Home Maintenance Tasks: January

Among our many New Year's resolutions there is usually some mention of doing various tasks around the house. Association Management, Inc., says "In the darkest part of the year, it's tempting to try hibernating through the next couple months. If you can get a plan in place now though, you can get a jump on spring." Their home maintenance checklist provides a "to do" list for January, a list of seasonal sales, and a small kit to organize those items that you always seem to have to rummage for when decorating for Christmas next year."

Fragrant Blooms in January

Want a little floral cheer to brighten and perfume your house in the midwinter drabness of January? You may wish to visit the As the Garden Grows website. "Imagine having fragrant and lovely paperwhite narcissus blooming in your home in the depth of winter during the months of January and February? You can have them if you plan a few weeks ahead of time. You can purchase the bulbs already pre-packaged in a starter kit. Paperwhites can be forced into bloom without a cold treatment." See the how-to article.

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Kitchenware Cleaning Tips

Well, the winter holidays are mostly over. We hope that a good time was had by you and yours. If you had a lot of holiday company at your house, that usually involves a lot of cooking and baking, which, of course, means now you have a lot of metal kitchenware and appliances to get back into better shape. We found a good article at doityourself.com with tips for cleaning most things metal, such as silver, brass, stainless steel, tin, pewter, aluminum, cast iron etc. If you are interested, you can find it here.

Easy January Home Improvement Projects

If you've been delaying fixing up your home, this January might be a good time to get started. eZine Articles' Tom Turner offers some quick and inexpensive suggestions. He says, "Fixing up your home can be fun and often times very profitable even when you're only doing a few easy home improvement projects. There are several touches that you could add to a bathroom or kitchen for added value in your home. These easy home improvement projects are very quick too." Turner's article suggests some modest ways to fix up your home and add significant value in less than a day.

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NEWS

In a Jan 2, 2009 article in RealtyTimes columnist Mark Nash shares what is in and out for real estate this coming year. We thought it a useful article with good suggestions for both buyers and sellers and it has some ideas such as tax appeals, house therapists and collaborative home pricing that might not have occurred to you. If you are on either side of the home transaction equation you might want to read it.

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Fast Facts

• January, a time for looking both forward and back, is named after the two-faced Roman god Janus, their god of gates, doors, doorways, beginnings and endings.

• In the northern half of the world, January is the coldest month.

• A 747's wingspan is longer than the Wright brothers' first flight.

• The longest word that can be typed on one line of a typewriter is. typewriter.

• Every person has a unique tongue print.
  

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When to Replace Common Household Items

Yahoo Finance! cited SmartMoney.com's Kelli B. Grant's article about when and why to replace Common Household Items. "Nothing lasts forever. That said, many items are less obvious than the spoiled milk in your fridge — there's no expiration date or other obvious signs they have outlived their use. So how long should you let your stuff linger before replacing it? Kelli talked to the experts and nailed down a "best by" date for, well, just about everything."

Homecare Made Easy—from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation

If you are looking for well researched and unbiased professional advice concerning your home, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) publishes a monthly e-Newsletter filled with practical tips and helpful advice, providing current and topical information relating to a wide variety of home ownership interests. This month's newsletter contains articles on correcting moisture and odour problems, easy steps to maintaining your Heat Recovery Ventilator (HRV), ice dams or condensation causing roof problems in your home and a CMHC clean air guide. You can subscribe to the English version by going here.


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U.S. Department of Energy Guide to Energy-Efficient Windows, Doors and Skylights

Energy-efficient windows, doors and skylights—also known as fenestration—can help lower a home's heating, cooling and lighting costs. Learn about their energy performance ratings and how to maximize their energy efficiency in your home:
• Exterior Doors: Select energy-efficient doors or improve the energy efficiency of existing ones.
• Skylights: Select energy-efficient skylights.
• Windows: Select energy-efficient windows or improve the energy efficiency of existing ones.

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Springtime Signals Home Improvement Season

(ARA) Homeowners have high hopes, but lack time and money. With warmer weather just around the corner, homeowners are dusting off their home improvement to-do lists and finding that a large number of projects fell through the cracks in 2006. A recent homeowner survey showed that 61% of respondents didn’t get around to all the home improvements they had planned for 2006; many neglected their home exterior and outdoor space the most. Although 60% of the homeowners surveyed said they would like to spend more time relaxing outdoors, more than half said they don’t have time to tackle a big project. In addition, the homeowners’ survey conducted by the Professional Awning Manufacturers Association (PAMA) indicated that 41% of homeowners anticipated a home renovation would be too expensive. You can register and see the full article here.

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News

Recalls and Product Safety News

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is charged with protecting the public from unreasonable risks of serious injury or death from more than 15,000 types of consumer products. You can find information on over 4,000 product recalls and recall alerts up to and including February 2007 using the various searches on their page found here.

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Fast Facts

• Men are 6 times more likely to be struck by lightning than women.
• Reindeer enjoy eating bananas.
• By current calculations the center of a super massive black hole would be the size of a spec of dust. But that spec of dust would weigh 3 million times more than our sun.
• When you sneeze your breath is expelled at more than 100 miles an hour.
• When glass breaks, the cracks move faster than 3,000 miles per hour. To photograph the event, a camera must shoot at a millionth of a second!

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