Monday, April 11th, 2011

Does your family suffer from allergies or maybe didn’t use to but now all of the sudden do?  Certain factors could contribute to this and believe it or not it can be within your own home, your windows to be exact.

How can windows cause allergies?  Well, we know that if dirt, dust, grime, and even mold and mildew build up on your windows it can cause serious health issues if not properly cleaned and maintained.  Did you know that pollen can also be stuck to your windows as well?  That nasty pollen that causes itchy noses and watery eyes?  Yes!  It’s important to get pollen off your windows to reduce the allergies that may be attacking you and your family.  Here are some tips on how to remove pollen from your windows:

Cleaning Tips

• Try to clean your windows on a cloudy day to avoid direct sunlight which causes nasty streaks.  Direct sunlight may also make it harder to see the pollen built up on your windows.
• Use about 1 to 2 Tbsp. of dish soap or even shampoo and up to 2 gallons of warm water.
• Allow your sponge to get sudsy and begin washing the windows to start removing that nasty pollen.  You may need to wash a few times until the pollen loosens and washes away.  If you need to, let the soapy water set a while.
• Empty your soapy bucket and fill with fresh warm water and rinse your windows

FYI: These tips are great for plastic windows as well!

You can check out more cleaning tips and how to prevent pollen on Lennox.com!

Sources: Lennox and eHow

Tags: general home care, jacksonville events, pollen on windows, Roof Care, waterproofing, window washiing tips, Window Washing

Friday, April 8th, 2011

Are you trying to sell your home?  This is definitely a buyers market but trying to sell a home is on the trickier side these days.  I recently heard a few experts say that the best way of raising your chances to sell your home is to apply fresh coats of paint in every room.  Even painting the outside is advised if your house allows it.  Wow, that’s all right?  Something as easy as a cosmetic makeover such as a fresh coat of paint can go along way in trying to sell your home!

How could a fresh coat of paint sell your home?  According to Debbie Zimmer of the Rohm and Haas Paint Quality Institute; “This relatively inexpensive investment can enhance your home’s curb appeal to prospective buyers.”

You can choose to do this major project yourself or you can hire a professional.  The ball is really in your court so just making a decision quickly is definitely to your advantage.  If you do decide to paint your home yourself, you need to consider purchasing the highest quality paint.  If you are unsure of what is considered the highest quality paint, here are a few tips to help get you started according to homeimprovementtime.com.

High Quality Paint

• 100% acrylic latex paint (Is known to last for 10 years or more).
• Going with white and neutral colors is the best choice and the safe choice.  Very appealing to prospective buyers.
• If you want the best appearance possible, it’s important to make sure the surface is properly prepared.
• Don’t put your house on the market until you are completely finished with the painting project.  Incomplete work will just be an instant turn off.  You want to have a positive first impression when selling your home.

After you have painted your home and it looks attractive and appealing, go ahead and put up that for sale sign and wait for that first bite.  You may be surprised how much more quickly you get responses based on your curb and indoor appeal.

Tags: general home care, jacksonville events, painting house, Roof Care, selling a home, types of paint, waterproofing, Window Washing, window washing tips

Wednesday, April 6th, 2011

Are you having a critter problem?  Have you considered that it might be your window sills allowing these unwanted critters inside your home?  What can you do about it?

Maybe it’s time to replace and update your current window sills.  Before talking about new window replacements, let’s talk about ways to fix bad and old window sills if you are a budget and can’t afford brand new windows at the moment.

How to fix old window sills

• If your window sills are made of wood, consider covering them with vinyl.  Your windows will look like new, especially if they began to rot.
• If you want to learn how to remove and add replacement components to a rotten window sill, check out this YouTube video by expert Dave Belch.  “Dave has been in the window business for twenty-seven years.”

How can updating and replacing windows keep critters outside of the home?  You may need to repair your screens as well since there may be tears allowing spiders, etc., into your home.  If you insulate your windows this will prevent anymore problems from occuring.

Who makes the best replacement windows?  According to ezine articles: Pellas, Certain Teed, Marvin, Andersons, Hurd, Wincore Windows, and Alside, are your best companies for finding the best replacement windows if you are in dire need of them.

Source: Buzzle and Ezine Articles

Tags: general home care, jacksonville events, replacement windows, Roof Care, waterproofing, Window Washing, window washing tips

Monday, April 4th, 2011

Before I discuss a brief overview of how to care and maintain plantation shutters, what exactly are plantation shutters?  According to your city resource,  they are “built-in” window treatments that provide an elegant finished look to a window.”  They can be installed either outside or inside of a window.

