Home Organization Techniques for the Modern Homeowner

These days, it seems it’s harder than ever before to keep a home properly organized. We’re all super busy with our work and family obligations, leaving us little time to organize the home. What’s more, it seems our houses fill up with junk automatically without us even noticing. Under such circumstances, it’s especially important to have an effective organizing plan. You can keep your home neat and tidy, but it requires some handy tricks. Here’s some tips to keep in mind as you organize your home.

Give Every Item Its Place

In order to keep a house organized, you have to understand what “organized” looks like. If you don’t even know where your belongings are meant to be stored, you won’t be able to consistently put them where they belong. Pick a day when you have plenty of free time, and then give the house a thorough cleaning. As you do so, put everything away in a place that seems to make sense. Then, give the whole household a tour and insist that, from now one, these are the items’ new homes.

Enlist the Entire Household

Keeping a house organized is a big job that requires teamwork and cooperation. If you try to do it yourself without the rest of the household’s help, you’ll only find yourself running around after them, cleaning up their messes. Make it clear to everybody what their responsibilities are, and hold them accountable. You could even hold a household meeting to delegate weekly tasks.

Make a Schedule

Create a plan for tackling disorganization before it gets out of hand. In many cases, messes work like fires. If you get to them in time, they’re easy to take care of. If you arrive too late, they’ll consume your entire home. By scheduling weekly tasks for you and your housemates, you’ll stay on top of the situation and keep the house as organized as possible.

Furnace Installation

Part of keeping a house organized is making sure that all its features and amenities are functioning properly. If your heating system and hot water are out of whack, then your house is hardly in perfect order. Calling someone in for furnace installation is your first step toward getting the house back to its best.

You want your home to be organized. If you follow this advice, you should have no problem achieving this simple, universal goal.

4 Ways Winter Ice is Damaging Your Home

When it comes to the cold winter months, many of us picture the beautiful white snow falling down. The reality is that ice tends to be the end result of that snow after it goes through the freeze and thaw process multiple times. Ice can be a very dangerous substance that can harm your home in many ways.

Ice Dams

One of the most well-known ways that ice can damage your roof is through ice dams. These happen when the snow starts to melt from your roof in an uneven pattern. Some of the melted snow finds itself backed up in your gutters as it refreezes. This creates solid ice in the gutters. The existing water trying to get off of the roof can't exit due to the blockage in the gutter. This leaves unwanted pools of water all over your roof, which can result in damaged shingles, gutters, and roofing underlayment.

Damaged Gutters from Icicles

Icicles tend to be a beautiful creation of nature. However, when they hang off of your gutters, they can create a real problem for your overall roofing system. If you've ever picked up an icicle, you know they can be super heavy. Imagine the weight of all the icicles hanging from your gutters. It soon becomes clear just how damaging those icicles can be to your gutters.

Ice Expands Existing Foundation Gaps

Ice is a pesky problem that can exponentially increase existing cracking in your home's foundation. It is not uncommon to see a slight crack or two in a foundation over time. These tiny cracks aren't usually an issue as long as they're tended to in a timely manner. However, when water gets into those cracks and freezes in the cold temperature, it creates a whole other store. The ice will actually push out on the material and make the crack larger than it initially was.

Freezing Pipes

Every homeowner should be prepared to deal with freezing pipes. If you plan on leaving your home in the winter months, it can be a common thought to turn the temperature down. However, this can quickly turn into a disaster. If the piping that runs throughout your home is not kept above freezing, the water in the pipes can start to turn to ice. When this happens, the ice expands and causes the pipes to burst open.

Winter ice can wreak havoc on your home if you're not careful. It's important that you do what you can to mitigate the problems above. It's always best to try and prevent any winter problems instead of just responding to them once they happen.

7 Tips for Organizing Your Home during COVID-19

COVID-19 has dramatically changed our lives. Many of us are either virtually working from home or just staying at home as a measure to curb the spread of the deadly virus. It’s a new and distressing experience for most, if not all, of us.  Although the virus itself may make you feel powerless, there are some simple actions you can take to take charge of your home space. Even performing a few simple tasks to keep your home organized can help you lead a more comfortable and fulfilling life during these hard times. Here 7 practical tips for organizing your home during COVID-19.

