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Home maintenance is essential to ensure you and your family are living in a safe and healthy environment. The condition of your home can deteriorate over time. As a result, many problems that will both harm the dwellers inside and make the house inhabitable will likely crop up. These problems can be anything, from minor leaky plumbing pipes and molding to major pest infestation and gas leaks. That’s why it’s vital to follow a home maintenance checklist regularly.

Inspect Your House

In many cases, you won’t notice something is wrong unless you look for it. Work, family, social life, and other obligations can keep you busy and cause you to neglect your home. By the time you notice something is wrong, the situation may be too dire for you to handle.

To prevent a disaster from happening, it’s better to schedule an inspection routine every month. Look out for damages on your siding; cracks or erosion on your masonry stoop, steps, walls, and foundation; and/or signs of wear on your windows, doors, sill, and caps. Check your flooring for softness or instability, especially near exterior doors, in the bathroom, and in the kitchen.

Watch out for water that has collected over time in places where it’s not supposed to, like in your gutter and walls. Inspect your basement, crawl space, and ductwork for anything out of place. Finally, check the condition of the interior and exterior paint of the house.

You don’t need an expert eye to notice all these problems. All you have to do are to thoroughly examine every part of your house and to learn what to look out for. By inspecting your house regularly, you can be aware of and deal with certain problems before they get worse.

Repair or Replace When Necessary

After thoroughly inspecting your house, you’ve likely noticed some of the problems mentioned earlier. Whether it’s a damaged siding or a fading paint, fix the problem immediately to prevent it from snowballing.

Loose or cracked siding can cause water and pests to get into your walls, as well as encourage the development of mildew, fungus, and mold. This can damage your walls in the long run, costing you hundreds to thousands on renovation fees.

The same goes for leaking fixtures and malfunctioning electronics. Dripping faucets and phantom flushing toilets can waste a lot of water and add to your water bills, while damaged electronics can cause dangerous fires or blackouts.

You can prevent certain problems from arising by installing measures in your home. For example, insulating your attic can seal up cracks, preventing moisture and pests from coming in, and help keep the house warm, which saves energy from heating.

Installing an all-purpose grinding pump helps manage the wastewater flowing from all your bathroom fixtures (e.g., bathtub, toilet, sink, washing machine, etc.) to your sewage system or septic tank.

Preventing damages and problems is always better and more cost-effective than fixing them.

Change Air Filter

Keep the indoor air quality clean by regularly checking your air filters and changing them when necessary. Ventilators suck in dust and other particles to keep you from breathing them in, and most of these pollutants stick to your air filter.

A dirty air filter prevents not just your ventilator but also your whole HVAC system from working properly. It allows more pollutants to suffuse the air indoors, which can result in sudden bouts of illnesses in the family. It can also damage your HVAC system when left unchanged for too long.

Make sure to change your air filter regularly. If you’re using the cheap fiberglass kind, it’s usually recommended to change it every 30 days. High-end pleated filters can last longer for up to 6 months, but if there are children, elderly, and/or allergic, asthmatic, or sick patients at home, the filter should be changed every 6 weeks or so.

Insulate Plumbing Pipes

People love to use warm water to take a shower or bath, wash their hands, and do their laundry. Warm water is accessible in most homes, courtesy of water heaters.

From the heater, warm water travels through plumbing pipes before it reaches your faucet and your shower. As it travels, it can lose its heat because of the cold temperature of the pipes. Sometimes, the water also takes longer to flow.

Insulating your plumbing pipes can prevent this from happening. You can use insulating foam to cover your plumbing pipes so warm water can travel faster from the heater to the fixture while it maintains its temperature. Pipe insulation also prevents leaks from happening, so you get two benefits in one.

Keep Moisture and Mold under Control

Moisture, coupled with humidity, is a huge problem for homeowners. For one, exposure to damp environments can have a negative impact on your health, including respiratory problems, respiratory infections, allergies, asthma, and certain skin conditions. Babies, children, elderly people, sick patients, and immunocompromised persons are particularly vulnerable to these harmful effects.

Dampness can also bring about molding, which can also have its own adverse effects to you and your family’s health. As such, make sure to check for molding using a mold detection kit to properly diagnose and resolve the problem.

Solve the root cause of the problem by preventing moisture and humidity from building up inside. Fix leaky pipes and fixtures immediately, and seal any cracks in your home. Ventilate your bathroom and kitchen during and after use. Waterproof and insulate your home.

Clean Your House Regularly

Regular cleaning is the easiest way you can maintain your house. Vacuum your floor and carpets at least twice a week to get rid of dust and air pollutants that may cause you to get sick. Wipe and disinfect surfaces (e.g., tables, counters, vanities, sinks, etc.) for the same reason, as well as for maintaining the appearance and condition.

