Homeowners Tips
How To Spring Clean Your Home For The Wintertime
February 10, 2010 by admin · Leave a Comment
When winter strikes, people tend to stay inside more. This is a wonderful time to get cleaning on your home. You don’t have to hibernate all winter, waiting for the cold air to pass and the warm, spring air to arrive. Instead, use this time to clean the house and improve its quality. Here are some tips to help you during the winter cleaning process.
Before You Start Cleaning
Before you undergo the task of cleaning your home, you need to do some preparation. The first thing you need to do is design a plan. This means you need to write down what you would like to accomplish. If you think the cleaning process will take you more than one day, create yourself a timeframe. Make sure to have all your supplies on hand so you don’t have to rush out and get them as you clean. Here are nine things you should have with when you’re cleaning.
- Trash bags (you’ll want to throw away as much trash as you can when you clean).
- Gloves (you need to wear gloves when using chemicals).
- Duster
- White vinegar (cleans many surfaces including glass).
- Lemon juice (removes stains from kitchen and bathrooms counters, can be used as a disinfectant).
- Baking soda (use in bathrooms as an alternative to harsher chemicals).
- Club soda (removes stains from fabrics and carpets).
- Distilled water (use on leather furniture).
- Any of your favorite cleaning products
Things To Be Done Seasonally
When you’re deep cleaning, you should always do certain tasks each season. These tasks will ensure that your home is in good shape. Make sure these three tasks are done at the beginning of each season and they won’t take long to do each time.
- Clean baseboards and moldings
- Clean cabinet exterior
- Clean porches and exterior of doors using an attachment on the water hose
Tasks To Do During Winter
Make sure you take advantage of your indoor time to get the following seven cleaning projects complete.
- Clean/Sweep the chimney (If you use this regularly, it needs to be done. However, have a professional come in).
- Heater needs to be serviced (you need to make this is ready for the winter season. Have extra filters on hand).
- Clean your mattresses to get rid of the dust mites (don’t forget to wash the bed sheets as well).
- Toss out food in pantry that’s expired (donate food you purchase but don’t plan to use in the near future).
- Clean your computer (make sure you clean the desk off along with the monitor, printer and keyboard).
- Clean out your junk drawer (by doing so you can find coupons that are still in date and more).
- Sift through your holiday decorations (when you’re taking them down, get them organized. Make sure to have bins for them and toss out ones you no longer want or are broken).
Remember to stay focused on indoor cleaning since it’s too cold to work outside. You’ll have plenty of indoor tasks to keep you busy all winter long anyway.
How To Care For Your Lawn In The Winter
February 4, 2010 by admin · Leave a Comment
Most people assume that since it’s the wintertime, their lawn doesn’t need to be as cared for as it does in the spring and summer months. However, despite those cold, short days, your lawn still must be taken care of. Here are some steps you can use that will make your lawn look greener in the spring.
Before Winter’s First Freeze
Before your region gets its first freeze, there are some things you will need to do. Of course, when your first freeze happens is depending on where you live. Make sure you do the five following things before it takes hold on your region.
- Be sure to get the lawn exposed to air so any compressed soil is loosened.
- Once done, over-seed the lawn and ensure that the seeds penetrate the ground.
- Fertilize it one more time so the grass will get the needed nutrients stored for the spring months.
- Clean garbage from the yard; this doesn’t just include leaves or branches. This also means your child’s toys, tools, hoses, etc. All these things can be concealed by the snow and harm the grass.
- Make sure to cut the grass shorter. This keeps new grass from appearing in the winter months, which makes it vulnerable to diseases and cause it to dry out.
After Winter Care
Before springtime is upon you entirely, you need to get your lawn prepared for the season. Here are two things that you must do to ensure you have a healthy lawn during the spring season.
- Look for signs that your lawn is suffering with a disease. If so, treat it correctly.
- If you find patches of bare spots, re-patch them.
Taking care of your lawn in the winter is not as bad as the spring, summer and fall but it is still necessary to do. If you take care of your lawn year-round you can produce a healthy lawn that sure to look good.
Winter Home Maintenance Tips For Homes and Other Buildings
December 18, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment
When you own a home, it’s very important to get it ready for the winter months; after all the cold weather is quite brutal for many things in the home, not just the pipes. Here are nine tasks that should be handled before the winter season takes hold on your home.
First, make sure to get your heater checked out and serviced. It’s always best to take preventative measures so your heating system doesn’t break down on those cold, winter nights.
Second, ensure that the pipes in the home are well insulated; exposed pipes tend to freeze and break during the wintertime.
Third, your storm windows will keep the cold air out and keep the warm air in.
Fourth, when you have rooms that are not being used, close them off and make sure to lower the temperature to 55 degrees. You shouldn’t heat rooms you don’t use but make sure that you don’t let pipes freeze either.
Fifth, make sure you store up on fuel in case you need it. If you use propane, oil or some other kind of fuel, have extra on hand for days that are especially bad. If you’ve got an emergency, you won’t go without any heat.
Sixth, for homes that have window air units, you should either cover it or remove the unit from the window until the winter is over.
Seventh, firewood should be stored about 30 feet away from the home. If you store it close to your home, there’s the possibility of a fire. It can also attract bugs, which means you’ll need to do some maintenance when the spring season hits.
Eighth, if you have snowblower, get it maintained right away. Have salt on hand for when it ices.
Ninth, check out your holiday decorations. You want to ensure that the exterior of your home looks good and that the wiring of these decorations are still in good shape.
Winter can be a tough time for people and for buildings but so long as you do some preventative maintenance on your home, you won’t have to worry with spending a lot of money on repairs from the damage it can cause.
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