Prepare for Cooler Weather While It's Still Warm

Even though it's nice and warm outside now, autumn is right around the corner. Now is the time to get your home ready for the new season.

Regular maintenance of your home is critical to its preservation and can add significantly to its resale value. Use this checklist to get your home ready for the cooler days and frosty nights of fall.

Yard:
Rake and compost leaves
Seed and feed your lawn
Winterize your sprinkler system
Mulch flowerbeds
Drain outside faucets and cover them when appropriate
Drain and store hoses

Roof:
Trim limbs and vegetation away from roof
Inspect roof and roof vents for any needed repairs
Replace loose or damaged shingles
Clean gutters and downspouts

Foundation and Exterior Masonry:
Clean fireplaces and chimneys
Check chimney mortar for any deterioration
Make sure downspouts and grading all direct water away from
the house

Doors and Windows:
Inspect caulking and paint for damage and repair as needed
Oil door hinges and garage door moving parts
Make sure all storm windows are securely in position

Heating and Cooling:
Arrange for annual inspection and cleaning of heating systems
Rinse off A/C compressor/condensing coil unit to remove
debris and dirt
Consider upgrading to a programmable thermostat
Change the furnace filter (when needed)
Check smoke and carbon monoxide detectors
Check and clean humidifier

Plumbing and Interior:
Inspect and repair any damaged caulking in tubs, showers,
sinks, toilets and backsplashes
Check pressure relief valves on water heaters
Inspect refrigerant lines for missing or damaged insulation
During wet weather, check ceiling and around all doors and
windows for unwanted moisture
Check attic ventilation
Make sure dryer vent is clean

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Get Your Home Ready to Sell at Its Best

There are a substantial number of homes on the market today. To attract a buyer with a desirable offer, you need to make sure your home outshines the competition from the very first moment a potential buyer sees your home.

Try to avoid big expenditures.

Sometimes people begin a flurry of renovations and improvements in order to get the best possible price for their home. However, renovations at this time can be a bad investment. While different neighborhoods have different standards, as a rule, you can't recoup the full costs of bathroom or similar renovations. Sometimes even fresh painting can be a mistake if walls are in fairly good condition.

You can usually improve the way your home appears to potential home buyers without spending very much at all.

Make that first impression the best impression.

As soon as a home shopper steps onto your property, you want to make a positive impression; that means making sure your home's curb appeal is on show. Well-manicured lawns, shrubs and flowerbeds will send a message that the inside of the home is well-maintained, too. 

The doorbell and front lights should work perfectly. Screens, windows, and doors should all be clean and in good repair. Put away outdoor toys, mowers and other distractions. Pets should not be seen, heard, or smelt when people tour your home. 

Pack up, clean out, and brighten up.

Your goal is to make a potential buyer fall in love with your home. To do that, you need to pack up all the pictures and mementoes that make your home special to you. You want home shoppers to feel like they are in a model house, not someone else's much loved home.

Closets and cabinets should all be neat and orderly. In fact, it's a good idea to remove one half to one third of your closets' contents. This can make closet space in your home look even more generous. The same approach works for kitchen and bathroom counters as well - the fewer things in view, the better the impression. Don't forget your basement, attic, and garage. It might seem like a daunting task, but you'll have to pack up to move anyway, so do it early and help your home shine.

You want your home to look bright and open, so don't remove any lamps. In fact, you may want to put in higher wattage bulbs or even borrow a few extra lamps to brighten any dark corners.

Call on professionals to help.

If all this sounds like too much, call on professionals to help. Carpet cleaning and housecleaning services can handle many of these tasks for you.

Finally, get a professional home inspection with a written report. Knowing what items need to be replaced or repaired in advance will allow you to have your home in the best condition possible when you are ready to show it.

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Reduce Cleaning Chores with Creative Decor

The materials you use when decorating can make a big difference in how clean your home looks on a day-to-day basis. We all know that an all-white living room is an invitation to a cleaning disaster, but did you realize black could be just as troublesome? Here are some suggestions to keep your home looking fresher and cleaner for a longer period of time.

Start on the ground floor. 