Wash your curtains, covers, runners, etc. to prevent the growth of germs. Maintain the cleanliness of your home in order to create a safe and healthy environment for you and your family.

Final Word

If you want to live in a clean environment and extend the life span of your current home, follow a home maintenance checklist regularly. Time, usage, and other factors can gradually cause a decline in your home’s condition, but maintenance can lessen the impact and restore its condition. Whether it’s cleaning regularly or inspecting your home, it’s your responsibility as the dweller to maintain your home.

 

 

 

 

 

Sleep is a precious commodity in our busy world that we live in. If you are spending a lot of time at work and not much of it relaxing, then there’s every chance that you are taking time to get to sleep every night. The less you sleep, the harder it gets for you to get into the routine or being able to settle down each night. The most important thing that you need to consider when it comes to sleep isn’t necessarily your lifestyle choices. It’s your bed.

The bed you choose – the size, the shape, the bedding, the mattress – all of it gets put together to create something that your body can literally sink into at the end of the day and relax on. We spend a third of our lives asleep; that’s a long time! If you were going to be wearing high heeled shoes every day of your working life, you would make a conscious effort to find ones that are not only supportive but are comfortable and don’t cause you pain. This should be the same effort that you put into finding the right bedding and mattress. You can use websites like Mattress-Guides.net for details on how you can figure out the best mattress for you. Real reviews matter when it comes to bedding and mattresses, and you need to consult your doctor if you want to figure out how to choose between a soft of firm mattress for your particular spinal needs.

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Did you know that your weight can play a part in the type of mattress you should use? A lighter person would find a firm mattress far harder and more uncomfortable than a heavier person who can really use the benefits of an orthopaedic mattress to sleep on. The very support that your mattress gives you is directly related to how tall you are and how much you weigh. If you pick a mattress that isn’t giving you the right support, it’s a good idea to check the weight limits and requirements from the retailer. If you find you are outside those requirements, then there’s your issue.

Before you splash the cash on a new bed, you need to do your research about whether you should be sleeping on a firm mattress or a soft one. Once you know which one is right for you, then you need to find the mattress that fits your budget. There are so many places that you can buy a new bed, and if you know where is best to purchase yours, then you should see whether you can get your mattress bought and set up sooner rather than later. Once you’ve got the bed sorted, it’s time to shop for quilts, pillows and comforters. All of these are going to really set off the comfort for your bed. There’s nothing quite like sinking into a clean, dry, perfect bed at the end of a very long day. Take the time to shop properly – your bed isn’t something to mess with!

Cutting down on your monthly expenses can be more difficult than it seems. Even if you brew all your own coffee at home and take sandwiches with you to work so you’re not tempted to hit the vending machine, you might struggle with your family budget. That’s because there are monthly expenses that you’ll need to deal with every month – no matter what.

Energy is one of the most expensive things you’ll have to pay for every month. While we can’t sweep those bills off your table, we can offer a few helpful hints and tips that might help to cut down your spend, without compromising on home comfort. For instance:

1.     Change Your Energy Supplier

If you haven’t switched out your energy supplier for a while, then there’s a good chance you could save some serious cash by checking out what’s available on the market. The great news is that there are plenty of fantastic comparison websites out there that can help you to find out which deals are available for someone in your position.

If you’ve already switched your supplier but you’re struggling to save money, find out whether you’re on the cheapest possible tariff. You’ll get some serious savings just by switching to pay by direct debit, instead of paying monthly.

2.     Turn Down the Heat

Now that spring has sprung, it should be much easier for you to turn the heat down a notch or two on your thermostat. However, make sure that you keep money saving in mind throughout the rest of the year too. Reducing your room temperatures by only one degree can be enough to reduce your heating bills by as much as £85 per year. Rather than turning the heating up to max level, put on a jumper or throw a blanket around you.

If you’ve already turned down your thermostat, you can also consider turning the radiators off in rooms that aren’t used very often, or by programming the heating to turn itself off when you’re not around to enjoy it. The less heat you can use, the better off your family will be.

3.     Replace your Lightbulbs

Now here’s another bright idea. If you haven’t switched to energy-efficient LED light bulbs already, now could be the perfect time to make a change. According to some studies, an LED bulb will cost you an average of around £1.71 a year to run. This means that you could save a serious amount of money if you replace all the energy-draining bulbs throughout your house with something more energy efficient.

The best news is that your energy efficient bulbs will typically last you a lot longer than your standard bulbs too. This means that over the course of their lifetime, these accessories could save you hundreds of pounds.

