Lightning Proofing Your Home

Big storms can be scary. With the wind, heavy rain, and the threat of even more extreme weather, they can also bring with them a lot of damage. While a lot of people make plans on how to react to some of the big dangers associated with storms, there’s one more common threat that often goes overlooked: lightning strikes.

To be fair, there’s a lot of folk wisdom about how unlikely it is to be struck by lightning (less than a 1 in 15,000 chance) and about how lightning doesn’t strike the same place twice (though it does). What this leaves out is that there’s a 1 in 200 chance that your home will be struck be lightning, or the amount of damage that one of these strikes can do. If you really want to protect your home and your belongings from the dangers of lightning, there are a few things you’ll need to do.

Protecting Your Home

The most well-known way to protect your home from a lightning strike is the installation of a lightning rod. These devices provide a simple but effective means of attracting lightning strikes and then diverting it to the ground instead of allowing it to strike and damage other parts of your home. They are an effective solution when it comes to direct lightning strikes, but you may be surprised to learn that even with a lightning rod in place your home can still suffer significant damage from lightning.

The problem is that lightning from nearby strikes can also damage your home as they gets conducted through wires, pipes, and other materials in your house. Unfortunately, a lightning rod isn’t going to help with this. Instead, it’s recommended that you have a whole-home lightning protection system that includes lightning rods as well as protection on main conductors, grounds, and other elements that can divert and redirect lightning electricity even if it isn’t coming from a direct strike.

Protecting Your Belongings

Another big issue with lightning strikes is that they can cause damage to a wide range of electronic devices in your home. Computers, televisions, and any other electronic device that’s plugged in can be irreparably damaged by a lightning strike and will have to be replaced. This is one reason that surge protectors and similar devices are so highly recommended, as they can help protect the devices that are plugged into them.

Whole-home surge protection systems are also recommended, as they can prevent a lightning surge from even reaching your outlets, preventing possible damage to your home’s wiring, and greatly reducing the likelihood that your devices will be damaged by a power surge before a power strip surge protector can trip its breaker. You should also take the time to unplug unnecessary devices during storms just in case, and to make sure that the surge protectors you connect your electronics up to feature transient voltage surge protection that place a hard limit of 1.5 times the normal voltage range, so that your belongings are protected against even non-lightning spikes and surges.

Overcoming the Threat of Lightning

One big thing that you should do to help protect your home and your belongings is to check your homeowner’s policy to make sure that it features protection from lightning-related damage both to the structure of your home and to the items within. While this is common in a lot of policies, this sort of protection isn’t always there, and it’s better to know what coverage you have before you need it. If you don’t have sufficient coverage, you should talk to your insurance agent to see what’s needed to increase the coverage your policy provides.

It’s also a good idea to talk to an electrician or other pro to get a lightning protection system professionally installed to make sure that it’s set up correctly. They can ensure that your system has everything you need to keep you safe in the event of lightning strikes on or near your home. HomeKeepr can help connect you with pros in your area to get you set up, so create a free account and get started today.

 

Good Scents: Using Smell to Entice Homebuyers

There are a number of unpleasant smells that can occur in your home. Sometimes they’re temporary bouts of unpleasantness, and other times they stick around. A lot of smells and odors can seem manageable, since even lingering mustiness or other odors can kind of fade over time as you get used to them. Unfortunately, just because you’ve gone somewhat “nose blind” to those smells doesn’t mean that other people have, and that can be a major problem if you’re listing your home for sale.

If you’re trying to entice people to be interested in your home, you need to make sure that the first thing they smell when walking in the door isn’t some awful smell that you’ve just gotten used to. Unfortunately, there isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution to bringing the smell of your home around to work to your advantage. With that said, here are a few things that might help.

Eliminate Smell Sources

If there are unpleasant smells in your home, the first thing that you should do is work on getting rid of the source of those smells. Enzyme sprays and other specialty cleaners can reduce or eliminate the cause of many pet odors, even if your pets have had accidents on the carpet. Likewise, a mix of ice, rock salt, and white vinegar can help clean and neutralize odors from the garbage disposal. A dehumidifier can go a long way toward getting rid of musty smells by reducing the humidity to a level where mildew and mold can’t grow. A thorough cleaning can also help, especially if it involves both vacuuming and shampooing the carpets and plush furniture surfaces.