Kids, dogs, and even adults track in dirt. And everyone has an occasional spill. Pick a floor surface that wipes clean easily and won't look the worst with an occasional stain. Faux painted concrete is probably the most concealing; tiles and laminates with mid-tone patterns work well, too. Try to avoid very light or very dark carpets - the latter shows every bit of dust and fluff, and the former keeps a permanent record of every stain.

Paint away problems. 

Solid color walls show every blemish. Faux painting techniques hide a host of accidents. Sponge painting, ragging, glazing, and other techniques that create a textured or mottled surface, work the best. If you're dealing with little ones and indoor pets look for paints that clean easily. 

Sit back and relax.

Miracle fabrics like micro-weave pseudo suede, deliver style and a stain resistant surface. The luxury of long-lasting leather gets even better when you realize how easily spills and pet hairs clean away. If you must have traditional fabrics, go for prints, preferably with darker backgrounds, to hide all those things that get dropped and smeared on couches and chairs.

Make organization beautiful.  

Get creative with how you keep things together. For instance, gather all those remote controls in a pretty basket. Stash magazines or mail in a copper coal scuttle or old wooden crate. Refurbish an old coat rack to hang coats - topping it all off with one amazingly outlandish hat. Wander through an accessory store and think about how different containers can be used to control everyday clutter while adding a bit of pizzazz to a room.

Put it under glass. 

For most of us, knick knacks are an unavoidable fact of life. If you find you can't live without them, try to keep them displayed in glass-fronted cabinets. It makes them look more important while cutting down on dusting needs significantly.

Finally, to make a room look better in an instant, simply turn down the lights. Add dimmers to your light switches and not only will the dust disappear, the whole room will look more romantic and cozy.

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Water Your Lawn Without Wasting Water

Are you watering your lawn too much or not enough? Know your lawn better and you could save water and money, in addition to having the nicest looking lawn on the block.

In most places, the weather is hot and lawn sprinklers are sending arcs of water across lawns from coast to coast. The question is: how much of this watering is actually hurting more than it's helping?

Over watering lawns not only wastes water, it also encourages weed growth and can cause damaging grass diseases. Watering sessions that don't last long enough can cause shallow root growth. Watering at the wrong time of day can actually do more harm than good. Give your lawn just the right amount of water and it won't only look good, but it will withstand droughts better in the future.

Know your grass.

Different types of grass have different water requirements; even that can change depending on the local soil and environment. You can look for information online; however, your best sources for localized knowledge are area garden clubs and nursery professionals. Let them know about mature trees, shade, and anything else that can impact your watering needs.

Imitate the weather.  

Nature tends to have a lot of rain followed by drier weather. This is also the best policy for your watering schedule. Make sure you water enough to penetrate the soil as deep as the roots, plus one inch. Then, let your lawn almost dry out before watering again. You can tell when a lawn is ready for water simply by walking across it - if your footprints remain, it's time to water again.

Take measurements.

This takes some effort, but can really pay off. First, measure your root depth in several places to get an average. Add one inch to that and you know how deep you want the water to reach. Now, you need to figure out how long to run your sprinklers to reach that depth. 

After several days of a dry spell, place cups, cans, or other containers capable of holding a couple of inches of water, around your lawn. Run your sprinkler until these containers hold an inch of water and note how long that took. Wait until the next day and see if the water penetrated deeply enough, or too deeply. Conduct the test again adjusting the length of time you run the sprinkler until you have just the right time. Eventually you will know exactly how long you need to run your sprinkler to achieve ideal conditions.

Make adjustments.  

If nature provides rainfall, be sure to reduce your watering. However, if conditions are particularly hot or windy, you may need to water more often.

Reduce your dependence on sprinklers. There are things you can do to minimize the number of times you water your lawn. These start with choosing native grasses or those best adapted to your area. You can also let your grass grow a little taller, which reduces evaporation by shading the roots.

Aerating the soil promotes root growth, which makes it easier for grass to draw moisture from the soil. Working organic matter into the soil also helps it to retain moisture longer.

Finally, keep mower blades sharp. Cleaner cuts not only make your yard look nice and even, they also make lawns look greener and cause less evaporation. As a result, your landscaping skills will also look pristine!

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