Summer’s almost upon us. That means more ice cream, fewer snowball fights and, of course, the battle to keep your house cool as the heat bears down. As it turns out, you don’t have to build your own ice cave to keep cool until fall. There are plenty of easy changes you can put into action to get a lot more out of your air conditioning budget this year.
Being a homeowner means more than just cleaning, decorating and maintaining your house. It’s also your responsibility to take care of whatever land is yours. For a lot of people, this means putting their own mark with landscaping like perennials, shrubs and trees. Unfortunately for those trees, many are planted in the wrong place and end up being cut down in their prime. It’s a great loss to the neighborhood and to your yard. Next time you plant a tree, you’ll need to be more careful about where you put it.
Buying a house is a little like taking up a new hobby. There are lots of things you don’t know yet that you’ll learn as you go along, you’re also gonna need some specialized equipment to get very far. Whether you hope to become a top level home remodeler or simply want to put some new slats on your privacy fence, it takes the right tools to do the job.
Owning a house is a never-ending adventure in investing your heart and soul into a wholly unique structure. Some homeowners have great big budgets for massive changes or enhancements to their home, others are working with a shoestring. If you’re in the second group, you can still put your mark on your house. There are plenty of ways to personalize it without spending a lot of money.
Sometimes, it ain’t easy bein’ green, but other times, like when you’re trying to outfit your house with money and energy saving components, it’s a piece of key lime pie. The demand for retrofitted green homes is only growing while the green home industry is busy developing new ways to save from every angle. Whether you live in Death Valley or Nome, Alaska, there’s something you can be doing to improve your home’s green appeal.
Planning a garden out on a paper is one thing, but when it comes time to get your hands dirty, it might all go a bit sideways. Gardening is an exercise in improvisation, forcing you to work with soil that’s probably less than ideal to grow plants that may have very specific nutritional requirements. How do you know when your garden’s ready to grow plants?
Unless you live in a cave, you’ve probably got some wooden bits on or around your house. In fact, the whole frame of your house is probably made of wood. It’s a great choice for framing, but it comes with one very specific weakness: bugs! Not just any bugs, but the kind that like to chew right on through studs and drill holes in eaves.
You’ve been watching HGTV again and you’ve been inspired to do something about that dated backsplash in your kitchen. It’s not exactly a small job, but certainly one an adventurous first time homeowner can do with just a few tools. Installing a backsplash is a pretty straightforward process, with a few caveats. Just make sure you’re really ready before you put mastic to wall.
As spring begins to really set in across the country a lot of homeowners are finally getting out into the yard and garden, soaking up the sun’s rays. Something else is taking in the rays in a big way right now: your neighbor’s solar panels. Although they function all year, just to be clear, the longer days mean more electricity production and lower utility bills. If you’ve been glancing up at those panels with envy in your heart, maybe it’s time to get your own mini electricity plant.