If specific items such as a rug under the litter box or an old and musty pair of work boots are the source of the smell, get them out of the house or get rid of them entirely. Tossing things out may seem like a drastic step, but unless you eliminate the source of an odor, it isn’t really ever going to fully go away. Plus, if something is stinking up your home that bad then you probably don’t really need it around anyhow.

Improve Your Home’s Scent

As you work on removing unpleasant scents from your home, you can also work on adding pleasant ones. Provided that the weather allows for it, spend a few days with as many doors and windows open as possible (shutting off the HVAC first, of course) to air out the house and get fresh air everywhere. You might also want to set up fans to help circulate the air so that it reaches as many points in the house as possible. This will serve the dual purpose of getting out lingering odors and bringing in fresh scents from outdoors.

Air fresheners and air sanitizers are also useful in this regard. Opt for something with a light scent that’s either fruity or floral, but not overbearingly so. After all, your goal is to leave the air smelling fresh but not smelling like perfume. Before people come to look at the house, put out fresh flowers in key rooms to help improve the scent of the room without having to rely overly on sprays or other artificial air fresheners.

Bring in the Pros

With some odors, you may not be able to fully get rid of them on your own. In these cases, it’s a good idea to call in professional cleaners and explain what the problem is. These pros use specially-formulated cleaners and other solutions that help them break down the causes of even some of the nastiest smells to get your home smelling fresh and clean before you list it.

If you’re not sure who to call, HomeKeepr can help. Our app can connect you with cleaners and other pros in your area to help with anything that you need before putting your home on the market. Best of all, creating a HomeKeepr account is free! Sign up today to get started.

 

Trellising 101: Climb, Plant, Climb!

Growing a garden is the ultimate act of faith. After all, you never know if your plants will thrive or if they will cease to be long before reaching their full potential. Hopefully, with diligent care, and a little luck, your plants will grow big, strong, and glorious. When it comes to growing climbing plants (often referred to as “vines,” “climbers,” or “lianas”), two of the most important parts of their success are having the right kinds of things to climb and the right help to get started on their way up.

What Is a Climbing Plant?

The term “climbing plant” is kind of a giant catch-all term that includes a range of plants with long, flexible stems, and some mechanism that allows them to reach great heights in their native environments. However, some climbing plants will also just become shrubs if they have nothing to climb, and others will climb for a while, then set roots where they land before shedding their climbing tools all together.

But in most cases, when people think of climbing plants, they think of plants that are vining. These plants climb over structures and other plants using several different mechanisms. This can include stems that twist around supports, leaves that twist around objects or one another, curly tendrils that wrap around supports, long roots that help them cling to solid surfaces, or hooks like thorns that help them move upward.

Although it’s common to see vines sold as ornamentals, there are also a number of climbing plants that are part of the vegetable garden. For example, cucumbers and tomatoes are both vining plants, which makes them perfect for vertical gardening.

Trellising Vining Plants

Climbing plants can be easy to grow, if you give them appropriate things to climb and help them get a foothold when needed. Trellising a plant isn’t difficult, but choosing the right trellis can be sometimes. Not every plant will respond to every trellis, so it’s very important to consider the method by which your plant climbs before choosing a trellis for it.

For example, if your plant climbs with tendrils, it will do best with a wire trellis with frequent horizontal cross pieces. Because it needs to be able to reach up and wrap the tendrils around something substantial but narrow, the thick, flat trellises can be difficult for this type of vine to climb. On the other hand, if you’re trying to grow something that uses its roots to climb, like Virginia creeper, you need those trellises with the wide, flat components. It’s very difficult for this kind of plant to climb up narrow trellis material because it has to have some significant space and texture to allow it to really grab on with its roots.

So, whether you choose your trellis first (maybe you already have one in mind) or you choose your plant first, they need to be compatible. For many climbing plants, something as simple as mesh fencing can make a magnificent trellis.

How to Train Your Vines

Training vines to their appropriate trellises is surprisingly simple most of the time. As long as your trellis is close enough to the ground that your vine can reach it quickly in its growing process, often all you have to do is wait and let the plant do its own thing. If your plant is a bit more resistant, that’s ok, there are ways to encourage it to grow up.