1.      Choose  a Few Priority Areas to Declutter

 Decluttering is a crucial first step in organizing your home. But you don’t have to work on your whole house all at the same time. Instead, choose a couple of priority areas, and then work on each one of them daily. Consider setting up a dedicated workspace, especially if you’re working from home. It doesn’t have to be an entire room – your home office can be just a space in the dining room, pantry, or closet. Every time you complete a specific home organization task, you’ll feel happy and in control. On top of being active, decluttering can be a fun-filled activity. It’ll allow you to check out your old photos, clothing, gifts, and a variety of other valuable belongings.

2.      Clean Up Your Home Office

If you already have a home office space, take your time to clean and organize it. Check what’s on your work desk, bookshelves, or in drawers, and then sort out what you need and what should go to the trash can. Create a temporary filling area by getting rid of some unnecessary items on the bookshelf.

3.      Develop and Follow a Routine

When working from home or self-isolating, it’s advisable to come up with a routine and follow it daily. Start your day by showering, getting dressed, and taking your breakfast as if you were heading to the office. Ensure your home is clean and organized throughout the day. Once you’re done with your work-related tasks, neaten your workspace, clean the dishes, and ensure everything is tidy so that you can start the next day fresh and with a clear mind.

4.      Create An Extra Space

Do you have adult children? If yes, then adding an extra bathroom or bedroom can be a wise decision during the COVID-19 period. This will offer you adequate space to feel at ease, which will go a long way in enhancing your quality of life. Bear in mind that the pandemic has triggered an economic crisis and many people have lost their jobs. Many homeowners have already seen their adult children return home, and it’s a trend that’s likely to go on for a while. So creating an additional space will be a great idea. And one way to do that is through home remodeling, a project that should be handled by a professional. There are many reliable home remodeling contractors, so be sure to partner with one. Make sure to do your own research for your local area and partner with a good one.

5.      Focus on Safety

There are tons of fantastic how-to videos and guides on how to organize your home on the web, but remember many of them were created before the COVID-19 pandemic. Whatever advice you pay attention to, adapt it to the realities of the circumstances at hand. When sorting out and packing up things you want to dispose of during coronavirus, it’s a good idea to purchase moving boxes instead of depending on boxes from coworkers, friends, or grocery stores. Restrict help with organizing your home to close family members.

6.      Find a Designated Spot for the Masks and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

PPE and mask-friendly accessories have now become part of the clutter that you need to deal with during the COVID-19 crisis. Choose two designated spots for these valuable items – one spot for clean masks and PPE and the second spot for dirty ones. That way, it’ll be easy to separate clean ones from dirty ones.

7.      Store Items Based on How Often They Are Used

The items you use daily should be in plain sight or at least where you can easily get to. The things you use occasionally should need a step stool (think of high shelves). Items you use just once per year should need a ladder. This is where attics and high shelves in a garage come in. With this kind of arrangement, it’ll be easy to access items you use frequently while keeping those you don’t use often clean and neat until you require them.

The Bottom Line

Organizing your home isn’t something you can do just one day and forget about it. Instead, it’s something that you should do every day. Integrate it into your daily schedule so that you can become more efficient at completing your tasks during the COVID-19 period.

4 Benefits of Air Duct Cleaning – How To Clean Air Ducts in Home?

We partnered with a Home improvement company for this post. The opinions in the post are honest. All reviews and opinions expressed in this post are based on our personal views. We are excited because we know you will love it.

Air duct cleaning has a direct impact on your home’s internal atmosphere and your HVAC’s efficiency. As your home AC system continues to operate for many months, it traps dirt, grime, dust, and mold spores within the air ducts. Moreover, the AC units themselves collect dust and dirt over time. Because of this dirt, the air in your home begins to feel stuffy and contaminated. Moreover, if you have family members who have asthma, they’ll end up feeling nauseous, have trouble breathing or develop other severe breathing problems. Therefore, you should ensure air duct cleaning is a high priority.

4 Benefits of Air Duct Cleaning

Regular air duct cleaning brings along several benefits for your home, HVAC system, and family. Some of these benefits stem frombetter air quality, circulation, and efficient performance. Therefore, a simple cleaning job can bring a lot of positives to your home.

