The exterior of your home is an element that truly determines the overall quality of the building.  Not only does an unkempt exterior look bad, it also harms the health of the whole structure.  As the first and primary barrier against the outside world, it is essential that you have an exterior that will protect the rest of the building. 

One of the best—and easiest to care for—materials for the outside of your home is exterior siding.  Siding allows you to customize the look of your home while providing durable, low maintenance protection. 

Get the Look You Want

Siding comes in all types of looks.  Whether you want a traditional wood clapboard look or a sleek, modern finish, there is a siding style to suit your needs.  In terms of materials, most siding contractors offer vinyl, insulated vinyl and cement fiber siding options.  Vinyl siding offers a smooth, even look.  Insulated vinyl provides exceptional heat retention.  And cement fiber siding offers a wood-look appearance without the dangers of weather or insect damage that accompany real wood.

Your siding contractor will be able to consult with you to determine what siding material will be best for you, as well as what actual siding style you want for your home.  There is an array of styles from which to choose, including:

• Lap siding
• Vertical siding
• Board and bat siding
• Rustic cut siding
• Cedar bevel and shake siding

Whether you are building a new home or want to improve the appearance of an existing building, siding installation will instantly transform your exterior.

Keep the Look You Get

Beyond aesthetics, the biggest benefit of siding is that it maintains its appearance and condition longer and with less maintenance than old-fashioned wood exteriors.  Vinyl, insulated vinyl and cement fiber siding each offer a slightly different performance, but they all share a degree of durability unsurpassed by other home exterior materials.  It is extremely important to have siding installed by an expert siding contractor in order to avoid cracking, buckling or warping, but once it’s there you need to do almost nothing to maintain its condition.  Forget scraping and repainting every few years—with siding you can actually sit back and enjoy your home.

Exterior siding is a great option to improve the appearance, value and longevity of your home.  Whatever your situation, siding will allow you to customize the look of your home exactly as you want it, and to be secure in the knowledge that it will stay that way for years to come.

Spring has always been a time to throw open the windows and scrub your house from top to bottom. Sure, all of our homes have picked up a little grime over the winter, but who has the time to do a thorough spring cleaning these days? Find some relief from your busy schedule by hiring a professional cleaning service to do your spring cleaning this year!

For starters, using a home cleaning service for your spring cleaning is a huge time saver. Instead of spending hours (or even days) dusting, vacuuming, scrubbing, and wiping, a housekeeping crew will take care of it for you. You can even schedule your cleaning for a time when you’re not even home; how often does the house get cleaned when you’re at work or running errands! Let the professionals handle your spring cleaning, and you can make the most of your time. After all, with work, kids, and everything else who doesn’t need more hours in the day.

Another great reason to use a house cleaning service this spring is the benefit of having pros clean your house. As paid, trained professionals, they’ll do a complete, in-depth cleaning. Of course, it’s not that we don’t know how to clean our homes, but we likely don’t do a careful, systematic cleaning every time. I mean, how many of us have scrubbed our tile grout lately? What about toothbrushing the bathroom sinks? When you’re rushing to fit your cleaning in between making dinner and taking the kids to soccer practice, you’re lucky to get the sinks rinsed let alone thoroughly scrubbed! When you hire professional housekeepers to clean your house, they take the time (that you don’t have!) to do a comprehensive, complete cleaning.

One of the fringe benefits of using a cleaning service for your spring cleaning is that they supply all of the cleaning products and equipment. So it doesn’t matter if you’re out of bathroom cleaner or if you can’t find the broom. You can just sit back and let them do all the work, including supplying the tools they need to get your home clean! Many home cleaning services even use environmentally safe products for a green clean.

Try utilizing a professional cleaning company for your spring cleaning. It’s a great compromise between your busy lifestyle and the need to freshen up the house after winter. Who knows, you may love their cleaning services so much that you’ll sign up for regular maid service! To ensure qualified, quality housekeeping service, you may want to check the cleaning company’s Better Business Bureau rating. Reputable companies will be members and have a rating of no less than A.

Radon gas is an invisible, odorless gas emitted by uranium decaying underground. Harmless outdoors, radon can seep into your home through the ground and accumulate: at high concentrations, this radiation can be extremely dangerous. In fact, radon gas is the leading cause of lung cancer in nonsmokers and the second leading cause in smokers. Protect your home and family from this unseen menace with radon testing and, if necessary, radon mitigation.

