MAINTENANCE TASKS THAT PAY FOR THEMSELVES HOME SWEET WELL-MAINTAINED HOME
Home is where the heart is, but if you ignore maintenance, it can also be where your wallet suffers. Keeping up with minor repairs and seasonal upkeep can save you big bucks. From fixing a leaky faucet to sealing pesky drafts, essential home maintenance projects like these practically pay for themselves. CUT TREE BRANCHES. Having trees in your yard heightens curb appeal and provides natural shade. But when limbs are damaged or diseased, a storm could knock them into your roof, windows, or walls, leading to costly repairs. Keeping your trees trimmed and pruned regularly can save thousands of dollars in potential repairs. Hiring a professional could cost up to $2,000, but it beats replacing a roof, which averages about $9,500. KEEP YOUR GUTTERS CLEAR. Cleaning your gutters is a basic chore that can save you hundreds or even thousands of dollars. When debris blocks your gutters, water cannot drain off your roof, leading to leaks, water damage, mold, and even foundation problems. You should clean your gutters at least twice a year. TUNE UP YOUR HVAC SYSTEM. The last thing you want to face during a heat wave or chilly winter is for your HVAC system to fail you, and the dollars could stack up if it breaks down. Annual or twice-a-year HVAC tune-ups keep your system running smoothly and reduce
your monthly energy bills. Clogged machines cause damage like leaks or ceiling damage and work less effectively, increasing your bills over time.
PROTECT YOUR DRIVEWAY. Your driveway takes a daily beating from cars, weather, and time, so protecting the pavement from damage is essential. Applying a coat of sealer every 3–5 years can prevent cracks and pores from forming in the asphalt, which could ultimately lead to potholes. If your blacktop is starting to fade, it’s time to give it a little TLC. A little home maintenance now can prevent future financial headaches. Investing time and effort into these chores will protect your property and keep your dollars where they belong.
Green With Envy
Landscaping Tips That’ll Make Your Neighbors Jealous
When people visit your home or just drive by, they often notice your lawn and landscaping efforts before anything else. Have you ever seen a front yard so lush and green that it made you stop in your tracks and wonder, “Why can’t my yard look
like that?” Proper landscaping requires intention, action, and attention to detail. You need a few trips to your local home improvement or gardening store to pick up tools and gardening supplies, but it will all be worth it to make your home the talk of the neighborhood.
pests, before planting grass seed or making other efforts to make your lawn greener.
MULCH You can always tell warm weather is on the horizon when local stores and shopping centers replace the mulch around their foliage. You should follow their example. Mulch gets worn out over time, becoming less effective and worse-looking. Try to replace your mulch once a year, ensuring all trees, garden beds, and shrubs have a fresh layer about 2–3 inches deep. PRUNE AND TRIM Your trees, bushes, and shrubs need some love, too. Over time, they can become unruly, negatively impacting the visual appearance of your home. Cut back on any long branches or overgrown shrubs. Not only will this make your yard look better, but it will also benefit the health of your trees and bushes, as you’ll stimulate stronger growth while removing any unhealthy parts of the plant.
Here are three easy ways to bolster your landscaping efforts.
GREENER, HEALTHIER GRASS A beautiful green lawn will make your house stand out from the pack, but it’s not easy to achieve if you’re constantly battling weeds, forgetting to water regularly, and running into other obstacles like pests and sunspots. The best strategy is to tackle one element at a time, ensuring you’ve rectified each issue before proceeding to the next. This will not be a quick process, especially if you try to do it alone. Bringing a lawn back to good health can take months or years. Start with the most egregious problems first, like weeds and
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