A Few Things To Share....

First of all, I apologize for being MIA yesterday.  We had our walk-through on the new house.  We left home at 6:50 a.m. and returned home at 4:00 p.m.  The walk-through took almost 4 hours, which was an awesome thing, but I will get to that in a moment.  I need to finish telling you about our day first. :-)


After the walk-through, we left the house to meet....are you ready for this.....the LANDLORD FOR OUR NEW OFFICE SPACE!!  We had to get the keys from them.  I cannot tell you how happy I am that the office will no longer be in our home.  We can be like normal people...well, as normal as the two of us can get, which really isn't very normal at all....really.  We will go to an office each day and come home and have free time and eat dinner before 10:00 p.m. and do all the things the "normals" do!  YAY....I did my cabbage patch dance in the parking lot!  And pulled a muscle in my calf...it's cool, it's cool.  The office won't be in our new house!! :-)

So, moving on to the walk through.  The builder was awesome!  Last week, he created his own "punch" list.  He had already taken care of those things.  Our list was very short and before we left the house, he had his guys working on our list.  Additionally, the house was spotlessly clean!  I was impressed!


Our realtor was awesome!  He went through the entire house with a fine tooth comb.  He found things we didn't see!  I cannot tell you enough great things about these guys...who both happened to be named Bryan. :-)

Bryan, the builder, shared with us some things that will really help take care of the house and I would like to share those with you.  I'm nice that way...I like to share my toys on the playground! :-)

First of all, he said to place a humidifier near your air return.


The humidity in the air fluctuates drastically between seasons and causes the wood trim and caulk to expand and contract.  This in turn causes cracks in between the molding and the ceiling or between the joints of the molding.  Placing a humidifier near the air return keeps the humidity in the house pretty even all year long.  Humidifiers can be found in some great designer styles (he saw the look of horror on my face at having one of those big, bulky, ugly things in the house).  Remember, our return is right at the front door!


Keep your foundation vents open during the summer and closed during the winter.

To prevent the weatherstripping and rubber seals at the bottom of your door from cracking, rub Vaseline on them about once a quarter.

Unless you have severe allergies, use the inexpensive filters in your air return.


Using the tightly woven allergen filters causes the HVAC to work twice as hard.  Replace the filters every 30 days.  Before placing the new filter in your return, spray the side that will face outside with Pledge.  It helps trap the dust.

Use 10-year lithium batteries in your smoke detectors.  You won't have to replace them as often.

If you have two thermostats in your house, keep them both set at the same temperature. It is more energy efficient this way.


Use 1000 grit steel wool to make your stainless steel sink look new.  Rub the sink with the steel wool with the grain to give it a quick refresh.

Reseal your granite countertops once a year.


Most of these things were news to us. No one has ever taken the time to go into so much detail about how to maintain a house.  There were quite a few other things he shared that will help our home last a lifetime.  These things are simple and easy to do.  Just a little maintenance goes a long way on a house!

Guess I'll be cooking...they installed a stove!






30 comments

  1. I did not know most of that stuff! But I keep wondering if any of it really applies to an 1870's home??!!

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    1. LOL...that I do not know, but some of it might...like the humidifier if it the house has any wood trim or moldings. The humidifier keeps the wood from drying out.

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  2. You are so lucky to have a builder give you all those tip's !!! The newest home I lived in was 4 year's old and the oldest was 115 years old.Love the office idea !! I had a shop for two year's, got dressed , got my iced coffee and all the paperwork and JUNK was at the shop. When I came home, work was done ( sometime's). Lol Hug's, TT

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    1. He was so nice to share all of this information. To me, it shows he cares about his product, which is a biggie for us! I am so looking forward to the office being out of the house! I like getting out and going to an office…and you are exactly right, where the mess is!! LOL….HUGS!!!!

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  3. My hubby does a lot of that stuff. He's not a builder, but he could be! It's a lovely home and I'm so glad it went well!!

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    1. Thank you ma'am! I'm glad it went well also...we've had enough stress with all of this...I'm ready for smooth sailing! :-)

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  4. Great tips! Maybe there is a humidifier shaped like a console table for the return in front of the door :>))) What wonderful Bryan's to help you.

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    1. LMAO….you are hilarious!! That would be a great two-fer, right?? That pic I have in the blog is a pretty small humidifier. I figured under the table with some greenery hiding it. Now here’s the big thing though. If that machine causes too much humidity in the house, out it goes and wood be danged. I have enough problems with my hair outside of the house (southern humidity) and I’m not going to let some silly machine cause me issues inside! :-)

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  5. It was clean! Our cleaning lady cleans house for a local builder. So know, that its cleanliness, was due to some local lady!!!! :-) Just had to say that!