A common technique for training vines onto a trellis is simply to wait for it to grow long enough for you to start winding it through the trellis material. Be very gentle, as you’ll need those delicate growing tips to remain undamaged, but loosely weaving it through the trellis as it grows will help it establish a framework for where it should be hanging out, so to speak.

With vines that need to attach to flat areas using their roots, you may be able to tie them on loosely until the root has firmly secured the plant. Use a cloth tie if at all possible to reduce the risk of damage to your plant. Before you know it, you’ll be able to untie the plant and let it get on with growing.

Still Need Help Moving Your Plants Up?

If your vining plants are still giving you trouble, or you simply don’t know which vine is right for your really magnificent arbor, it may be time to consult a landscaper or other plant expert. Your HomeKeepr community can help you find them, no matter where they may be! Just ask for a recommendation for the very best plant brains in your area, and in no time, your glorious dream of green will become a reality.

 

How to Keep Your Ductwork Clean

Your home’s HVAC system works hard throughout the year. Unfortunately, this can cause it to experience problems over time, often at a time when you’d really rather it not fail on you. This is why yearly maintenance and inspections are recommended, since a little bit of attention now can save you a whole lot of problems (and money) later on.

There’s more that you can do to help your HVAC system stay in good working order than just having it inspected and maintained, though. One of the big things that you can do to help is keeping your ductwork clean. This helps to prevent blocked airflow, keeps dust and other particles from being recirculated into the air, and overall reduces the strain on your HVAC unit as it tries to push air through the entire ductwork system. If you’ve never cleaned your ductwork before, here’s what you need to know to start.

Cleaning Your Ductwork

There are a few things that you can do to clean up your ductwork. One that’s often overlooked is actually vacuuming it out to remove built up dust, dirt, and other particles. You obviously can’t do this to the entire length of your ductwork, but removing vent covers and vacuuming around the vent area still makes a huge difference. Dust and debris tend to pile up here because some of it is trapped by the vent cover itself, and it mixes with debris and other items that might get dropped down the vent by mistake. When the air kicks on, some of this loose debris is circulated back into the house, bringing with it mildew and mold spores and a variety of other things that will either be breathed in or clog up your air filter. Vacuum it out now to help keep this from happening.

Speaking of air filters, they are one of your best tools when it comes to cleaning up your ductwork. Changing them monthly keeps them in good working condition, preventing a lot of the dust, dander, and other unwanted particles from making it into your ductwork in the first place. Set a schedule to change your filter, writing it on your calendar or setting up some other reminder so that you don’t forget. Once this schedule is in place, you’ll be amazed at how much of an effect this consistency can have on the state of your ducts.

Keeping It Clean

Cleaning your ductwork isn’t just a one-and-done event. You’ll still need to vacuum your vents periodically and stick with your air filter schedule to keep it clean. There’s more that you can do to help keep the ductwork clean and reduce the strain on your HVAC system, though. Things like installing a dehumidifier to reduce overall indoor humidity and dusting your home on a more regular basis can make a big difference, especially in the weeks following your initial cleaning to get any loose particles that you couldn’t reach with the vacuum.

Another thing that you can do to help keep your ductwork clean is to make sure that all your vents are open at least a little to facilitate air flow throughout the entire duct system. A lot of homeowners close vents in rooms that don’t see much use, but this actually increases pressure on the HVAC system and creates dead ends where dust and other particles can build up. By opening these vents at least partially, you can ensure good airflow throughout the house, and avoid situations where closed vents lead to buildup.

Ductwork Cleaning and Inspection

It’s already been mentioned how important HVAC inspections are, but you can actually get your ductwork professionally cleaned and inspected as well. This cleaning helps to ensure that the entire duct system is cleaned out, and the inspection ensures that there isn’t any damage or other issues that negatively affect airflow. HomeKeepr can help you find HVAC pros in your area that offer ductwork cleaning and inspection services, and best of all signing up for HomeKeepr is free! Create your free account today to get that much closer to getting that ductwork the attention it deserves.

