Search Results for: blog gutters and winter damage

Cleaning the Gutters

Have you cleaned your gutters? This year some of the outside maintenance has gotten away from me. I’m pretty lucky because I only have on big tree in my yard, the other one is still too small to be a real problem. The big tree drops enough leaves to keep me busy raking, trying to get them all up before snow blankets the ground. I usually don’t think about my rain gutters too much, after all I only have one tree. Once again, I didn’t think too much about my gutters this year until my friend came over. Nancy said … Continue reading →

Gutters and Winter Damage

It is important to make sure that your home’s gutters are in working order now before winter sets in. Winter can cause a lot of damage to your home if your gutters aren’t working properly. For example, an ice dam can form, allowing water to back up and get into your roofing shingles, under the tar paper and right into the plywood beneath. The next thing you know, your roof, fascia and soffit are all damaged. Your trim can rot unnoticed for many years. You can also wind up with insects and mold this way. Your home can also be … Continue reading →

Snow, Ice and Your Home

As you might have guessed by reading today’s Frugal Living post, I have snow and the snow in New Orleans on my mind. We’ve already had our first good snow this year, although it melted away a couple of days later. Still I wanted to take the opportunity to talk about snow and your home. When I was little, the windows in our apartment were so drafty that when it snowed, the snow would actually come in the windows and pile up in the corners of the windowsill. As a child, I thought it was great fun to make indoor … Continue reading →

Reasons to Remove Snow from Your Roof

Snow can be pretty, but it can also be problematic. Those who live in places that regularly get snow realize that they will have to remove snow from their cars and driveways. State Farm points out that that it is a good idea to take the time to remove the snow from the roof of your home, too. When I was really young, I remember a time when my family experienced a Midwestern blizzard. Snow piled up higher than I’d ever seen it before (or since). My father used a rake to knock snow from the roof. Once he cleared … Continue reading →

Researching Major Purchases

It’s that time of year when you start thinking about all the big projects that need to be done around the house. When I first bought my house I woke up one rainy day to a drip in the attic. I went up there and found the roof was leaking. When the rain stopped I did some research online and patched the roof but I needed a new roof. I know nothing about the roof of my house, I’ve never actually given it much thought but suddenly it was all I could think about. I needed to find someone to … Continue reading →

Mold, Mold Go Away

In many places the rainy season is on it’s way. April showers bring May flowers, or so I’ve heard, right now there is just a whole lot of dead stuff outside, even with the moisture we’ve had. When the rainy season comes, if you’re not careful you can have mold blooming in your house along with the beautiful flowers outside your house. The first thing to do is check the grade of the dirt around your foundation. Make sure that the dirt, lawn, flower bed, whatever is there, slopes away from the house. If the ground slopes the other way … Continue reading →

Six Things You Should Check on Your Roof

If you want to have the best protection from the winter weather and a roof that will hold up and be safe, you should check the following six things. It could be the difference between being safe and warm in the winter and having a major problem with your roof. 1. The first thing you should do is to check the framing structure of your roof. Stand back and look to see if there are any parts of your roof that sag or parts that are uneven. Sagging could indicate a problem with the roof deck. 2. Next, get on … Continue reading →

Be Prepared for Frost

Winter is definitely underway, which means that you need to be prepared for frost, both for your family and for your home. Even if the cold weather has hit your area, you can still be proactive. It is never to late to be prepared. Prepare Your Pipes Frozen pipes are not good thing. If you have ever experienced a burst pipe, you know what I mean. There is water flooding everywhere causing damage to your home, and the fix and cleanup are often expensive. To prepare against a burst pipe, make sure that you know where your water shut off … Continue reading →

Applying for Energy Assistance

There are many programs out there that can help you if you need energy assistance. Some of these programs are state or local government funded, some are privately funded, and some are funded by energy companies. If you need energy assistance this winter, you’ll want to apply to one or several of these programs, depending on where you live and what your situation happens to be. Many other families may also be applying. In order to up your chances of being selected for energy assistance, you will need to be prepared with the information that will need to go on … Continue reading →

Save the Leaves!

Save the leaves! Save the leaves! It’s fall. That means that it’s time to save some leaves. Why save the leaves? For one, they make great garden mulch. Spread them over top of your garden and protect tender plants from the winter rain and snow. Leaf mulch also protects your soil from winter time erosion. Leaves are also excellent brown material for your compost. Some people add torn up newspaper to the compost, but leaves are even better. Compost that has a lot of vegetable peelings and green grass is fine, but it needs some carbon to balance out all … Continue reading →