Posted by TribalVision Admin on Fri, Jan 20, 2012
Some people are just naturals when it comes to handiwork and fixing things around the house. Others…not so much. This week and next, we’ve got a little something for everybody, whether you’re Handy Andy or his not-so-handy helper. And for those of you who are a little less handy, many of these ideas and projects are great starter tasks for those who want get a bit more comfortable around the toolbox. Let’s get to it with our Top 10 List of DIY Home Improvement Tips and Tricks.
Number 10: Think Vertically.
So often, our home improvement projects are really home organization projects. More specifically, they’re about fitting as much as possible in small spaces without a big mess. The answer, quite often, is to Think Vertically.
• Instead of trying to section bathroom drawers off to fit hairdryers and curling irons, vertically mount some size-appropriate, cut-down PVC piping on the inside of a bathroom cabinet door (one pipe for each appliance with a smaller one next to it for the folded cord).
• Sick of that cluttered desk? Think Vertically by installing some shelves all the way up to the ceiling.
• Kids’ toys all over the floor? Think Vertically by painting a large pegboard, adding plastic hooks (safer than metal for kids), and hanging toys along the wall.
Number 9: Think Naturally.
Our homes are filled with far more chemicals than ever before. So it’s nice to know that
there are plenty of repairs and maintenance tasks you can perform without any chemicals at all!
• Did you know that rubbing a shelled walnut on small scuffs and dings on your hardwood furniture and floors will disguise those little bits of damage?
• And distilled white vinegar is a natural cleaning solution with countless applications: Google it!
• Need to fertilize your yard? Contact your area’s yard waste recycling center and save money by buying their compost or making your own.
• Gum in your carpet? Don’t reach for chemicals. Fill a plastic baggie with ice, set it on the gum, and wait for the gum to harden before removing the gum with a butter knife or scraper. Better yet, go find the culprit (aka: your kid) and have them help!
• Accidentally set a plastic bowl on your still-hot ceramic-top stove? No problem. Once the stove has cooled off, cover the burned bits of plastic with ice. The plastic will shrink up with the cold, and then it’s easy to clean off with a wide razor blade.
Number 8: Don’t Recycle; UPcycle!
Recycling has long been the right way to go about living an environmentally friendly life. These days, however, people are looking more and more into what’s being called “upcycling.” The premise here is not just to reduce waste and recycle instead of sending trash to the landfill, but to actively recycle things up and out of their former purposes and into new use: upcycling! Better yet, in addition to a healthier planet, you’ll have a healthier wallet because these upcycling tips are major money savers!
• Need a watering can? Next time you finish a bottle of detergent in the laundry room, thoroughly rinse the detergent container. Poke several holes in the lid, and voila! Watering can! Plus, with just those little holes, these watering cans are perfect for little helpers to carry around the house and yard without creating puddles!
• Cover clean, empty soup cans in pretty paper or ribbon for utensil and pencil holders.
• Need some fun bookends for your study? Grab those old license plates out of the aluminum recycling bin, bend them using the edge of a table (protect your table with a piece of cloth) and you have upcycled bookends!
• Looking for picture frames? Take that old, paned window out of the garage and hang it up with photos in each pane.
• Getting ready to toss the old, leftover ceramic tiles from your last remodel? Repurpose these by adding paint or different finishes and felt bottoms: perfect as trivets or coasters.
Posted by TribalVision Admin on Thu, Jan 05, 2012
One of the keys to proper home maintenance is keeping your home clean. Dirt, moisture, mold, mildew, and bacteria can build up quickly on many of your home’s surfaces, and all can cause costly damage over time. But cleaning can also cause damage when done improperly, so today we’ll take a look at some good cleaning techniques that will help extend the life of your home’s surfaces and systems.
Our top pick for home cleaning is also our simplest: buy a multi-purpose steam cleaner. Steam cleaners accomplish several goals at once: they clean as well or better than traditional
methods, they save you money on cleaning supplies, and they reduce your family’s chemical exposure all in one shot. The key with steam cleaners is to find one that heats the water to well over a 212° Fahrenheit boiling point. Steamers that heat to lower temperatures may appear to be cleaning your home, but they’re not doing the job of disinfecting because they’re not able to kill bacteria, viruses, and other unhealthy germs. The ability to clean well and disinfect (without chemicals) is one of the best elements of steam cleaning, so this is a very important feature to look at when researching home steamers. We’re particularly fond of the Haan Multi-Purpose Steam Cleaner because it is affordable, lightweight, easy to use, and really effective.