Radon Testing

Radon testing is an easy, straightforward process. A charcoal canister is used to collect radon gas from your home, usually over the course of approximately 48 hours. During the radon testing period, it’s important to keep all doors and windows closed for the most precise readings. At the conclusion of the testing period, the canister is sent to a lab to measure the accumulated radon concentration. Simple as that. Do-it-yourself kits are readily available, although you may want to consider having a radon professional administer your test for optimal accuracy. Because your radon test results will be the basis of future action (either none because levels appear safe or an expensive radon mitigation) it’s important to have the best readings possible. That way you’ll be able to make an informed decision about what the next steps should be.

Radon Mitigation

If your home radon test does report unsafe levels of radon, you need to address the problem ASAP. To eliminate the radon in your home, you’ll need to contact your local specialist for radon mitigation. They will be able to design and install the right radon reduction system for your home. Depending on the construction of your home, there are several different ways to mitigate radon gas. The most common are sub-slab depressurization (for homes with basements) and sub-membrane depressurization (for homes with crawlspaces).

Sub-slab depressurization entails drilling a small hole in the floor of the foundation slab and excavating a slight cavity below. Then, a pump is connected to the hole and the radon (and any other organic contaminants) is vacuumed out of the ground before it has a chance to leak into your home. These gases are vented outside, where the radon can disperse harmlessly. Sub-membrane depressurization is similar to sub-slab depressurization, but because there is no slab a membrane is installed over the floor of the crawlspace to trap the radon. The gas is extracted in a similar fashion and vented outside, where it dissipates.

Because radon abatement is not a one-size-fits-all process, this really is not a job for DIYers; from targeting the entry point to creating a complete seal, professionals have the knowledge, expertise, and skill to ensure your family will be safe from radon.

Radon Resistant New Construction

If you live in an area with a known radon problem and are building a new home, you may want to consider radon resistant construction. These preemptive measures prevent the radon from ever entering your home, stopping the problem before it begins! The techniques are the same as for radon mitigation, but because your home is not being retrofitted the system can be more efficient as well as unobtrusive. For example, radon venting stacks are installed internally as the building is constructed, hiding this potential eyesore while still completely venting any radon gas. Talk to your contractor about whether radon resistant new construction is needed for your house.

Just like your home isn’t safe without working smoke detectors, if you haven’t tested for radon you’re taking a risk! Let professional radon contractors bring you safety and peace of mind with complete radon testing and mitigation. If you’re looking for a trustworthy radon technician in your area, organizations like the American Association of Radon Specialists and Technologists (AARST) and the National Environmental Health Association (NEHA) can help you find a qualified professional.

Like most homeowners, you probably have an entire cupboard full of cleaning products: toilet bowl cleansers, bleach, shower cleaners, disinfectants… But the truth is, you don’t need most of these chemicals to get your house clean. In fact, many of the chemicals you regularly use to clean your house can be dangerous to breathe as well as negatively impact the environment. For the safety of your family and the preservation of the planet, try switching to green cleaning.

In addition to chemical cleansers, you probably have a number of green cleaning compounds lying around the house already. Substances such as baking soda, vinegar or lemon juice, and ammonia make great cleaning products without attacking the earth. Instead of reaching for an abrasive cleaning powder, try mixing a stiff paste of baking soda and water the next time you need to scrub your range. Or, for streak-free window-cleaning, rinse your windows with an ammonia solution and dry with old newspapers. You can even clean out slow drains with a combination of vinegar and baking soda: sprinkle a little baking soda down the drain and then pour vinegar on top, just like the elementary school “volcano” experiment. One of the benefits of the green revolution is that you can also buy eco-friendly cleaning products at most major stores. You’ll be amazed at how effective and easy it is to clean your home in an environmentally friendly way!

Or, even simpler, enlist the help of a professional home cleaning service to take care of your green cleaning. A number of national cleaning franchises and locally owned housekeeper services advertise green cleaning, but be sure that you choose a maid service that uses only Green Seal certified cleaning products. Green Seal is the nation’s leading independent eco-label, dedicated to identifying substances that are safe the environment and advocating their use to reduce global warming and limit pollution. By ensuring that your cleaning service uses Green Seal products, you’ll know they’re committed to ecological safety. So even if you don’t have the time (or energy) to clean your home yourself, you can still contribute to a healthier planet by hiring green cleaning services. These companies provide safe cleaning products, use HEPA vacuums, and provide trained housekeepers to get your house clean and protect planet Earth at the same time!