 Flood Clean Up Tips

When natural disasters hit, the effects are typically much more significant than you might first suspect. Sure, there is the immediate impact and potentially some damage resulting directly from that, but in most cases, there is also a significant amount of clean up and recovery that’s required afterward. This is especially true in instances of flooding where it can take weeks if not months or longer to get everything dried out and cleaned up.

So what should you do if your home is hit by flood waters? There are a lot of potential answers to this question, depending in large part on how severe the flooding was where you live. After all, getting some water in your house or basement is a much different situation than heavy flooding that damaged your foundation or broke windows and damaged walls. Assuming your home didn’t receive significant structural damage from the flood, here are a few suggestions to get you started with the cleanup process.

Dry It Out

Your first priority in dealing with flood cleanup is getting everything as dry as possible. Use pumps, buckets, wet/dry shop vacs, or other tools to remove as much water as you can, then wipe up or mop areas that still have a little bit of surface moisture on them. Set up fans to keep air moving to aid with the drying process, and open windows if possible to give water-laden air a place to go. For rooms that don’t have good ventilation, set up dehumidifiers to help remove moisture from the air. Getting as much water as possible out of your home quickly will help you avoid mold and mildew growth that is quite common after flooding.

If you’ve got mud, sludge, and other debris in your home, use a shovel or similar tool to scoop it up and remove it from the house. Try to get as much of it as possible while it’s still wet, because it will be much harder to remove once it starts to dry. Getting this sort of debris out of your house as soon as possible is also important to keep unwanted smells out of your home; mud and other debris can contain fungi, mold spores, and other materials that will break down and decay, so you want to get it out quickly if you can.

Keep Yourself Safe

There are worse things that can come from flood waters than just bad smells, so it’s important to keep yourself and your family safe during clean up and afterward. Flood waters can contain decaying materials, raw sewage, and materials that can cause a variety of illnesses, so it’s important that you try to protect yourself with gloves, masks, and eye protection while cleaning up after a flood. You should also shower and change your clothes as soon as possible after finishing clean up each day to avoid accidental contamination after the fact. Sanitize every surface you can, and anything that can’t be sanitized should be gotten rid of if it came in contact with dirty flood waters.

You should also keep in mind the fact that you don’t necessarily know what all is hiding in the debris you see in or around your home. Even if they’re not immediately obvious, objects with sharp points, jagged edges, and other potential hazards might be mixed in with everything that was deposited by the flood. Try to avoid picking up things directly unless you can confirm that it’s safe to do so, as even a small cut or other injury can introduce infection.

Call for Help

Don’t be afraid to call for help with your clean up and recovery. There are a number of recovery services available that can aid in cleaning up after a flood, and HomeKeepr can help you connect with services in your area. Best of all, if the flood is declared a disaster, then many of these services may be eligible for reimbursement from FEMA or other agencies. Sign up for a free HomeKeepr account today to find the cleanup and recovery services you need to get your home back in shape after a flood.

 

What Kinds of Banks Issue Mortgages?

When you’re shopping for a mortgage, it can be tempting to just talk to the first person you meet, sign the loan documents, and be on your way. But before you do that, it’s actually pretty important that you ask what type of financial institution you’re dealing with, because they’re not all the same. Here’s a quick rundown of the main differences.

Traditional Banks

Traditional banks are exactly what you imagine when you think of banks. They’re big institutions that collect deposits, notarize things, and sell bonds to the public. With the funds from these activities, they also may lend their own money for the long term, or they may sell their loans to a secondary loan buyer like Fannie Mae to free up more cash.

With a traditional bank, you’ll often get a pretty good deal when it comes to fees, since there are no middlemen to pay, and a competitive lending rate. However, if you’re looking for special homebuyer programs, you’ll find that banks can’t always offer the same ones, and you may have to go to the specific bank offering the program you’re after. They can also be pretty picky when it comes to borrowers, and may not be willing to overlook blips on your credit report.

Mortgage Brokers

Mortgage brokers often get a bad rap, but they can be very useful if you’re looking for different kinds of programs to help with things like down payment assistance or loans that are far more forgiving of credit issues or high debt-to-income ratios.

You will pay a higher fee for using a mortgage broker, but sometimes that fee is worth the value they bring. Unlike with a traditional bank, mortgage brokers can match you with loans from a portfolio of banks, making it easier for borrowers to secure the mortgage loans they’re after. They can also often close very quickly, since they should know which lenders move quickly and which are slower to respond.

