Tri-City Area and Real Estate Blog

Keep the vintage wallpaper, but upgrade that time- and money-draining retro thermostat to programmable.

What may seem like a good idea often isn’t. 

Here are 17 common mistakes new homeowners may make.

#1 Get Rid of Your Only Tub

If resale value is important to you, don’t get rid of your only bathtub, no matter how dreamy that walk-in shower looks.

It will make it harder to sell when the time comes. You’ll flat-out lose buyers who love a good soak or need a tub to bathe little ones (both human and four-legged).

#2 Leave Cabinet Doors on While Painting

Painting your kitchen cabinets pays off big at resale — it’s a small investment for a big wow. But the job’s time-consuming, so it’s tempting to leave the doors on.

Resist. At all costs.

Because no matter how hard you try, it’s not going to look good. Even the pros don’t do it. That should tell you something.

#3 Put Starchy Food Down the Disposal

Today’s garbage disposals can handle more challenging foods than earlier models, but starchy comestibles like potatoes, rice, and oatmeal still stump them.

Fun fact: Every Halloween, plumbers see an increase in calls because people are dumping pumpkin guts into the disposal.

Starchy foods clump when they hit water, clogging disposals and pipes. Instead, put them in the garbage can or, even better, your compost pile.

#4 Plant a Tree Close to Your House

That young sapling just a few feet from your door seems so harmless. Until it grows up.

In addition to the risk of falling limbs, tree roots from mature trees can weaken your home’s foundation and clog plumbing and sewer pipes.

Plant medium and large trees at least 30 to 50 feet from the house. Put small trees (30 feet tall or less) at least eight, preferably 10, feet away.

#5 Flush ‘Flushable’ Wipes

Sewer systems are facing a growing menace: flushable wipes. Despite the name, most don’t disintegrate, even after 10 minutes (compared to a few seconds for toilet paper).

Until a truly flushable wipe exists, don’t flush them — or anything nonorganic, for that matter. Stick with good ol’ TP instead.

#6 Cover Wallpaper With Water-based Paint

You don’t have to remove that dated wallpaper — simply paint over it. Just don’t do it with water-based paint. It can reactivate wallpaper glue and cause the paper to peel. Instead, use oil-based primer, let it dry completely, then apply latex paint over it. Oil-based primer has long been the industry standard and works well with oil and latex paints.

#7 Paint Exterior Brick

Brick needs to breathe. Paint chokes it.

Paint can destroy the brick and mortar and even cause the foundation to crumble. Talk about a hidden cost!

If you’re itching for a new exterior look, try new shutters, paint the front door, or update your landscaping. Those moves can scratch your itch and boost your curb appeal. If you just can’t live with your brick color, try brick stain, which bonds with the brick, allowing it to breathe.

#8 Skip the Last Mow Before Winter

Tempting as it is to skip that last mow before winter, leaving the lawn too tall in cold months gives mice and other rodents good cover from predators, like hawks. Which means they’ve got safe passage to work their way into your warm and cozy home for the winter. Plus, keeping grass short keeps it healthier.

#9 Let Ceiling Fans Run Forever

Ceiling fans don’t decrease the temperature in a room; they increase how quickly your sweat evaporates, making you feel cooler.

Since it’s only beneficial to run ceiling fans when people are in the rooms to enjoy their breeze, save money by turning them off when you’re out.

#10 Tear Out Original Architectural Features

Custom millwork, tin ceiling tiles, and mid-century modern brick give your home its character, so keep them if you’re remodeling (assuming they’re not in awful condition). Buyers appreciate these one-of-a-kind details, and preserving them sets your home apart. They can put your house at the top of house hunters’ lists when it’s time to sell.

#11 Change Your Mailbox Without Checking With Your HOA

Or make any other change to your home’s exterior, such as replace your front steps, add shutters, etc. Homeowners associations work to keep neighborhood elements maintained and consistent in an effort to protect everyone’s home value.

