Tips on How to Prepare your Fireplace for the Season

• Published: September 27, 2012

 

Get your fireplace ready for winter

With temperatures dropping, now’s a great time to prepare your wood burning or gas fireplace for the fall.
Most of the simple inspections and cleaning can be done by the average home owner, however, if you have any doubt at all, contact your local fireplace installer or chimney sweep, say the experts at Napoleon Fireplaces.

Wood-burning
Have the chimney cleaned before starting your wood-burning fireplace, stove, or insert. The leading cause of fires from wood-burning appliances is the result of creosote (unburned fuel) that has accumulated in the chimney.
Have any gasket material inspected and replaced as required, such as the gasket sealing the door, the door glass, and in some cases the ash dump. If an airtight appliance is operated without these gaskets effectively sealing the openings, excess air can leak into the firebox, creating an over fire condition, which may permanently damage the appliance.
If your wood-burning appliance has a blower, clean it. Unlike your furnace blower, these blowers do not have a filtering system to prevent the buildup of dust and hair on the blower.
Replace any broken or deteriorated brick lining in the wood -burning appliance. While cracks in the lining are not a concern, if the brick lining is deteriorated to the point that the steel body is exposed, the heat from the fire can cause permanent damage to the appliance.
Replace the batteries and test any smoke or carbon monoxide detectors you have in your home to ensure these defense monitors are operating properly.

Gas-burning
Have a qualified technician service the appliance, including having the airways of both the pilot and main burners cleaned to ensure they are operating correctly.
If your gasburning appliance has a blower, clean it. Unlike your furnace blower, these blowers do not have a filtering system to prevent the buildup of dust and hair on the blower. As the dust accumulates on the blower blades, the balance of the blower will change, causing premature wearing of the bearings. The dust also insulates the motor; preventing it from being cooled, and can eventually cause the motor to cease up.
Replace the batteries in any optional remote transmitters and in some cases, in the receiver as well. Even when not being used the power held in a battery is slowly depleted.
Replace the batteries and test any smoke or carbon monoxide detectors you have in your home to ensure these defense monitors are operating properly.

Source: Napoleon Fireplaces

Read more: http://www.houselogic.com/news/fireplaces-chimneys/tips-how-prepare-your-fireplace-season/#ixzz2fwVYzA3T

Clear the Clutter and Sell Your Home  

Aug 13, 2013

By: Realtor.com Team 

You don’t have to live like a minimalist, but when it’s time to sell your home, rigorously editing your decor will help make the sale. Potential buyers want to picture themselves living there, and they can’t do that if your stuff is spilling out all over. Even if your house is clean, having things crammed in every nook is a visual turnoff.
Hiring a stager can help, but before you worry about making the place photo-shoot-ready, see how much cargo you can jettison. Make piles of things to save, to donate, and to throw away. Be ruthless. You can sell stuff online or hold a garage sale, but keep in mind that selling the house comes first and budget your time accordingly. You might be better off donating — some charities are even willing to pick up. For the things you’re keeping, consider renting a storage space and temporarily clearing everything out to make the house neutral.
As you declutter, pay particular attention to these:

• Furniture: Keep it to a minimum in your living areas so that your rooms look bigger.
• Entry: Clear out shoes, coats, umbrellas and other outdoor items from your foyer or mudroom.
• Equipment: Move out big pieces, such as drum kits or exercise equipment.
• Bookshelves: Edit your shelves so that you have a neat, orderly space with books and perhaps a few decorative items, like a vase, globe or art.
• Periodicals: Get rid of old newspapers and magazines, recycling if you can.
• Photos: Take down your personal photos. Let the buyer imagine pictures of their own family on the walls, tables and shelves.
• Cables: Organize the cords for your computers, printers, televisions and other electronics so that they don’t look sloppy.
• Plants: Get rid of sickly plants and keep only a few healthy ones on display.
• Kitchen counters: Remove everything from your countertops, keeping only essentials like a toaster. Decorate sparingly (bowls of unblemished fruit look nice). And clear off all those magnets, coupons, and children’s artwork from the refrigerator.
• Cabinets and pantry: Arrange the shelves neatly, with items and labels pointed in the same direction.
• Bedrooms: Make sure beds are made and all clothes, toys and shoes are off the floor.
• Nightstands: Take away the tissues, medicines and magazines and keep just lamps, clocks and maybe a book or two.
• Closets: Clean out your closets so they aren’t packed to the rafters.
• Bathrooms: Hide your razors, toothbrushes and shampoos in a cabinet while your house is being shown. Spruce up with some fresh soaps, towels or maybe flowers.