1. Cleaner & Fresher Air Owning to a Better Living Environment

By preventing dirt, dust, and pollen from circulating your home, you get to breathe in a cleaner, fresher air without an odor. Furthermore, with your air ducts blowing less dust around, you’ll have an easier time keeping your interior clean. Overall, with cleaner air ducts, you can improve your living environment.

2. Easier Breathing & Fewer Allergens

Removing mold, bacteria, dust, and pollen from your air ducts keeps them from circulating your home and causing issues for those with asthma or breathing problems. Furthermore, you effectively remove other irritants and toxins from the air with a thorough air duct cleaning job. Therefore, you can breathe more comfortably after a routine air duct cleaning run.

3. Improve Air Flow & HVAC Efficiency

With fewer obstructions blowing normal airflow, your HVAC system will operate more efficiently, and air circulation around your home will improve dramatically. Therefore, you’ll save up on HVAC running costs, as your AC units will run at peak efficiency.

4. Increase HVAC Lifespan

With cleaner air ducts, your HVAC system will have an easier time pushing air around your ductwork. As a result, it won’t have to overwork itself as much as it would when working with dirty air ducts. Therefore, you can essentially increase your HVAC system’s lifespan if you clean your air ducts regularly.

How to Clean Your Home Air Ducts

There are two ways you can go about cleaning your air ducts - do it yourself or leave it to the HVAC professionals. Generally, to ensure thorough cleaning and decontamination, you’ll want to leave it to your local HVAC maintenance service to clean your air ducts. Occasionally, if your air ducts are well within reach, you can do some simple cleaning as well. However, in most cases, you’ll need thorough air duct cleaning from your local HVAC maintenance services.

DIY Air Duct Cleaning

When you opt for DIY air duct cleaning, you can reduce costs and save time. If you want to take on the job of cleaning your air ducts, these are the steps you should take -

• Locate registers and vents

• Unscrew the panels to the vents you’ll be cleaning while placing cloth or paper towels over all other vents in your house. By covering up the other vents, you can ensure that no dust blows into your home while you’re cleaning your air ducts.

• Since you’ll be loosening dirt and passing it out a single vent, you need to hold your HVAC in fan mode. Therefore, adjust your thermostat to ensure it’s not in heating or cooling mode. Instead, rely on it to blow out any dirt and dust you manage to loosen.

• Once you’re ready, start cleaning out the registers and air pathways. Here, you’d want to hold a vacuum near the opening to collect all foreign contaminants coming out of the air ducts. Moreover, the HVAC fans will be pushing out any dust you loosen as well. Therefore, get ready to catch everything that comes out of your vacuum. You can use a damp cloth on a long handle to sweep up any dirt within your air ducts, but you’ll have to rinse it repeatedly as you’ll end up collecting dirt quickly.

• Once you’re satisfied with your clean up, turn your HVAC system off and make your way to the blower compartments and AC units. Here, you’ll have to clean out the machinery, especially the blower fans and motors, to prevent them from blowing dust and dirt back into your HVAC.

• After cleaning out the HVAC units, it’s finally time to replace your air filters and call it a day.

That’s everything you need to complete a DIY air duct cleaning job. Although it’s not as thorough as a professional air duct cleaning, it’s still better than letting dust and mold run rampant in your air ducts.

HVAC Professional Air Duct Cleaning Service

You can hire HVAC professionals to clean your air ducts. They follow the same procedure as you would during your DIY clean-up, but they will use tools and machinery to clean out your system thoroughly. Furthermore, after the clean-up, they’ll spray the air duct interiors with anti-bacterial solutions to decontaminate them. Finally, they’ll test to ensure your HVAC system works optimally after the clean-up.

Conclusion

Air duct cleaning is simple, easy, and drastically improves your indoor atmosphere. If you have dirty air ducts or a low-efficiency HVAC system, it’s time for a thorough air duct cleaning. And so, hire the best local HVAC contractors to get the best air duct cleaning services. Remember, with regular air duct cleaning, you’ll have a comfortable, refreshing breeze coming from your air vents and save money on excess energy bills.