Homefinderextra

Homefinderextra Features

Proper radon testing requires proper procedures

September 7th, 2010

By: Richard Pezzino

Radon is a radioactive gas that has been found in homes throughout the U.S. It comes from the natural breakdown of uranium in soil, rock and water and gets into the air you breathe.

Radon typically moves up through the ground to the air above and into your home through cracks and other holes in the foundation where it can become trapped. Radon can also enter your home through well water.

Any home can have a radon problem. This means new and old homes, well-sealed and drafty homes, and homes with full basements, crawl spaces or slabs.

In 1988 the Office of the U.S. Surgeon General issued a warning about radon urging Americans to test their homes and to reduce the radon level when necessary. EPA estimates that about 20,000 lung cancer deaths each year in the U.S. are radon-related. Exposure to radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer after smoking.

The EPA has extremely specific guidelines as to how the test should be conducted, from placement of the device to homeowner behaviors during the testing period. Disturbing or interfering with the test device, or with closed-house conditions, may invalidate the test results and is illegal in some states.

Radon testing professionals should ask homeowners to sign a non-interference agreement, explaining the testing protocol. The testing process requires patience from home buyers and sellers, but the benefits of knowing the radon levels are safe far outweigh the risks of improper testing and inaccurate results.

According to EPA guidelines, closed-house conditions means:

• Keeping all windows closed
• Keeping doors closed except for normal entry and exit
• Not operating fans or other machines which bring in air from outside. Fans that are part of a radon-reduction system, or small exhaust fans operating for only short periods of time, may run during the test.

When doing a short-term test, ranging from two to four days, it is important to maintain closed-house conditions for at least 12 hours before the beginning of the test and during the entire test period. The radon test should be conducted for a minimum of 48 hours; some test devices have a minimum exposure time greater than 48 hours. Do not disturb the test device at any time during the test. You may operate the home’s heating and cooling systems normally during the test, as it only re-circulates interior air.

New York State requires all radon tests to be analyzed by a certified lab for accurate results. For any radon test to be legal, the report containing the results must have the New York State ELAP laboratory ID number clearly indicated. The radon test professional should not read or analyze test results unless he/she is ELAP certified.

If an elevated level is found, you should contact a qualified radon-reduction contractor about lowering the radon level. EPA recommends that you fix the home when the radon level is 4 pCi/L or more.

You cannot predict radon levels based on state, local, and neighborhood radon measurements. Test results taken in other homes in the neighborhood to estimate the radon level in your home are not reliable. Proper testing is the only way to find out your home’s radon level.

For more information on radon and radon testing, go to www.epa.gov/radon.

Richard F. Pezzino, a licensed and insured home inspector, is owner of Accu-View Property Inspections, Inc. He is a radon measurement specialist, and a member of the National Radon Safety Board. Information available at 882-2200 or www.AccuviewInspections.com.

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Re-insulation projects offer year-round rewards

September 6th, 2010

Home re-insulation projects can reduce heating and cooling costs.

Homeowners seeking to pad their homes and wallets should consider re-insulation projects that maximize energy efficiency year-round.

Simple, energy-saving practices will not only reduce heating and cooling bills every month, but also will result in a higher tax return next year.

The federal government expanded the scope of a tax credit program that rewards homeowners for energy-efficiency improvements, giving homeowners a prime opportunity to increase their homes’ efficiency. Homeowners are eligible to receive a 30 percent federal tax credit up to $1,500 for weatherization improvements in their homes through Dec. 31, 2010,

And as far as energy-efficient improvements are concerned, re-insulation is a smart solution for the near and short term.

“Most of the steps you can take to improve your home’s energy efficiency in the cooler winter months are equally as effective in the warmer summer months, when the thermal flows are simply reversed,” said Bohdan Boyko, building science manager with GreenFiber, a natural-fiber insulation product made from 85 percent recycled materials.

“In most areas of the country, winter has the greatest temperature differences between inside and outside temperatures, but in either situation — summer or winter — a properly insulated home is one that will help cut energy bills, lower the home’s carbon footprint and help keep a family comfortable.”

