage can be messy and expensive to fix. And most homeowner insurance policies don’t include flood coverage unless you pay extra for it. So it’s important to prevent water from becoming a problem in the first place. The following are three simple tips to keep your home dry and clean.
Maintain Your Sump Pump
For homeowners with a basement, a sump pump will do a lot of the heavy lifting to keep your basement dry. As water fills the sump pit, the pump will remove the water once it reaches a predetermined level. It’s very important to properly maintain this pump.
Regular maintenance should include cleaning the pump’s intake. This can become clogged with debris, greatly reducing the amount of water it can pump out. While the pump is out of the basin, clean any debris that has collected in the basin as well. Finally, carefully inspect the pump motor. Depending on the motor, the bearings might need to be lubricated at regular intervals. Check the owner’s manual for suggested regular maintenance.
Depending on how often your sump pump runs, it might need to be replaced entirely. The average pump lifespan is about ten years. But this can vary greatly based on how often your pump is running.
Fix Your Roof
If the roof on your house is starting to look old and worn, you are risking leaks into your house. A leaky roof can cause everything from minor water damage to mold, flooding, and even a collapsed roof. Most roofs have a lifespan of about 20 years, depending on the material. But if the roof was built using low-quality materials or the job was done poorly, it might need to be replaced sooner than later. Because this is such a big job, it’s best to leave roof repairs and replacements to your local residential roofing professional. They can do an inspection and find any problem spots before they cause catastrophic damage.
Drainage Around Your House
While landscaping can make your property look beautiful and more appealing, it should also take into consideration proper drainage. Ideally, you should have no standing water anywhere on your property after an average rainstorm. This means that the water needs a way to flow away from your property, preferably into a storm drain. You can do this by creating a new drainage plan. This might include installing a french drain or other systems that will carry water away from your property. Your property’s grading should also slope downwards, away from your house to prevent flooding. If it doesn’t, you’ll need to contact a landscaper to address the problem.
If you notice any problems with your sump pump, property drainage, or roof, get them fixed sooner rather than later. Most problems are simple and inexpensive if taken care of right away, compared to the cost of cleaning up water damage from a flooded house.
Understanding the Importance of Making Repairs to Your Roof
A good roofing structure helps to keep your family and your belongings safe and protected from the weather elements. As a result, homeowners need to set aside resources to address roof wear and tear because ignoring small leaks and loose shackles can prove costly in the long run. Read on to discover the benefits of undertaking regular roof repair and maintenance.
A good roofing structure helps to keep your family and your belongings safe and protected from the weather elements. As a result, homeowners need to set aside resources to address roof wear and tear because ignoring small leaks and loose shackles can prove costly in the long run. Read on to discover the benefits of undertaking regular roof repair and maintenance.
Prevents Moisture Damage
Moisture is the main culprit of roof damage in many modern homes. Roof leakage takes a while to manifest and may go undetected for extended periods. Over time, the moisture soaks your roof's insulation system leading to saturation, creating dark patches on your ceiling and walls. What follows is a compromise of thermal resistance because wet roofs have poor heat retention properties. Roofing experts recommend conducting a thorough roof inspection at least twice a year and after extreme weather conditions like storms and heavy rains. Regular repairs fix leaks and loose shackles, ensuring your roof is in excellent condition to handle most kinds of moisture stress.
Improves Roof Drainage
Modern homes integrate roofing and drainage systems to collect and store rainwater for later use. Sometimes, heavy rain may be accompanied by leaves and debris, which can clog your roof's drainage. When ignored, this issue can lead to severe mold formation, roof corrosion, and rotting, thus necessitating complete roof replacement, which is costly. Regular roof maintenance helps to improve roof drainage and reduces losses arising from roof rot and moisture damage.
Timely Repairs Save You Money
Plenty of roof replacements happen prematurely because many homeowners rarely inspect their roofs after installation. A regular inspection by a professional roofing contractor is crucial in detecting minor problems that could potentially escalate into severe roof damage. Timely roof repairs not only increase your roof's useful life but cost significantly less than a roof overhaul.
