Once autumn hits, you will want to start winterizing your home. It always sneaks up on you faster than you think and its best to be prepared. There are many different ways to stay safe and warm and also save money by getting ready for the cold weather ahead of time. Here are a few.

Clean Your Gutters

Remove dirt, leaves and debris from your gutters and rinse them out well with a hose so icy rain and melting snow can drain easily. If your gutters clog, ice dams can form freeze and cause water to leak into your home. During the time you hose out your gutters, check for leaks and repair them to avoid flooding and other water damage.

Block the Leaks

To prevent flooding of your basement  make sure you have a water powered sump pump to help prevent any water from flooding your basement when heavy rain comes or from melting snow.

The average American home has leaks that amount to a nine – square – foot hole in the wall! You can find the leaks on a breezy day by taking a lit incense stick to the most common drafty areas like windows and doors frames and electrical outlets. Then block up the leaks with caulk and use door sweeps under exterior doors. Even small cracks need to be blocked up. This even prevents insects from entering! Don’t forget to put up the storm windows and have the chimney inspected periodically.

Insulation

Adding insulation can be expensive but it saves you so much money in the long run. You need a minimum of a foot of insulation in your attic. To make sure there is at least one foot of insulation, you can go in the attic. If you see the ceiling joists, you do not have enough insulation because ceiling joists are ten to eleven inches at most. Be sure not to use insulation with the paper backing if you are going over insulation. It can cause moisture problems.

Check the Furnace

First of all, you need to make sure your furnace is working by turning it on. You should be able to smell it, like a temporary burning smell. If the smell lasts a long time, shut it off and call a professional. Clean and tune your furnace every year. Check your furnace filters monthly. A dirty filter restricts air flow and in some extreme cases, can even start a fire. Fiberglass filters need to be tossed out and replaced while electronic filters can be washed and reused.

Check Your Ducts

Homes with central heating can lose up to 60% of the heated air before it reaches the vents. Which is a huge waste of money and you end up with a chilly home. Ducts aren’t always easy to find but you can usually find them in the attic, basement and crawl spaces. Repair pinches in pipes and fix gaps with a tape that is metal backed, not duct tape. Ducts should also be vacuumed periodically to get out any dust and gunk that may be gathered.

Author Bio:

If you are looking for someone to help you winterize your home, contact Service Star at www.servicestarac.com. Service Star is a customer focused company that wants to be your first call every time for taking care of your home.

House furniture needs to be functional but it doesn’t always mean they cannot be stylish and trendy. One of the integral part of your kitchen is the kitchen cabinets. They are indispensable part of the kitchen, you can store anything from kitchen utensils to crockery to smaller kitchen accessories in your home.

If you are planning to improve the look of your kitchen you should start from the cabinets because they are first thing to be noticed inside your kitchen so it is best to keep your kitchen cabinets within the style of your kitchen, but renovating them is costly.  One of the best alternative when improving your contemporary cabinets is by refacing them instead of replacing and make sure that they’re also providing your kitchen with enough space and functionality so that your whole kitchen feels usable and spacious.

Energy saving techniques for winter will help you save money and energy during the cold season.  Every time we go to the bathroom we can feel the cold breeze of wind coming in,  it seems the window was not properly done.  To save gas and to avoid the cold temperature from coming in, we always closed the bathroom door.  It is quite tiring sometimes to open and closed the bathroom when we have to use it, so when I went to downtown and saw bubble wrap I immediately bought a roll.

At home I measured the window with measuring tape and cut the exact measure of bubble wrap and instead of attaching it directly to the window glass, I taped it properly in the wall to avoid the air from getting in.

The bubble wrap comes with a simple direction on how to do the window insulation, after you cut the right size for the window. Spray water in the window glass and while the window is still wet, apply the bubble wrap and press it with the bubble side going towards the window. The water will hold the bubble wrap to the window all winter and you will need no tape or glue.

The installation of electricity in our new house was finished and the power outlet were already installed so they finally moved the fridges in our kitchen.  It was good but seeing how our kitchen looks like after moving the appliances, it was not what I expected. Our kitchen looks very small and as if you can’t moved around anymore,  this is not what I have planned or what I want to look like.

Well, we can’t do nothing anymore because the lot where we built our house is not that wide that’s why we are planning to construct second floor, my mother planned to move the second fridge in the second floor too.

Some of the thing you can see around like the television, books and other small items on display are just temporary on their location while we are not yet done with the construction.

Who says that do-it-yourself home improvement is only for men? Not anymore today because women can do some home improvements by reading DIY books and visiting websites. With some power tools coupled with a little creativity and ingenuity, you can do what men are doing. Since hiring a carpenter to do some home remodeling projects is pricey, it is about time that you have to use your imagination to turn a wooden broken candle holder into a chic table lamp. There are a lot of DIY home improvements that you can research online that will guide you on how to start a project.

To start your home project, invest in high quality home improvement power and hand tools. Learn how to use them for a specific purpose. You will also need some materials such as adhesives, glue, nails, paints, lacquer thinner, varnish, and screws. Glues come in various forms for different types of projects such as plastic glue, metal glue, ceramic glue and glass glue or multipurpose glues. Hand tools consist of hammer, chisel, screwdrivers, pliers, paintbrush, tape measure, sledge hammer, adjustable wrench, saw and utility knives.

