January Home Maintenance Checklist

Every year our houses degrade a little bit more. Rain, snow, hail, wind, and direct sunlight continually pummel our houses’ exteriors, while children, pets, and even the adults wear out their interiors. The only way to keep yourself from being overwhelmed by needed repairs is to stay on top of them throughout the year. By starting the New Year off by taking an inventory of what needs, or soon will need, some attention, you can make a list and check off the needed repairs as the year goes on. Taking inventory of your house’s condition can also prepare you for things that might pop up as the year goes on. If you find anything damaged, take note of it on a piece of paper or on your smartphone.

Begin with the interior of your house and go room-by-room checking for loose electrical outlets, damage to the walls, floor boards, and door jams. Make sure all of your windows can lock tightly and that you don’t feel a draft when they’re closed. If you have tile floor in your house, check for chips or holes in the grout. Make note of any damaged drawers or cabinets in your house that need new hinges or any other sort of repairs. Check to make sure that you can close all the doors in your house and have them latch properly. If you have a screen door, make sure that it closes properly and is in good working order.

Your bathrooms and kitchen should be given an extra attentive look when inspecting your house for needed repairs. First, you should check under the sinks for leaks and moisture. Bathroom and kitchen cabinets can be hotbeds for mold due to the added moisture in these environments. If you have leaky or faulty faucets, now is the time to take inventory of them so you can make repairs or replace them. Check for mold or grime on the caulk around the tiles in your shower or bath and rust around the drains. Run all of the faucets to make sure that your water pressure is good, and observe whether or not your drains are slow or stopped up.

Once you are finished with inspecting the rooms of your house, head outside to give the exterior a look. Check your siding for holes that could cause energy leaks or open your house up for pest infestation. There should not be any gaps along your upper exterior where your siding meets the roof of your house. Be sure to check around all of your windows for damages in the screens. Take a look at your A/C unit’s coils to see if they need to be cleaned. If you have a deck, determine whether or not it needs a treatment. Walk around the perimeter of your yard, looking for damaged panels of your fence and take note of how many there are. Any other sort of blemishes on your exterior should be accounted for, so you can come back to them later.

Obviously, this list is just a basic outline of what you should look out for, so don’t ONLY look for what is listed; by all means, you should take note of everything that needs attention. Don’t overwhelm yourself by tackling everything at once. The point of making this list in January is so you can fix things throughout the year and use the list as a guide in how you can spend your free time to improve your house. Also, remember any major repairs you come across should be left to a professional! 

Storing Christmas Decorations

The holidays have come and gone, but the reminders they leave behind are all over your house… literally. Christmas lights are still clinging to your roof and tied around your hedges. The cardboard candy-cane still greets the mailman, weeks after Christmas morning, and Lucy wearing a Santa hat is still tricking Charlie Brown on your front lawn. It is time to pull the decorations down and store them until Black Friday rolls around later on in the year. Here are a few tips that can help you feel less stress with the pulling down and storage of your decorations.

Sometimes you can find yourself in a hurry while putting away your Christmas decorations, and damage them in the process. Whether you decide to just yank the lights down off of their staples or holders, or drag the big wooden cut outs up the driveway because you don’t want to wait for someone to help you bring them back into the garage, always take your time when pulling down your decorations to prevent them from being damaged. Having to buy new decorations during the holidays is the last thing you want to add to your budget when you are already worried about buying presents for everyone.

When taking down lights, do it in an organized fashion. Unhook each bulb from its plastic hook, if that’s what you used to hang the lights with. If you stapled the lights to your house (which I don’t recommend doing), be careful not to tear the wire when pulling it free of each staple. Go ahead and wrap the string of lights around your elbow and palm as you take it down to prevent it from knotting and to keep it organized. As far as storing lights goes, the boxes they come in are often times difficult to fit the strands back into, so I recommend using a Rubbermaid storage tub with a lid. Be sure to label your tubs before you stack them into your garage or attic. This will save you an abundance of time when looking for your lights next year. If any of your Christmas lights went out during the holiday season, don’t put them away broken. You will forget the strand needs to be replaced and waste a lot of time troubleshooting next year. Go ahead and fix your lights as they go out to save yourself a lot of time.