That often includes seemingly small details, so let your HOA know of your upgrade plans. Otherwise, you could risk a citation or fine. Or worse, be told to undo it.

#12 Leave Hoses Connected in Winter

When you retire your lawnmower each fall, disconnect and store hoses, too. Leaving them attached during cold weather can trap water in the pipes, causing them (and possibly the faucets) to freeze. BTW, leaving a hose connected in winter also ruins the hose.

#13 Keep an Old-Fashioned Thermostat

Maintaining a cozy home temp while you’re at work or sleeping wastes money and energy. If your house came with a nonprogrammable thermostat, you’ll have to manually change it multiple times a day to avoid all that waste. (Like you need another task on the way out the door.)

Install a programmable thermostat, stat. Spending about $200 for a single smart thermostat sounds pricey, but most homes can recoup that investment from energy savings in less than two years. Plus, many energy companies offer rebates that greatly reduce the price of a thermostat. Some may even provide one for free.

#14 Put a Brick in Your Toilet Tank

To decrease water use and save money, many people put bricks in their older, high-water-use toilets. But bricks crumble in water and can damage or clog pipes.

Replace the toilet ($350 or less) or fill a half-gallon milk jug with sand and drop it in the tank instead (saving about half a gallon per flush).

#15 Water Grass at Night

It may seem smart to water in the evening — especially if you have a sprinkler system — because electrical rates are lower. But without sun to evaporate it, water is more likely to cling to grass at night, promoting fungus. Instead, water in the morning when the air is cool, the sun is arriving, and there’s less wind than at midday.

#16 Clean Windows on a Sunny Day

Doesn’t a warm, sunny day seem like the perfect time to wash windows? Counter-intuitively, it’s the worst, because the sun dries windows too quickly and causes smears. Instead, save this chore for a cloudy day.

#17 Pour Bleach or Drain Cleaner Down Pipes

Bleach seems like a great agent for keeping pipes unclogged and smelling fresh — and drain cleaner is literally for pipes, right?

Unfortunately, bleach can react with substances in your pipes and cause more clogs than it prevents. Even drain cleaner is rough on pipes — and both are environmentally awful. (Plus, as little as a teaspoon of drain cleaner can destroy a septic field.)

Instead, use a pipe snake (also known as an auger) to keep pipes running smoothly.

“Visit HouseLogic.com for more articles like this.  Reprinted from HouseLogic.com with permission of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®.”

Here are two ways to nix ticks in your yard to keep your dog — and you — healthy.

Ticks may be one of the smallest summer pests in my neighborhood, but they’re also the scariest because they carry Lyme disease. I’ve had Lyme; my daughter had Lyme; her BFF two doors down had Lyme; and my dog, Spot, got it twice.

I blame the herd of deer that live in my side yard for giving us all Lyme, a bacterial illness carried by ticks. We tend to think of deer as being the usual carriers and the woods as being the danger zones, but other wild animals carry ticks, too. Think opossums, raccoons, squirrels, birds, lizards, mice, and even rats. (Look out, urban areas.)

Dogs are very susceptible to tick bites and tick-borne diseases like Lyme disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Some ticks — like the American dog tick and the brown dog tick — even specialize in dogs. And Lyme disease is a big deal for our fur babies, because the organism can travel to many parts of their body and localize in joints or kidneys.

My War on Ticks

I’m warring with the ticks by:

• Targeting the ones shacking up with field mice
• Creating a tick barrier on the edge of my yard

How to Make DIY Tick Tubes

To get at the ticks living with the mice, I sprayed cotton with a permethrin (costs $11 to $16), a pesticide that kills ticks but not mice, and stuffed the cotton in toilet paper tubes. Then I put the tubes in the brushy undergrowth in the woods edging my lawn. 

My plan is that the field mice will use the cotton to build little tick-killing nests in my yard.

If that sounds like too much work, you can buy premade tick tubes for $22 to $45.