How does one properly care and maintain plantation shutters?  It depends solely on what your particular shutters are made of.  Some plantation shutters are made out of solid hardwood and others are made out of “vinyl, aluminum, or composite wood.”  Some shutters may require less cleaning options.  It is best to consult your manufacturer on the proper care and maintenance.  It is also advised to vacuum any type of plantation shutter.

Some other important tips you may want to follow for care and maintenance of your plantation shutters comes from styles and rails.

• It is advised to rotate your blades daily
• Keep free of dust with soft cloth
• Do not leave shutters wet

These are great tips and worth using as a guide when care for your plantation shutters.  Alot of people confuse care and maintenance with  shutters, blinds, and shades, so maintenance may be a little bit more detailed as shutters do not lift, or raise up and down.

Sources: Your City Resource and Styles and Rails

Image: Wikimedia Commons

Tags: general home care, jacksonville events, plantation shutters, Roof Care, waterproofing, Window Washing, window washing tips

Friday, April 1st, 2011

Are you currently in need of a new screen door but don’t know how to select the right style?  Here are a few tips that may help you find that perfect screen door for your home.

According to Touch Stone Wood Works,  you need to look at the features of your entry door.  “Pick styles that will frame or mirror key elements of your door such as windows, panels, rails, etc.”

• The Jefferson style is perfect for a colonial type home.  It definitely compliments the setting of your entry door.

If your home has a larger door:

•  A 12-inch middle rail with large spindles and rails is highly recommended and actually is quite appealing.

You of course want to be practical when choosing the right storm doors.  If you have animals or children, choose a style that has two panels.  With this option you will have the flexibility of leaving the safety glass storm panel in the bottom of the door, year round.  This is nice because little hands and paws can not tear or dent.  This is definitely the practical way to go if there are children and pets present in the home.

If you want more information on pet friendly screen doors, check out the improvements catalog for details.

Here is a list of other types of screen door styles:

• Wooden Screen doors
• Storm doors handcrafted from Mahogany
• Retractable screen doors
• Magnetic screen doors
• Solid Vinyl Screen doors

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Tags: general home care, jacksonville events, Roof Care, screen doors, waterproofing, Window Washing, window washing tips

Wednesday, March 30th, 2011

As you know,  Florida is well known for scorching temperatures.  It’s very easy to crank up that air conditioner on those days.  But the only problem is you are spending a ton of money just to keep your home cool.  Are there ways to cut down those costs?  Yes there is.  It’s simply by sealing your windows.

How can sealing the windows cut down on a/c costs?  It keeps the hot hair from seeping in which causes the a/c to turn on way too often just to keep the house cool.  If you seal your windows properly, this will cause the a/c to stay regulated and keep your house cool without it running every so often.

How do you seal your windows properly?  First, you need to inspect your windows to see where the heat may be leaking through.  After this has been established you can do a simple window sealing project on your own and here’s how:

What you will need

• Exterior Caulking-  Get one specifically for windows and doors.
• Caulking gun- Be sure to purchase a good quality gun, cheaper ones tend to fall apart way too easily.
• You will also need a small putty knife, a retractable razor knife and a damp cloth.

You are going to first remove loose and old caulking from the window with your razor or putty knife.  You want to make sure that this is removed for a new application.  After this task is completed begin caulking over the areas of the window that need caulking.

You will then need to smooth over the caulking with your putty knife to remove any excess and to make sure it looks even and not sloppy.

After you are done applying and smoothing out the caulking, take your cloth and wipe over it smoothing it all out.  Then let dry.

Source: eHow

Image: Wikimedia Commons

Tags: a/c costs, general home care, jacksonville events, Roof Care, sealing windows, waterproofing, Window Washing, window washing tips

Monday, March 28th, 2011

Do you have flood insurance in place?  If you don’t, you may want to start thinking about it ASAP.  As you know our state is well known for ferocious hurricanes which can wreak havoc on our homes, potentially flooding and damaging everything it’s in path.

If you are not sure who has the best flood insurance available, here are a few local places with contacts to help get you on the flood insurance bandwagon:

• Allstate- (866) 809-4724 {Open 24 hours serving your area}
• Pablo Beach Insurance Group- 13500 Sutton Park Dr. S, Jacksonville, FL  (904) 224-7000
• Avenues Insurance- 5050 Sunbeam Rd Ste 4, Jacksonville, FL 32257 (904) 260-3266
• Mcneill Garrison & Fletcher Insurance Agency-1211 3rd St N, Jacksonville Beach, FL 32250 (904) 249-2345
• State Insurance Agency-803 3rd St N, Jacksonville Beach, FL 32250 (904) 247-5599
• David Barnette Insurance Inc-502 Osceola Ave, Jacksonville Beach, FL 32250 (904) 242-8288

For more local information regarding hurricane flood insurance go to Local Jacksonville Flood Insurance.