As far as the bigger decorations go, don’t toss them into your garage uncovered. I recommend using thick plastic covering to wrap them in before you store, as this will prevent the paint from being scratched out and help keep spiders and other nasties from making nests in them. Go ahead and place the bigger decorations out of the way in your garage or attic, otherwise you’ll be tripping on them all year. Don’t let your decorations eat up space that’s better suited for commonly used items, such as bicycle or tools. If you have kids, you’ll definitely want them put up out of the way, because let’s face it: kids break things.

Smaller, indoor decorations should be wrapped in an organized fashion that will prevent them from being broken. I always recommend keeping the boxes to Christmas ornaments, as they are well-suited for storing them during the off-seasons. Stackable Rubbermaid tubs come in handy here, as well. If you put away your Christmas decorations in an organized fashion, you should be able to fit everything into just a couple tubs. If you have an artificial tree, keep its box for storage. Typically, it’s not too difficult to fit a Christmas tree back into its box, but if you have trouble, use two thick trash bags to store it in. Be gentle when placing it into storage, especially if it’s a pre-lit tree.

The holidays can be a stressful time, so being organized with your decorations can alleviate some of the stress. Remember to take your time when storing your decorations so you will not feel overburdened during the next holiday season, nor will you have the added financial stress of replacing broken decorations that were stepped on or broken due to poor storage.

Termites!

You do your best to keep your house in good shape. It has been painted, you’ve updated your windows, and even the small holes in the exterior have been fixed. Yes, your house looks amazing and you are proud of it. How would you feel, then, if you found out that your house was rotting from the inside? What if there are thousands, possibly hundreds of thousands (maybe even millions!) of termites feeding off of your house and slowly decaying it while you have no idea whatsoever? Unless you live in Alaska, there’s a good chance that your home could get infested very easily by termites, which cause approximately $5 billion in damages annually. Not even the White House or the Statue of Liberty are safe from termites, as both have undergone treatment to rid themselves of these wood-chewing insects.

While you might have heard about termites your entire life, there’s a good chance that you may have ever actually seen one. Termites are small insects that measure anywhere between a few millimeters to a few centimeters in length. There are over 3,000 different species of termite worldwide. A termite colony can consist of a few hundred or up to millions of termites. A home that is within a half-acre of a termite colony can be at risk of infestation, so it is easy to have an infestation travel from one home to the next throughout a neighborhood. Subterranean termites often tunnel underground and produce swarms of winged reproducing termites that emerge once a colony has matured for a few years. Dampwood termites are attracted to, as their name indicates, wood that is damp. They are attracted to moisture and are typically found in more coastal areas. They, unlike the subterranean termites, never live in the soil, but stay in wood where they feed and lay their eggs. Drywood termites live along the southern border of the United States, as well as in the coastal areas of Florida and California. They, much like the dampwood termites, prefer living within a wooden structure and are not found in the ground.

Termites ruin your house by feeding off of its wood and some other building materials. They can be especially dangerous if you have a pier-and-beam foundation, as it is easily accessible via the soil and a good portion of it is hidden from your day-to-day view, often times leaving damage undetected. Interior walls can be infested for years before a homeowner finds out, causing extensive damage. Termites have even been known to ruin furniture, ranging from book cases to antique dressers. It is for these reasons, that you should do everything you can to ensure that your home is not infested and take immediate action if it is.

As the damage that termites can do to your property can be very serious and expensive to repair, you should periodically check around your house for signs of infestation. During the spring is when most termites swarm to look for new colonies. Swarming is when winged termites fly away from their colonies to establish new ones. You can often find discarded wings or dead insects near your house when swarming has occurred. Winged termites look a bit like winged ants, so they can sometimes be difficult to identify. Hallow or rotted wood is often a spot-on indicator that there is a termite infestation. Often times it will appear that only water damage has occurred near where termites have infested, but given that they are attracted to damp areas, be sure not to right off the possibility that termites are present, as well. Drywood termites often leave pellets that one might mistake for mouse droppings. Look for these pellets along window sills and other wooden areas in your home. If you find hallowed wood or wood that has specs of dirt in it, that is another sign of a termite infestation. Sometimes subterranean termites build tubes out of mud and dirt on exposed areas of your house to travel in. The tubes are about the size of a pencil and made out of mud. If you find any of these indicators, contact a termite specialist immediately, before any additional damage is done to your home.