Create a Tick Barrier

To make it hard for the ticks to walk into my yard, I cleaned the winter leaf debris from the edge of the woods surrounding the lawn.

If your yard is small enough (or your tick warfare budget is big), you can create a tick barrier by putting a yard-wide swath of mulch, stones, or gravel between the wooded areas of your yard and your lawn. 

I also moved my daughter’s play equipment (a field hockey goal) to the center of the lawn to keep her away from the tick-filled woods.

This may sound like a lot of work, but your family’s health, including your dog’s well-being, are well worth the effort.

“Visit HouseLogic.com for more articles like this.  Reprinted from HouseLogic.com with permission of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®.”

Creative patio lighting ideas add a nighttime glow to keep you outside.

Outdoor patios are an extension of your home, perfect for gathering with guests, getting lost in a good book, or even working out. But the fun shouldn’t stop when the sun goes down. You can spend more time doing what matters most by adding the perfect patio lights to your space (dinner under the stars, anyone?). 

If you’re ready to shine some light on your outdoor space, we’ll dive into five great options for outdoor patio lights. Then, we’ll explore different approaches to setting up your patio lighting for all you DIYers. Let’s jump in!

Patio Lighting Ideas

How you illuminate your patio can depend on the overall design you’re going for, your patio’s purpose, and the amount of lighting you need. Some of the most popular outdoor patio lighting ideas include outdoor pendants, string lights, and floor lights.

1. String Lights and Rope Lighting

String and rope lights are small electric lights placed along a cable and used indoors and outdoors. They’re ideal for stringing along your patio and deck railing, in your tree branches, or along the walls of your home. You can purchase string or rope lighting with heavy-duty wiring and sockets for outdoor use.

2. Outdoor Pendants

Outdoor pendant lights, also called drop or suspender lights, are hanging pendants suspended by a cord or chain. They can instantly enhance your outdoor patio with little effort. Outdoor pendant lights are available in many sizes, including full-length, large, mini, and lantern.

3. Outdoor Table and Floor Lights

Outdoor table lights and floor lights are decorative and functional ways to illuminate an outdoor living space. These lamps provide the perfect ambience for a family get-together or an intimate dinner — without blinding you.

4. Pathway Lighting

Pathway lighting is best for illuminating a walkway that leads to your patio (safety first!). You can also use pathway lights to brighten driveways and footpaths or as a simple and affordable way to accent your patio steps or highlight shrubbery and flowerbeds.

5. Uplighting

Uplighting is the effect when you place light fixtures on the ground and point them up to enhance specific landscape or architectural features. It’s a great way to emphasize your manicured landscape and garden in your backyard and shine a light on your patio area, too.

Consider This: DIY Patio Light Techniques

There are almost limitless creative techniques for setting up your patio lights, from DIY projects to energy-efficient lighting. Today’s top trends include high-level lighting with prestrung and pendant lights, tabletop lighting with candles, DIY lanterns, and tabletop fireplaces.

DIY Patio Lights

Lighting your patio doesn’t have to be expensive or time-consuming. There are plenty of DIY patio lighting ideas to help you get the same aesthetically pleasing outcome you see on Pinterest.

Ideas include wire basket lighting, mason jar lanterns, recycled wine bottles, and even tin cans. Since the size and shape of lighting will vary, these creative touches can make the space your own.

Use Solar

Solar lighting is energy efficient and uses sunlight to recharge during the day, so there’s no fuss with unsightly cords or wiring, or need for outlets. You can incorporate solar with a solar path light, solar LED deck post caps, solar LED floodlights, or solar string lights.

Illuminate Your Garden and Shrubbery

There’s no reason you can’t enjoy your garden and shrubbery when the sun goes down. Consider decorating your garden and shrubbery with small touches of lighting. You can weave soft lighting within your bushes, shrubs, and tree branches to create a warm look in your outdoor living space.