Where Do I Use A Steamer?
People often think of floors and upholstery when they think of steam cleaners, and it’s true that steam cleaners do a good job in these high-traffic areas. But today’s steamers go well beyond the sofa cushions. A good home steam cleaner can be used, with various attachments, to clean all bathroom surfaces including tile, glass, and mirrors all without the harsh abrasives and chemicals that eat away at your tile and grout over time. It can also be very effective on hardwood floors. For those with small children, especially crawlers, steaming the floors not only gets them much cleaner than using a traditional mop and bucket, it disinfects your floors without leaving latent chemicals that your children would otherwise ingest through crawling and then putting their toys and hands into their mouths.
Steam cleaners can also be put to good use in the kitchen, where they’re great for eliminating stuck-on food and grease on the stove, in the oven, and even in the dishwasher along the sealing edge of the door. Not only will the steamer remove the grimy buildup that accumulates at the dishwasher’s edge, but it will also disinfect this area to help keep your dishwasher free of odor-causing bacteria. On your work surfaces, a steam cleaner can kill illness-causing germs, again without leaving harmful chemicals behind.
Lightweight steamers come in handy for disinfecting doorknobs, drawer handles, and other commonly touched surfaces that harbor bacteria. All those places you typically use anti-bac wipes or Lysol when someone in the house is sick? If it’s not electrical, you can usually use the steamer. Steamers are also helpful in cleaning mattresses, carpets, and some draperies.
Finally, many steam cleaners work well outdoors where you can use them to rid patio furniture of mold and hard water stains from rain. Not as effective as a power or pressure washer for harder jobs, these handy devices do work well for cleaning lower-level exterior windows and outdoor light fixtures. They even keep algae at bay around pools and are great for zapping weeds that crop up between patio pavers. Some outdoor-specific steamers can even stand up to tough outdoor use such as cleaning pavers and stepping-stones.
How Does It Save Me Money?
Using a steam cleaner may seem like an expenditure at first because buying a decent one will cost an average of $120-$200 and up. However, over the course of just a few months, that cost is offset by the reduction in chemicals and other cleaning products. Plus, with reusable pads you can simply toss in the washing machine, most steamers don’t need to have their cleaning pads replaced often at all.
A clean home is a healthy home. And it’s a home that will stay in better shape for a longer time, requiring fewer repairs. All together, that makes for happy homeowners, and that’s what we like.
Posted by TribalVision Admin on Tue, Dec 27, 2011
Number 7: Fixing Creaky Stairs
For the inexperienced DIYer, fixing a creaky stair can feel pretty rewarding, especially because the first tip on our list doesn’t actually require any tools at all!
• First, and only if you can access the stair from beneath, try using some finely ground up soap (use a cheese grater!) or talcum powder. Apply to the creaky area and any cracks between creaking planks. This quick, cheap fix is often a home run on the first try!
• If the powder or soap doesn’t work, you’ll have to get a bit more involved in repairing your stair. From underneath (if accessible), gently tap a thin wedge of wood between the squeaking tread and riser. If you cannot get to the stairs from underneath, this repair is much more involved and often requires a professional’s help.
Number 6: Fixing Nail Holes Without Spackle
You’re feeling quite handy, having hung up several new shelves, but the leftover “oops” holes from misplaced nails need spackling before you can touch up the paint. That’s not the time to find out that your spackle is all dried out. Not to worry. Run to the bathroom and grab some toothpaste (just not the blue gel kind). Press the toothpaste’s opening right up against the hole and squeeze. Wipe off any excess just as you would with spackle. For small holes, the toothpaste will work just great. It’ll harden like spackle and even take a coat of paint.
