No Spec Work - Rewarding Creativity Properly

The outlook for 2009 and 2010 is a bit dismal if you’re a home owner - diminishing house prices are causing a great concern for numerous people. Some house owners will find themselves in negative equity later this year or next year, if not already. Still, there are methods to avoid this problem. The Solution : to add value to your house. How? By giving your house a makeover. DIY / home improvements can add far greater value to your home than the effective cost of those improvements.

So where to start? A good place to begin is to think about the least used rooms in your property. Perhaps it is an adjoining garage, or spare bedroom. Taking down a wall can transform such a rarely used room into an extended area for a kitchen or living room. Also take into account plumbing and electrics. Dimmer switches can transform ugly bright rooms into cosy, warm rooms just via a dimmer dial - it’s just a dimmer switch, but showing such a pleasant ambience in your home makes the prospective home buyer feel more relaxed! Perhaps your household doesn’t have a downstairs lavatory? Then get one put in where your utility room is - once more this can add a great deal of value to your home.

Possibly your 4 bedroomed house could be converted to 3 bedroom by taking a wall down, and producing a much larger room. This may sound a tad strange, but actually bigger rooms will hand you a higher sale value, and quite often people use a 4th bedroom purely as a spare room (meaning it’s not really used or important) .

Next up is the garden. Have you got a garden shed? If this answer is no, consider installing one there. Why is this of particular importance? Well, here is one place where you can keep all your gear that’s congesting up your utility room / spare bedroom / garage. Having a shed helps also with the gardening, and keen gardeners (read: your future home buyer) like a garden with a shed. And perhaps, well - you could into gardening yourself! If your garden’s been overlooked, then mow the lawn, plant some flowers, trim the lawn edges. Install some decking if you have some room. Just offering a beverage to a potential buyer out in your lovely garden can really help sell the place - viewers feel comfortable in such an environment - so it turns out that your garden can help sell your home, and add value to your property!

So where to look for some assistance? Look online. A home and garden directory like homeandgardenlistings.co.uk has all kinds of home and garden websites listed there : including a directory of bathroom fitters, directory of builders, directory of painters and decorators, directory of garden furniture suppliers, directory of bedroom furniture and beds suppliers etc.

These are just a few introductory points on increasing the value of your house in these trying times, but we hope this will spur you into some action!

Just reflecting on the past two weeks and thought I’d share a little bit. This shouldn’t bore you - it’s meant to be engaging and useful. Look through these sites and my experiences and let me know what you think.

The Right Tent

A couple days ago we got back from camping. Hiking into camp was really fun, and it was good to spend some time with the family. The web makes it so easy to buy a tent these days. It was a relief to open the door the afternoon we were driving in - and saw the tent. Sometimes I worry when I order online that I’ll get the wrong stuff. This was just right. Expedited shipping is totally the way to go. The mountains are so beautiful. It was an awesome time. Rejuvenating experience!

Security

Home security is really cool these days. Got a wireless system installed. Not only is it good to secure your computer and identity, all of that could crash if the house isn’t buttoned up. Theft does crazy things to your head I think. You feel so violated. We searched through the phone book first but ultimately found the best security system deals online. It felt good to have it installed the instant it was in. Turns out we didn’t have to worry but we felt safer while traveling.

Energy Drinks

Camping takes a lot out of me and my wife. Efusjon saved us on this trip. It is totally worth the money. Not only are children exhausting and worthwhile, taking them camping triples the effect. Glad to have efusjon nearby. We joined the ‘a’ team at efusjon and bought in for the drink alone. Go for the opportunity if you can, it’s young and worthwhile now. Go visit the link above and join already!

See you soon. Let me know if this helped!

This article was written to explain the causes of ice dams and how to remove them safely. For more information or pictures of the processes see ice dam removals.

The art of ice dam removal. By Henry’s Housework

You may have noticed long icicles hanging from your gutters and not realize the significance of the damage that may be occurring behind them. Icicles are usually one of the first warning signs of possible ice dams on your roof. This article will explain what ice dams are, how they form and the best methods for removing them safely.

What is an ice dam?

An ice dam is a wall of ice that forms at the edge of the roof, usually at the gutters or soffit. When it forms the water then backs up behind the ice dam and creates a pool of water. This pool of water can leak into your home and cause damage to walls, ceilings, insulation, and other areas

What causes ice dams

Ice dams are usually caused by heavy snowfall and improper ventilation in the attic. This causes warmer areas in your attic then the snow begins to melt, even when the outside temperature is well below freezing. When the accumulated snow on your roof starts melting it runs down your roof underneath the snow until it reaches a “colder” section like the soffit’s, valleys or in gutters then it begins to freeze again, this process of thawing and refreezing is what causes an ice dam.

Cleaning the gutters on your home can help prevent ice dams from occurring as quickly but they can still occur if the conditions are right. The gutters will be just as cold as it is outside and in some cases, full of frozen debris. So even if you don’t have a soffit for the water to refreeze in, the melted water will most likely refreeze when flowing into the gutters.

How can I remove an existing ice dam?

Properly removing an ice dam can be quite dangerous if you don’t know how. In the past some members of the media suggested hiring a contractor to pull the gutters off your home so the whole ice dam process would be solved. This suggestion was well intended but wrong. Contractors that started removing gutters caused significant damage to roofing and guttering systems, then when the snow melted it dropped next to the homes foundation and caused the basements to flood.

WARNING!

Performing ice dam removal is risking severe personal injury and damage to the roof if not done properly. Never walk on a snow covered roof and make sure if your using a ladder you follow the proper safety procedures. I highly suggest contacting professionals with the proper equipment and roofing experience to carry out this job.

