I don’t know about the weather in your locale, but here in the middle of the country, we’re getting temperatures in the mid- to upper-90s with 85 percent humidity. Yesterday, even though the air conditioner was cranked, the house wasn’t cooling down like it should have been, and we were all sweaty and cranky. There […]
Maintenance
How to Replace a Dead GFCI Outlet
GFCI Outlets, often referred to as GFI outlets or just GFIs, are used to reduce the risk of significant electrical shocks and injury. If you used a hair dryer this morning, you probably plugged it into a GFCI outlet. We’ve all seen GFIs in our homes – they’re the electrical receptacles with the ‘test’ and […]
How to Convert a Fluorescent Fixture to LED Lighting
I was within minutes of ordering my fluorescent fixture replacement bulbs and ballasts when it hit me. There must be a way to retrofit highly efficient LED lighting to existing fluorescent fixtures. I mean – if there isn’t, let’s start that company right now, right? So, I went to Amazon and immediately found a number […]
Summer Lawn Fungus Disease
2020 Update — Originally Published August 2014 This has been driving me crazy for a few years now, as I’ve really been trying to cultivate the most beautiful lawn possible. You can call it pride, or maybe you’ll want to say it’s a “guy thing,” but when I come home from work at the end of […]
Paver Walkway Burrowing Pest
2020 Update — Originally Published September, 2011 A few days back, we noticed a small sliver of stone was missing from our front paver walkway. As I took a closer look, I realized there was a hole underneath where the stone had been – and it looked kind of deep. I didn’t want to reach […]
7 Tips for Maintaining a Redwood Swing Set
2020 Update — Originally Published April 19, 2011 It’s 1999. My wife and I just moved into our new home with our 3-year-old daughter and infant son – and we pretty much plan to stay here forever. So naturally, we want to do everything right. And setting the kids up with a killer play area […]
How to Refresh a Stone Landscape Bed
All mulch and stone landscape beds require periodic maintenance, well beyond weekly weeding. Maintaining a stone landscape bed, in my experience, warrants less overall effort than a mulch landscape bed. (And that’s a really good thing because overhauling [or refreshing] a stone landscape bed is a much heavier job!) For me, I’d say I address […]
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