Credit Unions

Credit unions generally require borrowers to be members, but they can be valuable assets when it comes to securing a loan. Like a traditional bank, they typically loan their own money, or the money of credit unions in their network, but unlike a traditional bank, can often make unusual types of loans for specific circumstances. What each credit union will or can do will vary wildly between credit unions.

The fees with a credit union will typically be on the low side, but you may find that the lending is a bit slower and more tedious, since they may not make very many loans per year. This isn’t a bad thing, but it is a thing to be aware of if you need a quick closing because a previous loan or contract fell through and you’re scrambling.

Community Development Financial Institutions

Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) are specially certified organizations that have a primary aim to increase access to financial services like mortgages for low-income communities and other people who simply lack access to financing. These organizations can be banks, credit unions, or even venture capital funds.

If you qualify for a loan through a CDFI, you’ll find that you’ll receive favorable terms, as well as low fees, but may also be limited in your options when it comes to lending programs. However, the loans you can get through these organizations are generally very flexible, making it significantly easier for less than perfect borrowers to qualify.

Looking for a Lender?

Look no further than your HomeKeepr community. There are many members who are mortgage professionals who can help with a range of banking needs, from first time homebuyer mortgages to HELOCs to remodel your home for aging in place. All you have to do is ask for a recommendation, and you’ll be on your way to meeting some of the best and brightest your loan community has to offer. Best of all, HomeKeepr is free to join and to use!

Should You Sell or Should You Remodel Your Home?

Your home, as they say, is where your heart is, and for so many homeowners, it’s a lot more than a saying. Their home is a place where they made so many memories with family and friends, and considering selling it can be extremely painful. But what do you do if your home is no longer meeting your needs? Can you simply remodel your home into the house you need? It’s a hard decision to make, to be sure, but there are some major considerations that can help you decide which is the right choice for you and your family.

How Close Is Your Home to Perfect?

Sometimes, the changes you need to make your home right for today are small. For example, if you’re planning on aging in place, but all the bedrooms are upstairs, you might be able to add a small bedroom suite to the back or side of your home on the main floor, depending on the layout. This would allow you to continue to stay in your home, even if trips up the stairs were increasingly infrequent as you aged.

On the other hand, if your remodel is more about a totally whole new look or going from a space that’s largely compartmentalized to entirely open concept, that’s a huge change to a house that will require a considerable amount of time, effort, and money. In those cases, it’s usually better to find the house you want and sell the one you’re in.

Is the Neighborhood Thriving or Sliding Down Hill?

If your neighborhood is healthy and thriving, and you love everything about it, it’s definitely worth considering a remodel instead of just moving along. You never really know what you’re going to get with a new neighborhood until you live there a while, and besides, you certainly already know some people nearby. That’s a wonderful way to build community.

However, neighborhoods can also deteriorate, and with them go property values, the quality of schools in the area, and sometimes even a sense of safety and security. If you’re pretty sure your neighborhood used to be a lot better and you’re not always comfortable going outside at night anymore, maybe it’s time to look for a different zip code. There’s no amount of remodeling that can fix that particular concern.

Will Your Equity Buy the Home of Your Dreams?

Most importantly, you have to look at the financials. Remodels can take place over years, giving you time to spread out the expense, even if your equity won’t quite cover the costs you think you may incur. So, that dream kitchen might take a little while to become reality, but it’s still possible if the rest of your house makes you happy and you’re willing to wait.

On the other hand, if selling your house could get you closer to the home of your dreams with the equity you’ve secured, you can save yourself a lot of mess and stress by simply moving on to the home you really want. If you’re moving to a different part of your city, or a different area entirely, that equity can easily buy something wholly different and potentially perfect, and maybe even shrink your house payment a little bit.

If You’re Still Unsure…

It’s time to reach out to your HomeKeepr community. The very best bankers in your area are already there and can help you figure out how much equity you may be able to use toward that remodeling project, while the contractors and architects can price it out for you. If a meeting of the minds still can’t quite find the right solution, you can check out movers and designers for that new abode. It’s all free, and it’s really easy to get all kinds of recommendations for home pros right away! Just log in to HomeKeepr to see what’s possible.