Home exterior cleaning tips

You can’t judge a book by its cover, but first impressions tend to be lasting ones. Your home’s exterior is the first thing people see, and more importantly, many of its features are an integral part of your home’s structure. Therefore, it’s important to maintain the outside of your home. A fresh, clean exterior not only makes your home more inviting but also makes it safer and more enjoyable for your family. With the following tips and advice, you can keep your home’s exterior in top condition all year round.

Outdoor Cleaning Essentials

As with indoor cleaning, outdoor cleaning is important for safety as well as appearance. Exterior features such as gutters and chimneys serve important functions and can pose a danger to you and your family if not properly maintained.

Gutters divert rain water away from your home, protecting it from leaks and expensive water damage. However, they also provide the perfect place for leaves and other debris to collect. *Gutter cleaning[/household-cleaning/exterior-cleaning/gutter-cleaning.aspx] should be undertaken at least once a year to remove this debris and ensure that rain water (and, in certain climates, melting ice and snow) is carried away from your home, keeping you dry. Siding cleaning is important as well.

Another great way to stay warm and dry on a rainy day is with a wood-burning fireplace. These require chimneys for proper ventilation. Over time, soot, ash, smoke residue and other buildup can accumulate inside of the chimney shaft, inhibiting air flow. This is a fire hazard and may also affect indoor air quality.

Proper chimney cleaning eliminates such hazards, keeping your family safe.

Windows are an essential part of any home, providing a view of the outside while acting as a barrier between your home and the elements, including dirt, smog and bugs. Unfortunately, these can take a toll, leaving your windows grimy and speckled with dirt. Washing exterior windows once or twice a year (at least) will help keep your home’s exterior fresh and its interior bright.

Gutter and window cleaning can be DIY projects, with the proper tools and safety equipment. Pressure washers also make these jobs fairly easy for the average homeowner. Chimney cleaning is best performed by a professional chimney sweep or chimney cleaning company.

Composting tips for your organic trash

Composting, the controlled decomposition of yard and household organic waste, is increasingly popular among today’s homeowners. Besides diverting organic waste from our landfills (the Environmental Protection Agency estimates that yard and household organic residuals constitute 24 percent of the United States’ solid waste stream), composting biodegradable household waste creates a useful organic fertilizer that improves the quality of garden soil and promotes the health of your plants.

Composting Basics

Home composting can easily be accomplished in backyards using either an enclosed bin or an open pile; many cities even hold composting workshops. Inside the compost material, decomposition is fueled by microscopic organisms that devour and recycle the organic waste. Many household waste items can be composted, including grass clippings, leaves, landscape trimmings and fruit and vegetable scraps. Meat and dairy scraps should be avoided to reduce odor and pest problems. Simply add your materials to the bin or pile, turn the compost occasionally to incorporate air, and keep the material moist, but not wet. In two to three months, you will know that your organic compost is “done” when the material becomes dark brown and crumbly with an earthy aroma.

Composting Equipment

The simplest home composting method is to create a pile, but commercial compost bins are readily available at your home and garden store and other sources. Homemade bins are fairly easy to construct with scrap wood; even a garbage can with holes punched in it will suffice.

Find a location in your yard with good air circulation and drainage; you may also wish to choose a place out of view from neighbors and your windows. The ideal size for a compost pile is about 3 feet by 3 feet by 3 feet, as this allows for optimal air circulation while encouraging the heat buildup required for the transformation of waste into compost. The only other equipment necessary for home composting is a shovel and a water source.

Worm Composting

Vermicomposting is a specific type of composting that uses earthworms in the composting process. Also known as worm composting, vermicomposting requires a bit more effort but produces results faster than regular composting. One pound of red wiggler worms, the type used in vermicomposting, can eat up to one-half pound of organic waste daily, and their castings create an excellent garden fertilizer. Worms require a warmer location to perform their composting, so many homeowners keep their worm compost bins in their basement or another protected location.

