Handy Man Fix Home Repair

If your house is equipped with gutters and you can’t remember the last time they were cleaned, it’s best to get proactive and do it yourself. While there are services that can come do this for you, it’s actually quite easy and just about anyone can do it safely. Before you get started, you’ll need to have a couple of tools to get the job done.

They include:

• A ladder that can easily reach your roof gutters
• A hose hooked up to a water supply
• A long pole (a broom handle will work if you don’t have anything else to use.)

First, you’re going to need to determine how bad the clutter in your gutters is. If you don’t live near any trees, you’ll most likely be dealing with some built up grime and various bits of debris. If you do have trees in your yard, chances are that your gutters are packed with leaves as well as dirt. It’s a good idea to clean your gutters every year, once all of your trees have shed their leaves, but if you find that yours don’t get that dirty you may be able to get away with every two years.

Before you actually start cleaning your gutters, let’s talk about why it is so important to keep them clean. Over time, you’re going to get quite a lot of debris in there. Your gutters serve to catch rainwater and divert it away from your house. If your gutters are clogged, you’re going to have to deal with some leaks along the gutter system, or you may notice that water is collecting around the base of your home. This is very bad for your foundation and can lead to rot, cracking and other dangerous problems with your foundation. It’s a lot easier just to take the time once a year to keep them clean.

Ok, now, let’s get started. Get your ladder and put it up against the house so you can easily reach the gutter without stretching. If your ladder is too short, you’re increasing your chances of injuring yourself, so stick with one that is big enough to do the job. Now, you’ll be able to see what you’re dealing with in there. If there are a lot of leaves, you can use your long pole to loosen them, but you’ll probably have to resort to good old fashioned hand scooping at some point. If you have just a lot of dirt, you can use your hose to spray the inside of your gutter clean.

Once you’ve removed all the debris in the area you can reach, you’ll need to move your ladder down a few feet and keep repeating the process until all of your gutters are cleaned out. That wasn’t so hard, was it? Remember, try to clean your gutters out every year to avoid dealing with runoff problems. Since it’s so easy, it’s no big deal to keep them spic and span.

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As the housing market continues to struggle, many homeowners are looking into ways to increase the value of their homes. However, a common issue that keeps these homeowners from making improvement is the lack of availability on home improvement loans, and a lack of available funding. Luckily, there are many small fixes that can be done to increase the value of your home and many of them cost less than $500, and in some cases, less than $50.

The first step is to determine where you want to start in your home. Changes made to the exterior are usually considered to be more valuable from an appraiser’s point of view, than changes made to the interior. So, let’s focus on the outside of your home and find some ways to increase its value without breaking the bank.

Paint is one of the best fixes and if you can get it on sale, you can usually paint a one story house for less than $500. Look for a good neutral color that will appeal to the eye no matter who is looking at it. You’ll need to do the work yourself to save money, but with a rented air compressor, you can easily finish painting your home in a weekend. Keep on top of any sales in your local area on paint and when you find one, take advantage of it.

Next, there are a lot of small fixes that you can do around the front of your house to add value. Plantings and landscaping can have a big impact on the value of your home and once again, this is an inexpensive and easy fix. Look at your local nursery for shrubs and small bushes, or even trees. One good tree has the potential of adding thousands of dollars to the value of your home when it is mature, so keep this in mind when making your purchase.

Adding flowers or flower beds around your home is a great fix and will improve the curb appeal greatly. You can easily add your own flower bed in a weekend, and the budget should be well below $500. If all you have to add are some new flowers, this can be done for around $50 if you shop smart. Adding a set of solar lights around the front of your home is also a great idea to make it look nicer, and you can usually get a set of at least eight for less than $100.

On the inside of your home, a quick coat of paint, sprucing up the kitchen and cleaning out the clutter can increase the value of your home. Look for little pieces of art to enhance your rooms, paint old appliances with metal paint and find new ways to make your space seem larger. These are all fixes that anyone can do and the results are well worth the amount of time and money that you spend getting everything done.

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