Don’t let your home get on top of you

Have you ever looked at the state of your home and wondered how on earth you allowed it get to where it is? A lot of people make the mistake of letting their home get on top of them, rather than keeping on top of the home. The good news is we’re here to help, and below we’ve written a list of some of the things that you can do to keep on top of your home before it gets on top of you. Keep reading to find out more.

Always clear out your gutters

The first thing that you to need to do is make sure that you’re regularly clearing out your gutters. We know that this isn’t a pleasant job, and it’s not something that you’ll look forward to doing, but it has to be done to avoid them blocked then overflowing and leaking. If you don’t fancy doing it yourself then there are always other options you could consider.

For example, you could pay one of the neighbourhood teens to do it as they’re often looking for odd jobs to make some quick cash. Or, you could get in touch with a company like PorterVac who offer this service professionally.

Keep it clean and tidy

If you keep your home clean and tidy as you go along, you won’t to have to do that many time-consuming deep cleans. Of course, these are still going to be necessary from time to time, but not very often. It’s simply going to be a case of picking up after yourself, cleaning up when you’ve made a mess and vacuuming at the end of each day.

If you do this, then there’s no way your home can get on top of you when it comes to mess, leaving hours of work for you to complete.

Take care of repairs

The final thing we’ll say is that you need to take care of repairs as and when they crop up. The longer you leave an issue, the worse – and perhaps more expensive – it’s going to get and that’s the absolute last thing that you need. We know that sometimes you don’t really have the spare money available to make a repair, but sometimes you may even be able to do it yourself! Take a look at what needs doing, and it may be pretty simple to sort.

It’s important to note though that you should never attempt to fix your own plumbing or electrics if you are not trained to do so. This is dangerous and you could end up causing harm to yourself or making the problem worse.

We hope that you’ve found this post helpful, and are now aware of some of the things that you could be doing to avoid letting your home get on top of you. It can be a nightmare if you allow this to happen, with you constantly feeling as though you’re never going to catch up! Nobody wants that, so it’s best to keep on top of it as much as you can.

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Home winter checks

Winter can be a challenging time of year for home-owners. The wet and cold weather can do damage to the outside of your property, and the cost of keeping up with heating can be considerable – even when price caps are in effect.

Insulate

Insulation is the means through which you can prevent the generated heat in your home from being lost to the outside. Insulation comes in many different forms. You may insert mineral wool into the gaps between the joists in your loft or thinner, board-style insulation into the space just below the roof itself. You may also install double-glazed windows or insulate your cavity walls with the help of injectable, expanding foam.

If you’re insulating your loft space, then make sure that there’s adequate ventilation for air to circulate. This will ensure that you don’t run into problems with condensation. If you’re going to be DIYing any of these steps, it’s worth investing in quality power tools.

Boiler checks

Your boiler is arguably the most important appliance in your home as far as energy is concerned. In a matter of seconds, it can consume the same amount of energy as a light bulb that’s left on for hours. Therefore, it’s worth ensuring that your boiler is as energy efficient as possible by having regular checks and annual services scheduled. This will also minimise the likelihood of your boiler breaking down, which will be disastrous during the worst of the cold weather.

Check for gaps

Small gaps in the fabric of your property will allow unwanted cold air to enter. This will, in turn, cause lots of precious heat to be lost, which will prove to be very expensive over time. Search out the draughts and see if they can be sealed. They’re most commonly found in the spaces around your windows and doors. One inexpensive solution here is to install compression strips around the doors themselves. If you have an old house with equally old and badly fitting doors, you could try using draught excluders on the floor. These solutions will plug any gaps and prevent cold air from getting inside. If you’re having trouble identifying the draughts, then it may be a good idea to hire an electronic device that will detect them for you. It works a little bit like a remote thermometer and will emit a warning noise whenever it’s aimed at a source of cold air.

Clean outside

It’s vital that the exterior of your home is kept clean and tidy. This way, unnecessary long-term damage won’t be suffered, and you’ll be able to stay as safe as possible. Unclog your drains, sweep your paths clear, clear out the gutters and mend your fences. If your property is overhung by trees, then it’s crucial to give your drains, gutters and down-pipes a clear-out. Blockages could cause the gutters to overflow, which may be bad news for your roof and any structures located underneath the affected area.

Carry out these and other home winter checks to keep your property in tip-top shape and prevent unnecessary remedial work down the line.