Yard care and cleaning tips

Whether it’s the size of a postage stamp or a prairie, your yard is an extension of your home and an opportunity for you and your family to expand your living space. But in order to make good use of your yard, you have to keep it in good condition, and this goes beyond simple cleaning up and trash removal. Whether you’re landscaping your yard for the first time or caring for the yard already in place, the following tips and advice will help you make the most of your outdoor space.

Landscape Yard

If you’re landscaping a new yard or altering an old one, the first essential step is planning. Creating a yard is more than just laying sod, no matter how green. Perhaps the most important consideration in planning your yard is drainage. Proper yard drainage is essential to your home’s care. Poor drainage can cause water to pool around your house’s foundation, leading to leaks and expensive water damage. Ideally, drainage should be uniform throughout the yard, preventing any pooling at all. At the very least, drainage should lead water away from the foundation.

Yard Care

Regular yard care is essential for a lush, green lawn, but there are ways to reduce the amount of time and money you spend maintaining your yard.

Planning a meadow-like yard with a variety of natural grasses can cut down on mowing, but is less than ideal for families with outdoor pets or young children, and may not be popular with the neighbors, either. Some cultivation is probably necessary, but allowing for “wild” spots in your yard will reduce the amount of work and let your property’s natural beauty come through. Using mulch around garden beds and plants can reduce the amount of watering required, as mulch helps to retain moisture.

Weeds are inevitable in any yard, and trying to remove them can be time-consuming. While hazardous or overly aggressive weeds (for example, poison ivy) should be eliminated, some plants that are technically weeds, such as white clover, can be both beneficial and aesthetically pleasing if allowed to grow. Deciding that there are some weeds you can live with is an easy way to cut back on your lawn maintenance.

Yard Services

Of course, one surefire way to reduce your yard work is to hire someone else to do it. Whether it’s paying the neighbor’s kid to cut the grass or hiring a professional landscaper to plant trees and create gardens, many people use professional services to help maintain their lawns.

Some companies specialize in a particular aspect of lawn care, such as mowing or weeding, while others provide an all-inclusive service. Whichever you choose, look for a company that offers what you need at a price you can afford. You should also make sure that you know (and are comfortable with) what chemicals and methods the company uses. Nowadays, the trend is towards sustainable, eco-friendly products and techniques. You may also want to consider composting as a way to reduce the amount of waste your home produces.

We’ve all heard real estate agents talk about “curb appeal” since it contributes so much to first impressions of a property and house. Following construction of a new house, it’s necessary to plant the lawn once construction has been completed, even if the weather isn’t conducive to growing a lawn.  If there is a choice, fall (September in the northeast) is the best time to seed a lawn, and spring (April) is the second best time of year.

Read grass seed labels for important information about the seed varieties, germination percentage,and weed seed content.

Even though you have little control over the amount of topsoil left on your building site, you can choose to use top quality seed and make all the proper adjustments to the soil chemistry by performing a soil test.

by Kelly A. Mellow

For many people a green and healthy looking yawn means everything. In fact you could say that you can learn a lot about a person by what their lawn looks like. While springtime is the most convenient time to shed off the winter coat and get down and dirty in the yard, you should consider prepping your yard in September. But if you live in an area that snows and whatnot, this might prove to be difficult. Luckily there are plenty of ways to care for your lawn in the spring.

Dethatching

To prepare yourself for spring lawn care you must start early. Around the 1st of September, and again around the 1st of April you should dethatch your lawn. Thatch is the layer of living and dead stems, roots, stolons, and rhizomes between the grass and the soil surface that can either be beneficial to your lawn or destroy it. A healthy later is about an inch thick and helps to limit weed germination, reduce water evaporation, and protect from frost damage. A little more than that, however, can prevent water, air, and nutrients from penetrating the soil, thus reducing root growth and causing drought stress. To get rid of the unhealthy portions of thatch, use a dethatcher, power rake or vertical mower.