Protecting Your Pipes During the Winter

While it might be “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year” for your family, especially the children, the pipes in your house are singing a different tune: “Don’t Let Us Freeze!” Freezing pipes can be inconvenient, dangerous, and very expensive. You see, not only does water stop moving when it’s frozen, it can actually lead to the pipes in your house bursting. Burst pipes will not only take away your hot showers during the cold season, but they will also cripple your holiday shopping budget, as it can be very costly to have them fixed. Obviously, the best way to deal with pipes bursting is to prevent it from happening ahead of time.

Pipes typically burst when there are exposed or uninsulated lengths of pipe on the exterior of your house. While water does expand when frozen, causing bottles or cans of soda to burst in the freezer, this is not what typically causes pipes to burst. Pipes burst due to ice blocking water pressure between the ice and a faucet, typically bursting at a spot where there is little ice to be found! Opening your faucets slightly to allow movement can greatly decrease the chances of pipes freezing or bursting. The cost of increased water usage are dwarfed by the cost of having your pipes replaced. Placing insulation over all over your exposed pipes outdoors is a necessity during the winter, especially if you plan on leaving town.

If you plan on being away from your home for extended periods of time during the winter, there are other things you can do to prevent returning from a trip to a house full of burst pipes. Definitely have a friend or family member on alert to swing by your place and run some faucets during a winter storm. Perhaps the most effective thing you can do is to shut off your main water valve and then turn all your faucets on until no more water comes out. That will empty your pipes of any water that could potentially freeze and cause serious problems while you are out of town. Obviously, this might only be necessary if you live in a climate that freezes for extended periods of time.

Typically pipes freeze when temperatures reach 20°F or below, but it is still wise to have insulation on hand for any time you expect the temperature to fall below freezing. Insulation should be taped around any exposed pipes and you should use an insulated cover over any exposed faucets around your exterior. Unfortunately, some pipes in your outer walls may not be properly insulated, leaving them vulnerable to cold weather. In these cases your best defense is to run water through your faucets to keep it from freezing. You don’t need to open the faucets all the way to have water blast through them to keep them from freezing, just a small amount of flow should suffice.

If you suspect that one of your pipes has burst, contact a plumber immediately! Many more problems will crop up if you have a water leak on your hands, so go ahead and shut off your main water valve, as well. And once again, call a plumber right away.

Cheap and Easy Thanksgiving Decoration Ideas

Can you believe that Thanksgiving is only a few days away? If you’re anything like my family, you haven’t even begun to start decorating the house for the guests that are coming over. Between managing work, coordinating multiple Thanksgiving dinners (thanks a lot, in-laws!), and keeping the kids out of trouble, it can seem like a gigantic burden to get the house looking festive. Well fear not, friends! I will provide you with a few easy and inexpensive ways to make your house looking Thanksgiving-y.

Considering that the place people will be spending the best part of their Thanksgiving dinner is the dining table, it seems like a good starting point for decorations. Perhaps the easiest decorations to place on your dining table are gourds. Pumpkins, gourds, and acorn squash are all very festive vegetables that are in abundance at any grocery store during the holidays. The pumpkin and acorn squash are both awesome for cooking during the holidays, as well. There is a plethora of recipes online for pies, soups, and other types of dishes prepared using these vegetables. Another fun idea with small pumpkins is to make a card for each one with a different guest’s name on it. Place each pumpkin at the table where you think the corresponding guest will sit. This is an activity you can involve the kids with that is both fun and festive. You can also use candleholders as an elegant way to elevate small pumpkins on the dining table.

            
 If you’re working on a budget like my family, there are many other ways to save money on decorating the table for Thanksgiving. Don’t be afraid to buy chipped or damaged decorations. When staged correctly, no one will notice a small chip. Thrift stores and estate or garage sales are typically the best dumping grounds for old decorations, but one would be surprised at how easy it is to get a discount on damaged merchandise at popular retailers. Most brick and mortar stores don’t really want damaged merchandise floating around their store and will eagerly discount things to get them out of the door. This doesn’t just apply to decorations, either. If you are short on plates or bowls, you can typically use cheaper or slightly chipped pieces and make them look fancy by placing a cloth napkin in the middle. Of course the napkins should match and be seasonably appropriate; also, they won’t look very nice unless you fold them in an appealing manner. Another alternative is to purchase cheap seasonal plating. You’d be surprised at how little you need to pay for plates with fall designs on them.

