Housekeeping

If you’re hunting for new furniture, you may have noticed prices are high, and the quality of many mass-produced items leaves a lot to be desired. Furniture stores and online retailers are the most obvious places to shop for new pieces, but they're not the only places to buy furniture, especially if you’re looking for a great deal or something truly unique.

For many, and AC unit or refrigerator developing problems can be a troubling experience. Coolant systems are complex, and maintenance generally requires complete teardowns of the units in question in order to access the parts that need to be changed.

We have all experienced it at least once.  You are enjoying a nice warm shower, and, without warning, the shower turns icy cold.   It is an unpleasant experience, at best.  Why does the shower go cold when someone turns on another tap in the house?

Everyone knows how the air conditioner or furnace affects their homes, but not everyone thinks about humidity. Relative humidity affects everything from your breathing and skin health to the pests, mold, and mildew you find at home. That’s why everyone can benefit from buying a hygrometer to monitor the moisture levels in their home.

An infestation of any kind is a significant inconvenience, whether it’s cockroaches, fleas, or other pests. An especially dicey problem to deal with is a pesky case of bed bugs. Bed bugs feed on your blood, make you itch, and cause skin inflammation around their bites. 

I don’t know about you, but I despise vacuuming. Thankfully, in the effort to live like the Jetsons, someone invented the Roomba. Now we can have a hands-off approach to cleaning our house!

Have you ever turned on the faucet to fill your bathtub only to be surprised by the water coming from your shower head? Believe it or not, this is a pretty common issue. The good news? It may be super easy to fix! It’s just a matter of finding out the problem and knowing how to repair it.

Today, we’re answering an important question for anyone living in an area that sees a lot or power outages: are generator interlock kits legal?

If you have ever been stuck on one side of your garage door, then you may know the pain of having a garage door with a broken spring. Whether your springs are simply getting weak, or you have one that has snapped, it can be a scary situation. However, there are still ways that you can open up your garage door.

A flooded septic tank is nothing to mess around with. Your septic tank is responsible for draining all the wastewater from your home, so a flooded one poses a problem. A flooded septic tank can cause sewage to back up into your home’s drains and emit a foul odor. This is a stinky problem you’ll have to deal with sooner rather than later.

Much as we would love to have it, central air conditioning is not always an option. In a pinch, purchasing a window air conditioner can allow for cool, crisp air to permeate your space. But there are things to be aware of with these units.

There’s nothing like a cozy evening spent by the fire. It’s why so many of us prioritize purchasing homes with fireplaces in them.

When you buy a home with a septic system, you should first know what that septic system entails. There are things you can and cannot do when you have a septic system. Just like there are things you can and cannot use in your sinks and toilets if you have a septic system. It is important that you know these things before deciding to buy a home with a septic system.

If you are looking to hang something on your walls, you probably already know that you need to find the studs. But if you have plaster walls, you, unfortunately, cannot use a standard stud finder to do the job. This is because stud finders work by detecting differences in densities behind your wall.

Houseplants have tons of benefits, from air purification and home remedies, to feng shui and visual appeal. You can choose from thousands of plants that thrive indoors, but each plant has its own specific benefits. If you’re trying to improve the feng shui in your home, a houseplant is a good place to start. But some plants are better than others at creating a balanced feng shui.

Columbia, South Carolina, is a town that bridges its traditional Southern roots with a young and modern urban feel. Known as River City, Cola, or Soda Town, it has no connection to soft drinks other than its nicknames.

Ceiling fans are an important part of our homes that often gets overlooked. They keep us cool in summer, warm in the winter, and circulate air when we need it most.

Dryer sheets and dryer balls are very different, yet achieve some of the same results. Primarily, they both help reduce static cling in your clothes while in the dryer. While there are other similarities between the two, there are also many differences. Since these two dryer tools sometimes achieve different results, you may wonder if it’s better to use dryer sheets or dryer balls for your laundry.

Bananas are one of the best and most popular fruits to freeze. This yellow fruit is usually cheap and sold in bunches. Bananas are also a fruit that should not be put in the refrigerator, as this allows bananas to ripen naturally and quickly.

Fireplaces are the central gathering place in most peoples’ homes. A fireplace can provide warmth, comfort, lighting, and more. Although they are relatively simple to operate, the fireplace damper can be a source of confusion for some people.

Every home gets dusty. Whether tiny dirt particles are to blame or it's simply dead skin cells, dust is an inevitability everyone needs regularly clean. In some cases, however, you may find that no matter how much you clean, your home is always dusty.

A well-functioning toilet flapper is necessary to the function of any toilet. There are only three main toilet flapper types available: tank ball, seat disk (or disc) and rubber.