4.     Keep the Heat Inside

One of the biggest drains on your energy bill is a set of windows or doors that allow the heat to escape whenever you crank up the radiators. You can save some serious cash by investing in draught proofing to help make your home more airtight. Consider asking a professional to come out and evaluate your home, or simply take some time to assess the windows, doors, chimney, and fireplace. Floorboards and skirting can also be a common concern for people who experience regular draughts.

If you’ve already spent some time dealing with your loft hatches and windows, you can also think about some of the smaller areas that are likely to let cold air in, and hot air out. Letterboxes and keyholes can cause more damage to your heating bill than you think. Remind the kids not to leave the doors open when they’re walking around the house too.

5.     Invest in a New Boiler

Finally, if you want a quick way to upgrade your saving potential, then there are few things more effective than changing your boiler. While paying for a new boiler can be expensive, this investment could save you hundreds of pounds every year. After all, the less energy your boiler needs to use to heat up your home, the less you must pay for. You could even consider getting a personal loan to fund the new boiler if it’s easier to spread the expense out.

If you’ve already updated your boiler, then make sure that you’re using it as efficiently as possible. Make sure that your radiators are working properly and considering investing in a smart thermostat like we mentioned above.

 

When it comes to sleeping some of us are more experts than others; some of us go the extra mile to make sure that what we sleep on is perfect and we have the exact amount of comfort that we need. Now when I say comfort we all have different preferences, it is really relative and will vary greatly from person to person. When the question comes to our bedding situations some of us are fussier than the rest. Maybe a good pair of sheets or a good soft mattress will make all the difference in the world and you might end up with falling in love with your bedding. In this article we will be talking about a particular website that I am a huge fan of; it’s called Turf and Needles.

This website is the one-stop destination to all your bedding situations. It doesn’t matter how incredibly choosy you are with your bedding; if you want a sheet or a mattress you will love one product or another. It is truly incredible how these guys get it right almost every time. You will be amazed with their quality and their collection of bedding will definitely make you spoilt for choice. Even if you are sure that you are okay with your current bedding situations and that you don’t need anything as such, a single trip to their website is enough to change your mind. Trust me it has happened to me and you will want to splurge your money on something you sleep in. In this article we will be talking about some of the items you will love from their store along with why they are the one stop destination with anything that is even remotely related to sleep.

Mattress covers

A good mattress needs an even better mattress cover to protect it from any external damages. If you have children around this is a great option as it will protect your original mattress from any kind of stains or injuries. You will get your normal mattress cover shipped within two to seven days and if you have ordered a king size one you will get it delivered within two to three weeks. These mattress covers unlike any mattress covers are made to fit. It will perfectly fit your mattress, no matter what the size is.

No more annoying slipping off of the mattress and getting away from its covers. It also has a two year warranty on all its mattress covers. What is even better when it comes to these covers is that it will not soak up anything that happens to fall on the cover. You can also get it replaced within 100 days if in case you do not like them.

Mattress

Mattress is something that we all get at every website and every online retailer. Forget an online retailer you will even get these in your local bedding stores, but in turf and needles every mattress is top self and every mattress has to go through a careful round of inspection and wide array of tests in order to get to you. Unlike your local vendor they will not send you anything and everything. From spring, foam to adjustable air you just name it they will have anything and everything. If you have a back pain or if you are a picky sleeper you will love their mattresses. Turf and needle mattresses have many smart features like motion separation and edge support, your partner will not feel any discomfort even if you are too active in your sleep and also if you like to sleep in the edge of your bed it will provide you with enough support. Turf and needle provide warranty on their entire product and they will replace your mattress for free within 100 days in case if you do not like it.

Sheets

Mattresses are something that you will like but Tuft and Needle sheets will be loved by you. Soft sheets are loved by many and it plays a huge role when it comes to a good night sleep. If you are one of those people who just cannot fall asleep anywhere anytime these sheets are made for you. Unlike many other sheets T&N sheets are hypo allergenic that is they won’t work up allergies even if you are super sensitive. They are grown, woven and sewn with your comfort factor in mind. You might think looking at their thread count that it is less but when it comes to sheets a staple length is way more important for comfort and durability. As TN sheets are made with high quality cotton no finishing agent or chemicals are used making it soft and breathable.

Pillows

Apart from all these you can also get pillows from Turf and needles. A Tuft and Needle pillows will be one of the best things you will put your head on, they are hypoallergenic, soft and breathable so that you don’t wake up in the middle of the night with a sweaty head. The pillows are made with premium quality cotton blend and are sure to make every night a good night.

