Bust the Dust in an Earth Friendly Way
Feel like being a little more environmentally conscious this spring? Here are some earth-friendly cleaning recipes to help:
All Purpose Cleaner
4 tablespoons baking soda
1 quart warm water
Dissolve baking soda in the warm water. Apply with a sponge or spray with a spray bottle. Use to clean and deodorize all kitchen and bathroom surfaces. Rinse ...
As the cost of heating homes goes higher and higher, many of us are scrambling for ways to stay warm and have enough left over to buy groceries. Most homes, after all, are heated by natural gas, oil, or electricity…and the prices of these fuels continue to escalate. So what can we do?
Following are some helpful tips for saving both money and energy. All of these ...
Help the environment, keep your house warm and save big bucks with these simple tips.
By Michael Kling of Investopedia
With winter here, temperatures are going down and heating bills are going up. Heating and cooling account for about 56% of energy use in a typical American home, making it the largest energy expense for most homes, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. Many ...
PRIORITY MAINTENANCE FOR HOMEOWNERS
There are so many home maintenance and repair items that are important, it can be confusing trying to establish which are the most critical. To simplify things, we have compiled a short list of our favorites. These are by no means all-inclusive, nor do they replace any of the information in a home inspection report. They should, however, help you get started on ...
Simple & Easy Home Maintenance Tips
There’s an old saying: An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. This is especially true in your home. Preventative maintenance takes just a few minutes of time, but can keep your family safe and minimize costly repairs in the future. If you want to avoid unpleasant situations like a flooded laundry room or a thermostat that roasts or freezes everyone ...
In a buyer's market, curb appeal -- yours and the neighborhood's -- becomes even more important.
By Rachel Koning Beals of MarketWatch
Fresh paint, a new front door and colorful landscaping often are surefire ways to tease potential buyers over the threshold of a home for sale. But in some cases, no matter how perfect your pansies, nothing can draw their gaze past the tired-looking ...
Pest-control solutions derived from nature are considered safer to humans, pets and the environment, but do these products work as well as their synthetic-chemical counterparts?
By Gwendolyn Bounds of The Wall Street Journal
This summer, the pests around my house are dying of more natural causes.
One colony of wasps on my deck got neutralized by shots of mint oil. The cabbage worms ...
This month usually brings the first big snowfall, and with it, a number of tasks for keeping your home cozy and secure. It's also a great time to create your home-improvement plan for the year ahead.
By Anne Erickson of MSN Real Estate
Congratulations on completing a year of home maintenance! For many of us, December is a month for celebrations, family gatherings and vacations. ...
Now is a great time to upgrade your house to use less energy — and maybe even generate your own.
By Jessica L. Anderson and Pat Mertz Esswein of Kiplinger's
If Uncle Sam ran an infomercial plugging its new energy programs for homeowners, it might sound something like this: For a limited time only, get federal aid for home improvements that can help you reduce your tax and energy ...
Now's the time to get your home and yard ready for winter.
By Anne Erickson of MSN Real Estate
By the end of this month, most of your winterization should be completed. Falling leaves and dwindling daylight signal a final opportunity to do some outdoor organizing before winter settles in.
Repair roof shinglesTry to do this on a warm day if you have asphalt shingles on your roof, ...