Chase-Pitkin 

Your home has an envelope that is made up of the exterior walls, floors, roof, windows, and doors — everything that surrounds your living space. Maintaining the envelope is vital to protecting you from the outside elements and controlling the cost of operating your home. If colder weather is coming to your area, it’s not too late to put together a checklist and take appropriate action to protect that envelope. For example, a storm door that doesn’t fit securely is letting cold air penetrate your home. Installing a new one will cut down on drafts and prevent heat loss. Single …

Read more✉️ Your Home’s Energy Envelope

As the winter months roll on, cabin fever maybe crawling in to further dampen your post-holiday mood. You could spend some time planning that major remodeling project. But if you’re not up for a new kitchen or deck this year and you need something to keep those DIY juices flowing, why not tackle a series of smaller projects. Most of the following can be done in a couple of days or a couple of hours. Paint a Room It’s amazing what a difference a new coat of paint makes and you can probably find good deals on paint right now. …

Read more🏠 Pre-Season Interior Design Projects

Replacing an old kitchen faucet is a great way to update the look of your kitchen. However, the days are gone when you just settled for the “chrome one with the handle.” The faucets available today are an important element in overall kitchen design and appear in fresh finishes with innovative functionality. Finishes Chrome, the familiar choice for kitchen faucets, is still popular, but now it appears in combination with other materials or finishes. Using multiple finishes offers you a greater opportunity to coordinate the faucet with the other surfaces and accessories in your kitchen. The recent resurgence in popularity …

Read more🚿 Replacing Your Old Kitchen Faucet

This has been the mildest winter we’ve seen in the northeast in many years. Because of the lack of snow we’re starting to hear about a potential problem. Lakes, streams, and ground water levels in some areas are quite low. What does that mean to you, the average homeowner? It means your lawn may not have received sufficient moisture to carry it through the upcoming growing months. As a result, grass maybe weaker and more vulnerable to diseases and pests. What can you do to keep your lawn healthy? Put your lawn on a regular fertilizer program and start before …

Read more🏜️ Dealing With Drought

Creating a landscape plan for your new home and investing in appropriately selected shrubs and trees can transform an ordinary looking house into one with character and distinction. If you’re making over an existing home’s landscaping with mature plantings you will certainly want to make changes, removing and replanting elements of the landscape design. If your home is newly built, you have the opportunity to start from scratch to create and mold your landscaping. Background and house framing While it would be preferable to have a natural background to your house, it is possible to arrange a background of quickly …

Read more🌳 Landscaping Your New Home

You’ve finally commandeered space in the garage or basement to set up a real workshop. Now you have to address a list of items you need to get your workshop up and running. Electricity Having enough power in the home workshop is essential. You don’t want to draw from household needs or blow circuit breakers or fuses. If you’re planning on using power tools extensively you may want to review your home’s electrical system and consider upgrading. Outlets You’ll need a 20-amp circuit with 12-gauge wire for your outlet needs. Use a GFI breaker to protect yourself and your equipment …

Read more👨‍🔧 Your New Workshop

The Poinsettia is the traditional flower of the holiday season bringing a wonderful splash of color to your home. Besides the ever popular deep rich red color, there is a wide array of colors including pink, white, marbled, speckled, and yellow. These showy colorful “flowers” are actually the leaves or bracts of the plant. The true flower is the small yellow or green in the center of the bracts. Here are some tips for keeping your poinsettia vibrant and healthy: 1. Protect from Cold Poinsettias are very sensitive to cold because they are a tropical plant. Make sure the plant is …

Read more🌸 Poinsettia Pointers

Have you noticed icicles forming along the edges of your roof? These sparkling beauties of nature can cause a major problem for your house. When snow builds up on the roof, melts, and then refreezes at the roof’s edge, you get a build up of ice called “ice damming.” During the thaw cycle, the water from these ice dams can leak into the house and can cause various degrees of damage. It may appear as a brown stains on the ceiling, loose roof shingles, or sagging gutters. This kind of damage is visible and you can repair it when you …

Read more❄️ Ice Damming

Snow blowers make quick work of snow and save time, not to mention a few backaches. If you’re ready to purchase a snow blower, you will have a choice of either a single or two-stage machine. What’s the difference? A single-stage unit is great for light to medium duty usage, up to about 6″ of snow. It has only one part, an auger, usually made of hard rubber. The auger spins very fast throwing the snow as it propels the snow blower along. The more pressure applied to the auger blade, the faster the unit will go, and you’ll find …

Read more❄️ The Scoop on Snow Blowers

Love the idea of having a fire in the fireplace, but thought it was impossible since you don’t have a chimney? Guess what, now you can. Add a vent-free gas heating unit to your home. More than 30 million families worldwide and over 4 million US households already rely on vent-free gas heating products. Energy efficient A vent-free gas-heating appliance operates without a chimney or vent, so no heat can escape — saving you money. It literally costs only pennies per hour to operate. You can install one just about anywhere, even an inside wall. A variety of vent-free gas …

Read more💨 Staying Warm Vent Free