Gutter Maintenance

Your gutters are very important in keeping your home safe from rain water and moisture. But, in order for gutters to do their job, you will need to make sure that they are not clogged or leaking. If this happens it can cause considerable damage to the walls and foundations of your home including cracking foundations and bulging walls. This is why it is important that you make sure that you perform proper gutter maintenance.

Cleaning your gutters is one of the first lines of defence in keeping your gutters in proper working order. When cleaning your gutters do not use a water hose to remove debris. Instead use a small garden shovel to scoop out any debris that may be stuck inside the gutter. Leaves, sticks, seeds, berries and more may have gotten caught inside the gutter so make sure that you check the gutter and remove as much debris as possible. Once the larger debris has been removed, you can use a garden hose to wash the rest of it out. After flushing the gutters with the water hose, check for any pools of water. These pools indicate that there are low spots. Proper gutter maintenance requires that gutters are sloped one inch each for every fifteen horizontal inches that they cover. This will ensure proper drainage of water and debris. Once all of these steps have been performed your gutters should be in perfect draining condition.

Make sure that you fix any problems that your gutters may have. Install new hangars so that your gutters remain intact and in the correct place. If straps and spikes have come loose or need to be replaced, replace them with hangars instead as the process of replacing straps and spikes is a long and hard process that requires removing roofing materials. Gutter screws are very strong and can be used to replace spikes. Use a silicone sealant to repair any holes or cracks within your gutters. If gutters need to be replaced, it is best to replace them with steel gutters. These perform longer and are more study in the long run. They can last for as long as forty years in all types of weather conditions. Aluminium and vinyl work well but require more maintenance than steel gutters do.

Gutter maintenance is very important. It is a simple process that can be done by nearly anyone and it will not take you a full day to perform it. Gutters do require regular maintenance if you want them to do their jobs. Leaky gutters can do considerable damage by creating pools next to your home's foundations. If you see pools then you know that your gutters need to be fixed as soon as possible. If you follow the simple procedures listed above, you can ensure that your house is being protected properly from elements such as rain, sleet and snow. This can be a messy process so make sure that you dress for the job. You will also need to use a ladder for this process so make sure that you are safety conscious during the gutter maintenance process.

Best Roofing Materials for the Environment

Roofs are critical structures that cover and protect a house. There are several different materials that roofs have been made out of over the years including wood, asphalt, metal, and tile. Each roofing material has different advantages and disadvantages, and some are better than others for the environment.

Metal Roofing

Metal roofing has many environmental advantages. First of all, it is a recyclable material; it won't sit for centuries in a landfill never degrading. It is also environmentally friendly because it reduces waste. Many times, metal roofs can be installed on top of an existing roof. This erases the hassle of tearing off the new roof and spares the environment the waste.

Metal roofs are naturally safer for the environment when it rains. Some roofs have chemicals and contaminants that will run off the roof and pollute the ground when it rains. Metal is free of chemicals and the rain that slides off the roof is cleaner as a result.

Metal roofs are good insulators when installed properly. This insulation can help keep the house warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer, reducing energy costs. The less energy used heating and cooling, the better for the environment.

Foam Roofing

Certain types of foam roofing can also have environmental benefits. Newer foams are made without chemicals that could be harmful to the ozone layer.

Foam roofing causes much less waste when compared to asphalt roofing. This type of roofing also lasts a long time and doesn't have the dangerous asphalt chemicals or odors.

Wood Roofing

Wood roofing has obvious environmental benefits because it is truly a renewable roofing choice. The wood used is natural and won't harm the environment. The processes of manufacturing the wood roofs use much less energy than other manufacturing processes and as a result produce much lower amounts of greenhouse gases.

Wood roofing is also very good at insulating a house and keeping the environmental cost of heating and cooling down.

When searching for a roofing choice that has environmental benefits, metal, foam, and wood roofing all have their own advantages, but metal is perhaps the best choice.

Tips to Help you Buy the Right Rug

Rugs have been around for more than 3000 years; so buying an authentic rug can be rather difficult without some knowledge and these tips to help you.

Before you actually start looking for your rug, it is better to learn some terms that help identify the different parts of a rug. The background of the rug is called the field while a round or diamond shaped motif in the middle of the rug is called a central medallion. If you plan to asymmetrically arrange your furniture on the rug, its better buying a rug with an all-over design.

Measure your room and rug space

It is also important that you measure the rug space and the room dimensions so that you don't end up buying a rug that is too big for your room.

Look for both sophistication in its design and the manner the rug's design was designed. If you find that the rug doesn't have any sheen or polish, it means the rug isn't of a good quality.

Take a look at knots

Another tip for choosing the right rug to buy is to take a look at the kind of knots in it. While some rugs have about 30 knots in an inch, others have as many as 290 knots per inch, which produces an extremely fine and intricate design on the rug. Rugs with fine knots have aesthetic designs on it.

While choosing rugs, you also have to decide if you want to buy a rug with a modern design or a rug with ancient designs like Persian designs. It is always better to decide based on the interiors of the room where you plan to place the rug. No point in buying a rug with ancient designs if you have modern interior decor in the room.

New rugs are not investments

Take a look at various rugs till you finally reach a few favorite options. The new rugs are generally sold by the square foot while antique ones are sold by piece. New rugs are considered investments as you can easily find similar types in the future. New rugs should be bought only for its decorative value and usefulness and only old rugs as an investment.

Never buy a rug till you fall in love with it after carefully examining it. Though bright colored rugs may look attractive at first, they may not seem so appealing after some time and may reduce the rug's value if you plan to sell it in the future.

Buy from a reputed dealer

Most dealers will let you take your rug and try it at home for a day or two as the lighting and character of your room can affect the rug's look. Buy the rug only if you are happy with its result in both daylight and at night.

Last, but not least, make sure you buy your rug from a reputed and reliable dealer. You know the best dealers as they readily show samples of all the types of rugs they have and will happily give suggestions to help you buy a rug of your budget and needs. Don't buy rugs at customs auctions and closing down sales as if the rates of these rugs seem too good to be true, it usually is.