Let Your Lawn Grow!

Keeping a well-manicured lawn is a goal for many homeowners. That nice crisp look of freshly trimmed grass can really improve the appearance of your home and surrounding property, and there’s just something to be said for the lush green color of a healthy lawn. But what if your lawn isn’t quite as healthy as you think? It’s possible that all of the work that you’re putting into that manicured look is actually keeping your lawn from reaching its full potential.

When a lot of people mow the lawn, they tend to cut it low and keep it that way. While there are some grasses that thrive with a close cut, a lot of grasses are actually healthier if you let them grow slightly taller. If you really want to keep your lawn healthy and create a luxurious carpet of green around your home, here are some things that you should stop and consider.

Less Frequent Mowing

Keeping your lawn trimmed short usually requires getting out and mowing every week or so, and sometimes even more frequently during certain seasons. It’s a lot of work, but it’s worth it… right? Maybe not. Grass height tends to slow down a bit as the blades grow longer, so you can actually get away with mowing less frequently if you let your lawn stay a little bit taller than you’d normally keep it. If you let your lawn grow out to 3 or 4 inches, then you can still create an overall uniform look while mowing a bit less often and having a thicker and lusher lawn overall.

There are environmental benefits to this as well. If you’re not mowing as often, you’re not using as much gas over the course of the year. This can be a big benefit both to the air and to your wallet as gas prices continue to hover near record highs. Taller grass also requires less frequent watering, as the blades of grass retain some moisture within themselves and can capture more dew from the air. This means that you won’t spend nearly as much time or money watering your lawn, and you won’t have to worry as much about watering limitations if you’re in an area facing drought conditions.

Improved Lawn Health

There are some other things that you can do to improve your lawn health and get a vibrant green lawn without frequent mowing as well. One big action you can take is dethatching your lawn, which breaks up and removes the layer of old roots and other plant material that lays above the soil that can have a negative effect on the ability of new grass to grow. A dethatching machine runs over your lawn, cutting small furrows through the thatch to break it up and give your grass more room to spread out freely.

Soil aeration is another way that you can greatly improve your lawn health. For this, an aerating roller will pass over your lawn and poke small holes in the soil as it travels. These holes allow air and water to enter packed soil more easily, making your soil healthier overall, and providing some much-needed liquid refreshment to the roots of your grass. This can have an even greater impact if you experience dry, hot summers, as heat can dry out the soil and make the packing effect even worse. Aeration lets water bypass the dense level of packed earth and get to your grass before the heat can evaporate it, resulting in less water being needed to water the grass effectively.

Reimagining Your Lawn

Less frequent mowing, slightly taller grass, and some soil maintenance can go a long way toward revamping your lawn while saving you money in the long run. Lawn maintenance and landscaping pros in your area might have additional suggestions as well. HomeKeepr can help you find just the right pros for your needs; creating an account is free, so sign up today and get to work on that lawn.

 

Help Your HVAC Do More

Having a good HVAC system in your home can really help you enjoy your living space throughout the year. A solid system will keep your home cool in the summer, warm in the winter, and just plain comfortable throughout the full year. Proper maintenance can keep your HVAC system running smoothly for years, ensuring that your home’s internal climate stays exactly the way you want it as time goes by.

This doesn’t mean that things can’t be better, though. You may not realize it, but there are actually several ways that you can modify your HVAC system to improve performance and create a better overall quality of life for you and your family. Different systems may have different options available, and they can affect the function of your system in different ways.

Air Purity Add-Ons

Some of the most common HVAC modifications are designed to improve the overall quality of the air in your home, filtering out impurities and eliminating things in the air that could possibly make you sick. Air cleaners and air purifiers are readily available for a number of systems, trapping things as small as bacteria, viruses, and allergens that are too small to be seen by the naked eye. These function similarly to portable single-room air purifiers, but instead of only working on the room where the unit is located, these actually filter and purify the air in your entire home.