             
Aside from the kitchen table, there are an abundance of areas in your house that or perfect for cheap decorations. Pumpkins, pumpkins, and more pumpkins is a good motto for decorating your living areas on Thanksgiving. You can put pumpkins on your bookshelf to use as book stops, on top of your entertainment center, your coffee and end tables, and next to any snack areas you have set up in your home. Acorns are also a very appropriate fall decoration that you can get for free just by going on a walk. If you have children, they will relish in the opportunity to collect as many acorns as they possibly can for your decorations. You can make festive candle holders by placing acorns in mason jars with a candle in the middle. Even just filling up a glass with acorns can look beautiful, just make sure you clean and dry your acorns ahead of time.

            
 The first thing people see when they arrive to your house for Thanksgiving dinner is your front yard. Once again, the pumpkin philosophy of fall decorating applies to your front porch. If you have a wheelbarrow that’s in decent shape, fill it with pumpkins and put it on your porch. You can make a wooden sign with a Thanksgiving greeting and rest it on the pumpkins. Broomstick scarecrows can be fun to make with the kids and hang from the front door. You can use a step ladder to make a multi-tiered decoration with pumpkins and other fall decor to place next to your front door. Fall-themed pillows on a chair can be effective, as can using a basket filled with gourds and pumpkins. As with any decorating project, use your judgment when designing and placing your decorations and never go overboard.

            
Lastly, let’s not forget about the bathroom when it’s time to decorate. Pumpkins and fall scented candles can be placed on the sink and any open shelving in the bathroom. Even the back of the toilet can be used to place decorations or fall-themed air fresheners. Why not use some of those acorn candles we talked about earlier for added atmospheric lighting in the bathroom? Fall-themed Kleenex boxes and towels are always a bonus, although if you’re operating on a budget you might not want to shell out for a new set of towels.

I hope some of these ideas can get you excited about decorating and feeling less overwhelmed with the holiday approaching. Remember, you don’t always have to go all-out with your decorations to make a positive impression on your Thanksgiving guests. Besides, the holiday is about being thankful and being around loved ones… and food!

Christmas Decoration Safety Tips

It’s only been a couple of weeks since you put away all of your Halloween decorations (or perhaps, they’re still hanging up outside) and your neighbors have already begun to hang their Christmas lights. Every day you see a new candy cane pop up in front of someone’s mailbox or the shadows of a Christmas tree silhouetted in another neighbor’s window by the light from their television. You might feel a little anxious about having to dig out all of the Christmas lights, unknotting them, testing them, getting on a ladder to hang them up, nearly breaking your neck in the process, and losing your temper when a strand doesn’t work a la Clark Griswald in Christmas Vacation. But relax, by remembering a few holiday-decorating safety-tips, things should go smoothly.

One of the biggest dangers posed by Christmas lights is that of a frayed or damaged cord. Exposed wires can cause electrical shock or even fires, so be sure you put your eyes on every inch of the cord before you plug it in. While this may seem like a daunting task, it really isn’t if you take things one strand at a time. As you unwind the cord, run it through your hands and check the wiring for tears, as well as ensuring each socket has a light in it (usually the strand won’t work otherwise) with no signs of being burnt out or damaged. After you have checked the strand, plug it in to be sure it turns on. Can you imagine how frustrating it would be to have that strand running along your roof, only to find that it doesn’t work when you’re done placing the lights? I’ve never made this mistake before… Honest!

That brings me to the most obvious tip when hanging lights- make sure they all work before you even start hanging them. If you begin hanging lights and then come across a burnt out strand, you will have to put everything down, head to the store to buy a new set, and then come back only to find another set of lights that isn’t working further down the line. Go ahead and test all of the lights before you start decorating. It’s much easier to have everything ready ahead of time, rather than having to start over, pause, or take shortcuts because you don’t feel like running to get more lights. Also, I recommend getting all the tools you need to hang the lights ahead of time. Try using these or something similar to assist with hanging the lights from your roof or gutter; they are much easier and safer to use than a hammer and nails. The insulated clips are also safer than nails or staples, as they do not become electrified if they somehow breach the insulation of the strand of lights.