Number 5: Leave The Paint In The Garage
After your toothpaste-spackling (above), you’ll need to finish fixing those “oops” marks on the wall by touching up the paint. But who wants to haul out big gallon jugs of paint for just a few little marks? Instead of grabbing your paint buckets and brushes, think about keeping small amounts of paint in those little sponge-topped bottles we all used to use for sealing envelopes (back in the days before self-sealing envelopes!). Keep these bottles from drying out by sealing them up in zip-topped baggies! Great for fast repairs of nicks and dings.
Number 4: Replace Weather Stripping
No matter where you live, you do need weather stripping around your doorframes to keep drafts, insects, and water out. People often overlook these little strips, which is really unfortunate because they’re terrific for keeping your energy costs down. There are several different types of weather stripping. The easiest way to replace it is to just carefully pull away the old stripping and take a piece of it to your local hardware store where you can match it up with the right replacement materials.
Number 3: Learn Proper Tool Maintenance
This one’s not quite a DIY “trick,” but it’s a very important tip nonetheless. If you want to save money by maintaining your home yourself, make proper tool maintenance a priority. If you’re not sure how to clean, prep, or maintain your tools, remember that one of the most important tools at your disposal is the computer. Run a Google search and get started!
Number 2: Google Knows Everything
Speaking of Google searches, using online forums, chat rooms, bulletin boards, and search engines (Google, Bing, Yahoo!), can be a terrific way to gather information and get answers. Post your questions to Yahoo! Answers and wait for the responses to roll in! People love sharing their knowledge, so this is a great way to get free advice. Join a DIYer bulletin board community to share more tips and ideas!
Number 1: Keep Learning!
Our Number One on our Top 10 List of DIY Home Improvement Tips and Tricks: Take a class! Most of the larger home improvement warehouses offer free classes, particularly on the weekends. Stop by and pick up a schedule. Know a particularly handy neighbor or friend? Offer to help with his or her next project to get some more hands-on experience. You never know. S/he may be willing to repay the favor by coming over and helping with your next task!
What are your favorite DIY tips and tricks? How do you keep your home in great shape?
Posted by Rebecca McKinnon on Wed, Dec 21, 2011
Happy Holidays from our family to yours!
Moonworks would like to wish you and your family a joyous holiday and a happy and healthy New Year!
We look forward to helping you achieve your home improvement goals in 2012!
Posted by TribalVision Admin on Fri, Dec 16, 2011
Last week, we focused on creating a home maintenance calendar to ensure that you keep your home in tip-top shape all year round. Now that you have your calendar started (and presuming you’re going to be way too busy over the holidays to get much maintenance done), let’s take a look at some key tasks to jot down for January.
The Interior Walk-Around
Start off the new year right by giving your home a good once-over. Carry a Phillips and a flat-head screwdriver with you, as well as a notepad and a can of WD-40. Pick a corner of the house to start with and go through each room checking for and tightening loose
electrical outlet covers, light switch faceplates, door handles, and cabinet pulls. Look for scuffs, dings, and loose or missing hardware on your furniture. Test the GFCI outlets by pressing the “test” button (this should cause the “reset” button to eject) and make note of any that don’t test properly.
As you exit each room, oil the hinges on the doors if they need it. Jot down necessary repairs as you go, making note of things like cracked grout, nail pops, paint dings, loose banisters or newel posts, creaky stairs, dripping faucets, peeling vinyl, loose tiles, and dried caulk. When you’re done, you can make a list of all the necessary supplies and pick them all up in one trip to the home improvement supply store.
Have a two-story home? Take the time to ensure that your fire ladder (every two-story home should have one of these over-the-sill devices for safe exit in case the stairway becomes blocked by a fire) is accessible and hasn’t become buried in a closet. Check that there is no furniture blocking the window to be used as a fire escape route, and look out the window to make sure nothing will block your exit.
Heading Outside
Once you’re done inside, head out to your yard and take a walk around your property. Of course, if you live in a snow-prone area, there isn’t that much home maintenance you’ll want to tackle in January. But it’s still a good idea to walk around and check things over. Lubricate locks as you circle the house, and check that your window screens are firmly in place and free of damage. Test your outside lights, and look for burned out bulbs. Walk along any footpaths and check for cracked concrete or other tripping hazards. Check the caulking around your windows, and make sure all exterior pipes are still properly covered.