Homeowners can find information on the benefits of re-insulation, including R-Value education, how to’s and tax credit information from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, at www.greenfiber.com, where researchers engineered a special new blow-in product that aids in retro-fit projects.

Older homes or homes where current insulation is inadequate can benefit from attic air sealing, duct sealing, attic insulating and side wall insulating. Because the insulation is literally “blown in” through a tube, it can reach high crevices and deep places in walls.

“Re-insulation is a fast and easy way to improve a home’s energy efficiency, often with little up-front cost,” said Boyko. “A blow-in insulation product will perform better than material that is cut to fit, because it provides complete coverage and fills gaps, unlike fixed-dimension insulation products.”

Do-it-yourselfers should have no difficulties renting equipment and tackling a blow-in natural-fiber insulation project in an afternoon. And because natural-fiber insulation is made from recycled content, it provides the greatest benefit to the environment, diverting materials from local landfills and reducing the energy a home could draw.

— NewsUSA

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Revive your home with inexpensive fixes

September 5th, 2010

Try updating area rugs, blinds or throw pillows to include natural fibers that add texture and flair to your home.

Whether you’re updating your home for your own enjoyment or to attract potential buyers, the thought of home improvement can send some people running for their hammers and others running from them.

Before you get a hammer involved, or any other serious home-improvement tool for that matter, think about making small changes. You may be surprised how just a few inexpensive, and quick, home fixes can improve the mood and value of your home.

Here are several home-improvement tasks that you can complete in less than a day and on a limited budget.

Color. A gallon of fresh, new paint will do wonders for any room. Neutral, earth-tone colors such as leafy greens, sky blues and cream-colored whites will all add a clean, serene touch. In addition, a fresh coat of paint helps solve another home dilemma — stubborn room odors.

Scent. Speaking of odors, air fresheners are an inexpensive way to revive any space and make it welcoming to both your family and potential home buyers. There are many air fresheners on the market, such as Renuzit TriScents.

The electric, scented oil air freshener has three harmonious fragrances that transition throughout the day. Each time the fragrances change, your home is subtly renewed with a new scent. For more information, visit www.triscents.com.

Textures. Make your home feel good! Try updating area rugs, blinds or throw pillows to include natural fibers that add texture and flair to your home. Bamboo mats or faux painting techniques can make your home more appealing and make you feel good, too.

Accessories. Clutter doesn’t add wonder to your home, especially if you’re looking to sell. So, what can you decorate with then? Try utilizing water features throughout your home. Many eye-catching fountains come in a variety of affordable sizes and will add the soothing sights and sounds of moving water to any area.

— NewsUSA

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School zone: Create a comfy place for studying at home

September 4th, 2010

No lounging on the bed to do homework. Equip your study zone with a table or desk and a chair to ensure your child is upright and focused.

With the arrival of the new school year, now is the perfect time to “zone out” and get your family and your home in gear by creating a comfortable, yet functional study zone in your home.

According to Hannah Keeley, host of the public television series “Hannah, Help Me!” and mother of seven, “You may have already noticed there are certain zones within your home — a sleeping zone, an eating zone and a playing zone, but one of the most essential areas is the study zone.”

An ideal study zone will keep your family organized and on track when it comes to homework and other school projects.

Here are a few tips from Keeley that will help you create a study zone within your home.

Clear the area. First off, identify a place within your home where your child will work best. A study zone can be his or her own room or you can create a workable study zone within a larger room such as the living or family room.

However, be sure to keep distractions — like the TV or telephone — at bay. Noise can be a distraction too, so if possible, set up your study zone in a lower—traffic area of your home to keep interruptions at a minimum.

Keep it simple. Don’t go overboard buying a ton of new school supplies to fill up the zone. While the coordinated desk calendar, pencil box and note pad set may look nice, it’s not going to guarantee success in the classroom. Your study zone needs only a few basic supplies.

