Home Removal Services Blog

The summer heat and its warm breeze conjure images of having lots of fun under the glorious sun.  But other than that yearly dose of beach and vacationing, summer is also an ideal time to check out your list of home maintenance chores that grows by the minute.  Other than the usual trimming of trees, and the lot of jobs concerning your exterior, intensify your home maintenance efforts to include everything within and around your New York home.  With that said, whether you are in Manhattan, Long Island, Brooklyn, Queens, or Staten Island; better organize a list of tasks for your handyman to go through and keep busy with this summer.

Home maintenance tip #1: Homeowners Insurance

Before anything else, you should check the validity of your homeowners insurance and make sure that your needs are sufficiently covered.  This is especially important if you are planning on an addition together with your home maintenance.

Home maintenance tip #2:  The Checklist

Go through your home and all around your property.  Enlist the things that will be needing repair and indicate the extent of damage.  Highlight your priorities.  Your checklist would also serve beneficial as a guide for the handyman contractor you will hire.  Getting ready with it before you even call for home maintenance and repair service would save you and your contractor a lot of time.

Home maintenance tip #3: Outdoor Repairs

You can opt to start the summer home maintenance works with the most obvious.  The clear skies and bright sunshine makes up for ideal outdoor projects.  Here are some of the possible projects you can undertake:

.    Seal fissures in the driveway pavement, walkways, alleys and the house foundation to lengthen their working life.
.    Mend the fence.  The winter months may weaken the posts and may leave some damage or rot to some parts.  Also check the condition of the gate latches, mesh and attachments and other parts of your fence.
.    Have the decks cleaned and sealed.
.    Replace caulking and install weather stripping.
.    Trim trees and bushes.
.    Evaluate roof and gutters.  Repair damages and replace irreparable portions or lost parts such as the shingles.
.    Waterproof decks and porches.
.    Repaint exterior.
.    Refinish wooden structure.
.    If windows, doors and sidings are damaged extensively; have them replaced.
.    Clean the pool.

Home maintenance tip #4: Keep Cool

With the heat at full swing, it is important to ensure that every cooling element in your home works properly for maximal indoor comfort.  Depending on its condition, have your air conditioning units simply cleaned, repaired or replaced with a more efficient one.  Also check the condition and operation of your roof-mounted turbine vents and attic fans.  Fans, AC units, and vents running on bad condition can take up more energy and thus higher cooling costs.

Home maintenance tip #5:  Winter Preparation

Besides a cleaner property and better functioning home, the home maintenance done in the summer is in one way or another a preparation for the coming winter.  Summer is a great time to have heating equipments on your roofs and driveways.  Also have your chimneys cleaned and inspected.  Why so early?  For one, this allows for more time to complete every repair needed for optimal heating when the colder months come.  The off-season also makes the sweep easier to schedule and can be availed of at lower rates.

Eugene Makeev uses his skills and expertise to help home owners in Brooklyn, Long Island, Queens, Manhattan, and Staten Island avoid remodeling New York pitfalls by matching their needs with prescreened handyman New York.

Visit us for more on Handyman contractors Staten Island.

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/home-improvement-articles/summer-a-time-for-home-maintenance-949024.html

This year’s HGTV Green Home is as green & beautiful as ever. Fans across the country have been entering to win the HGTV Green Home grand prize package valued at $750,000. The contest ends on Friday, June 5, 2009 at 5 p.m. This year’s home, located in Tradition, FL, received a significant Platinum LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification and earned the Indoor airPLUS label from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The 2009 HGTV Green Home, a 2,430-square-foot contemporary Spanish-style cottage which features construction and design elements that contribute to an energy efficient, cleaner and healthier living environment, will be presented to one lucky viewer during a special broadcast on Sunday, June 28, 2009 at 8:00 p.m. ET.

The Platinum LEED certification signifies that the HGTV Green Home – from countertops to floors, to windows, to lighting, and everything in between – meets stringent standards for sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection, indoor environmental quality and innovative design. LEED for Homes, a voluntary rating system, is a project of the U.S. Green Building Council.

To earn the Indoor airPLUS label, a home must meet strict guidelines set by the EPA for reducing poor indoor air quality and have third-party verification. The 2009 HGTV Green Home includes more than 30 additional design and construction features for moisture control, radon control, pest barriers, improved heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, combustion pollutant control and low emission materials. These features help protect the homeowners from a host of health problems associated with poor indoor air quality, including eye irritation, allergies, headaches, and respiratory problems such as asthma. As an Indoor airPLUS qualified home, the HGTV Green Home also meets guidelines for energy efficiency set by the EPA’s ENERGY STAR program.

Just looking at the kitchen, it’s a calm and uncluttered space and, for an eco-friendly home, & interior designer Linda Woodrum wouldn’t have it any other way. “I wanted an almost Asian feeling that was very clean and not overdone,” she explains.

The walls, covered in glass mosaic tiles, punctuate the cooking space, which features streamlined espresso-colored cabinetry and sleek stainless-steel hardware and fixtures. CaesarStone quartz countertops, in a shade of bold black and crafted from recycled material, add a hint of sparkle and continue the green story, as they are naturally antimicrobial as well as mold- and heat-resistant. This type of countertop is ideal for eco-friendliness and food safety, because of its nonporous, durable, & recyclable materials – it is easy to clean and never has to be sealed.

Check your local listings for the watching the HGTV Green Home Giveaway, and for more information on CaesarStone quartz countertops visit www.caesarstoneus.com.

Offers finest quality Concrete Custom Countertops, Vanities, Formica Countertops, Dupont
Countertops, Granite Kitchen Countertops also built using Natural Quartz and Marble.For more details please visit: http://www.caesarstoneus.com/

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/home-improvement-articles/hgtv-green-home-2009-what-makes-it-so-green-949067.html