Another option that often goes along with air purification is UV lamps that treat air as it moves through your HVAC system. This high-intensity ultraviolet night kills bacteria, mold, and other organisms that might be in the air and moving through your vents. Not only does killing these organisms help to keep you and your family healthier, but it can also prevent them from multiplying and clogging your air filters over time. This helps to ensure that your air stays clean for longer and keeps your system running with peak efficiency.

Air Quality Add-Ons

Simply cleaning the air isn’t the only way that you can improve your home’s air quality. Depending on where you live, humidifiers and dehumidifiers can go a long way toward making people comfortable within your home. Air that’s too humid can lead to unchecked mold and bacterial growth, while air that’s too dry can trigger symptoms of asthma and various allergic reactions. Adding a humidifier or dehumidifier as appropriate helps to eliminate these issues without requiring room-to-room solutions.

Another way that you can improve the quality of your home’s air is to add a ventilator unit to your HVAC system. These units facilitate the exchange of stale air from within the home with external air to help eliminate odors and other forms of internal pollution and ensure that you always have fresh air within your home. Much of the external air is pretreated before it enters the HVAC system, allowing you to exchange air without introducing issues such as unwanted heat or accidentally cooling the house more than desired.

 

Age in Place With a Smart Home

As we get older, some things that used to come easy start to get a little harder. In some cases, this isn’t that big of a deal, as some of the slow-downs and other problems associated with aging may just be little inconveniences. In other cases, though, the problems that occur as we get older can make it more difficult to maintain an independent lifestyle. This can be a big problem for people who are used to doing everything themselves, as it creates a greater dependence on other people, and in some cases may even make it difficult to live at home alone.

Fortunately, there are a number of technological options which make it much easier to age in place at home. Advances in connected devices and smart home technology contribute to this significantly, with home automation going a long way towards helping aging adults stay safe, secure, and largely independent at home. Even better, they make it even easier for seniors to reach out for help if it’s really needed. As the specific needs of older adults can differ greatly, here are a few examples of how smart home devices can aid with aging in place at home.

Organize and Automate

Many smart home hubs take the form of virtual assistant hardware, such as those with Google Assistant or Amazon’s Alexa. This can be a great benefit to seniors trying to stay sharp and keep up with various appointments and engagements as the digital assistant aids with keeping track of your calendar. Programmed routines during the day can provide prompts for meals, medicine, and any other recurring event, and appointment reminders make sure that important dates aren’t forgotten or overlooked.

Automation can also make sure that connected devices are ready when they’re needed and turned off when they aren’t. Routines for light controls, thermostat adjustments, and even appliances such as the coffee maker or air fryer can help to save on the electric bill while making life as convenient as possible. In many cases these devices can even be checked and controlled remotely to ensure that you never have to worry about whether something was left on.

Safety and Security

There are a number of smart home sensors that can help to keep older adults safe and secure while living on their own. Connected smoke detectors, leak sensors, and even window sensors help to ensure that alerts go up as soon as potential hazards or intrusions are detected. Smart door locks and connected cameras also provide protection against intruders and unwanted visitors while allowing easy access to family and others who are supposed to be at the house.

Another big benefit of having a connected smart home is that you can typically place calls to family, friends, or other emergency contacts without having to pick up a phone. In the event of an emergency, seniors can simply speak and ask a digital assistant to call an appropriate contact. By setting up a contact list with family members, emergency services providers, and others that might be needed, this puts any help that you might need literally just a call away.

Making Your Home Smarter

There are a lot of ways to upgrade a home with smart devices to make it a safer haven for aging in place. Depending on your needs and tech expertise, this can be a DIY job that gets everything automated and connected. If you aren’t comfortable with that, though, HomeKeepr can get you in touch the electronics pros that you need to get the job done. They can make recommendations, provide installation services, and may even offer assistance in setting up whatever routines or other custom programming you might need. Creating a HomeKeepr account is free, so sign up today and connect with the pros who will make it easier for you or your loved one to stay independent longer.

 

What Can You Do With Your Home’s Equity?