Summing up the pros of buying form turf and needle

1. They use hypoallergenic high quality fiber so their sheets are free from any kind of harsh chemicals.
2. They have a very responsive and helpful support team that will make sure that you are happy with your purchase every time.
3. If you shop for more than 1000 dollars you will get 100 dollars off from your purchase.
4. Their sheets and mattress covers will hug your mattress and will not allow it to slip off.
5. They have a 100 day sleeping trial period that is you can exchange your item of purchase within a 100 days of purchase.
6. They will have so many varieties that you will definitely be spoilt for choice. They will definitely have more choices than your local vendor.
7. Their sheets are soft and sophisticated and thus are loved by many happy customers.
8. Every product of Turf and Needle has a two year If your product gets damaged by any means within this period either it will be replaced or taken care of for free.
9. Their sheets are so breathable that you will have a cooler bed than usual.

 

Better weather is here, with clear days, sunshine, and wonderful opportunities to spotlight your property and its curb appeal—along with the chance to add thousands to your property value and make that sale!

To help you maximize that appeal, here’s a checklist of upgrades to your home that are relatively inexpensive (most of those listed here can be accomplished for well under $1,000), but that can add significant property value and return on investment. Just a few of the simple Spring fixes below can increase your property’s value, for example, by one to four percent, and all before the prospective buyer ever enters the home.

 

Add Thousands to Your Property Value with These Easy Home Upgrades

Most of the tasks to follow can be accomplished with even a little DIY know-how, or SERVIZ’s local network of pros can also assist, as well:

1. Replace Your Front Door. A beautiful new front door—preferably one that’s reinforced steel—will not only immediately add immediate curb appeal, it’s also a bonus to home safety (and insurance rates), as well as to air quality. To stretch your budget, you can also simply do a nice repaint of the door instead.
2. Add a New Coat of Paint. A new paint job for the entire interior of the property (after covering and filling imperfections or holes in drywall) is a time-honored, popular and accepted method of adding newness and brightness to a home and instant appeal to homebuyers.

   However, don’t stop there. An exterior paint job can give new life to a home’s appeal, emphasizing its best features and providing home shoppers with a pleasing first glimpse of your property at its best. Just don’t indulge yourself in crazy shades and keep color choices tasteful and neutral.

3. Upgrade Your Garage Door. Your home’s garage door can take up as much as 35 to 40% of a property’s overall façade. It’s no wonder, then, that a new garage door is one of the best ways to increase a home’s visual impact while also increasing return on investment (as noted in the 2016 “Cost vs. Value” report in Remodeling magazine). A new garage door also adds safety and security, and upgrading to an automatic versus a manual garage door is a big plus with home shoppers, according to many experts.
4. Inspect, clean and paint moldings, built-in bookcases and trim. Moldings can help to frame a room and show off its bones. Clean and neatly paint your moldings to show off a room at its most beautiful.
5. Professionally Clean Your Windows (Inside and Out). It’s amazing the effect clean and sparkling windows can have on the appeal of a property. From outside, they twinkle in the sun and provide a pleasant introduction to the home itself. From inside, and framed only minimally with draperies or blinds (keep them open when buyers visit) they maximize light and air, contributing to an overall impression of warmth and cleanliness.
6. Clean Carpets. Far too many overlook this simple, easy way to show off a home to its best advantage, freshen up for Spring, and give new life to old carpets when the budget doesn’t allow for them to be replaced outright. This task also contributes to overall air quality and can make a huge difference in homes where smoking or pets were also a factor.
7. Install a New HVAC System. A new HVAC system improve air quality and energy efficiency, and can add tangible value to your home’s asking price. It’s also a great way to add an instant edge if you find your home competing with others in your area.
8. Fix and Repair External Gates and Fences. This is a repair that is both useful cosmetically, as well as being a big plus for home shoppers who are both safety-minded or who may be pet owners. You may also want to consider adding on a fresh coat of paint or varnish.
9. Upgrade or Install External Motion Sensor or Safety Lighting. According to many industry pros, now more than ever, the biggest single concern for most homeowners today is safety, so visible and tasteful, well-installed external lighting will go a long way toward giving home buyers peace of mind.
10. Upgrade Your Water Heater. By upgrading to a better (and professionally installed) water heater, you’ll not only be adding to your home’s safety features and energy consumption, you’ll also be adding one more highly desirable element for today’s home shoppers.

If you need help accomplishing these tasks, or want to find a Home Repair Professional to assist with them, the SERVIZ app can be a great resource. SERVIZ can also show you how your own metro area stacks up for safety against other cities nationwide by checking out their useful Home Safety Rankings (HSR) Index, at https://www.serviz.com/national-hsr-index.

Meanwhile, just a few of these basic home repairs and upgrades can be worth their weight in gold for home sellers and real estate pros, and can increase the value of your home overall by potential thousands.

As the Spring sunshine returns, there’s never been a better time to add value to your investment. So what are you waiting for?