Consider Candles

Candles are a simple yet decorative patio lighting option that can add romantic ambiance to any occasion. You can place them on your outdoor tables or alongside the steps and walkways. Candles come in so many different sizes, shapes, colors, and scents that the possibilities are almost endless.

Outdoor Patio Lights: Simple Upgrades to Improve Your Comfort and Safety

Although the purpose behind patio lights is mostly to create a more pleasing environment, you’ll want to stay safe while enhancing and using the space. That means you’ll need to:

• Consider all safety measures before you start screwing in your light bulbs.
• Check your power cords and inspect the lights before installing them.
• Choose only lights rated for outdoor use to weather the elements.
• Avoid placing your patio lighting next to flammable materials.
• Turn off your lights when you’re not using them.

Use your creativity to make your patio shine with outdoor patio lighting ideas like pathway lighting, string lights, and solar lighting. In no time, you’ll transform your simple outdoor patio space into something extraordinary that reflects your personal style.

“Visit HouseLogic.com for more articles like this.  Reprinted from HouseLogic.com with permission of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®.”

Grout can be a real problem because it soaks up pet odors.

Oof. Houses that smell or look like pets have lived in them are just harder to sell.

To avoid that happening to you, de-pet your house before putting it on the market — and keep it that way while you sell. Here’s how.

#1 Steam Clean Everything Fabric

Job No. 1 is to take care of the soft surfaces in your house, says Melissa Maker, star of Clean My Space YouTube channel and owner of a Toronto cleaning service. “They hold odors and hair like nothing else.”

This includes carpets, rugs, upholstered furniture, and even the drapes, she says. Pets rub against drapes, getting oils, odors, and fur on the fabric. Send curtains out for a professional cleaning.

#2 Groom Your Pet

Hire a pro to groom your pet before you list your house. You can do it yourself, but a pro can get more hair and dander off than you can — plus, all that gunk is better off in the groomer’s drain than yours.

Brush your furry friend regularly (outside, preferably) while your house is on the market. Any hair you get off on a brush is hair that won’t end up on your sofa or in your rugs.

#3 Clean Tile-Floor Grout

Tile resists dog stains, but grout is porous and sucks them up like a sponge. “I had a cat who had an accident on a tile floor, and the pee seeped into the grout,” Maker says. Steam clean grout to lift old smells and stains. If your grout is really cruddy, hire a pro to chip out the old grout and put in new — or DIY it if you have the skills.

#4 Get an Air Purifier Tower

To you, it smells like home. But others may not find that smell so inviting after your HVAC has circulated the same hair and dander again and again (especially in hot and cold weather when the windows are closed).

Add an air purifier tower with a HEPA filter. It pulls hair and dander out of the air before they even reach your HVAC.

Most air ducts don’t need cleaning, especially if you change filters regularly. But if dander and fur seem to be taking over, hire a duct-cleaning company before putting your home on the market.

#5 Use Enzymatic Cleaners

They’re the special forces of odor busters. Enzymatic cleaners are made of beneficial bacteria that eat stains and odors. That means they’re formulated to stamp out a specific type of stain, so a cleanser that targets urine won’t be the same as one for vomit.

“They’re cultivated for a specific mess,” Maker says. Apply them liberally to stains regardless of how old they are, before listing your house.

#6 Get Rid of Scratch Marks

Pet toenails leave telltale marks on doors and walls. The material used will dictate how you treat the scratches. Paint over marks on walls and doors made of synthetic materials. But repair scratches on a wooden door with a wood-filler pen. For hardwood floors, rub out small scratches with steel wool or fine sandpaper followed by mineral spirits, wood filler, and polyurethane. If damage is major, refinishing the hardwood is a good investment; it has a stellar 100% ROI.

#7 Absorb Odors With Charcoal

Charcoal pulls moisture and odors out of the air. You can get inconspicuous little bags of it to hang in places your pets love most. Or, just strategically stash some charcoal briquettes around the house.

Just be sure to get the ones that aren’t presoaked with lighter fluid.