Anyone who has ever done laundry knows the frustration of opening the dryer door to still-wet clothes. Maybe you run it again, or maybe you don’t mind putting them out to air dry for a little while. Either way, unless you plan on doing this forever, that dryer needs to be fixed. So what gives?

For many years, people didn’t know a lot about what was in the products they used. Today, people hold manufacturers more accountable than ever, and you can easily access information about every product in your house. However, not everyone is aware of how many of those items have toxic ingredients.

When we think of a circuit breaker that keeps tripping, common wisdom would be that you’re dealing with a home that’s using up too much energy. So, if it’s happening to you, you might unplug some stuff. But, sometimes, the breaker just will keep tripping regardless of how much stuff you unplug. Clearly, it’s not energy consumption anymore. So, what gives?

Being a new mom is arguably one of the important jobs in the world. Without mothers, life simply does not exist!  It’s safe to say being a new mom is also one of the most demanding jobs in the world. Yet, nearly 87% of women become mothers. Thanks to the many women that came before, modern mothers just seem to know how to maximize each free second. What’s sleep? More importantly, can this go in the dishwasher?

Oobleck is one of the many incarnations of slime that parents have had to deal with over the past 20 years. It’s the homemade version of slime, and as a result, often ends up staining things left and right. Unlike gak, oobleck is one of those things that can pose a serious problem to clothes and carpets. So, how can you clean it up without causing serious damage to everything around you?

Pets help make a house a home. They provide unconditional love, companionship, and are proven to make people happier. While pets have endless benefits, they can also leave a lot of hair all over your home. This can cause severe allergies for some, and can leave your house looking dirty all the time. If your home is always covered in pet hair, you’ll want to find ways to cut back on how much hair your pet leaves in the house.

Washing dishes is part of everyday life as an adult. While the task of washing by hand can be a bit tedious, there are all sorts of devices and accessories that make washing dishes less annoying. The dishwasher is the best example of a device that makes doing dishes less time- and energy-consuming. But if you are worried about your energy costs, you might wonder if it costs more to do dishes by hand,  or in a dishwasher.

If you are leaving your house for the summer, there are quite a few things that you should do. The temperature inside the home is as important as the temperature outside. Making sure that it stays in the correct range will lower your risk of any problems.

Zboxing remains a popular sport with many people actively engaged in boxing training and competition. Even training often involved sparring with an opponent. Frequent contact with sweat and other fluids can leave your boxing gloves dirty. Many boxers wonder if their boxing gloves can go in the washer for a quick and easy cleaning?

If you are itching to carve a pumpkin, you must remember that pumpkins shrivel up and rot fairly quickly. As soon as you slice into a pumpkin, you also cut into its lifespan. In general, a carved pumpkin lasts between five days and two weeks, with 10 days being the standard “average.”

Brita has been one of the most popular go-to’s for people who want to enjoy the taste of crisp, clean filtered water. The most common Brita device to get that delicious crispness is the Brita pitcher, a pitcher that comes with a built-in filter that you can replace. Of course, getting clean water isn’t going to happen if you don’t clean your pitcher.

It’s hard to get comfortable at home when your house smells musty. This is even harder when you struggle to track down the cause of the problem. So, what should you do when you can’t get rid of the musty smell in your house?

Do you somehow keep ending up with a yard full of branches, even though you don’t have any trees? If your answer is yes, then you’re likely the victim of an oblivious or inconsiderate neighbor. But, if the branches are from your tree, that’s a different story.

Mold is bad enough when you find it in one contained area, like a bathroom or kitchen. However, it can quickly turn into an expensive and dangerous problem when it spreads. You’re not alone if you’ve ever wondered how to tell if mold has spread.

Are you thinking about installing an underground propane tank? Propane is clean, efficient, and fairly inexpensive to use; underground propane tanks have many benefits, but they also come with risks. First, you need to know the pros and cons of underground propane tanks before you commit to buying.

We are all more aware of the amount of water we use now compared to years ago when it did not seem to matter at all. Our kids ran around in the sprinklers for hours without anyone thinking we were wasting too much water. But what about when we wash our clothes? How much water does your washing machine use?

High-efficiency washers are a great choice if you’re looking to conserve water and energy. The water level sensor will determine the amount of water you need based on your load weight. Sometimes, the amount of water is not adequate for an excellent washing of your clothes.

One of the best ways to keep your floors clean and free of sand or dirt is to institute a no-shoes-in-the-house policy. Believe it or not, wearing shoes in the home is frowned upon in many parts of the world. Many Asian countries, for example, do not allow the wearing of shoes in the home.