Clean your gutters or make an appointment to have it done. Look for icicles, as these are signs of clogged, frozen gutters, which can cause serious damage. If you’re composting the fall’s leaves, turn your compost bin if necessary. Look for any weakened, damaged, or fallen tree branches that need removal, and make sure all plants that need to be trimmed back have been tended to.
Now What?
Once you’ve done your start-of-the-year walk-around, compile your project list along with a supply list and head out to your favorite home improvement warehouse or local hardware store. As you cross off your projects over the next few weeks, remember to make notes in your home maintenance calendar. Record the maintenance you performed and then flip forward to write reminders in the calendar so you can follow up later in the year as needed.
Posted by TribalVision Admin on Thu, Dec 08, 2011
You sign the papers on a new home, take your keys, and start unpacking. Once the dust settles and you feel settled in, however, there’s still a lot more to do. You have to learn your home, get to know its systems and functions, and most importantly, create a home maintenance calendar.
Do It Your Way
One thing new homeowners really don’t want to have to learn the hard way is that homes need maintenance. Unfortunately, they also don’t come with consolidated manuals that tell you what needs service and when. So it’s important for homeowners to take stock of their
homes and create an annual schedule, ensuring nothing slips through the cracks.
Get started by choosing a type of calendar to create. You can do this in a variety of ways. Some people use their computers and keep everything in a spreadsheet, others use online or desktop calendar software, and others use a good ole paper calendar or a notebook. Whatever you use, put everything in a location and/or format you know you’ll check regularly.
Getting Started
Once you’ve decided how to organize yourself, start with the basics. First up, the monthly stuff. Pick a weekend, say, the first weekend of every month, and know that you’ll spend one afternoon that weekend doing some basic home maintenance. For that weekend, mark down that you need to check your smoke and carbon monoxide detector batteries. These do need to be checked monthly, and it’s very easy to forget to do it. While you have the ladder out, dust your ceiling fan blades to help keep your home (and its air) cleaner. Speaking of dusty air brings us to air filters. Check your air conditioner’s filter monthly, and clean or replace it as needed.
While you’re in housework mode, your maintenance day is a good time to do upkeep on your appliances. Check their manuals. Many washing machines and dishwashers, for example, will stay cleaner and remain free of that musty odor they can develop, if you run a hot wash with distilled white vinegar every four to six weeks. While you’re running that hot wash in the laundry room, remember to stop and clean out your dryer’s lint trap.
Not only do you need to clean your dryer’s removable filter after every load, but you also need to clean below the filter about once a month. Most home improvement stores sell simple dryer vent cleaning kits, and these long, snaking devices are a must-have for homeowners. They help prevent clogs of lint from forming inside your dryer, below the lint trap, because they help you pull out lint or push it through toward the exterior vent. When dryer vents get clogged up, there’s simply nowhere for the dryer’s heat to go and nowhere for the lint to go. This will make your dryer run longer and hotter, which is a waste of energy, a fire hazard, and a source of unnecessary wear on your machine.
Periodic Maintenance
Once you’ve identified all the areas of your home that need monthly maintenance (Don’t forget to look outside! How often do you need to clean the patio to keep mold at bay? What about the exterior screens?), it’s time to look for things that need less frequent upkeep. As mentioned above, dryer lint traps and vents need monthly cleaning. But every 6-12 months, it’s important to clean the entire dryer vent from the dryer all the way through your wall or roof to the outside. As lint accumulates in the vent, it dries and hardens into a flaky material that looks a bit like paper mache. A single spark can easily ignite this dried lint, and the more there is of it, the worse off you’ll be. In fact, clogged dryer vents are among the top causes of home fires in the US every year.
So, mark your maintenance calendar to have a professional clean those dryer vents once or twice a year, depending on how much laundry you do. While you’re in fire-safety mode, having your fire extinguishers checked is also an important piece of periodic maintenance.
Keep on walking around your home, and make notes in your calendar when you perform maintenance so you’ll know when to do it next. Have your garage door serviced? Mark down that you’ll need to check the lubrication again in six months. Make notes for things like cleaning the water heater, purging the sprinkler lines, having your gutters and chimney cleaned, and having your roof inspected.
What other items do you have on your home maintenance checklist? How do you keep track of it all?