Aeration

Ideally, aeration (the process by which air is circulated through, mixed with or dissolved in a liquid or substance), should occur some time around September 1st. April 1st is a good time to do so again. A core aerator will pull one to two inch plugs of soil from the ground. This will occur every three to four inches. The plugs are deposited in the surface of the soil where they will break down and allow air into it. If done correctly, your soil will have about 50% of space, half of that containing air. It would be a good idea to mow the lawn the next day to shatter the plugs and allow the soil to cave in, filling itself. If you want to both dethatch and aerate, be sure to dethatch first.

Mowing

The most obvious step to lawn careis cutting the grass when it needs to be. If the grass starts to exceed 4 inches, it is time. If the grass is left growing much taller than that, it may sustain diseases and stress out the nearby plant life. For best results, wait until the grass has been dried out from dew or rain so that the grass is cut evenly and isn’t susceptible to diseases. It is also a good idea to sharpen your mower’s blades at least twice a year so that it leaves behind a clean cut.

Seeding

One of the first things to do in the spring to get a healthy lawn is to seed it as soon as possible. The beginning March is an ideal time to do so. The initial step here is to choose which seed is right for your soil. A “blend” of different varieties of the same grass will help protect your lawn from diseases. A “mixture” of different varieties will help your grass grow faster. Once you pick your seed of choice, rake the soil up to eight inches deep. Next you will want to add about five inches of compost or other organic substances. When seeding, concentrate on the areas that need it most using a slit seeder, if possible. If you are looking to thicken the grass, overseed at the rate of one pound of bluegrass seed per 1000 square feet. Once you lay down the seeds, rake them into the earth so that they take better. Lastly you will want to water the yard about twice a day.

Weeding

To prevent weeds such as crabgrass to grow, certain chemicals can be applied in early spring. April 1st is a good time to lay them down, with a reapplication around May 15th. For any crabgrass killers that you use, be sure to follow the instructions on the container carefully. Accidents may result in destroying your lawn or even injury to yourself. Another way to avoid crabgrass is to avoid crabgrass-fertilizer combinations because they stimulate shoot growth at the expense of the root.

Fertilizing

Laying down fertilizer in mid May is best for your lawn. During this time the roots of the grass is more apt grow thicker and deeper, which gives the lawn a better chance of surviving over the summer months. How much fertilizer you should apply depends on when you are laying it down. Just remember that moderation is the key.

Sodding

Sod is turf and the part of the soil beneath it held together by the roots, or a piece of this material that is made in a factory. Sodding can be done at anytime the ground is not frozen. When doing so, you must prepare the soil much like you would if you were seeding it. Once it grows, you should mow it when necessary.

Lawn care is a year-round duty, so of course it isn’t easy to do. But if you follow these steps, your neighbors will definitely think that the grass is greener on the other side of the fence.

Don’t put off home maintenance any longer.  As soon as the snow melts, take care of your home.  It’s almost time to come out of hibernation and inspect your home for winter damage.  Snow and ice can really take a toll on your home.  For example ice damming on your roof and gutters which is an accumulation of ice formations – a sign of inadequate insulation. Here are a few things you should take care of ASAP.

Clean and check your home heating system

You need to clean and check your furnace filters and be sure to clear away any debris, leaves, etc. from your air conditioner.

Clean or replace your furnace filter

A dirty filter will cost you 30% more in your utility bills as well as premature breakdown of your equipment.  If you need a new furnace the springtime offers some of the best pricing and manufacturer rebates on furnaces.

Clear snow from vent air intakes and crawl space doors

In the early spring, ice and snow will accumulate around furnace outside vents, intakes and gas meters.  Keep these areas free and clear to avoid potential problems.

Visually inspect your roof

Our cold, snowy winter has put all of our roofs through a test and a lot of wear and tear.  Remove any snow and ice.  Be careful not to damage the roof surface and of course be careful on the ladder.  From the street, look for any dips in the roof or any missing shingles.  Nail down any loose shingles or flashing.  Look for shingles that are cracked or curling and check the tuck pointing on your chimney.  If the job is large, seek the help of a professional.

