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Home checklist for the winter season

The weather outside can be frightful, which of course means you can turn your attention to maintaining your appliances and indoor systems.

Exterior, Basement & Foundation

Check your home’s crawlspace for water damage, animals, or other foreign matter. Why: It’s important to find leaks in pipes or leaks from the outside as soon as possible. Water can breed mold and mildew while animals can damage home systems and spread disease. When: Winter & Summer Who can help: This is a do-it-yourself project. If you see uninvited pests or dampness in your home, you can find waterproofing pros and pest control experts on Kudzu.com.

Interior & Appliance

Look for leaks in toilet water feed and tank bottom. Why: Catch leaks before water can cause major damage. If undetected, leaks can rot wood or damage ceilings if toilets are located above the first floor. When: Winter & Summer Who can help: Tightening a few bolts might be all that’s required. Call a plumber if your leak seems more involved.

Clean your washing machine’s water inlet filters. Check hoses and replace if leaking. Why: Hoses that are near the end of their life span could rupture and cause water damage. Kinked hoses also could leak. When: Winter & Summer Who can help: If you have any questions, contact an home remodeling contractor.

Trip circuit breakers and GFI’s, or ground fault interrupters, monthly to insure proper protection Why: You’ll receognize the GFIs by the little buttons between the plugs on outlets located in spots where electrical shock hazards exist, such as in the bathroom or near the kitchen sink. They’re designed to prevent electrical shock by “tripping,” or breaking the current. So, it’s clearly a good idea to push the test & reset buttons regularly to make sure they’re working. When: Every Month Who can help: Contact an remodeling contractor if the GFI is not working properly.

Check for leaks around and under sinks, showers, and tubs. Turn on the faucet and check for leaks in the pipes under the sink. Look for mold on shower walls that could indicate there’s leakage behind them. And check for cracks in the grout where the tub meets the floor. Why: Hidden leaks can, over time, cause damage to floors, ceilings beneath, or walls in adjacent rooms. When: Winter & Summer Who can help: Simply replacing cracked grout or caulk is a do-it-yourself job, but contact a addition contractor for help locating hard-to-find leaks.

Replace or clean filters in furnace Why: Filters prevent dust and other allergens from circulating through the ductwork. However, blocked filters can make a furnace work much harder, causing it to run less efficiently and possibly reducing its lifespan. And a dirty filter won’t be as effective as a clean filter at blocking dust from eventually making its way into your living spaces. When: Winter or every 3 months while furnace is used. Who can help: This is a do-it-yourself job, but be sure to follow the manufacturer’s instructions. HVAC pros can answer any questions you might have or you can schedule regular maintenance with them.

Clean grease filter from your range hood Why: Dirty hood filters won’t be able to prevent kitchen smells from being circulated throughout the house. When: Each season. Who can help: This is a do-it-yourself job, with some help from a degreaser. Be sure to follow the manufacturer’s recommendations or contact an appliance repair pro for help.

Clean out the refrigerator, wash door gasket, clean drain hole and pan, vacuum the condenser coils. Why: Vacuuming the condenser coils will keep your refrigerator running efficiently. When: Twice a year. Who can help: This is a do-it-yourself job, but refer to your refrigerator’s manual or manufacturer’s Web site to find out specifics on how to do it.

Backyard & Landscape

As fall ends, rake the last bit of fallen leaves to prepare for winter Why: Lawns naturally need sunlight to thrive. And there’s less of it during the shorter days of late fall and winter. A mat of thick leaves can kill that grass you so carefully tended during the warmer months. When: Late Fall, Early Winter. Who can help: Most lawn care companies offer basic packages of year-round maintenance that include fertilizing, trimming, edging and weed control.

Spot treat any cases of winter weeds in warm-season turf & spread a crab-grass pre-emergent Why: You must apply pre-emergent crabgrass killer before the crabgrass seeds germinate, which happens in the early spring when the temperature of the surface soil rises into the 50s and 60s. So, timing is critical. When: Varies depending on the severity (or lack of severity) of the winter season where you live. Who can help: Contact a lawn care company; they can help you analyze your lawn’s needs and suggest when to spread pre-emergent.

How to choose a carpet cleaning company

Light Surface Carpet Cleaning

1. Wet Shampooing - A professional carpet cleaner will apply shampoo to your carpet with a buffer machine. The machine operator must be careful not to damage your carpet with the rotary discs on the buffer. After the solution dries in one to several hours, as much of the residue as possible is vacuumed up. The disadvantages to this method are that you’ll have to wait for the carpet to dry and that some residual dirt and shampoo will inevitably remain at the end of the process.
2. Dry Cleaning - There are several different methods to “dry cleaning” carpets. Some are completely dry methods, and others involve using wet cleaning solutions that dry very quickly.