Posted by Rebecca McKinnon on Mon, Dec 05, 2011
With the holiday season in full swing, many homeowners are looking around their homes and noticing small home improvement projects that need to be tackled before the guests arrive.
Below are 10 easy home improvement projects that will help you get your home clean, organized and refreshed in time for those holiday visitors.
#1: Just add paint: Whether it is a room that needs refreshing or a front door that is peeling, adding a fresh coat of paint will brighten any surface.
#2: Finish those half-done jobs: Everyone has projects that they have started but are still not complete. Finishing these projects will not only give you a sense of accomplishment, it will also make your home seem more put together.
#3: De-clutter Your Home: Sort the clutter based on 3 categories- Keep, Donate & Trash. For the items you keep, you must organize and/or file them away (and not into that “messy drawer” in your kitchen). If you have things to donate, gather them all up and make a trip to your local Goodwill or Salvation Army right away. Don’t just let them sit in a bag in the basement.
#4: Tackle the smaller projects: Have a flat screen you want to mount on the wall or some pictures you want to frame and hang? There is no better time than the present. You will be amazed at what a difference these little projects can make.
#5: Deep Clean your House: In addition to the typical house cleaning, try steam cleaning the carpets, running a self-cleaning cycle on the stove and polishing the wood furniture. Try making your own green cleaning products.
#6: Perform Basic Home Maintenance: Go around the house and ensure all appliances are in working order- dishwasher, washer, dryer, heating system, etc. There is nothing worse than a house full of guests and a broken appliance. If you have a fireplace, get your chimney looked at and swept before you have that first fire.
#7: Tune up the snow blower: New England weather is unpredictable so be sure your snow blower is in good working order before you need to use it. Also, locate your shovels and ice melt so they are in a location that is easily accessible.
#8: Switch up the décor: Need a change? Updating items like curtains, rugs and throw pills can really give the room a different look. Plus, you can do these updates for very little money.
#9: Seal Gaps: Feel a chilly draft? You could be losing value heat out of your windows and doors. Adding some caulking around drafty windows and doors can help keep the heat inside your home. However, if the windows and doors in your home are old and in need of replacing, adding caulking will not solve the problem.
#10: Secure your home: Adding timers to the lighting on your home can give the impression that you’re home, deterring any unwanted visitors. Be sure to check out our previous blog on holiday home security for tips if you plan on traveling this holiday season.
What projects are you tackling before your holiday guests arrive?
Posted by TribalVision Admin on Thu, Dec 01, 2011
With Thanksgiving behind us, it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas (and Hanukkah, and Kwanza, and time to go check out that big tree at Rockefeller Plaza). One thing all of these events have in common (besides the trip to NYC) is that they often come with temporary changes to your home.
Many people celebrate winter holidays in part by stringing their homes with exterior light
displays, decorating and lighting indoor trees, burning candles, enhancing their homes with plants and decorations, stationing lights in windows, or all of the above. So, now that you’ve winterized your home, let’s talk a bit about holiday safety and energy consumption.
Light It Up (Safely!)
When hanging holiday lights on your home’s exterior, always practice proper ladder safety: have a partner on the ground, use a sturdy ladder, never over-reach, and always stay at least one rung down from the top. Also, remember not to use your gutters or gutter guards as handrails, as you may loosen or shift them, negatively impacting their function. When lighting an interior tree, keep the same concepts in mind: use the right height of ladder for the job (if needed), work in teams, and find stable handholds (think walls, not drapes).
When lighting candles, whether throughout your home or in a menorah or kinara, always keep fire safety in mind. This is a great time of year to double check your fire extinguishers (or buy some!) and have them serviced if needed. Also, extinguish all candles before going to bed or leaving the house. In the case of ritual candles that should not be blown out, such as those used in a menorah, be aware of the burn time so your candles will have burned out before you leave for an evening out or go to bed.
Save Energy And Money
Winter is a great time of year for using your fireplace. Once you’ve prepared it for the season, using a fireplace can help reduce your energy consumption and costs by helping warm parts of your home (just be careful not to hang stockings and other decorative items too close to the heat). Interior and exterior holiday lights, however, are energy drains. So it’s important to think before you purchase holiday lights, and also important to use them wisely.
