TheFrontPorchView.com

• Home
• Featured Properties
• Home Search
• Your Homes Value
• About Me
• Contact Me

Archive for the 'Georgia Mountain Home Tips' Category

February 16th, 2010Categories: Georgia Mountain Home Tips

Sometimes, price tags just don’t want to unstick. No matter how hard you scrub and scrape, tacky residence stays behind. Turns out, getting “the stick” off your stickers isn’t so hard when you have the right tools.

In this 2-minute video from eHow.com, you’ll learn how to remove stickers and adhesive-based price tags from common household items including:

• Wooden furniture
• Glass vases and other glassware
• Plastic pieces
• Cardboard boxes

The best part? All the supplies you’ll need are already in your home.

Tags: How To, Remove, Stickers

Written by Chad Lariscy//Discussion: Please leave a comment.

Subscribe to Blog Contact Me Search for Homes Daily List Alert

February 8th, 2010Categories: Georgia Mountain Home Tips

For spot and room heating, homeowners often turn to portable space heaters.  Often, it’s cheaper and faster to heat a small space with a heater than it is to raise the entire home’s temperature by a few degrees.

But space heaters can be dangerous.

According to the National Fire Protection Association, space heaters were responsible for a large percentage of overall fire-related damages in 2006, including:

43% of home heating-related injuries

51% of home heating-related property damage

73% of home heating-related civilian deaths

Clearly, as compared to central heating systems and fireplaces, electric space heaters cause a disproportionate amount of in-home damage.  This is why it’s important to be safe when using them.

So, here’s some basic space heater tips to follow at home:

1. Never place anything flammable within three feet away of a space heater

2. Never use an extension cord on a space heater

3. Turn space heaters off when leaving a room or going to bed

Furthermore, make sure your space heater bears the label of a recognized testing laboratory such as Underwriters Laboratory.

Remember to test your smoke detectors monthly.

Source
Heating Safety Tips
National Fire Protection Agency

Tags: Home Safety, National Fire Protection Association, Space Heaters

Written by Chad Lariscy//Discussion: Please leave a comment.

Subscribe to Blog Contact Me Search for Homes Daily List Alert

February 1st, 2010Categories: Georgia Mountain Home Tips

Courtesy of Black & Decker, energy-conscious homeowners in Blue Ridge now have another way to conserve natural resources.

Introducing the Lights Out Auto Switch, a 135-degree, motion-detecting device that turns the lights on when people enter a room, and subsequently turns them off after everyone has left.  The timer can be set at 1 minute, 5 minutes, 15 minutes, or 30 minutes.

Use it in bedrooms, home offices, child playrooms and anywhere else a person may leave the lights on.

Best of all, the device is easy to install.

The Lights Out Auto Switch runs on 3 AA batteries and slips right over an existing toggle light switch. There’s no electrical wiring or assembly required and the product ships with a 2-year warranty.

The Lights Auto Switch is available on Amazon.com for $23.

Tags: Add new tag, Energy Conservation, Home Gadgets, Light switch, Lights Out Autoswitch

Written by Chad Lariscy//Discussion: Please leave a comment.

Subscribe to Blog Contact Me Search for Homes Daily List Alert

January 25th, 2010Categories: Georgia Mountain Home Seller's reVIEWS, Georgia Mountain Home Tips

Well-made beds aren’t just for comfort — they’re for presentation, too. Especially when you’re selling your home.  A pristine bed conveys an image of cleanliness and order to potential home buyers and that can help you get more of your asking price at the point of negotiation.

When homeowners don’t take the time to make a bed, buyers wonder what else around the home is getting neglected.

And there’s a proper way to make a bed, too.

In this 15-step video from Howcast, you’ll learn how to start with a stripped down mattress, add bedding, pillows and a blanket, and end with the hotel-quality look that today’s home buyers expect.  The alternative is to leave a bed sloppy, reducing your home’s overall appeal.

To make a bed the right way takes less than 2 minutes. When your home is listed for sale, make making the bed a part of your daily routine.