Check downspouts and gutters

With the large amount of snow we have and the spring rain, your gutters need to be clean and clear to handle all the water.  Be sure to check your gutters with a hose to be sure that they are clean and clear and they don’t back up.

Inspect your basement and crawl space

Look for standing water, cracks and mold or mildew.

Perform safety checks around your home

Check all smoke and CO detectors and be sure to change your batteries to coincide with daylight saving time in March.  Check your fire extinguisher and be sure it’s charged and has a current date.  Have a fire escape plan.  Make sure you practice it with your family and that the kids understand it.

Courtesy of www.fourseasons-chicago.com

Courtesy of ENERGY STAR

Maintain your equipment to prevent future problems and unwanted costs. Keep your cooling and heating system at peak performance by having a contractor do annual pre-season check-ups. Contractors get busy once summer and winter come, so it’s best to check the cooling system in the spring and the heating system in the fall. To remember, you might plan the check-ups around the time changes in the spring and fall.

A typical maintenance check-up should include the following.

• Check thermostat settings to ensure the cooling and heating system keeps you comfortable when you are home and saves energy while you are away.

• Tighten all electrical connections and measure voltage and current on motors. Faulty electrical connections can cause unsafe operation of your system and reduce the life of major components.

• Lubricate all moving parts. Parts that lack lubrication cause friction in motors and increases the amount of electricity you use.

• Check and inspect the condensate drain in your central air conditioner, furnace and/or heat pump (when in cooling mode). A plugged drain can cause water damage in the house and affect indoor humidity levels.

• Check controls of the system to ensure proper and safe operation. Check the starting cycle of the equipment to assure the system starts, operates, and shuts off properly.

Cooling Specific

• Clean evaporator and condenser air conditioning coils. Dirty coils reduce the system’s ability to cool your home and cause the system to run longer, increasing energy costs and reducing the life of the equipment.

• Check your central air conditioner’s refrigerant level and adjust if necessary. Too much or too little refrigerant will make your system less efficient increasing energy costs and reducing the life of the equipment.

• Clean and adjust blower components to provide proper system airflow for greater comfort levels. Airflow problems can reduce your system’s efficiency by up to 15 percent.

Heating Specific

• Check all gas (or oil) connections, gas pressure, burner combustion and heat exchanger. Improperly operating gas (or oil) connections are a fire hazard and can contribute to health problems. A dirty burner or cracked heat exchanger causes improper burner operation. Either can cause the equipment to operate less safely and efficiently.

Actions To Do Yourself

• Inspect, clean, or change air filters once a month in your central air conditioner, furnace, and/or heat pump. Your contractor can show you how to do this. A dirty filter can increase energy costs and damage your equipment, leading to early failure.

10 Tasks to Consider Before the Mowing Season

By David Beaulieu, About.com Guide

First the bad news: if you neglect spring lawn care (and related concerns pertaining to your mower), you could end up paying for it the rest of the year. Now the good news: spring lawn care doesn’t entail nearly the amount of work that you’ll have to invest in mowing alone throughout the summer months.

In fact, most of you will need to implement only about half of the following ten tips for spring lawn care, depending upon your own unique circumstances. Furthermore, I point out in a few instances below that the task in question is better performed as part of your fall lawn care, if you can wait that long.

Spring Lawn Care Tip #1: Raking

Raking will be your first task of spring lawn care. Okay, I can hear the groans coming from all lands near and far, wherever grassy carpets are cultivated: “But we already raked leaves in the fall!” Sorry, but raking is for more than just removing leaves: it’s for controlling thatch, too. A thatch build-up of more than 1/2 inch is considered excessive.

Thatch is the reason why I recommend that, when you rake leaves in the fall, you make the effort to rake deeply. Don’t just skim the surface, so as to remove the leaves. A deep raking will remove thatch, too, allowing you to kill two birds with one stone. Even if you followed this advice in fall, I still recommend a spring raking: it will remove grass blades that died over the winter — dead blades that are just waiting to become thatch!