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Tags: flood insurance, general home care, hurricane season, jacksonville events, Roof Care, waterproofing, Window Washing, window washing tips

Friday, March 25th, 2011

Are you planning on planting some vegetables in your garden this spring but not sure when to plant what?    Because planting times vary from north, central, and south parts of the state, each type of vegetable has different planting times. (Garden Guides)

Since we are in the north part of the State here are those specific times when to plant what vegetable:

Vegetable Planting Times

• Pole and Bush Beans- March to April and August to September
• Lima Beans- March to August
• Beets- September to March
• Broccoli- August to February
• Cucumbers- February to April or August to September
• Corn- March to April and August
• Carrots- September to March
• Lettuce (Crisp, romaine, leaf, and butter-head)- February to March and September to October
• English Peas- January to March
• Southern Peas-March to August
• Pumpkin- March to April
• Radishes- September to March
• Spinach- October to November
• Squash- March to April and August to September

For more information on vegetable planting go to the spring vegetable planting guide of North Florida.

Source: Garden Guides

Image: Wikimedia Commons

Tags: april, general home care, jacksonville events, march, Roof Care, vegetable garden, vegetable guide, waterproofing, Window Washing, window washing tips

Wednesday, March 23rd, 2011

Knowing what to plant and when to plant has to be one of the many challenges of gardening.  Fortunately, thanks to Solutions for your Life over at the University of Florida, they created a gardening calendar for all you green thumbs out there.  Hopefully, this calendar will help you get on track with your gardening schedule so that the outcome may be a great success.

What to plant in March

• If you have winter annuals, you will need to replace those with varieties of color.  These will last into the summer months.
• For bulbs, it’s best to start planting spring and summer ones now.  It is recommended that you plant them in beds that have been “amended with organic matter.”
• Warm season crops are advised to be planted now for the late spring harvest. 

What to do

• Hard prune your azaleas to shape and produce a ‘”fuller” plant.
• Prune spring flowering trees and shrubs after blooming.
• Fertilize your lawn
• Prune shrubs and trees when new growth begins.
• Irrigation

For detailed version of this brief March schedule go to “What to Plant” for more information.

What to plant in April

• For annuals, varieties of coleus thrive in the sun and shade.  They display beautiful colors and patterns for the months ahead.
• For bulbs, the Louisiana Iris does well in  many soil types.
• For seeds, April is the final month where you can plant annual flower seeds before the hot weather returns.
• It’s important to continue planting warm season crops at this time.  Mulching is advised to prevent those nasty weeds.

What to do

• Monitor any landscape plants for aphids.
• Divide your perennials and bulbs.
• Examine lawn problems.
• Replant any bulbs that were dug last fall.
• Consider planting a variety of shrubs for the warmer weather.
• Be sure to mulch.

For a detailed version of this brief list go to “What to Plant II” for information.

Source: University of Florida

Image: Wikimedia Commons

Tags: gardening schedule, general home care, jacksonville events, Roof Care, waterproofing, Window Washing, window washing tips

Monday, March 21st, 2011

Do you have a nasty crack in your basement wall?  I currently have a huge crack in my basement wall and we are currently on the journey of getting it fixed.  In my search I have come across some great tips on how to repair it yourself until you are able to afford getting it fixed professionally.

There is a product out there known as  Drylok Fast Plug which is a fast drying hydraulic cement.  This stuff apparently seals cracks with ease.  You can purchase this product at any home improvement store.  I believe Lowe’s sells it at around $14.  That’s definitely not a bad price.  In order for Drylok Fast Plug to work you need to have a chisel and hammer handy in order for the cement to set in properly.  This is depending how bad the crack is.  If it is from the ceiling down to the floor, then most definitely you will have to take the time to apply the hydraulic cement properly.

It is very important to follow the directions  on the can in order to get the proper results.  If you would like to find out more about Drylok Fast Plug you can check out the info on ugl.com.

Source: Finish a Basement

Tags: basement walls, cement, cracks, general home care, home repair, jacksonville events, Roof Care, waterproofing, Window Washing, window washing tips