Tags: Bed, Bedding, Bedroom, For Sale, Home, How To, Listing

Written by Chad Lariscy//Discussion: Please leave a comment.

Subscribe to Blog Contact Me Search for Homes Daily List Alert

January 11th, 2010Categories: Georgia Mountain Home Tips

If you’ve ever used a plastic Chip Clip and been miffed that your chips went stale anyway, you have to see the Banana Seal.  Its beauty is its simplicity.

Similar to the tongue-in-groove seal created by zip-top bags, the Banana Seal creates an airtight seal on bags of all sizes.  Chips stay crunchy, vegetables stay fresh, and freezer-burned food becomes a problem of the past.

The people of Banana Seal made a promotional video that shows the product in action. It’s a little bit over-the-top in “sales mode”, but gives some good ideas on how the Banana Seal works.  Aside from the obvious refrigerator, freezer and pantry uses, the video shows how Banana Seal can be used outside of the kitchen, too.

Buy an 18-pack of Banana Seal for less than $20 from Amazon.com.

Tags: Banana Seal, Gadgets, Home Tips

Written by Chad Lariscy//Discussion: Please leave a comment.

Subscribe to Blog Contact Me Search for Homes Daily List Alert

December 7th, 2009Categories: Georgia Mountain Home Tips

Watch CBS News Videos Online

As temperatures turn cooler and home heating systems get fired, homeowners should learn to recognize the symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning and how to safeguard against it.

Carbon monoxide poisoning presents like the flu — headache, dizziness, and nausea.  As a result, many people confuse the two.

Sometimes, the consequences are fatal. Each year, carbon monoxide sends 40,000 Americans to the emergency room and, as we learn from CBS News, those that survive are far more likely to develop and die from heart disease later in life.

Stay safe in your home.

1. Don’t heat your home using your gas oven

2. Don’t leave a running car in your garage

3. Service your gas-burning appliances annually

And, most important, install carbon monoxide detectors near every bedroom in your home.

Related articles by Zemanta

• How To Install a Carbon Monoxide Detector (howcast.com)
• Carbon Monoxide Poisoning – What You Should Know (newswire.ca)

Tags: Carbon monoxide, Carbon monoxide poisoning, Heart disease, Nausea

Written by Chad Lariscy//Discussion: Please leave a comment.

Subscribe to Blog Contact Me Search for Homes Daily List Alert

December 2nd, 2009Categories: Georgia Mountain Home Tips

I recently read an article in the November 11th edition of The North Georgia News on how to save our hemlocks that Donna Shearer wrote entitled “How Can Georgia Homeowners Save Their Hemlocks.” I know what some of you are thinking….”he is just now reading an article written back in November?” Actually, I read it several weeks ago, but slow to write about it myself here on “The Porch.”

Donna states that there are 3 things you can do if your hemlocks become infested with the woolly adelgid.

1. You could do nothing and your trees will die.

2. Treat them yourself.

3. Hire a professional to treat them.

Obviously treating them yourself is the most cost affective. This option involves a combination of simple cultural and chemical controls. Cultural controls are things you should be doing routinely to maintain the health of your trees. Things like spreading mulch around your trees, keeping them watered during times of drought. One good point that Donna made was NOT to hang bird feeders in or near Hemlocks as birds can be vehicles for hitchhiking adelgids. Also she points out to remove trees where there is overcrowding and to cut any infested trees that you do not plan to treat chemically.

Chemical controls fall into two categories, non-systemic and systemic. Non-systemic products are topical treatments such as insecticidal soaps and horticultural oils that are sprayed onto the foliage and kill insects usually by smothering them. Systemic products are applied to the soil, the foliage, or in some cases the bark; are absorbed and distributed throughout the tree; and then kill any insects that feed on the tree, providing residual protection for one to five years.

If your trees are highly infested and you really want to try and save them, you need to go ahead and hire a professional. Badly infested trees need to be treated with a stronger product called Safari. You will have to contract with a professional to have your trees treated with this product. You can visit this website and click on the Contacts page for a list of professionals in your area. In most cases, they will come out and give you a “Free” estimate to treat your infested trees.