Immediate action: Remove snow and ice dam from the roof this will eliminate the main ingredients necessary for the formation of another ice dam and will usually stop the water from coming in within an hour. Using a roof rake and push broom (not water) remove the snow by carefully pulling it down the slope of the roof line. Never pull snow across the roof or it may break off the shingles and other damages. Then carefully chip away a channel through the ice dam so the water will be able to flow through, just make sure you stop when you get close to the roofing. It’s not necessary to remove all of the ice in the gutters or the ice dam itself if you have removed the snow from the roof, it will melt when the temperatures rise.

How can I prevent ice dams in the future?

Properly ventilating and insulating the attic is usually the best way to prevent ice dams. The usual recommendation for proper ventilation is 1 square foot of vent for every 150 feet of attic floor area but each climate region may have it’s own recommendations so I would suggest contacting a licensed local insulation company near you. If you have small louvered vents at either end of the attic known as gable vents you can either replace them with larger vents, or install an electric vent fan over the inside of them. These special fans usually work on a thermostat and will pull outside air into the attic to keep the temperature inside consistent.

For more information on ice dams and other articles we have written, please see our website at http://www.henryshousework.com

Our main commercial and residential services include:

Gutter Cleaning, Gutter Repairs, Gutter Installation, and Gutter Guard Systems.

Deck Cleaning and Restoration, Deck Cleaning and Sealing.

Complete power washing services including roofs, siding And more!

Roof Repairs, Roof Inspections

Nuisance Wildlife Trapping

Ice Dam Removal

We also provide Referrals for other services.

About The Author

Henry’s Housework is known as one of the leaders in the home maintenance and power washing industries. Henry’s Housework has also helped train other companies across the country in starting a business and teaching various skills so they can provide quality workmanship.

This article may be distributed as long as a link to our website and the authors bio information is included.

Henry@henryshousework.com

When the warm weather of summer finally arrives most pond owners are faced with a very common problem called pond algae. Pond algae can strike any size pond at any time, but usually a few very specific things have to be present for it to spread rapidly.

Knowing what allows algae to prosper is the first step to treating it naturally. First though, let’s make one thing clear. Algae, or it’s presence in a pond is not always bad. A little bit of it here or there is actually a positive sign that the pond is healthy and balanced. When algae takes over the pond entirely however, things are not very balanced at all.

Algae is very dependent on excessive nutrients in the water to grow. Therefore this should be your first priority…to reduce or eliminate excess nutrients in the pond. These can come from decomposing organic matter like leaves or grass clippings.

Nutrients can also come for fish waste or decomposing fish food. With these things in mind, it’s best to remove any organic matter from the pond before it starts to decay at the bottom. Skimmers can help with this in smaller ponds. Also, if you have fish, be sure to not overstock them in a smaller pond. Generally 1 inch of fish needs about 10 gallons of water to stay balanced. If your ratio is over this, you may be overstocked. Be sure to not overfeed your fish as well. Provide them enough food to consume in about five minutes time.

Pond algae also needs adequate sunlight to grow aggressively so if you can minimize exposure to the sun, this can often help.

In some cases, you can’t always keep sunlight from entering the pond or keep all the debris from settling in it. Then it’s often best to turn to other treatments or options.

In smaller ponds adding plants is a very beneficial thing to do. Surface plants like water lilies help absorb excess nutrients and also help shade the pond. Water grasses are great at helping clear a pond as well.

Since it can take up to 60% coverage of a pond’s surface to keep algae at bay, some people like to also use a natural beneficial bacteria product to help consume some of the excess nutrients and assist in the breakdown of organic matter in the pond. Bacteria and enzyme products have been proven to be one of the safest and most effective ways to keep a pond clean. There are many varieties available on the market today.

All of the methods outlined above are highly preferred over using chemicals in a pond or water garden. Chemicals come with inherent risks and also don’t help much in cleaning a pond in a natural fashion. Over the long term they can cause many more problems than then solve.

Mark Washburn is an experience pond treatment specialist that uses natural solutions to keep ponds and watergardens clean and algae free. Learn how to keep your pond clean naturally by visiting http://www.algae-solution.com

Winter is over, spring has sprung, and summer is on its way. It’s the perfect time to take the cover off of the barbecue grill and get grilling. BBQ food is the perfect start to a great summer. As the smells of neighborhood grills begin wafting down the streets of towns all across America, there is a theme that permeates the breeze. Summer is here; it’s time for fun in the sun.

There is nothing that takes me back to my childhood quite like BBQ food. The smells, the flavors, and most importantly, the feeling of quality time spent with family and the knowledge that we are building memories for our children to someday share with their children. If you think about it, you can have BBQ food of some sort, almost any night of the week. As long as you are willing to use your grill, which has the benefit of keeping the heat of cooking on the outside of your home.

Here are some great grilling ideas that will enable you to have BBQ food almost anytime you want.

1) Veggies taste better when cooked on a grill. You can also have fun mixing flavors and seasonings. Kraft had a great idea of butter mix-ins for vegetables, I also like to marinate mine in Italian dressing and grill them in foil packets.

2) Almost any meat you can purchase will taste better cooked on a grill. I even enjoy smoked sausage cooked on a grill with BBQ sauce.

3) Make it a great night by allowing family members to make their own shish kabobs.

4) Have theme nights for your BBQ food, you can do Italian BBQ, Mexican BBQ, Caribbean, be creative and have fun.

The real beauty of BBQ food is that it is an excuse we use to build lasting memories of good times with family and friends. There is no reason we can’t make meal times special each and every day, not just during the summer months.