#8 Spot Clean Furniture Daily

If you’re like many pet owners, trying to keep your fur buddy off the couch completely isn’t worth the effort. Instead, cover your freshly cleaned furniture with throws or pet covers, and wash them at least once a week. Vacuum rugs and carpets every day. If that seems like too much, remember that pet smells sink in fast.

For quick hair removal before a showing, wipe down the couch with rubber gloves. The hair comes right off.

#9 Get a Sniff Test

You’ve scrubbed everything, and you think your house smells like a pet has never set foot in the door and a litter box has never been part of the decor. Get a second opinion about whether the odors are really gone, Maker says. “You may be noseblind. Ask your agent to walk through and give you an honest opinion.”

“Visit HouseLogic.com for more articles like this.  Reprinted from HouseLogic.com with permission of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®.”

Save your cash for more important things, like, you know, your mortgage.

You can’t swing a tool belt without hitting a website or TV network offering tips on taking care of your digs. Save money by watering your lawn at night! No, water it in the morning! No, dig it up and replace it with a drought-hardy meadow!

Throw in the info you pick up from well-meaning friends, and there’s a sea of home care truisms out there, some of which can sink your budget.

Myth 1: Stone Countertops Are Indestructible

Fact: Even rock can be damaged.

Marble, quartz, travertine, soapstone, and limestone can all be stained. Regular household cleaners can dull their surfaces over time. And marble is maddeningly fragile — it’s the prima donna of stone.

Marble is easy to scratch. It’s easy to stain. Here’s the worst part: Mildly acidic substances like soda, coffee, lemon juice, even hard water will eat into marble, creating a cloudy, dull spot in a process known as etching.

“Spill a glass of wine on a marble counter and go to bed without cleaning it. The next morning you’ll have a problem,” says Louwrens Mulder, owner of Superior Stone in Knoxville, Tenn.

And while stone counters won’t crack under a hot pot, such direct heat can discolor quartz or marble, says Mulder. So be nice to your counters, no matter what they’re made of. And note that the best rock for your buck is granite. “It doesn’t stain or scratch. It’s tough because it’s volcanic rock,” Mulder says. Which means it can stand up to all the merlot and barbecue sauce you can spill on it.

Myth 2: Your Smoke Detector’s Test Button Is Foolproof

Fact: The test button doesn’t tell you what you really need to know.

Yes, check your smoke detector twice a year. But all that test button will tell you is whether the alarm sound is working, not if the sensor that detects smoke is working. Pretty key difference there.

The best way to check your device is with real smoke. Light a long, wooden kitchen match; blow it out; and hold it near the unit. If the smoke sets off the alarm, it’s working. Replace the batteries if the smoke doesn’t set off the alarm. If the smoke detector still doesn’t work after that, you need a new one. And replace those batteries once a year anyway, because dead batteries are the No. 1 reason smoke detectors fail.

Myth 3: Gutter Guards Are Maintenance-Free

Fact: You gotta clean gutter guards, too.

Gutter guards keep out leaves, but small debris like seeds, pine straw, and flower buds will still get through.

Gutter guards can lessen your work, though — sometimes a lot. Instead of shoveling out wheelbarrow loads of leaves and other crap twice a year, you might just need to clean them every two years. But if there are lots of trees in your yard, once a year might be necessary.

Myth 4: A Lemon Is a Great Way to Clean a Disposal

Fact: While wanting to use natural cleaners is admirable, most of them will damage your disposal and pipes over time.

The lemon’s acidic juice will corrode the metal parts of your disposal. The mixture of salt and ice contains metal-eating acid, too. The coffee grounds are abrasive enough to clean the gunk off the blades and make it smell like a cup of Americano, but they’ll accumulate in pipes and clog them.

The best natural cleaner for your disposal is good old baking soda. It’s mildly abrasive, so it will clean the blades. But it’s a base, not an acid, and won’t damage the metal. Best of all, a box with enough baking soda big enough to clean your disposal twice costs about a buck.