But there’s often another good reason for a spring raking. As you survey your lawn in spring, see if there are any matted patches, in which the grass blades are all stuck together. This can be caused by a disease known as “snow mold.” New grass may have difficulty penetrating these matted patches. But a light raking will be sufficient to solve this problem.

Just when you should perform any of these spring lawn care tasks will depend upon the climate of your own region. But Mother Nature provides palpable cues in some cases. For instance, when you’re pretty sure the snow season (if you have one) is over in your region, begin raking. Applying preemergent herbicides (see Tip #6) should be done sometime between the time the local forsythia bushes stop blooming and the time the local lilac bushes begin blooming.

Spring Lawn Care Tip #2: Check for Compaction

If your lawn is subjected to high levels of traffic year after year, it may eventually start to show signs of decline. In such cases, your lawn is probably suffering from compaction. For instance, the presence of moss plants signals compaction (among other things).

Lawn aeration is the remedy for compaction. The good news is that lawn aerators can be rented at your local rental center. The bad news is that the experts recommend postponing lawn aeration until fall. But if, during your “spring lawn checkup,” you become aware of compaction, at least you can plan on setting aside some time in the fall to take care of it.

Spring Lawn Care Tip #3: Liming

Besides compaction, the presence of moss plants also signals acidity. But grass likes a neutral soil pH. You can solve this problem by liming your soil. But don’t expect a quick fix: the effects of liming are slow to take place.

But first send a soil sample to your local county extension to determine the extent of your soil’s acidity. The county extension will also be able to advise you on how much lime per square foot you’ll need. Apply the lime using a lawn spreader.

But if your lawn has been doing fine and shows no signs of suffering from acidity, don’t apply lime. Liming is only a corrective measure, not a preventive measure. A soil that is too alkaline will also cause your lawn problems, so too much lime is as bad as not enough.

Spring Lawn Care Tip #4: Overseeding

Is your lawn riddled with bare patches due to dog spots, heavy traffic or neglect? If so, you may need to apply grass seed to fill in those bare patches. This solution is known as “overseeding lawns.” Apply a slow-release nitrogen fertilizer when you overseed. Five weeks after the grass germinates, apply a quick-release nitrogen fertilizer.

However, spring isn’t the very best time for overseeding lawns. Fall is the preferred time, when the new grass won’t have to compete with crabgrass (see Page 2), which is killed off by autumn frosts. So postpone overseeding until fall, unless your situation is dire.

Spring Lawn Care Tip #5: Fertilizing

Lawns can be fertilized organically by using compost and mulching mowers. But for those who prefer chemical fertilizers, Scotts provides a lawn fertilizing schedule. Many experts, however, recommend a lighter feeding in spring and a heavier one in late fall for cool-season grasses. Too much fertilizer in spring can lead to disease and weed problems. And if you have, indeed, already fertilized in late fall, your lawn is still “digesting” that fertilizer in spring.

In addition to the above tasks of spring lawn care, don’t forget weed control and making sure your mower is ready for the mowing season. These two subjects are covered onFor those who prefer weed-free lawns, spring grass care is as much about weed prevention as it is about fostering healthy lawn growth. Novices to spring grass care are often surprised to learn that not all lawn weeds are battled in the same manner. Depending upon whether a weed is an annual or a perennial, you will use a preemergent herbicide or a postemergent herbicide against it.

Spring Grass Care Tip #6: Applying Preemergent Herbicides

If you know that you have a problem with the annual weed, crabgrass, then fertilization in spring should go hand in hand with the application of preemergent herbicides. As their name suggests, preemergent herbicides address weed control not “after the fact,” but before their seedlings can even emerge. Preemergent herbicides accomplish this by forming something of a “shield” that inhibits seed germination. Don’t undertake the core aeration task discussed on Page 1 after applying preemergent herbicides: to do so would be to “puncture” this shield, thereby decreasing its effectiveness.