First, keep in mind that there are energy-efficient Christmas lights on the market, including LEDs. If you plan to use your lights year after year, these are a great investment that will save you money in the long run by decreasing your energy usage. Second, consider lighting up your home for shorter periods. For example, instead of running your Christmas lights every night from Thanksgiving to Christmas, you may want to wait until the second week of December to start sharing your display. As well, keep your lights off until it’s fully dark out, and turn them off by 10 p.m. Putting your lights on an automatic timer is another great way to save energy, particularly if you’re prone to forgetting to shut them off before bed.
Fun Tip: You can calculate your holiday energy consumption with an online calculator!
Posted by TribalVision Admin on Thu, Dec 01, 2011
Recently, we’ve been discussing ways to winterize your home in preparation for the coming snows. Not only does this preparation help ensure that your home and family will fare better in severe weather, but it also helps reduce energy consumption and costs. However, simply because home heating costs make winter energy bills among the hardest to swallow, that doesn’t mean winter is the only time to think about energy efficiency.
Year-Round Tactics f
or Year-Round Savings
People often associate energy-efficient home options with big-ticket items such as HE (high efficiency) washers and dryers, or ENERGY STAR-rated appliances. But the truth is that you don’t have to wait until it’s time to replace that old dishwasher in order to make your home more energy efficient. There are simple, affordable steps you can take that will decrease your energy consumption and ultimately save you money.
First up: Lighting. This coming year, the US standards for lighting will become more stringent with regulations for light bulbs that produce less heat and using less energy. According to the US Department of Energy, “The new energy-saving light bulbs—incandescents, CFLs, and LEDs—are available today and could save you about $50 per year when you replace 15 traditional incandescent bulbs in your home.” Additionally, because most of these newer, more efficient light bulbs actually last longer than traditional bulbs, the savings increase over time due to less frequent replacement needs.
This doesn’t mean you have to go out and replace all of your light bulbs tomorrow. Instead, the next time you head out to buy light bulbs, consider buying CFLs or LEDs, which use 75-80% less energy, and use them to replace your old bulbs as they burn out. You’re not just reducing your energy consumption with this effort. You’re also making an environmentally conscious decision, lowering your carbon footprint, and reducing waste. A side benefit: in the summer months, you’ll use less energy to keep your home cool, as these bulbs give off far less heat than traditional models.
Next on the list: Computers and Appliances. Most people leave their computers turned on, even when not in use, anticipating that they’ll need to use their electronics again throughout the day. However, this isn’t actually good for your computer, nor is it an energy-efficient choice. If you use your computer sporadically each day, be sure to adjust your settings so that your monitor and CPU will go into “sleep” mode after a short period of inactivity. When you replace your computer, keep in mind that, “ENERGY STAR® computers power down to a sleep mode that consume 15 Watts or less power, which is around 70% less electricity than a computer without power management features.” Another side benefit: turning off your computer when it’s not in use will decrease the heat it produces, helping your device last longer and keeping your home’s temperature more stable.
With other appliances, the best way to maintain energy efficiency is by making conscious choices about their usage. Instead of running multiple, small loads of laundry each day, consider doing larger loads less frequently. Rather than turning on your oven to warm that leftover pizza, consider using your toaster, which uses far less energy to heat up.
Turn off ceiling fans and lights in empty rooms, and unplug appliances and electronics you don’t intend to use in the near future. That DVD player in the guest room that no one uses? The stereo you haven’t used since you got your iPod? Those devices take just seconds to plug in when you do want to use them, yet they constantly drain energy if left plugged in all the time. Unplug what you’re not using, and you’ll not only save energy, but you’ll also save money and protect the environment by extending the life of your appliances and electronics, thus reducing the need to discard and replace them.
What do you do in your home to save energy? Consider adding just one energy-efficient task to your New Year’s resolution list, and see how good it feels to be a conscious consumer.
Posted by Rebecca McKinnon on Tue, Nov 22, 2011
Moonworks would like to wish you and your family a very Happy Thanksgiving! May you be surrounded by those you are most grateful for this holiday season.
In observance of the holiday, Moonworks will also be closed on Friday, November 25th. We will resume our normal business hours of 8:30am-5pm on Monday, November 28th.
