LENNAR CARES » Home Maintenance

5 Chores To Do Before Fall

Lennar — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 14:38:21 +0000

With fall officially starting in just a couple of weeks, it’s time to start preparing our homes for the next season. By starting now and taking care of these 5 chores, you’ll get a great start on getting your home ready. From organizing your garage and home office to packing up your backyard and cultivating your garden, this article has some helpful and quick solutions for you. [Read this article]

Source: www.thenest.com

5 Home Repairs Not to Ignore

Lennar — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 21:48:53 +0000

You might be tempted to put off fixing your home until the economy rebounds. Rebuild the patio? Sure, right after your 401(k) rallies. But some problems, if left unchecked, can lead to thousands of dollars in repairs (rebuilding a foundation wall, for instance) and might even compromise your family’s health, such as mold contamination.

The trouble signs are easy to spot, provided you know what to look for. What’s more, contractors aren’t as busy now, so they might even be more flexible on price. Here are the five biggest red flags of home maintenance, with advice on how to deal with them from ConsumerReports.org. Their recent reviews of gutter guards and roofing and siding materials can also help.[Read this article]

Source: www.consumerreports.org

10 Repairs You Can Do Yourself

Proper Ceiling Fan Settings Can Equal Lower Energy Costs

Lennar — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 21:24:55 +0000

Are your ceiling fans set properly in your Lennar home? From season to season, ceiling fans need a bit of attention to ensure that the blades are rotating in the correct direction. The minimal amount of time it takes to make these adjustments can save you money on your energy costs.

Ceiling fans provide great air circulation and you can optimize these benefits by ensuring the rotation of the blades is correct for circulating warm air or a cooling breeze.

During the hot summer weather when you are running the air conditioner, blades should rotate in a ‘reverse’ counter-clockwise motion. The air movement has the same soothing effect as when you fan yourself with a magazine to get relief from hot, stifling air.

During the winter when you are using your heat, to help circulate warm air that is trapped on the ceiling, blades should turn ‘forward’ in a clockwise motion. This movement will push the air up and pull the warm trapped air down the sides of the room improving heat distribution.

Ceiling fans alone do not heat or cool a room, but the circulation caused by the correct blade rotation can greatly improve the comfort of your living space. You can also save in energy costs when the ceiling fan is on the correct setting to support your cooling or heating efforts.

Find more information and useful tips about ceiling fans on the Energy Star website.

10 Repairs You Can Do Yourself

Lennar — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 21:15:06 +0000

Warm summer days are a good time to take stock of any winter damage to your home. If your house wasn’t entirely buttoned up during storms, the chances are pretty good that a few problems, particularly pertaining to moisture, have become self-evident. Following are 10 post-winter repairs you may want to tackle now. If any of these are beyond your abilities, call a contractor. You can find qualified, pre-screened roofers or contractors on the web. [Read this article]

Source: www.hometips.com

14 Ways to Save Water in Your Garden

Lennar — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 14:00:59 +0000

Looking for ways to save water in your garden? With summer comes an increase in energy and water consumption for many consumers. To keep your garden and lawn looking their best, especially in the heat of the summer, water is an essential ingredient. To help keep costs down – and protect our environment – we’ve found some great tips on how to conserve water in your landscaping projects. From using landscape fabric to mowing practices, this article has some extremely practical suggestions that you can put into use right away. [Read this article]

Source: www.hgtv.com

Maintaining a Good Grade Around Your Home

Lennar — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 19:46:06 +0000

How your home is sited—where it sits on its lot and how the land slopes around it—is important in keeping basements dry. Improper grading—that is, ground that doesn’t correctly slope away from the foundation—can allow excessive amounts of groundwater to collect in the soil around basement walls. The ground should slope away from the foundation of your home for several feet at a grade of at least 1 inch per foot. It is improperly sloped if it is level or angles toward the home.

Unfortunately, all of the following can easily affect grade:

Incorrectly installed landscaping.
Soil compaction.
Soil erosion.

It’s easy to check the grade yourself. You’ll just need a couple of tools and a bit of time and you’re ready to go. [Read this article]

Source: www.familyeducation.com

5 Handy iPhone Apps for Home Improvement

Lennar — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 14:00:52 +0000

While there’s no iPhone app that can help you avoid hitting your thumb with a hammer, falling off a ladder or stepping in a tray of paint, certain apps can be a useful addition to your tool kit when attempting some DIY projects.

Here are five great apps that will assist you in illumination, estimation, decoration, organization and for those green-thumbed folk among you, even propagation. So grab your safety goggles and strap on the tool belt — handyman help awaits. [Read this article]

Source: www.mashable.com

No related posts.

How Brick Can Crumble

Lennar — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 19:50:30 +0000

Source: life.familyeducation.com

Brick is amazingly durable and an excellent insulator, which is why it’s so widely used and has been for centuries.

Older brick homes usually feature solid brick construction. Most modern brick homes, however, are made with brick veneers. These surfaces give the appearance of solid brick at a lower cost.

Both solid brick and brick veneer are applied with mortar, which is cement, sand, and lime mixed together with water. Both substances are solid yet porous, with mortar being more so. In wet climates, and especially climates that experience extreme temperature swings, water-repellant coatings are sometimes applied to brick buildings to preserve their finish.

Both types of brickwork can deteriorate for a number of reasons. Sometimes it’s just one thing that causes the problem; other times it’s a number of things that come together to create havoc. [Read this article]

Home Maintenance Checklist for Summer

Lennar — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 16:54:56 +0000

Source: realestate.msn.com

Having a good home maintenance checklist is a very handy way to ensure that everything gets done around your Lennar home. A home maintenance checklist that is specific to a season can be extremely helpful in scheduling tasks at the best time of year.

With the start of summer and warmer weather, you can focus most of your maintenance chores outdoors. You will need to look for winter damage, ward off mold and rot, sharpen your tools and patrol your home’s perimeter for pests and other problems. First, however, you should attend to a couple of jobs that will help you stay comfortable and safe inside your home.

Marilyn Lewis of MSN Real Estate has created a helpful checklist to use as you get started on your summer maintenance schedule. To access the checklist, click here.

As always, if you have a question or concern about your Lennar home, please feel free to contact us for assistance.

Summer Cleaning Chore Checklist

Lennar — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 14:32:18 +0000

Source: www.organizedhome.com

Summer’s here, hot, high and sweaty. Vacations beckon. The garden takes on a life of its own.

Busy families don’t have much time for home chores these months. School’s out, travel’s in and it’s easy to let life slide on the home front.

Still, summer will run more smoothly if you keep tabs on these important areas in the Summer Cleaning Chore Checklist by Cynthia Ewer. Cynthia’s list has some excellent tips for both inside and outside your home, as well as great ideas for staying organized. [READ ARTICLE]