There are a few other more obvious things that you should not forget about when hanging Christmas lights. First off, be sure to tape your extension cords or any excess length of cable to the ground to prevent someone from tripping. A broken neck is no way to spend the holidays! If your lights are older, make sure they have fused plugs. This will prevent fire-causing sparks if something short circuits. I also recommend taping the plugs where they connect to prevent moister from getting in. You should also consider elevating the plugs off of the ground in case of ice or snow. It might also be a good idea to make sure that the outlet you are using to plug your lights in is a GFCI, as it will shut off the power to the lights if it detects current flowing through water or a person. The most obvious tip I can give you for decorating safety is to not take risks. Don’t get up on your roof if you’re not 100 percent sure that you can get back down. It is also very important that you have someone help you any time you are using a ladder while placing lights. Absolutely do not ever hang Christmas lights on your roof alone!

There are some other, smaller, things that I recommend doing to make your holiday decorating go a little smoother. First off, if you have wooden decorations, wear gloves when carrying them out of your garage and placing them. Sometimes they can be full of splinters around the edges. Always use care when going in and out of your attic if this is where you store your decorations. Every year it seems like I hear about someone in my family or one of our friends falling through the attic while trying to retrieve something. Also, use care when bringing stuff down from the attic. Don’t take shortcuts by pulling down multiple items at a time, just take it slowly and no one will get hurt. When taking down your decorations (yes, the holidays leave us as quickly as they arrive), take care to do it in an organized fashion. You are only making your next holiday season that much more difficult by rushing the cleanup process. Label all of your boxes and wrap up all of your cords neatly. Save all of the clips you used, they will come in handy when the holidays show up again in 10 or 11 months.

So there, take a deep breath, relax, put on a warm coat and go make your house look awesome!

How to Prepare for a Home Exterior Renovation - Part 2

Last week we discussed some ways that you could better prepare for an exterior renovation, such as understanding your neighborhood and budgeting; this week, we will continue with a couple of more tips.

Make Sure You Are Doing Things in Code

About 9 or 10 years ago, one of my neighbors tore apart his garage and was remodeling it to become another wing to his house. His parents had moved in with his family and he was looking to make his house more spacious by adding another bedroom and bathroom. Many days into his project, a code compliance officer showed up to let him know that his project was not up to code and that he did not have any of the permits that the city required for the type of remodel he was doing. Not only did my neighbor have to scramble to get these permits to prevent receiving a large fine, but he had to completely redo the wiring for all of the electrical outlets he was installing. Perhaps the worst part of his predicament was that he could have easily prevented it by talking to a home inspector about how to stay in code and by doing some basic research about what work the city requires a permit for. Always know what you are getting into with home exterior renovation, especially when it comes to code and permit issues. Nothing is worse than having to redo some of your hard work and face a fine from code compliance. Obviously the easiest way to avoid these problems is by hiring a professional that is well-versed in municipal building regulations.

Grill Your Contractor

If you are using a professional for you remodel, which I would almost always recommend doing, be sure you are using someone that is qualified. While it can be tempting to hire someone off of Craigslist for $50, for bigger jobs I would definitely recommend a contractor that has real credentials. Be sure you ask about their history, if they can provide you with referrals, and if they are licensed to do the work you are asking them to do (if applicable). Understand that not every contractor is out to take all of your money in exchange for a poor job done, but there are companies out there that prey on ill-informed clients. Typically the best way to find a good contractor for your remodel is by asking your friends who they used and how happy they were with the job. There are also resources, such as the BBB and Angie’s List that can assist you in finding out more about potential contractors. Don’t be afraid to ask the contractor as many questions as you feel you need the answer to, as exterior remodeling can be a pricey affair and it would be shameful if you had a job completed in a way you were not happy with because you didn’t want to “bug” the contractor. You are their boss when they are working for you, so don’t be afraid to ask them as many questions about the job they are doing or their work history as you feel necessary.