Archives for Home Maintenance

Spring Cleaning 101: Tips On Getting Your Home Ready For Sale

Spring Cleaning 101: Tips On Getting Your Home Ready For Sale Contrary to years prior, 2018 has presented us with a rather mild, wet March. As such, we’ve barely approached the standard season for “April showers” and have already received enough rain and wet weather to rid most of the snow! The month, however is still young; and, as unpredictable as Mother Nature can be when it comes to delivering cold weather and long winters, we think it’s safe to assume that Jack frost might just bite a time or two more. This said, if you’re in the market to
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Winter: Time to keep the heat IN, and your costs DOWN

As winter begins to cover the ground with snow, we Canadians are aware, there’s much more coming our way than just a light dusting. Shoveling snow, spreading salt, and digging out your frozen car, are just some of the “joys” winter may bring to you this season. As the costs of heat and electricity continue to rise, Jack Frost will be nipping at your pocketbook, wanting to extend his winter chills to the interior of your home. If you’re hoping to keep the cold outside, and your heating costs down, the best thing for you to do is to get
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Fall Home Maintenance Tips

Fall. Arguably one of the most beautiful times of the year! The weather has cooled and the leaves have begun to change, reminding us that winter isn’t all that far away. Before the snow flies, our homes need a little TLC in order to ensure our warmth and safety over the months – yes, months – of winter. We’ve prepared a few tips on where to begin and what to include in your home maintenance checklist for the fall: Inspect and clean out your eaves trough. In order to ensure a smooth and safe flow of water away from your
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Bang For Your Buck: Renos That Will Increase Your Home's Value

If you are a homeowner, you’ve probably spent money on your property over and above the regular carrying costs.  Investing in your  property has the obvious benefits of making your home nicer to live in, but smart renovations can also have the side benefit of increasing a home’s value when it comes time to sell. Below is a list of some of the home renovations that have been shown to add the most to a home’s value, as well as some renovations to avoid. Flooring Flooring can be a costly renovation, but can also add to a home’s value if
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Bang For Your Buck: Renos That Will Increase Your Home’s Value

If you are a homeowner, you’ve probably spent money on your property over and above the regular carrying costs.  Investing in your  property has the obvious benefits of making your home nicer to live in, but smart renovations can also have the side benefit of increasing a home’s value when it comes time to sell. Below is a list of some of the home renovations that have been shown to add the most to a home’s value, as well as some renovations to avoid. Flooring Flooring can be a costly renovation, but can also add to a home’s value if
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Winterizing Your Yard

Winterizing your home for the cold snap is one thing; winterizing your yard, however, is another. And as much as most of us would like to avoid prepping our yards for the inevitable cold that is to come, it’s something that’s simply unavoidable – especially if we’re looking to save both time and energy when spring and summer rolls around next year. Rest assured, however, winterizing your yard is not as complex as most of us may think it is, in fact, it’s actually quite simple.   We’ve provided a list of ways below that will help you and your
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Winterizing Your Home

It seems like only yesterday that we were out enjoying the great (warm) outdoors at our cottages, lakes and so on. The days were sunny, the evenings were cool; we’d admire the gradual change in scenery as each tree in sight became more and more vibrant with time. And then without warning, as it does every year, it just hits us: winter. We feel it coming, we know it’ll be here in a quick blink of an eye, but it still somehow manages to sneak up on us. We ask ourselves if we’re even ready for winter, if we can
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Housing Trends We are Seeing in the Canadian Real Estate Market

The Canadian housing market is already in the news, thanks to the recent collaboration of Vancouver residents to form the #DontHave1Million campaign that went viral. This Twitter campaign was in response to the recent reports that the average home in Vancouver will set you back $1.27 million, which is more than double the average price of a home throughout the rest of the Canadian market. And, at the rate things are going, this trend shows no sign of slowing down.  With this in mind, let’s see the other nine trends in the Canadian housing market to keep in mind in
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Time To Get Out The Spring Maintenance Checklist

  In Ottawa, there are two sights that remind homeowners it’s time for spring maintenance: bikes on the road and geese in the sky. With the recent double-digit temperatures, it seems spring has won its annual wrestling match with winter. And, as spring fever sets in, you may want to store your parka and get at those spring maintenance chores. A great place to start is making sure the melting snow and runoff flows freely off your roof and away from your home instead of seeping in or collecting at the foundation. Improper drainage can cause problems like foundation flooding,
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