Crabgrass begins its assault on lawns in spring, when its seeds germinate. In fact, my suggestion on Page 1 that overseeding be carried out in autumn, rather than spring, is based in part on the threat posed by a spring crabgrass invasion. “So why not just begin by killing the crabgrass first with a preemergent herbicide?” perhaps you ask. Well, the trouble is that most preemergent herbicides work against not only weed seeds, but grass seeds, as well!

You can appreciate the dilemma here. Overseeding is incompatible with the application of most preemergent herbicides. Yet, faced with competition from crabgrass in spring, you may find it difficult to establish your new grass. So while it’s still possible to overseed in spring, it’s simply easier to do so in fall. There will be no competition from crabgrass then, because the fall frosts kill off crabgrass.

If you must overseed in the spring, look for a product called, “Tupersan.” Unlike other preemergent herbicides, Tupersan will not damage germinating lawn grass seed. But if you’re committed to staying away from chemicals altogether in your spring grass care, postpone overseeding till fall.

Spring Grass Care Tip #7: Applying Postemergent Herbicides — Or Pulling Weeds

Keep an eye out for the emergence of the perennial weed, dandelion during the spring season, unless you find the presence of their cheerful yellow flowers in your lawn desirable. At the very least, you’ll want to snap off their flower stems before they produce seed. If you’re more ambitious, you can dig them out by the roots. Spraying dandelion weeds with postemergent herbicides is more effective in fall than in spring. If you do choose to spray, select an herbicide for broadleaf weeds.

If you prefer weed control without chemicals and have consistently practiced organic landscaping, you can harvest these “weeds” as dandelion greens and eat them!

Besides proper spring grass care, there’s more you need to do to get ready for a summer filled with lawn mowing. Don’t neglect preparations concerning the lawn mower itself — the subject of But your preparation for the summer lawn mowing season doesn’t end with the spring grass care covered on Page 1 and Page 2. No other power equipment is as intimately associated with and essential to landscaping as is the lawn mower. You need to have a lawn mower that will consistently get the job done without any hassles throughout the lawn mowing season. And you should also know how to use the lawn mower to your best advantage. Consequently, the final three of my ten tips focus on caring for, selecting and using lawn mowers.

Tip #8: Tuning Up Existing Lawn Mowers

Mowing the lawn all summer can be tiring enough, right? Why make it more difficult on yourself by putting up with a lawn mower that doesn’t start up immediately? When a lawn mower is stubborn about starting up, that can be a sign that it needs a tuneup. Although it’s often possible to get by without one, it is recommended that you have a lawn mower tuneup each year. Don’t put it off till summer or pay someone else to do it. Learn how to tune up a lawn mower yourself using the following resource and have your machine ready to go for summer:

3 Easy Steps for a Lawn Mower Tune-Up

How to Tune Up Your Machine Yourself

Tired of yanking on that starter cord until your arm hurts? If your machine is not starting up as soon as it should, perhaps it’s time for a lawn mower tune-up (tuneup, tune up). Although it’s often possible to get by without one, it is recommended that you have a lawn mower tune-up each year. The instructions below show you how to tune up your machine yourself.

Before performing a lawn mower tune-up, you need to warm up the engine. Put just enough gas in the gas tank to get your lawn mower running. Start your engine and let it run until it runs out of gas. Finally, now that you’re ready to perform the lawn mower tune-up, you need to take a safety precaution: disconnect the spark plug wire so that the engine can’t start accidentally.

A lawn mower tune-up essentially consists of three tasks (although maintaining your machine entails much more than this), each of which I’ll describe in more detail below:

• Changing the Oil

• Changing the Spark Plug

• Changing / Cleaning the Air Filter

Lawn Mower Tune-Up Task 1: Steps for Changing the Oil

1. Make sure you purchase the right type of oil for your replacement oil. When in doubt, ask where you bought the machine. Or, if you’re really desperate, check the owner’s manual….

2. Clean off any dirt around the upper part of the oil tank (where you fill your machine with oil). An old toothbrush comes in handy for this task. Unscrew and remove the dipstick, if your oil tank has one.