Diana Lundin wrote this article.
To read more go to Realtor.com

How to Keep Home Maintenance Costs Under $300 a Year

• By: John Riha

 

A little TLC maintenance goes a long way toward staving off expensive repairs.

Spending time now on minor exterior touch-ups — like replacing caulk and refreshing paint — can prevent major repair costs down the road. Image: August Blues Slipcover Studio

Cringe at the thought of major repairs to your home? It’s the little preventative maintenance things you do throughout the year that’ll keep big repair bills at bay. In fact, you can keep your entire house fit and healthy for a mere $300 per year. Here’s how.
 

1. Get up close and personal with your house.

Annual cost: $0-$10

Trust us — you want to be on intimate terms with your house. The more familiar you are, the easier it is to spot potential trouble spots before they get out-of-hand — and expensive to fix.

You don’t have to be a pro inspector; just take the time to stroll around. A DIY inspection costs nothing — and could save you thousands. Look for:

• Cracks in the foundation. Hairline cracks are fairly normal, but keep an eye on them and note if they’re getting larger. If so, your foundation may be settling unevenly. You can make a small mark with an indelible pen across the crack; over the next few months, if you notice the mark is moving apart, call in a foundation expert.

• Proper soil grading. Foundation soil should slope away from foundation walls at least 6 inches in 10 feet. More is better.

• Downspout extensions. They should reach at least 5 feet away from your house. A flexible extension is about $10.

• Roof damage. Use a pair of binoculars to look for shingles that are curled, torn, or missing, and rust spots on flashing. 

• Shaggy bushes and tree limbs. Keep plants at least 3 feet away from your house. Branches can channel water right to your siding; during a windstorm, they may bang against your house and cause damage.

Branches near your roof are squirrel highways; trim them back to prevent critters from reaching your roof. You don’t want pests in your attic.

2. Make caulk your BFF.

Annual cost: $24.

Your home’s No. 1 enemy is water; your home’s best friend is caulk.

Cheap and easy to use, caulk seals openings and prevents water from getting inside your home, where lingering moisture causes rot and mold. Caulk seals air leaks that can rob you of precious heating and cooling energy.

As caulking ages, it may come loose as your house settles slightly. Every year, inspect window and door frames for cracked and missing caulk. Check around exterior dryer vents, hose bibs, and electrical wiring to make sure openings in your siding are sealed tight.

You won’t be caulking the whole enchilada — but bet on using 3-4 tubes of top-quality exterior acrylic latex caulk ($4-$6 per 12-oz. tube) every year.

3. Give your house a facial.

Annual cost: $0-$32

As you make your inspection rounds, look for blemishes — chipped or peeling paint, small chips in stucco, and missing mortar between masonry. A little spot repair prevents moisture from doing more damage.

• Keep paint in good repair and help your exterior paint job last longer by touching up chipped or peeling areas so water can’t penetrate. Keep a close eye on trim, porch columns, and stair railings. Annual cost: $16 for 1 qt. of color-matched exterior latex paint.

• Plug holes in stucco with pre-mixed latex stucco patching compound ($7 for a 1 qt. tub).

• Repair missing mortar using textured, masonry mortar repair compound ($3.50 for a 5-oz. tube).