Food for thought! Not treating your infested trees could cost you a whole lot more in the long run, not to mention all the aggravation.  For instance, having a large tree cut down, and completely hauled away could cost from $300 to as much or more than $1,500. Large trees such as Hemlocks can contribute 7% – 10% of your properties value. So on a $200,000 property, losing all the Hemlocks could cost as much as $14,000 – $20,000 or even more. Cha-ching!

So if you have hemlocks on your North Georgia Mountain Property, take the time to inspect them. If you detect that they are possibly infested, please look into treating them yourself or hiring a professional to do so. This will help keep our North Georgia Mountains beautiful…not to mention help hold the value of your property!

Thanks for stopping by “The Porch.” Please come on back by as often as you like, you are always welcome. If you have any Real Estate needs in the North Georgia Mountains, I would be grateful for the opportunity to assist you. Should you have any questions or concerns about anything in this article or generally related, I would be happy to answer those for you. You can Contact Me, or simply pick up the phone and call me at 877.633.8186.

Make it a GREAT day!

Tags: Hemlock Tree, Insect, Mulch, North Georgia Mountains, Real Estate, Soil, Tree, Woolly Adelgid

Written by Chad Lariscy//Discussion: Please leave a comment.

Subscribe to Blog Contact Me Search for Homes Daily List Alert

December 2nd, 2009Categories: Georgia Mountain Home Tips

Get Your Home Ready For Listing : How To Eliminate Home Odors Completely

Difficult home odors plague homeowners.  Ground into rugs, absorbed into walls, and clinging to furniture, some smells are slow to fade, leaving lasting impressions on both guests and potential buyers. Often, that impression is unfavorable.

Do something about it.

In this 4-minute piece from NBC’s The Today Show, you’ll learn how to eliminate bad smells and prevent them from returning.  It’s all basic direction, too:

• How to use the porous nature of wood to your advantage
• How to remove get “smoke smell” out of a wall
• How to improve a home’s air quality by cleaning carpets

For more serious offenses, the video covers in-home air purifiers, too.

“Smelly homes” are undesirable and can make your home less attractive to buyers.  Watch the video, follow the instruction, and declare your home an Odor-Free Zone.

Tags: Carpet, Listing, Odor, Real Estate

Written by Chad Lariscy//Discussion: Please leave a comment.

Subscribe to Blog Contact Me Search for Homes Daily List Alert

November 23rd, 2009Categories: Georgia Mountain Home Tips

Thanksgiving is Thursday. If you’re cooking for group (or a crowd) and you haven’t yet put your menu in order, click on through Bon Appetit’s Thanksgiving Menu Planner.

Answer to 3 basic questions and Bon Appetit serves up a list of dishes and their respective recipes.

1. For how many people are you cooking?
2. How much time do you have to cook?
3. What’s your style?

The dishes range from the simple (Pumpkin Pie with Spiced Whipped Cream) to the sophisticated (Herb Roasted Turkey with Apple Cider Gravy).  There’s even a menu for vegetarians.

It’s not too late to host a delicious Thanksgiving dinner. Bon Appetit can get you moving in the right direction.

Tags: Cooking, Holidays, Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving dinner

Written by Chad Lariscy//Discussion: Please leave a comment.

Subscribe to Blog Contact Me Search for Homes Daily List Alert

November 19th, 2009Categories: Georgia Mountain Home Tips

How to Clean a Granite Countertop — powered by eHow.com

Granite countertops can be handsome additions to a kitchen, but are a challenge to clean sometimes — especially when they’re stained.

In this 2-minute video from eHow.com, in addition to granite-cleaning basics, we learn how to remove wine and marker stains from our granite countertops. Unfortunately, not every household will have the video’s recommended cleaning compounds on hand, so prepare yourself for a trip to the hardware store.

Printable, written instructions for cleaning your granite are available on the eHow.com website.

Tags: Granite Countertops, Home Tip, Materials and Supplies, Stain Removal

Written by Chad Lariscy//Discussion: Please leave a comment.

Subscribe to Blog Contact Me Search for Homes Daily List Alert