Everyone wants to be hip, and the latest trends in design can help distinguish one home from another. And it’s not all flash; many new home fads are geared to pare maintenance and energy use and deliver information faster. Here’s a look at what’s coming…
April may bring showers, but winter weather can bring all sorts of other unexpected and expensive damages to your home. Fall’s cool temperatures are a reminder that winter days are on their way – take stock of what you may need to do to prepare your home beforehand, and you’ll be ready for the onslaught of ice and snow. Here are several simple, cost-effective tasks you can do now to make the transition into the colder months easier.
1. Clean Out Your Gutters
Once the leaves are off the trees it’s time to clean out your gutters. Poorly maintained gutters can damage the roof of your home as well the exterior. When snow and ice mix with clogged gutters, it’s a recipe for disaster, inside and out. Leaves and debris will prevent moisture from running off the roof, resulting in ice dams and water leaks. Before flurries form make sure to clear out any waste that’s accumulated, and also be sure to note any missing or broken pieces and have them repaired. Remove potentially hazardous branches, or structurally unsound trees that could pose problems under the weight of snow or in the midst of a dangerous windstorm.
2. Have Your Heating System Checked
You don’t want to be the person waiting in the frigid cold for a repairman to come when your heater stops in the dead of winter. Instead, have an inspector come in and make sure that the system is well ventilated and running smoothly before the first cold snap hits. Inspections generally run between $70-$100. If you live in an area where winter storms consistently knock out both electricity and heat, consider investing in a small generator. Learn more about what you can do to ensure that your system is operating properly, and give yourself time to make any needed repairs before winter comes and the heating companies are overbooked.
3. Have a Snow Preparedness Kit
It’s happened to all of us. Waking up to discover a solid two feet of fluffy white snow layering the ground, only to realize that we’ve just got one old, dull shovel to dig ourselves free. Before stores are bought out of the necessities, make sure you have everything you need in case of a blizzard: a shovel, flashlights with extra batteries, one or two bags of road salt to coat the driveway, sidewalk, and walkways, and an ice scraper or two. Keep an emergency kit in a designated spot, and when you awake and find yourself trapped in a winter wonderland, you won’t be stuck trying to come up with new and inventive ways of unearthing your car tires.
4. Reverse Your Ceiling Fans
Ceiling fans aren’t only useful in the summer months. If your fan has a reverse switch, you can keep your home extra warm in the winter by reversing the cycle of the blades. Having the blades rotate in the opposite direction will create an updraft. Since heat rises, this pushes the hot air down and re-distributes it throughout your house. It’s especially useful for homes that have high ceilings.
5. Caulk Doors and Windows
In the depths of winter the average home can lose nearly one third of its heat through drafty windows and doors. If the gap between your windows and doors is greater than the width of a nickel, it’s time to reapply some exterior caulk to prevent this heat from escaping. Silicone caulk is highly recommended due to its non-shrinking quality and impermeability to the harsh elements. Block drafts from coming under doors with “draft dodger” door stoppers. You can easily make your own at home. Taking these extra steps will ensure that when the temperature drops, the cold and unforgiving air will stay outside where it belongs, and save you any money you’d be spending on additional heating.
– Elizabeth Eckhart, Realty Times
Color is one of the most important decorating decisions, and paint plays a big part of this. These affordable ideas can transform your space in just one weekend.
About a quarter more young college grads live in a major metro area today than in 2000, double the percentage increase in cities’ total populations, according to a report by the City Observatory.
College graduates aren’t just moving on to the usual big cities, like New York, Washington, D.C., and San Francisco. Instead, the biggest magnets for college grads lately has been Houston, Denver, San Diego, Nashville, Salt Lake City, and Portland, Ore., to begin their careers, according to a report by City Observatory. In fact, in Denver alone, the young professional population is up 47 percent since 2000, nearly double the percentage increase in the New York metro area.
Where these young grads call home is giving a big boost to the cities’ economies.
If you want to get to know somebody, check out their front entry. From early Chinese philosophy to ancient Greek architecture, front doors and entryways have always had a lot to say about the character of whoever lives inside. HouseLogic thinks this is rock-solid conjecture, so they’ve put together a handy guide to front door symbology, combining historic perspective with their own unique POV. Want to know your entry personality?
You’ll be ready for winter’s worst and head off expensive repairs when you complete this checklist of 10 essential fall maintenance tasks.
If you’re considering having some remodeling done, it pays to know what will add the most value to your house. Here are some of the best ways to spend your hard-earned home improvement dollars…
City centers and downtowns may be growing in demand among millennials and retiring baby boomers, but a new poll says residents are still happiest in the suburbs.
Americans who live in suburban areas are the most satisfied with the place they live, according to the Atlantic Media/Siemens State of City Poll. Eighty-four percent of suburbanites rated their community as “excellent” or “good” compared to 75 percent of urban dwellers and 78 percent of rural residents, according to the poll of more than 1,600 U.S. adults.
Mortgage borrowers under the age of 30 have the lowest mortgage delinquency rate of any other age group, according to a newly released TransUnion mortgage report. However, the age group also makes up the smallest share of all mortgage accounts at 4.16 percent, TransUnion notes.
“It is encouraging to see younger borrowers perform well, since their generation was significantly impacted by the recession and their loans are among the newest,” says Steve Chaouki, head of financial services for TransUnion.
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