As a beginner in DIY projects, investing in good quality power tools can make your work faster and efficient. Buy them individually if they seem to be expensive for you. Power drills are very important in all aspects of carpentry whether for woodworking, metalworking, masonry and concreting. For faster and less labor-intensive installation of lighting fixtures, bathroom accessories, furniture making, house painting and kitchen remodeling, you will need reciprocating saw, cat’s saw, speed square, oscillating tool and air compressor.

DIY home improvements are becoming more popular today and more women are obsessed with doing home projects because they give fulfillment once the finished product is done. Instead of entrusting the project to somebody you do not know, why not do it yourself and save a fortune. When you have mastered your craft, you can showcase your project to your friends who might be interested in buying them. Do-it-yourself home improvements have become a source of income for some people because of their unique designs that you will never find anywhere else.

An effective decoration of  a room mostly depends on its size and form,  living room decorations can be an easy task or complicated. Our house is not yet fully decorated nor finished but on my family’s little way they try to decorate our home with our old furniture,  I am always updated because weekly my sister upload new photos of the development of our house.  Lately I have noticed though that quality of the photos are becoming worse, their camera is getting older so I bought them a new digital camera online on best website for an infrared camera.

Well, having a new camera was a big help because I can now blog the latest improvement of our home with clear pictures.  Anyway we are planning to buy sofa set for our living but since we have no funds yet the cleopatra chair is great alternative right now.

If you’ve looked at a home décor magazine or watched a home remodeling television show lately you’ve no doubt noticed that bathrooms are getting bigger and better by the minute. Most modern ones sport all sorts of unique bathroom amenities and furniture – the old plastic shower seat of years ago simply doesn’t cut it anymore and even the clothes or laundry hamper is cleverly disguised to look and serve as elegant seating. Good design and versatility are key when it comes to getting the most out of your bathroom and there are lots of great ideas when you shop online.

One item that is both practical and found in almost every exclusive hotel or fancy resort is a handheld shower head; there are many models available with a host of features including shower massage capabilities. The great thing about most handheld s is that they can be installed by the average homeowner so you really do not need to call a plumber. Enjoy a relaxing shower or shampoo hair while seated – it’s easy with a handheld .

Another popular amenity is a heated towel rack – there are free-standing and wall mounted models in a variety of finishes or you may prefer to invest in a countertop towel warmer. A heated towel rack allows you to wrap yourself in a warm towel after bathing; it can be used to dry fine washables and swimwear, for warming baby clothes and blankets or to dry damp mittens and winter gear. Heated towel racks dry wet towels faster which can help to reduce humidity in the bathroom.

The first story of our house is almost finished aside from few major details like the ceiling, the porch and small garage, after this what’s left is minor details. Those are details that needed to improve the looks of our new house like wall painting, curtains and decors.  My sister uploaded new photos inside our new home, the picture are clear this time because I sent them a new inexpensive digital camera few weeks ago.

One of the speaker in our home was place below the stairs together with the amplifier and electronic piano where the Christmas tree was placed. I think what’s left to be display on this area are tapes, cd’s , guitar from la patrie collection at music123.

Well I supposed this decoration were not yet formal, they are just placed to utilized the space.

My family finally moved to our new home after the typhoon Yolanda struck our country.  The tiles in our living room was already installed so they just sleep there and use extension wire from our old house so they have lights. Yeah, right the electrician was not yet done installing all the wires in our home because he seldom visit, he just visit when he is free from his regular job.

I was informed that tiles were already installed in our kitchen, the tiles matched the floor kitchen doors like I wanted. What is left to be done in our kitchen is wall cabinets and buying a cooking oven to fill the gap as well as exhaust fan or hood. Hopefully I could earn enough money so we could done more improvements to our new home.

Most people are unaware of the relationship of a clean and comfortable bedroom to the quality of their sleep. What they give importance is their living room where they receive their guests. They spend three-fourth of their lives in their bedroom either to relax, watch television, read a book or sleep.

The bedroom is your comfort zone when you are depressed or when you spend intimate moments with your spouse. With numerous activities that you are doing in your room, you have to learn some bedroom ideas to make it your perfect hideaway.

Visualize what you want for your bedroom.

Before you can lay-out the plan for your room, close your eyes and spend a few minutes visualizing what improvements you would want for your room. Get a pen and paper and try sketching your plan.

Configure the Bedroom Size.

If you know how exactly your bedroom size is, it will be easy for you to put your furnishings and furniture inside. You don’t need a big bed if you sleep alone in a small room. Avoid putting a lot of furnishings that you don’t actually need because they can distract your normal movement.

Make use of empty space.

Built-in cabinets can save space in your room. You can look for cabinet designs that will fit to the exact size of your room. Cabinets minimize the clutter and maximize space.

Adorn the walls with mirrors.

Mirrors can fill the empty space in a huge bedroom. They make the room appear bigger and they are good room accessories because they are easy to clean. Just ignore the possibility that they can invite some entities into your room.

Install high ceilings for proper ventilation.

An ideal bedroom should have high ceilings to allow the air to circulate. The sun is getting hotter and the high temperature can trigger respiratory diseases. It is important to call your home improvement service provider to renovate the room before the summer months set in.

Bedrooms come in different types such as transitional, contemporary, modern, conventional, eclectic and romantic. Whatever you want for your room, always prioritize comfort and functionality before starting the bedroom remodeling.