Make sure the zone has good lighting, plenty of pens and pencils and a trash can close by. You should also provide a storage box or drawer to hold all those extra supplies, like a calculator, erasers, a stapler and other small items.

Don’t try to have a dedicated spot for each item or things can get cluttered quickly — one general spot for everything will work nicely.

Hang it up. Here’s the trick to no more homework left at home: put a hook or make a designated spot for your child’s backpack within your study zone. This way, as soon as the work is finished, it goes straight into their backpack. Now you know where the homework is and where the backpack is at all times, meaning you can get up and out the door in record time.

Get comfy. It’s important for your child’s study zone to be comfortable. Keep your study zone — and the rest of your home — comfy throughout the year.

However, if the zone is too cozy, your child may be tempted to snooze or get distracted instead of doing their schoolwork. This means no lounging on the bed to do homework. Equip your study zone with a table or desk and a chair to ensure your child is upright and focused.

Now you’ve got the perfect place for schoolwork and studying, right there in your home. “A proper study zone does not have to be elaborate or expensive,” says Keeley. “All it takes is a little planning, which will pay off big time in the end.”

— ARAcontent

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Spend to sell: Selling a home often involves investing in some upgrades

September 3rd, 2010

If you’re in a high-end neighborhood where kitchens are equipped with granite countertops, ceramic tile backsplash and the latest appliances, and you haven’t updated since you moved in 25 years ago, you may not book many showings, let alone entertain offers.

Call it the seller’s dilemma. It’s a competitive market, so any home showing poorly isn’t going to command a good price.

But, because it’s competitive, there’s no guarantee you’ll recoup money spent on improvements.

Sellers should look to their real estate agent for help, since he’s the local expert on what buyers value, notes Stephen Roulac, author of “375 Housing Mistakes and How to Avoid Them” (Property Press, 2004).

But also become an expert yourself, he advises, because only then will you be able to make confident decisions.

Here, pointers for sellers facing this dilemma:

Consider standards dictated by competition. Buyers will often pass on homes that don’t conform to the “community standard” notes Tim Thornton, a ZipRealty agent in Austin, Texas.

For example, if you’re in a high-end neighborhood where kitchens are equipped with granite island counters and the latest appliances, and you haven’t updated since you moved in 25 years ago, you may not book many showings, let alone entertain offers.

Your agent should take you out to tour competing properties so you get a feel of how your home compares, says Kathy Brothers, with Re/Max Excels, Geneva, Ill.

Have your agent pull interior photos of recent sales, she adds, so that you can glean what prices are actually paid for competing properties in various conditions.

If your home comes up seriously short against the competition, and the basic, inexpensive fixes don’t put it on par, you may only attract interest from bargain hunters, says Roulac.

Still, many sellers elect not to spend significant sums remodeling a kitchen, for instance, say agents.

“It depends on what you want,” shares Brothers. Even when you do spend to bring the property on par with competition, “there is no guarantee that you’ll get top dollar, especially in short order. Some people may decide they have the time and money [to invest], but many don’t,” Brothers shares.

David McIlvaine, president of the Greater Baltimore Board of Realtors, adds: “We try to give as many specifics as possible to help them make the decision.”

Factor in the hassle cost. Accurate information is key to spending decisions, since both owners and buyers often over-estimate improvement costs, observes Loren Keim, author of “How to Sell Your Home in Any Market” (Sphinx Publishing, 2008).

Keim, who also is a real estate broker, draws the example of a home that should sell for $299,000 but needed laminate countertops replaced in addition to a new furnace, costing a total of $6,000. Buyers, however, were asking for some $50,000 off the price.

Not surprising, agrees Brothers, because buyers place a big premium on the “hassle” of making improvements themselves.

Start with basic improvements. Roulac divides improvements into three categories. The first, de-cluttering and editing the home of excess personal pieces, even photos, takes time, not money.

The second involves relatively low-cost improvements, like replacing worn carpet and painting with fresh neutrals.

The experts agree that these two steps are almost always necessary because neutrals and the absence of lots of personal mementoes lets buyers feel they could easily make the property their own.