• Clean your exterior. All types of siding benefit from an annual cleaning to remove dirt and grime. Use buckets of warm, soapy water (½ cup of trisodium phosphate — $4.95 for a 1 lb. box — dissolved in 1 gallon of water) and a soft-bristled brush attached to a long handle. Or, use a homemade green cleaner from ½ cup baking soda dissolved in 1 gallon warm water.

4. Coddle your HVAC.
Annual cost: $50-$164

• Change furnace filters. Have you looked at them lately? They’re filthy! They’re cutting down on your heating and cooling efficiency and making your furnace fan work overtime trying to push air through stuffed-up filters. Keep allergy-causing dust to a minimum and give your furnace a break with regular HVAC maintenance that includes changing your high-quality filters every 3-4 months.

• Get an HVAC tune-up. For this annual HVAC maintenance chore, bring in a pro to clean out furnace parts and recharge your refrigerant levels. Signing a contract for an annual inspection lowers cost per visit.

5. Show your water heater a little TLC.
Annual cost: $0

• Remove sediment and gunk in the bottom of the tank by hooking a garden hose to the drain valve and draining the tank until the water runs clear. That helps your water heater warm up quickly and more cheaply.

Test the pressure relief valve by quickly opening it two or three times (catch the spillage in a small bucket). After testing, watch for any leaks from the valve.

6. Clean your gutters.
Annual cost: $0

Clogged rain gutters cause overflows that damage siding and soak the soils around your foundation. That mean foundation problems that lead to expensive repairs. Clean your gutters at least twice each year to remove clogs and debris. Like you didn’t know that!

John Riha has written seven books on home improvement and hundreds of articles on home-related topics. He’s been a residential builder, the editorial director of the Black & Decker Home Improvement Library, and the executive editor of Better Homes and Gardens magazine.

Read more: http://www.houselogic.com/home-advice/maintenance-repair/how-to-keep-home-maintenance-costs-under-300/#ixzz2eh0gA8QR

I’m Buying a Newly Built Home — Do I Need a Realtor®?

Aug 13, 2013

By: Amit Kulkarni 

Buying a new home is exciting. You get to build your dream from the ground up, choosing your lot, your model, interior finishes and upgrades. But like any home purchase, buying new construction is serious business, an expensive transaction with many financial implications.
That’s why it’s a good idea to obtain representation from a Realtor® when considering a new home purchase. Here’s why:

Builder sales reps represent the builder. Often builders have their own agents on site to answer questions, assist people who walk in, and ultimately help with a purchase. Builder reps provide a valuable service: They can explain differences between models and floor plans and share information about financing options, upgrades and specials. But it’s important to remember that builder reps represent the builder, as they are contractually obligated to do. “Realtors® are trusted resources for real estate information and can help home buyers navigate the increasingly complex home-buying process,” said National Association of Realtors® President Gary Thomas. “The buyer agency agreement ensures the buyer that his or her Realtor® will represent the interests of the buyer alone and not the seller.”

Fiduciary responsibility. One of the most important considerations for any buyer is fiduciary responsibility. When you retain the services of a Realtor®, their responsibility is to you. That means you have an expert who is looking out for your best financial interests, an expert who’s contractually obligated to protect you. A Realtor® can help you navigate the new-construction contract; help you understand how specific clauses, riders and upgrade options affect you; and make sure you know what you need to before you sign on the dotted line.

Negotiating a better deal. Finding the right model and picking your upgrades is the fun part. Once you’re ready to sign the contract, a Realtor® can work on your behalf to negotiate the terms, from upgrade options to financing and closing costs. In addition, a Realtor® can present other options for financing or might be able to work with the builder’s lender directly to get you a better rate for your mortgage.

Shepherding your new home to closing. Signing a contract with a builder is just the beginning. You must also line up financing, work with title companies and attend numerous inspections throughout the construction. A Realtor® can manage that process and can accompany you on inspections to ensure you’re not missing anything at each construction milestone.

Read more at Realtor.com