If you’re like a lot of long-time homeowners, you’ve probably got a great deal of home equity on your hands right now. If you’ve been considering putting it to work, it’s still a decent time to take out a second mortgage or a HELOC, even as rates are starting to rise. Having so much home equity can enable you to make some very seriously needed changes to your home, either to allow you to age-in-place or to accommodate other lifestyle needs. It’s an opportunity to make major changes or upgrades, but there are certainly some ways that are better than others to use your home’s equity. We’ve got some ideas to get you started.

Freshen Up the Whole Place

There’s nothing better for the value of a house that’s not had much regular care in a while than a general sprucing up. You’ll have to go room by room, as well as take a hard look at your exterior space, to decide which items are tired and in need of repair or replacement. You’d be surprised how much difference some careful clean-up and maintenance work can really make.

A few common exterior items that can really make a tired house look brand new include a new garage door (for houses with street-facing garages), exterior window dressing such as window boxes or updated shutters, tuckpointing for brick homes, or cleaning and resealing your driveway. Interior items that can make a huge impact house-wide include new floor coverings or refinished floors, updated room lighting and under cabinet lighting in kitchens and baths, and a fresh coat of interior paint.

Consider Major Outdoor Upgrades

According to Remodeling Magazine, something simple like adding a wooden deck to your home can improve your home’s value and return as much as 65% of the cost back to you if you were to sell right away. Outdoor living spaces have become all the rage since the pandemic has made vacationing challenging, so it could also be an addition your family would use a lot.

Upgrading your landscaping can also add a lot of curb appeal to the front of your home, which would help if you decided to sell. You could even use your home’s equity to add landscaping that’s far easier to care for than what you have now, like xeriscape plants that require little water or intervention, or simply a better planned landscape that minimizes the need for mowing your lawn.

Make Your Bathroom or Kitchen Universal

Aging in place is becoming a more common goal for people as they age. They want to be in their own homes, and these kinds of upgrades make it possible by creating spaces that will allow for walkers, wheelchairs, and other support tools. Universal bathrooms and kitchens can be amazing ways to use your home’s equity. Universal bathrooms may need wheel-in showers, sinks that are table height, bidets and other sanitary plumbing installed, or even just simple changes like non-slip flooring and better storage added.

Universal kitchens are a bit more involved, often involving sinks, appliances, and workspaces being lowered to a height that can be used by people in wheelchairs or those who simply can’t stand for long periods on hard floors. Better task lighting, more accessible storage in cabinets and other areas, and non-slip tile are also important parts of universal kitchen design.

Still Need Help Deciding?

If you’re not sure how to spend your home’s equity most effectively, it might be time to call in an expert. Your HomeKeepr community can recommend the very best general contractors, plumbers, HVAC, flooring, and even mortgage experts to help you get started on your home’s upgrades. You might be surprised at what someone else sees in your home that can make your life a million times easier (or more fun!) and still fit within your home equity budget. It’s free to join and there’s never any catch when it comes to meeting recommended experts.

 

Ways to Dress Up Your Patio

Maybe you’ve just moved into your new home and you’ve got a patio of your very own for the first time, or maybe you’ve had one for a while and just didn’t know what to do with it. Patios are magnificently flexible spaces, if not a little boring by themselves. Think of your patio as a three-dimensional canvas that you can literally create anything on that you’d like. From tiki hot tub paradise to casual outdoor dining space, patios are only limited by your imagination. Here are some things to think about when you’re trying to dress yours up!

Lights, Camera, Action!

Patios are great, but nighttime patio lighting is often lackluster. For patios near the house, many people rely on a single bulb hanging near the back door, and those floating on the lawn may have no lighting whatsoever! It’s understandable, since there was once a time when your only outdoor lighting options were hardwired, and that was tricky with a cement slab.

But today’s patios have so many more options. Not only are solar lights affordable and reliable, they’re also amazingly diverse. Want a bit of a beach party mood? Add a whole collection of solar-powered string lights with round bulbs. Looking for something more romantic and period? Victorian-themed solar wall sconces can evoke a real mood. Add poles to elevate your lighting for even more flexibility in placement.