3. Now locate the lower side of your oil tank – a plug found on the underside of your machine. You need to drain out the old oil, and unscrewing this plug will do just that. Prop up your machine accordingly with blocks, providing a tilt that will give you access to the plug. Stick an oil pan or like container under the plug to catch the oil. Ready? Okay, unscrew the plug (you may need a socket wrench) by turning counter-clockwise and let that dirty oil pour out. And I do mean dirty: obviously, you don’t want to have your “Sunday best” on when performing a lawn mower tune-up!

4. Screw the drain plug back on using a clockwise motion. Don’t over-tighten, so that you’ll be able to get it off easily next time you need a lawn mower tune-up. Rather than over-tightening when you work on your machine, it’s better to tighten moderately, then periodically check during the mowing season to ensure that it hasn’t loosened through vibrations.

5. (For machines that have an oil filter) If your machine has an oil filter, replace it as part of the lawn mower tune-up and clean the gasket with which it comes into contact.

6. Remove the blocks so that your machine is level again.

7. Fill the oil tank with new oil to the correct level, replacing cap and dipstick.

8. Refill lawn mower with gas and reconnect spark plug wire.

9. At this point in the lawn mower tune-up, it’s time to start the machine. Let the engine idle and ensure that there are no oil leaks.

Lawn Mower Tune-Up Task 2: Steps for Changing the Spark Plug

1. Disconnect spark plug wire.

2. Clean the housing around the old spark plug.

3. Remove the old spark plug with socket wrench.

4. Unfortunately, at this point you’ll have to check the blasted manual again (don’t you just hate that?) What you need to do is ensure that the new spark plug is gapped the way it’s supposed to be for your machine. Just measure the gap, then see if the measurement matches manufacturer’s specifications for your machine. If it doesn’t match (or if there’s no gap at all), you’ll have to create/alter the gap.

5. Screw on the new spark plug (not too tight!).

Before changing/cleaning the air filter, first determine whether your machine has a paper or foam air filter. Paper air filters are replaced; while the foam ones are cleaned.

Lawn Mower Tune-Up Task 3A: Steps for Changing a Paper Air Filter

1. Unscrew the cover and remove the paper air filter.

2. Insert a new paper air filter with the pleat facing out.

3. Screw the cover back on.

Lawn Mower Tune-Up Task 3B: Steps for Cleaning a Foam Air Filter

1. Unscrew the cover.

2. Remove air filter unit and discard the old foam.

3. Clean the air filter unit with kerosene.

4. Soak the new piece of foam in clean engine oil. Squeeze out the excess oil using a clean rag.

5. Insert new foam in air filter. Ensure the lip protrudes over edge of the unit.

6. Screw the cover back on.

7. Re-connect spark plug wire.

Tip #9: Buying a New Lawn Mower

Or perhaps you’re fed up with your old lawn mower? Time for a change? This Q&A resource for consumers will help you decide on which type of lawn mower is best for you: Question: What is the best lawn mower for those with an environmental conscience? Answer: In terms of fighting air pollution, reel mowers and electric mowers are both excellent environmental selections. To reduce the environmental burden on community landfills, make sure that, whatever type of mower you select in your shopping, it has mulching capabilities.

Tip #10: Reviewing Lawn Mowing Strategies

“What’s there to know about lawn mowing?” perhaps you ask. “You just push the lawn mower and it cuts the grass, right?” At the most basic level, Yes. And if lawn mowing is merely a mindless chore that you perform to satisfy other people (and you really don’t care much about the health of your lawn), then you needn’t know any more about it.

However, if you do care about the health of your lawn, there’s a bit more to lawn mowing than just keeping your grass short enough to prevent the neighborhood from thinking your house has been abandonned! Spring is a good time to learn (or review) lawn mowing strategies — before it becomes so hot outside that it’s hard to think!