More major and costly improvements fall into the third category, which sellers have to decide whether or not they are willing to make.

In the Las Vegas market where ZipRealty agent Brad Snyder works, most sellers don’t have equity in their homes and are thus reluctant to invest any substantial amounts. However, making the property “move-in ready” is key to selling in today’s competitive environment, he concludes.

— CTW Features

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Yardsmart: How to create an irresistible gate

September 2nd, 2010

Color can be the most visually profound choice for a gate makeover and particularly useful in a modern design.

By: Maureen Gilmer

“A door opened, and I went through it,” said Temple Grandin, the brilliant autistic woman who revolutionized the cattle industry in America.

Such a simple statement is far more meaningful than we could ever even imagine, for it embodies the lure of portals to another world.

In a film about her life, doors became a metaphor for moving forward into the unknown, both in a literal and figurative sense. In the design of landscapes, gates can act as those metaphysical doors.

Today’s smaller plots of land include side yards and other unconventional spaces for outdoor living, in order to extend indoor views or even to grow food. Therefore, the traditional dog-eared, side-yard cedar fence is suddenly front and center. Now the gate must change from merely functional to something visually appealing that beckons one closer.

Those with money can buy antique gates imported from India and Africa, where the designs are both rich and tactile. The carved edges, surface textures, rust patterns and heavy handmade hardware are unsurpassed in lending character to a garden. But antique gates cost money, and many of us don’t have a dollar to spare.

Fortunately, there are alternatives for small-budget garden-makers to create irresistible gates. Color can be the most visually profound choice for a gate makeover and particularly useful in a modern design.

Veneer becomes the cover-up equivalent to interior paneling or wallpaper, offering a source of textural changes. And the hardware is the perfect way to get that fabulous rustic gate you’ve admired in the magazines for only a few dollars online.

Color. Paint can be your best friend; color makes a huge difference when used in small, intense applications. A bright paint job can turn an afterthought into a focal point, hide ugly water stains, disguise cracks and even cover graffiti. You will find that people just want to go through a painted gate for the fun of it, so make yours as irresistible as possible.

Veneer. If you have an ordinary board gate, use it as a structural background for another lightweight material. For example, broken bamboo-slat roll-up shades removed from indoors can be cut and applied to a board-gate surface. They are lightweight and easy to handle, particularly for smaller urban spaces. Just cut the panel to size, and screw it onto the front or board side of the gate at the corners and edges. The bamboo will give the gate a real Asian character.

Hardware. Large, decorative hinges can turn a perfectly ordinary gate into something far more artistic. In fact, you can turn a new gate into a faux version of those expensive antique gates by using rustic, newly made Mexican hardware. It’s easy to get online at Direct From Mexico (www.directfrommexico.com). This source offers rustic metalwork to make gates and doors look antique. Click on “Rustic Iron Hardware” on the left-hand bar to see the full line of products.

In Mexico, the “clavo” is a metal nail used to hold heavy wooden doors together. Modern clavos are decorative nails that can be bought online from just 75 cents to $3. Pre-drill the hole, then screw in the clavo with some glue to make it more secure. Clavos are chameleons — apply them one way and the gate has a medieval look, but applied another way and the gate looks Spanish. The possibilities are endless.

At Direct From Mexico, you can pick up hinges, handles and latches for a fraction of the cost of similar products found at your local store. They are all you need to turn a simple gate into a piece of artwork. However, be aware that the hardware is untreated steel and will rust, unless a rustic look is desired.

If you’re a small-budget gardener and want to improve the look of your house and yard, reconsider all of your outdoor gates. Are they merely functional? Do they enhance the beauty of the adjacent house or outdoor spaces? Above all, do they beckon you to wander through it? If not, it’s time for a makeover.

— SHNS

Maureen Gilmer is a horticulturist. Her blog, the MoZone, offers ideas for cash-strapped families. Read the blog at MoPlants.com/blog. E-mail her at mogilmer@yahoo.com.

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