Fun in the Shade

Sure, the sun is awesome, but have you tried the shade? The shade is great, especially on a sunny day when the entire world is just a little too hot and a little too bright. Shades can also protect dining areas from debris that might fall from nearby trees, making dining outdoors a true pleasure.

Shade sails are easy to install, come in lots of fun colors, and lend a super modern look to all kinds of spaces. If you want something a little more serious and a lot more fancy, aluminum pergolas with shade systems can be attached to your patio or home permanently. These often have shades that can be opened or closed to let the sun in – or not – as your heart desires. Some even come with curtains to create a more private space.

Roll Out the Carpet

Outdoor rugs are increasingly diverse and must-have patio items to accompany outdoor living furniture and tables. These rugs can be heavy duty, with similar quality to rugs you might choose to have inside your house. A huge range of patterns and colors can help you create the atmosphere you’ve been dreaming of.

Using an outdoor rug can help keep your patio looking cleaner, as well as define specific spaces if your patio is larger and has a few different activity areas. You might color-coordinate one under your patio dining set (set beneath your new pergola, of course), and add another to the set of patio furniture near the hot tub to encourage people to stop and have a chat.

Add a Touch of Green

Of course, your patio is almost certainly already near plants, but there’s a whole different mood that comes with potted plants on a patio. You can tell so much about a space by how potted plants are chosen and the kinds of pots they’re in. Sleek and modern areas might benefit from simple, upright foliage plants in tall, narrow pots. More traditional spaces could go full cottagecore with some old wash tubs overflowing with your favorite annuals.

If Your Vision Is Lacking…

It’s ok! We’re here to help. Just log into HomeKeepr and ask your community for a recommendation for the very best outdoor space designers in your area. They’re just a click away and you never have to pay for a chance to make that connection for your home. Don’t have a patio yet? We can help with that, too! Just ask your community for help with a new patio installation and before you know it, you’ll be picking out your own patio theme.

 

What’s Up With Electric Lawnmowers?

Maintaining your lawn is one of the summer’s big tasks. Depending on the size of your property, this could require just a few quick loops with a push mower, or it could take a good part of the day on a riding mower. Even homeowners who just use a small lawnmower are starting to feel the sting of rising gas prices, though, and those who want to leave the Earth a little greener may balk at how much added gas they use during the summer just keeping up with their lawn.

There is an alternative to traditional gas-powered lawnmowers, though: electric lawnmowers. Far from being a new fad, the first electric lawnmowers saw widespread use in the 1950s. They have a long (but not always glorious) history with homeowners, but are they worth considering today?

Electric Mowers Versus Gas Mowers

As you might guess, an electric lawnmower functions similarly to a gas-powered mower but uses an electric motor instead of a gasoline-powered internal combustion engine. There’s more of a difference between the two than just the engine that’s used, however. Due to weight and power differences, the architecture of an electric lawnmower differs from gas mowers in a few different ways.

One of the big differences is in the physical size of the mower. Electric mowers tend to be smaller physically, even when they feature similar cut sizes to gas mowers. This is because an electric mower’s motor is lighter than a gas motor engine, and can be secured with a less sturdy, lighter frame. The smaller size can also allow electric lawnmowers to fit into tighter spaces than bigger gas-powered mowers, especially if the electric mower is a chuteless mulching mower. The blade speed may be slower than that of a gas-powered mower as well, though it is still capable of cutting grass at the slightly slower rotation. This can lead to some smaller electric mowers having issues with thick grass, however.

Types of Electric Lawnmowers

There are a few different types of electric lawnmowers, though the primary difference between them can be summed up as corded mowers versus cordless options. Corded mowers are what people typically picture when they think of electric lawnmowers: You plug them in with an extension cord and that electrical cord provides power for the mower while it’s in use. This is typically used for smaller yards so that the user isn’t dragging a big extension cord all over the place, and these mowers tend to be (but aren’t always) smaller in size with a smaller cut size than other mowers.