Fertilizing Lawns in Spring, Summer, Fall: A Schedule

By David Beaulieu, About.com Guide

Your grass craves periodic feedings, and it is best to meet this need for periodic feedings by fertilizing lawns with “slow-release” products. You’ll find such products at local home improvement stores, such as Lowe’s and Home Depot. Because these products release their nutrients over time, rather than all at once, fertilizing lawns with them allows the grass to “eat” at its own leisure. As nutrients are released, the root system of your grass fills in any bare patches, depriving weed seeds of a place to germinate.

Of course, as a substitute for all this, you can stay organic and simply top dress your lawns with compost in spring and fall.

Scotts suggests a four-part schedule for fertilizing lawns. The schedule will depend on where you live and your grass-type; but, as an example, here’s the schedule for a Northern lawn composed of a mixture of bluegrass, ryegrass and fescue:

Sample Schedule for Fertilizing Lawns

1. Apply a fertilizer called, “Scotts Turf Builder With Halts Crabgrass Preventer” in April or May. Fertilizing lawns goes hand in hand with weed control.

2. “Scotts Turf Builder With PLUS 2 Weed Control” can be applied in June. This fertilizer fills the need for additional weed control, as the herbicide component fights everything from ground ivy to purslane to white clover.

3. In July or August, apply “Scotts Super Turf Builder with SummerGuard.” This fertilizer is billed by Scotts as a product that “strengthens and summer-proofs” your grass while “combating a spectrum of harsh seasonal threats like insects, heat and drought.”

4. Finally, Scotts winterizering fertilizer should be applied in fall. Fertilizing lawns with this product will not only prepare grass for winter, but also give you a head start towards achieving the green turf you’ll want next spring –- bringing us full circle.

Before fertilizing lawns with these products, read the instructions on the bag carefully (or ask someone at the store for details). A particular product may not be suitable for your type of grass. Likewise, when applying fertilizers, follow directions explicitly, concerning how much to apply, how often they should be applied, and under what conditions they should be applied.

Fertilizing lawns is best done with a spreader. Be advised not to fill the applicator with the spreader parked on the grass. Doing so invites grass-burn, as you may accidentally discharge too much while loading. Instead, fill the applicator somewhere else, then wheel the spreader onto the grass.

I also provide an expanded version of this story on fertilizing lawns, for those who desire a fuller picture of what it takes to keep your grass green and healthy.

Refinish Decks and Siding and Concrete Sidewalks and Driveways

Over the course of the year, many elements conspire to dull the bright, clean appearance of any home. This is due to exposure to things such as mildew, sap, pollution, and pollen. It happens so slowly that the homeowner might not even notice it happening. It’s easy to spot when it’s time to refinish a deck, but not always the siding.

Cleaning the exterior of a home need not be an overwhelming chore. Done with a bucket, hand brush, and a hose it might be, but a pressure washer takes most of the elbow grease out of the task.

Do a Visual Inspection Before Power Washing

This is a high pressure machine, and just as it will blast off the grime, it will blast off things better left attached. Things like:

• Paint. If paint is bubbling or flaking on a wood surface like siding or window frames or sills the water will most likely take it off. These areas can and should be sprayed so long as they will be promptly primed and painted as soon as they dry out completely.

• Loose masonry. Soft or loose brick mortar can also be dislodged by the high pressure water jet. If this happens, be prepared to repoint the brick veneer.

• Paint on aluminum garage doors. Paint does not adhere to aluminum well to begin with, even if primed properly. The fact that the light metal will flex under the pressure of the water compounds this problem.

• The surface of wooden fences. By nature, picket fences and other wooden types are porous and light. They will come out looking like new, but only by sacrificing surface area. Fences and garage doors should be done by hand.

Pre-treat with a Cleaning Solution Prior to Washing

Make it easy for the power washer to do its job. Although it is possible to run bleach or other cleaning products through the unit, it is not the best thing for the machine. Instead, use a pump-up sprayer to soak an area, let it sit and work for approximately 20 minutes, and then wash.

A House Cleaning Solution Recipe

Rather than just buy an expensive product, why not mix up a batch? This one works well.