Myth 5: Mowing Your Lawn Super Short Means You’ll Mow Less Often

Fact: You might not have to mow as often, but your lawn will look like awful.

Cut that grass under an inch high, and you’ll never have to mow again because your grass will die. Mowing a lawn down to the root — a screwup known as scalping — is like cutting all the leaves off a plant.

Grass blades make and store your lawn’s energy. Removing more than a third of the length of the blade will leave your grass too weak to withstand weeds and pests. It also exposes the roots to the sun, causing the lawn to dry out quickly. Leave one to three inches of grass above the roots to keep your lawn lush.

Myth 6: CFLs Cost Too Much and Are Dangerous

Fact: CFLs (compact fluorescent lights) have come down in price since they first hit the market and don’t contain enough mercury to cause any harm.

You can buy a package now for less than $3. And replacing one incandescent bulb with a CFL will save nearly $40 a year for the life of the bulb in replacement costs alone, says Save on Energy. The major benefits of an Energy Star-rated CFL include using about 75% less energy than a standard incandescent and lasting up to 10 times longer.

And CFLs are a safe option. Using CFLs (and other fluorescent bulbs) instead of incandescent bulbs lowers your exposure to mercury indirectly, because they use less electricity than incandescent bulbs. That means the coal-fired power plants that spew mercury into the air each year won’t have to run as long to keep our houses lit. Fewer toxins, lower power bills. What’s not to love?

Myth 7: A Trendy Kitchen Redo Will Increase My Home’s Value

Fact: Décor trends come and go as fast as viral videos.

Remember those Tuscan-style kitchens with mustard gold walls, ornate cabinets, and medieval-looking light fixtures that were the must-have of the late ’90s and early aughts?

Today, they’re as dated as flip phones. Instead of remodeling in the latest look, which costs an average $45,000, according the the National Association of REALTORS® “Remodeling Impact Report,” try repainting in on-trend colors, which costs $600 to $1,320, according to FixR. If you do opt for a full remodel, choose elements like Shaker cabinets, wood floors, and subway tile, a timeless style you’ll love 10 years from now.

Myth 8: A Contractor Recommendation from a Friend Is Good Enough

Fact: Good contractors have more than just your buddy to vouch for them.

Your neighbor’s rec is a good start, but talk to a couple of sources before you hire anyone. Check the contractor’s reviews on Angie’s List or other online rating sites.

Ask a local building inspector which contractors meet code on the properties they inspect. Ask the contractor for the names of past clients you can talk to, how many other projects they have going, how long they’ve worked with their subcontractors, and if they routinely do projects the size of yours.

Look at this as a job interview where the contractor is an applicant and you’re the hiring manager. Make them show you they’re the one for the work.

Myth 9: Turning Off Your AC When You Leave Saves Energy

Fact: Turning off the air conditioner when you leave could actually cost you money.

That’s because when you turn it back on, all your savings will be lost as the unit works overtime to cool your hot house. A better way to save on utilities is to turn the thermostat up or down (depending on the season) 5 to 10 degrees when you leave, says home improvement expert Danny Lipford of TodaysHomeowner.com.

And the best option? “Install a programmable thermostat,” he says. Even better, buy one you can control remotely with your smartphone and adjust the temperature before you get home. Because thermostats you have to touch are so 1998.

Myth 10: Permits? We Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Permits

Fact: You do.

Let’s say your neighbor’s brother-in-law, Cecil, is an electrician. Cecil can rewire your kitchen in a weekend because he won’t inconvenience you with a permit. Should you hire Cecil? No. Building codes protect you. From Cecil. Getting a permit means an inspector will check his work to make sure he didn’t screw up.

Plus, if your house burns down in an electrical fire and your insurance company finds out the work was done without a permit, it won’t cover your loss. Check with your local planning or building department to find out if your project needs a permit. If it does, get one.

“Visit HouseLogic.com for more articles like this.  Reprinted from HouseLogic.com with permission of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®.”