You likely understand by now all of the dangers that are associated with mold growth in the home. They can present health hazards that cause issues as minor as enhanced allergy symptoms or as serious as major lung damage. Aside from the health risks for home occupants, elimination and remediation of mold can be costly and very overwhelming.

Reusable water bottles have become more common as more people are steering clear of disposable plastic bottles. The reusable water bottles stand out as the more eco-friendly option. In the long run, you can also save more money by turning to reusable containers such as the Hydro Flask.

Whether you want to attract crows to your yard because you like birds or to have them help get rid of some of the pests in your yard, it is not difficult to do. Even if you are trying to attract crows to hunt, the tips in this article will help you gather a group in no time.

Strengthened safety glass is a critical safety material for use in homes, commercial buildings, cars, and more. Tempered glass is about three to four times stronger than traditional “annealed” glass. The panel’s strength is increased by undergoing extreme thermal or chemical processes.

Torches have been used for centuries, and while their design might have changed, the truth is that they still remain a major part of our day to day lives. The most common type of torch used today is a propane torch, and they’re reliable…for the most part. Once in a while, your torch might end up getting a clog in it. When this happens, you’re going to have to find a solution.

Guacamole is a party favorite that has become a staple in some diets. It makes use of fresh vegetables to create the perfect snacking dip. You can break it out for a quick snack or make it the centerpiece of any get-together. But how long does guacamole last?

You finally get into your new walk-in tub to have a nice hot bath and after it is about halfway full, the hot water is gone. Has this happened to you? If your hot water heater is too small, you are not going to be able to have that hot bath for a while.

Concrete is considered to be one of the most affordable flooring options, also requiring very little maintenance. If you ever accidentally drip paint onto your concrete floor, it can be a time-consuming endeavor to remove. However, with the proper tools, knowledge, and patience, you’ll have that undesirable paint spill cleaned up in no time.

The HVAC unit is responsible for your home’s cooling and heating as the weather changes. However, many factors influence the system’s efficiency, including duct sizing. Using ducts that are too large or too small can render your HVAC system pretty useless, so it’s important to know duct sizing rules of thumb.

What’s that smell in the kitchen? Oh, apparently the garbage disposal is leaking again. Every summer, some unfortunate households have to deal with one of the most disgusting things a homeowner must face: leaking garbage disposal.

Ceramic mugs are great for a lot of reasons. One can customize a ceramic mug to make it unique, and often ceramic mugs hold sentimental value. And of course, ceramic mugs make it easy to drink hot liquids like tea and coffee.

Boilers play an important role in any home. These units work by heating water and the house with steam. The steam travels through the house in pipes and radiators. Boilers are expensive to install, but have a long lifespan and are energy efficient.

All new Toro mowers are auto choke which means typically, to start it, all you need to do is pull and hold the handlebar bail lever, then yank on the pull cord. Despite the fact that Toro builds great machines, but in the event, you pull your Toro Recycler 22 out of the garage and it won’t start, you are going to need to know how to fix it.

We all rely on refrigerators, and most people don’t want to think about replacing them. Sadly, refrigerators all have a life expectancy, but figuring out when to call it quits is hard. That’s why we compiled the telltale signs you should replace your refrigerator.

No matter where you live or what your lifestyle is like, it’s safe to say that you’ll need some outdoor lighting at night. Dusk to dawn lights are one of the more popular categories of outdoor lighting on the market. This category is meant to turn on when motion hits the light, or when the sun sets. If you have them, you’re probably wondering why your lights keep turning on and off.

If you’re anything like me, there’s nothing that is better at night than experiencing a nice hot bath. We often don’t give our water heaters enough credit in that department, or appreciate how much they do until we notice that things aren’t doing too well in that department. Having your water running lukewarm might be okay if you’re in the kitchen, but it’s still pretty bad when you’re trying to run a bath and should be cause for concern. Ever wonder what could cause this?

Painting your concrete basement can present you with multiple puzzles to solve. After you’ve decided to paint your basement, you are probably wondering which type of paint to use.

When purchasing a home, one of the most important things to have inspected is the electrical system. The electrical system is a fairly delicate part of the house. Because of this, you want to know what kind of wiring you’re dealing with, especially if you buy a house with aluminum wiring.

Having your own space outside can be relaxing. It can also be the perfect gathering spot during the summer! Especially if you hook up some ambiance lighting and music! The only drawback to your oasis is the varying weather conditions. What if it rains? How do you keep your extension cord dry?

Vinyl plank flooring is an excellent way to get the look of hardwood floors at an affordable price. They’re also durable, many types of vinyl floors are waterproof, and they’re easy to maintain. But if you don’t take care of them, they can get dull over time. Luckily, it’s easy to make vinyl plank floors shine like new.