Cordless electric mowers feature onboard batteries that are charged beforehand and function much more closely to traditional lawnmowers. There is no extension cord to drag around, and these mowers can appear in both push and riding forms. In most cases the batteries are built into the mower and are plugged in to recharge, though some mowers (especially riding mowers) feature removable batteries that can be swapped out and charged in dedicated chargers as well.

Is an Electric Lawnmower Right for You?

Electric mowers aren’t right for every yard, though they can meet a wide range of needs depending on the layout of your property. Some electric mowers tend to get a bit pricey, but they feature modern technology and rapid charging which can make a big difference. For those wanting to cut out even more gas, these mowers can be paired with battery-swappable electric trimmers and other lawn maintenance tools as well.

If your primary goal with getting an electric mower is to try and cut out gas costs, you might also consider hiring a landscaping service to maintain your lawn for you. In most cases this will be for a flat rate each month, so you don’t have to worry about sticker shock at the pump or finding time in your week to cut down the grass again. HomeKeepr can help you find landscapers in your area, even those who use electric mowers and other components to reduce their environmental impact. Creating an account is free, so sign up today and get matched with the landscaper you want.

 

Common Reasons Closings Get Delayed

Buying a home can be one of the most heart-wrenching and nauseating adventures of your life. But once closing is scheduled, that’s it, right? The stomach-in-your-throat feeling should go away and all is smooth sailing.

Well, not always. There are many reasons closings may get delayed. Don’t let this list get you down, but it’s a great bit of knowledge to tuck away just in case. Try to remember that sometimes delayed closings do actually happen.

Repairs Were Delayed

In this age of short labor and uncertain supply chains, repair delays are inevitable. It happens in ideal times, too. Maybe it happens because a part didn’t come in for that water heater that was on your repair sheet, or there was no one available to fix the siding where someone’s grill got a little overly excited and left a mark.

Sometimes you have no choice but to wait to close, especially if you’re using a loan type that requires the requested repairs be made prior to closing. But, in other cases, your real estate agent can create an addendum to your contract that allows the closing company to hold the cost of repairs in an escrow account for you, so that they are made on your behalf once the labor and materials are available.

Financing Issues

Many homebuyers, especially first-timers, don’t realize that their financial information will be verified again prior to closing. It has to match, more or less, what it was when you applied. So, same job, same amount of money in the bank, same amount of debt (or less, less is ok), same everything. Usually that’s possible within the narrow window between loan approval and closing.

Unfortunately, sometimes things go wrong, and that second verification reveals a new credit line that’s been opened (for new house stuff, of course), or a change in employment, or some other problem. In these cases, closing will be delayed until those issues can be resolved. Moral of the story? Don’t do anything financially interesting between approval and closing, and all will be well.

Appraisal Was Too Low

In the current real estate atmosphere, with prices changing radically at the drop of a hat in some markets, it’s not unusual to hear of a closing that’s been delayed due to an issue with the appraisal. Of course, the issue isn’t with the appraisal, so much as it is with the market data no longer supporting the seller’s asking price for their home. The appraisal is just numbers on a page, based on what’s already been sold. A too-low appraisal can delay closing, since sometimes a second appraisal will be needed to verify that there were no errors in the first appraisal, or the seller and buyer will have to go back to the table and renegotiate the terms of the contract.

If you have to renegotiate your contract, it’s likely going to be due to your bank’s unwillingness to loan more than the house will appraise for at that moment. In that case, the contract will need to be reduced to the appraisal price. Sometimes this is possible, sometimes it’s not if the seller owes a fair amount on their house or needs the difference to make their next purchase. There’s not a lot you can do if you can’t come to terms, but most of the time, your real estate agent and closing agents will find a way.

Needing Help to Keep Closing on Track?

Just drop in to your HomeKeepr community and ask for help finding the kinds of services you need to get your closing back on track. You’ll find any kind of home pro you could possibly imagine within our digital neighborhood, from general home repair professionals to specialists like HVAC experts. You can even get recommendations for insurance agents, bankers, and escrow services from HomeKeepr! Why not sign up today? It’s free, and meeting your next roofer, gardener, or interior designer could be just a few clicks away.