House Design News

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6 Questions You Still Need To Ask Yourself When You Want To Move Home Posted: 18 Jul 2014 12:34 PM PDT How long have you been living in your current home? If it’s been a long time and you aren’t used to purchasing property you might not know where to start looking. You already know buying a place to live is one of the hardest decisions you’ve ever made in your life because you have been through it before. When you made your first purchase it must have went well for you and that is great, but that doesn’t happen every time and buying a new home doesn’t always have a fairytale ending. Sometimes disaster strikes and you lose everything. You might not lose everything, but it could turn your world upside down and that is enough to ruin everything you have going for you. The most important thing when it comes to buying a new home is making sure everything goes as smoothly as the first time. You know everything that made your first home special, so you can look at whether or not your second home will be as good by asking yourself these important questions. Do you like the area? When you live somewhere for a number of years you really become attached to the area. When you feel safe somewhere it means you can leave the car parked on the street at night. You can let the kids play in the street because there are not many dangers lurking around the corner. You feel safe walking to the shop when it gets dark. You have all these things you love about the area you live in and if you want to be happy in your new home it has to tick all of the same boxes. Do you have the money to trade up? Most people are not going to move into a new home that is smaller than their last house. It happens in some cases and it’s often older couples with children that have left the nest, but in most cases you will want something better. If your mortgage is going to increase it means your monthly payments will too. As you get older you don’t want to have a tough life and extra money every month allows you to enjoy yourself. You must make sure you have the money to trade up. Can you move in straight away? Before you move into your new home you might have to carry out major repairs and they have a way of disrupting your life. Do you really want to move into temporary accommodation for a few months until your new home is in a livable condition? Will this disrupt your work and the children’s schooling? Even if you need to carry out some minor repairs it could turn your life upside down if you don’t have the money available to pay for them straight away. Is it big enough? Have you ever wished your current home was bigger than it is? Did you ever wonder what it would be like to have your own gym? Maybe your children are young and they currently share a bedroom, but it won’t be long until they need one to themselves. I’m guessing you have never wished it was smaller, so when you choose a new one you want it to fit in with your needs. If you don’t need any extra rooms at the moment think hard about whether or not you will need them in the future. Will you be able to maintain it? Buying a new home is the easy part, but looking after it year after year is more difficult. If you end up living somewhere with a massive garden you don’t want it to turn into a jungle because it’s too big to take care of. If you move into an older house there is a much bigger chance of something going wrong. You will also spend more of your life doing the housework when your house is double the side. If you think you can maintain it then great, but if not you might want to have a rethink before buying it. Do you have plans to sell it? Maybe you plan on buying a new home because a member of the family is being transferred to a new city to work. That doesn’t mean the job will last forever and what will you do if they get transferred again? You will probably have to sell the house and buy another one. If that is the case then it’s better to buy one that will be easier to sell down the line. You don’t want to be stuck somewhere because it’s going to cost you too much money to let it go for such a low price in the future. Leslie Kramer, the author of this post, is a freelance blogger who often writes for Stella Settlements, a leading interior design and construction company. Leslie likes to bake and read in her free time.

How to Care for Gutters and Downspouts Posted: 18 Jul 2014 12:33 AM PDT When it comes to home improvement and house care projects, gutter and downspout care is often overlooked. That shouldn’t be surprising; cleaning your gutters is not exactly the most glamorous job, and well-maintained gutters aren’t something your neighbors and friends will compliment you on the way they will with your pretty lawn, fresh paint job, or new walkway. Still, despite the fact that cleaning your gutters and downspouts is easily forgotten, it is an important job for any home owner or resident intent on keeping their house in proper condition. Thankfully for you, it’s a quick and easy job that can save you thousands of dollars—what’s not to like? In this post, we'll explain why you need to care for your gutters, how to do it, and provide a few safety tips. Why gutter and downspout maintenance is important Some people think that gutters simply serve the purpose of keeping rain from dripping off of the roof and onto their heads when they’re walking through the front door, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. In reality, gutters keep your house safe from the dangers of water. If you don’t clean out your gutters and downspouts, the debris that they collect will clog the drainage, which forces rainwater to find new ways to escape. This means water will either drain through your ceiling or flow over onto your paneling. Both of these scenarios will result in rot damage to your home, which subsequently will result in thousands of dollars in repairs. In addition to hurting your roof or your walls, clogged gutters and downspouts can collect so much water that they break under the weight, either by snapping in half or by disconnecting from your home. The cost of replacing your gutters and downspouts is far more than the cost of simply keeping them clean and well maintained. How to clean your gutters and downspouts Cleaning your gutters and downspouts is very simple: just get on a ladder so that you’re high enough to reach inside the gutters, and then remove all of the leaves and debris that have accumulated there. The key to gutter maintenance is making sure that you do it frequently enough. If you live in an area with few trees, you only have to clean your gutters once every year or two (but you still have to clean them; you’d be surprised what will make its way into them). If you live in an area with more trees, you need to take care of your gutters at least twice a year. The best times to clean out your gutters are fall (so that they’re clean before the rain of winter comes) and spring (after all the storms have ended). When you are cleaning debris out from your gutters, make sure that you reach into the downspout as far as you safely can. Debris often gets washed into the downspout and can clog up the top. Safety tips Some people aren’t very comfortable on ladders, which is perfectly understandable. It’s important to know when to call a professional. Having someone else clean your gutters is very affordable, so don’t do it yourself if you aren't comfortable. If you do clean them yourself, though, make sure to use a locking ladder on a secure surface. For houses with relatively flat roofs, you can also increase safety by sitting on the roof instead of staying on the ladder. It’s also important that you find a way to get rid of the debris in a safe manner. Some people try to carry garbage bags or bins with them while they work, which is unsafe. If you’re comfortable on a ladder, attach a plastic bag to the ladder, and dump your debris in there (just make sure you don’t get one of your limbs caught in the bag when you move). If you’re less comfortable on a ladder, just dump the debris straight onto the ground, and deal with it when you’re off the ladder (or you can tarp the ground ahead of time to expedite the cleaning). With these tips, you should be ready to keep your gutters and downspouts clean, and your wallet heavy! This article was written by home improvement blogger Jared Miret. Jared enjoys DIY, garage conversions, custom pipe bending, and drinking beers in his epic man cave.

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