Preserves Your Roof's Beauty and Appeal
A faded and worn-out roof is an eyesore and can be an embarrassment to the homeowner. Regular maintenance that involves repainting and fixing leaks helps to preserve your roof's natural looks and appeal. Furthermore, most roofing warranties recommend regular roof inspections to preserve the appeal and functionality of roofing structures.
Roofs are not indestructible and will eventually fail at some point. The secret to prolonging your roof's useful life is fixing minor issues before they escalate into bigger problems.
The Many Ways We Waste Water At Home
The EPA says household plumbing leaks waste one trillion gallons of water every year.
Few things feel as good as spending some time under a hot shower.
Unfortunately, showering for as long as we like is one of the top ways we use—and waste—water at home.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), an average family uses close to 40 gallons per day for showers. That translates to 1.2 trillion gallons of water used by Americans annually just for showering, a staggering figure by any standard.
Sadly, water wastage at home doesn’t just happen when we take a shower.
Many people have this habit of letting the water run when brushing their teeth or shaving when they could easily turn the faucet off to conserve water.
Others overfill their bathtubs when they could simply fill them with the right amount of water for their bathing needs.
We also waste water when we run dishwashers and washing machines for less than full loads. Keep in mind that both appliances use the same amount of water whether you’re washing a full load or a single plate, or a pair of shorts.
However, the worst way we’re wasting water at home is something that happens without our knowledge.
The EPA says household plumbing leaks waste one trillion gallons of water every year.
If you think you’re wasting water this way, you need to do some leak detection work to stem the bleeding. Check out the infographic below to know the signs that you have a plumbing leak at home.
The 7 Step Guide to Winterizing Your Lawn
As the forefront of the home, a lawn can go through a lot during seasonal changes. Avoid the winter blues with this seven-step guide to prep the landscape.
With the foliage transforming from vibrant green to fiery orange and yellow, it’s safe to say that fall is in full effect. As the seasons go through their routine changes, those changes can transform the look of your lawn. Some of those shifts can be for the better, some for the worse.
Once the temperatures drop, you’ll notice how, just like the leaves, your lawn begins to transform. A lush landscape is prone to drying and wilting with shifts in air quality and inclement weather during the cooler seasons. But the good news is that this seven-step guide to winterizing your lawn can help lessen the damage come springtime.
Test pH Levels
Before the prep work, test the levels of the soil in your garden and lawn. Neutral pH levels indicate a healthy area that may remain abundant over time. If your levels are slightly off, you can add lime products to treat acidic patches or sulfur treatments to handle alkaline spots.
Clean Things Up
Starting off the winterizing process by performing routine maintenance on your landscape means removing unsightly weeds, caring for trees and shrubbery, and cutting the grass down to a workable level.
Apply Fertilizer
Prioritize using a specific fertilizer for winterizing lawns, as these formulas contain a higher potassium content. Winter fertilizer will also strengthen plants under stress by supplying additional nutrients.
Let the Lawn Breathe
Aerating the lawn will allow water, air, and other beneficial nutrients to seep down to the roots. One of the easiest ways to do this is through the use of spike aerators. These “sandals” will poke holes into the soil of high-traffic landscapes.
Dispense Grass Seed
Next, apply the grass seed of your choice onto your prepped lawn. The optimal time to foster new grass growth is during the day when the temperature is a comfortable 65 degrees Fahrenheit.
Cover the Plant Beds
Insulate flower beds during the cooler seasons by adding mulch onto topsoil. You can also repot smaller plants and bring them indoors to help them survive.
Remove Additional Debris and Branches
Removing leaves and branches isn’t the most entertaining task, but it’s vital to your lawn’s health. Did you know that raking can remove the layer of dead grass that affects the landscape?
Get in the Winter Mindset
Lastly, go over all of your hard work to ensure that you didn’t miss anything. You’ll want to put all of your outdoor features to bed before settling indoors for the season.
This seven-step guide to winterizing your lawn prepares it for the harsher seasons to shield your landscape during weather shifts. They say the best time to treat the terrace is during the fall, so it won’t hurt to get started.