• Absorbent Powder - In this method, a professional sprinkles a solvent onto your carpet and allows it to set for a short time. He or she will work the powder into your carpet with a buffer machine. With no drying time, as much of the residue as possible is vacuumed up. This method, unfortunately, will also leave some residual dirt and residue in your carpet.
• Bonnet - Professional carpet cleaners will often use a buffer machine with a bonnet attachment that is dipped in cleaning solution that contains carbonated water. As they work the machine over your carpet, the bonnet absorbs the dirt. Once the bonnet is saturated, it is replaced with a clean one. The advantage here is that most of the dirt in your carpet leaves with the soiled bonnets.
• Dry Foam - This is pretty much the same process as the shampooing method of carpet cleaning, except dry foam is used instead of shampoo. The obvious advantage here is that there is no drying time. There may be some leftover solution, but that is easily vacuumed up after cleaning. In fact, some cleaning machines will have a vacuum built in just for this purpose.

Deep Carpet Cleaning with Hot Water Extraction

The dry cleaning methods above are great for a quick cleaning of the top 1/3 of your carpet. However, to ensure your carpets are thoroughly cleaned, have them professionally deep cleaned at least once every 12 -18 months. This will help prolong the life of your carpet.

There’s only one method available for a genuine cleaning of this type: external (or hot water) extraction. This method is commonly referred to as steam cleaning, although no actual steam is used. Advances in this technology have made it the safest, most popular, and most thorough method of carpet cleaning available. A floor wand shoots a pressurized combination of solution and hot water into your carpet that is immediately vacuumed into a holding tank.

While a portable, rentable unit utilizes the tap water and electricity of the household, a truck-mounted system is self-contained and exhausts all the dirty air and humidity directly out of your home. A truck-mounted unit will also provide higher pressures and hotter temperatures for a deeper clean that will let your carpet dry faster. Be sure to ask any potential carpet cleaners to if they use the preferable truck-mounted system.

Professional Carpet Cleaning Prices

Another big consideration with professional carpet cleaning is price. Some things to take into account when comparing prices for carpet cleaning services are:

• Most remodeling companies charge per square foot of carpet and by the number of rooms and floors. Prices vary, but typically, you can expect to pay from 15 to 30 cents per square foot for a home that has 5,000 square feet or less of carpet. If you have a home with more than 5,000 square feet of carpet, a cleaning should run you less than 15 cents per square foot. The less carpet you have, the more you’ll pay per square foot. This is standard because the carpet cleaning company still has to drive to your house, set up the equipment, etc.
• Inquire about the different methods of carpet cleaning. Find out what types they typical use, what they recommend for your particular needs, and what the different costs are for each carpet cleaning method.
• Ask about additional costs for removing tough stains and odors and prices for cleaning staircases and area rugs. Keep in mind that rug-cleaning costs may vary depending on the material.
• Think about any other remodeling contractor services you might want in advance. For example, does your upholstery need cleaning? If so, it should be cheaper to go ahead and do it while you have the cleaners there if you can afford it.

Better Energy Efficiency with Vinyl Siding

Better Energy Efficiency with Vinyl Siding

Homeowners know that consuming less energy can reduce the overall cost of maintaining their homes. Insulated siding is energy efficient and due to its ability to reduce thermal bridging, it has been added to the checklist of building products or methodologies that can help meet the requirements to qualify new homes under ENERGY STAR® Qualified Homes Version 3. Insulated siding was added to the checklist for the following reasons: It reduces thermal bridging between the home’s studs and exterior cladding It blankets a home, creating a barrier over the studs, interrupting the flow of heat and providing continuous insulation It’s rated R-value can be used to calculate the energy performance of the entire wall And more recently, insulated siding has been put to the test by Newport Ventures. They are conducting a study to determine insulated siding’s effect on the energy performance of existing single-family homes under real-world conditions, with a focus on building air tightness and heating energy use. The Insulated Siding Energy Performance Study is ongoing with utility bill data being collected over the next two years. However, preliminary results show: A 12 percent improvement in air tightness between the existing condition and post-installation of insulated siding A 5 to 12 percent improvement in the projected heating energy savings for the four homes post-installation of insulated siding An improvement (reduction) of 2 to 8 points in the homes’ HERS index through the installation of a water-resistive barrier and insulated siding

Custom Garage Addition- DE

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