    Wonderful tips!!!! Thank you!

    And I am doing the -happy dance- along with you! Well, I am doing mine, while sitting in my computer chair. ,-) Who knows what I might 'pull'... If I did it, standing.

    Happy hugsssss,
    Tessa

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    1. Yes ma'am, I knew none of these silly men did any cleaning...LOL. The Bryans were good, but not that good. :-) They have a service that they use to clean the houses prior to client walk-through. I was so glad about that because it was a mess! :-)

      Thank you so much! I like happy dances...standing or sitting! :-) Hugs!!!

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  6. Hi Benita! :)
    I'm finally playing catch up and reading some blogs this morning... ;)
    My husband is beyond with all those things...I could go into stories about how this house is like some sort of tech house and I can't turn anything on...I joke that he is Mike Holmes brother from another mother...but that's another story for another day! ;)
    And a real office in another location...awesome...you will get to chat by the water cooler about Big Brother and The Voice and Dancing With The Stars! ;)
    of builders do not give you any of that information, so he must be a good one!

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    1. I hear ya! I’m behind also and am trying to play catch up!  We thought we have always done well in the maintenance area, but some of these were new to me. The hubster said he usually “greases” the moldings…I had no idea, but that’s his department and I won’t be doing any of it…LOL YES…I am so very excited for it to be out of our house. It is less than 5 minutes away and a small building, so that was perfect for us! You will have to share the Mike Holmes “brother from another mother” stories...LOL Hugs!!

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  7. Those are good tips. I wonder how many HVAC systems recommend the tightly woven filters JUST to make the HVAC work harder so the life is shorter??
    Glad you had a a positive experience with your realtor and contractor. Those two can be real headaches.

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    1. You know, Rita, I was thinking about that because some HVAC guys really push those thicker filters. It's money in their pocket every time they break down or wear out...sounds plausible! Thanks so much...we were pleasantly surprised and are ready to move to the next step! :-)

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  8. Good tips and how exciting to get your keys to the new office!

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    1. We are thrilled!!!! I thought the tips were pretty good ones…I like getting good, reasonable advice like that!

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    1. I will share it with you! :-) It was a a big deal for us...open to the rest of the downstairs, not too big and not too small. Great color on the cabinets and plenty of storage space.

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  10. Ooh, this is a great little sneak peak into your new home! And thanks for the tips...especially the one about the steel wool for the stainless steel sink. I'm definitely going to use that. Congrats on the new office...it will feel so nice for you to be able to separate work from home!

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    1. Julie, thank you so much and you are quite welcome! I thought they were some great tips that he offered. I gave him one as well. If you fill your stainless steel sink full of water and mix in some Oxyclean Whitening powder, it will clean it very well also. Let it sit for a few hours. I'm so excited about the office and being able to divide home and work again! Have a great day!!

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  11. Hi,
    I am so glad you shared! I did not know most of this stuff.
    Have a great weekend.
    Carla

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    1. You are quite welcome! I didn’t know a lot of it either and it is some great advice! I hope you have a great weekend also!!

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  12. Doing a Happy Dance with you, YAY! So happy for you to see the light at the end of the tunnel!! I just found out about sealing our granite in April, I didn't know either! Happy weekend, Benita! hugs, Christine

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    1. Girl, thank you and don't you know it! I'm so ready to be on the other side of the tunnel...LOL. I've heard about sealing the granite, but thought it was one of those things that was fine if you do and fine if you don't. He said to seal it to make it last longer and prevent stains from seaping in....supposed to take only a few minutes to do! Have a wonderful weekend! Hugs!!

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  13. A four house walkthrough? That's intense! Glad he's so thorough though. I don't have foundation vents in this house for some weird reason, but I wish I would have known what to do with them in the last house.

    I might be doing the humidifier thing though :)

    xo,
    rue

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    1. It was very thorough. He even showed us how to flush the toilets….seriously! LOL… I’ve seen the foundation vents but have never paid attention to them. He said 99% of the people don’t, but that opening/closing will help with circulation in the crawl space. He said by placing the humidifier next to a return, it circulates the moisture all through the house. He said the added bonus was that your skin doesn’t dry out as much either. Have a great weekend! Hugs!!

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  14. Congratulations on your new home! It really has a cute profile from the street. xoxo Su

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    1. Su, thank you so much! It's need some foofing, but it's a great size for us and we are looking forward to getting settled! :-)

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  15. What a lovely new house you have! You were lucky to have such a great team helping you!

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    1. Thank you so much! They were all so great to help with everything! Now we just need to get moved! :-)

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