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How to protect your home from freezing temperatures

When cold, wintry weather approaches, one can’t help but look for ways to protect your home from the effects of freezing temperatures. Wintertime is undoubtedly a joyous time of the year, but severe cold weather can utterly ruin the delight of the holidays.

During cold weather, an unprotected home could slowly deteriorate and unless it’s adequately safeguarded. You may risk developing mould or some other unwelcome problem. Don’t allow harsh, sub-zero temperatures to damage your property; try to increase your home’s energy efficiency to enjoy this wonderful season to the full. Here are some of the most effective and practical ways to protect your home from freezing temperatures and all the inconvenience and expenditure that it can bring.

Protect pipes and plumbing

The pivotal thing to do is to ensure that all plumbing and pipes are properly protected. Outdoor plumbing fixtures, especially, need to be insulated and covered to ensure the pipework doesn’t freeze. You need to protect outdoor taps, pipes and joints as, if they freeze up, the pipes could burst and cause flooding and other devastation.

Add insulation

One of the main ways to protect your home from damage caused by freezing temperatures is to install quality insulation. If you were to add double bubble insulation to your walls or roof space will maximise the potential to prevent frost damage to the water pipes located in exterior walls. Not only that, but with quality insulation materials, you won’t have any damp issues, problems with condensation or lose heat which is vital during the cold months. Insulation is one of the most important and beneficial methods of protecting your property.

Seal any cracks and gaps

During cold months, the freezing air can easily find its way indoors through gaps in window frames and other small openings. If you feel chilly, despite closing all your windows and doors, use expanding foam insulation to fill any cracks around windows, door frames or points where cables and wires enter the house. In addition, inspect the property’s exterior annually for any gaps, openings or cracks, and repair them before winter approaches.

Clean the gutters

Leaves, twigs and other debris can create a huge mess, and even cause water damage unless maintenance is carried out. By cleaning the gutters at the end of each autumn, you minimize the chances of gutters and downpipes becoming blocked and causing damage to the roof, interior ceilings and exterior walls.

Inspect attic ventilation

When freezing temperatures arrive, you don’t want ice dams forming on your roof due to the lack of attic ventilation. Another nifty hack for protecting your home from freezing temperatures includes having suitable airflow via soffits or attic vents. Ensure there’s no insulation blocking the air vents and that there’s a free flow of air in order to prevent warm air from melting the snow on the roof. Unless there’s adequate attic ventilation, the ice can melt, trickle into the attic and refreeze at the roof edges, causing damaging damp penetration.

Keep the garage door closed

It’s absolutely crucial to keep your garage door closed during cold months. If your garage is attached to your house, keep the door between the two closed to keep cold air out. By doing this, you protect all plumbing fixtures, wires or pipes that go through shared walls between the house and garage and stop them from potentially freezing. In addition, keeping this door closed means that the central heating won’t need to work as hard.

Replace outdated appliances

Energy saving and cost-efficiency are what will keep your home safe during freezing periods. Make sure that all indoor appliances are up-to-date not to get high energy bills and not proper heating. Replace outdated and faulty appliances, cover outdoor items like the AC unit, install solar power if possible. Updating appliances will help increase the home’s efficiency and cut energy bills during the winter.

Heed our preceding advice to protect your home from damage caused by freezing temperatures and save yourself the inconvenience and expenditure of altogether preventable repairs.

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Price Points: Chimney sweeping sets

Autumn is certainly here; the leaves are changing colour, mushrooms are popping up everywhere and temperatures are beginning to fall.

We’ve left it a bit late in the year to get the chimney sweep in – he’s now booked up for months! Because we skipped a year last year, we really want to get it done this year. We’ve looked into the DIY option – these are some of the chimney sweeping sets that we’ve found on the market.

There are two ways that these brushes work; the traditional way, where the brushes and rods are manoeuvred by the user’s arms, wrists and shoulders. The other way – as in the case of #2 – is by hooking up the apparatus to an electric drill and letting that do most of the work for you.

I absolutely adore the vintage set – just perfect for clearing the chimneys on an old Welsh cottage!

MAXBLAST powered chimney sweep – 7m: £55.99, B&Q
Vintage antique chimney sweep brush & rods kit, heavy duty: £59.99, eBay
Flexible liner flue / chimney sweeping kit (8 Inch medium bristle brush, 10 metre rods): £155.20, Rodstation

shop chimney sweeping sets

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