Show Notes: Savor the Fall Season – On the House
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Show Notes: Savor the Fall Season

By on October 10, 2014

Fall is a great time of year, colorful leaves, cooler weather and preparing to go indoors for the winter. This week James and Morris were savoring the season with weekend projects to make your home warm and cozy for the coming winter.

Thank you to our guests this week Mr. Randy Schriber from Guttterbrush. To learn more about this product visit: http://www.gutterbrush.com

Personal Chef Marcel Cocit for the delicious Chocolate Pumpkin Bar recipe.

 

Savor the Fall Season

 Rake leaves. Clearing away leaves from lawns is hard work, so be sure to choose a rake that feels good to you. Plastic rakes don’t last as long, but they are lightweight. Instead of bagging all of the leaves you collect, try chopping some with your mower and using them as mulch in flower beds, or add them to a compost pile.

Clean gutters and downspouts. Schedule rain-gutter cleaning for after most of the leaves have fallen. Inspect gutters and downspouts for cracks and loose parts, and make repairs as needed.

Put up storm windows and doors. If you use storm windows or doors and haven’t put them up yet, now is the time.

Decorate outdoor spaces. Fall flowers, pumpkins and gourds are versatile enough to work throughout the season. If you enjoy decorating for Halloween, get out that frightful decor.

Shut off exterior faucets and store hoses for winter. Disconnect, drain and roll hoses before storing them indoors for the winter. Shut off the water supply to exterior faucets to prevent frozen pipes.

Sharpen knives. The holidays are around the corner — be sure your knives are ready to take on all of that cooking by having them professionally sharpened now.

Check safety devices. Test all smoke and carbon monoxide detectors in the house, and replace batteries as needed. Check the expiration date on the kitchen fire extinguisher and replace it if needed.

Decorate with layers of warmth. Get toasty indoors with cozy throws, thicker curtains and soft rugs. If you haven’t done so yet, swap out your bedding for thicker blankets and fluffy duvets.

Thank you to our friends at HOUZZ for great tips

 

Temporary Weather-Stripping Tips 

If drafty windows and doors and the thought of Old Man Winter just around the corner have you reaching for your caulking gun, hold on. Before you go sealing up those cracks the old-fashioned way, remember last spring and how you couldn’t get your windows open because the caulk had turned rock solid.

This year you are in luck because of new, easy-to-use and easy-to-remove temporary weather-stripping that seals against nasty winter weather like caulk, but peels right off with ease in the spring. There are many different types now on the market. Some install with a caulking gun, while others are smooshed in place with your finger.

Either way, they zip right off when weather’s better, quickly and easily, and leave no residue. It will save you more than its cost in heating bills. And it sure beats the hassle of traditional caulks for temporary weather-stripping. Look for them at your local hardware store or at a home center near you.

 

5 Apps To Get Your Home Ready For Fall

 TreeID – Don’t judge a tree by its bark; get to know your natural neighbors with TreeID.

https://www.medlmobile.com/apps/iphone/treeid

 Palettes 7.0 When you’ve accumulated enough decorative leaves, use a color-matching app such as Palettes (iOS $3.99) to coordinate the rest of your house to match their red, orange and gold hues. Using a photo of the foliage, the app will generate a color palette that complements what you’ve collected, allowing you to pick out furniture and other design pieces that will draw out those autumn colors.

http://www.maddysoft.com/iphone/palettes/#summary

 Sun Seeker

As the days get shorter, Sun Seeker (iOS $8.99, Android $6.99) can ensure that your rooms are set up to make the most of the limited sunlight. Used indoors, the app will help you find a room’s sun exposure so you can arrange furniture accordingly. The program has a map feature that will show you the sun’s position in relation to your home at each hour of the day, allowing you to figure out when certain rooms get the most light.

http://www.ozpda.com/sunseeker_iphone.php

BrightNest

If you’re feeling overwhelmed by the prospect of a big fall cleanup, BrightNest (free for iOS and Android) is a good way keep track of everything. It works like a giant virtual to-do list for projects: Input information about your home’s size, structure and climate, and the app will compile a schedule of regular cleaning tasks. It also includes a section of how-to articles and suggestions for do-it-yourself projects (“Five ways to keep your home spider-free?” Yes please.)

https://brightnest.com/mobile

Yard Sale Treasure Map

Sometimes the best way to make a room look like new is to simply buy new stuff — or at least, replace your old stuff with someone else’s. The Yard Sale Treasure Map (free for iOS and Android) will help you coordinate your search. The app pulls local postings from Craigslist and plots a course among them, allowing you to efficiently hop from one sale to another. You can also search the app for a specific type of item and sync your planned route with your phone to get step-by-step directions on the go.

http://yardsaletreasuremap.com

 

Let the Fall Sun Shine In!

Not enough natural light may cause mood-altering seasonal affective disorder in some people. Increasing the day lighting in your home will help make rooms feel brighter and warmer with these simple tricks.

Clean your light fixtures and bulbs. Dirty bulbs shed 30% less light than clean ones, says the U.S. Department of Energy. Add a dusty, dead-bug riddled cover, and you’ve got an automatic dimmer, whether you want one or not.

Get houseplants. NASA and the Associated Landscape Contractors of America studied houseplants as a way to purify the air in space facilities. They found several plants that filter out common volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Lucky for us the plants can also help clean indoor air, which is typically far more polluted than outdoor air.

Give your windows a good washing. Don’t wait for spring; clean windows let more natural light into your home. Here’s a good window cleaning solution: 1 teaspoon of liquid dish detergent in 2 gallons of warm water, 1 large sponge to soak the surface to loosen dirt and to scrub enough to wash it off. A squeegee, the tool that finishes things. The secret is to buy a good one — about a foot wide. And most important, one with a good fresh rubber blade.

Remove the window screens. The screen will catch and hold dirt, as well as cutting down on the light coming through them. Store the screens and put them back in the spring, when it’s time to open the windows again!

 

Website mentions:

Stihl USA: http://stihlusa.com

WipeNew:http://www.wipenew.com

Shark Grip:http://www.howtodiyright.com/slippery-concrete/

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