Special Features - Fall Home Improvement 2013

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Fall

Improvement

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• Tips to extend the gardening season • Things to know about furnaces • Insulating your home for winter

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Wednesday, October 23, 2013

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Extend the garden season with these techniques As the gardening season draws to a close for another year, here are a few simple tips for extending the beauty after the last leaf has fallen.

Kim

BUFFUM Winter interest - as you cut down your perennials and tidy the flowerbeds, consider leaving a few grasses and other tall specimens standing.

These will add visual interest and motion to your garden after the blanket of white arrives. If your garden included sunflowers this past season, leave them standing with heads attached as a gourmet treat for the bird population.

Attract feathered friends - consider adding a birdbath with a heater this winter. You’ll enjoy visits from feathered friends throughout the winter season. Blue Jays are quite happy to take a splash regardless of the outdoor temperature.

You can even expect to see a few species that are normally shy about backyards as water is an irresistible draw. Put up some suet feeders close to a window and watch the woodpeckers, chickadees and nuthatches as they visit almost daily.

You’ll be helping ensure their well-being by supplementing their diet with the added bonus of observing them up close.

Containers of colour - until the snow flies, try placing a few pots of blooming mums (readily available at your local grocery store) down your front steps or along a walkway. Window boxes can provide interest by creating a ‘fall inspired’

look with pumpkins and assorted colourful gourds combined with some evergreen fronds or dried twiggery. A couple of urns or large pots can really work to add interest at this time of year. With the addition of some faux greenery, some twisting branches and a few strands of twinkling white lights, you’ll provide a showpiece that looks beautiful and inviting for the winter season.

Welcoming entrance - add some interest to your front door with the addition of a seasonal wreath. These are available in a variety of textures and colour palettes from local outlets.

Create your own with a trip to the craft store, a quality wreath hanger and some imagination.

Garden retailers traditionally have fresh greenery available at this time of year if you want a more organic look for your door.

Plan ahead - fall is the perfect time to make changes to your garden, ensuring it’s beauty for next season. Take a look around your space and consider what enhancements would be most beneficial. Do you need added privacy? More texture? Additional shade? Planning now, either on paper or by actually relocating plants will have you longing for spring to arrive. Trees and shrubs and even perennials can be planted in the fall as long as they receive a good watering in to kick-start their root development. Spring bulbs planted now will delight you with their colourful display as the soil warms next spring. Consider hard-scaping projects, such as a new seating area or a winding walkway, which are perfect for accomplishing during the cooler fall season and will be ready for use once the warm weather arrives once again.

Kim Buffum is a hands-on local gardening enthusiast with over 30 years experience as a Zone 3 gardener.

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Wednesday, October 23, 2013

How to insulate your house quickly for winter The Canadian climate gives us four unique seasons with a significant range in temperature and humidity. This presents a challenge for heating and cooling, but insulation can be the best line of defence to ensure a comfortable home year round.

Proper insulation will keep you warm throughout the winter and cool in the summer.

On the other hand, a poorly insulated home can result in wasteful expenses. In

the winter, there are a few signs that your house does not have adequate insulation, including: • walls that are cold to touch; • cold floors; • high heating costs; • uneven heating levels within building; • mold growth on exterior walls; • heat spots on your roof after a fresh snow fall.

To make sure you keep as much heat in as possible and reduce your energy waste, now is the time to winterize your house.

The attic can be the greatest source of heat loss so a simple solution to increase your home’s energy efficiency is to top up your existing insulation in that space.

Over time, attic insulation may settle or compact creating gaps and loss in R-value, but with the right tools, fixing and upgrading is an easy DIY project. Opt for an easyto-use, loose stone wool insulation, such as a product called, Roxul RockFill. It is designed to be spread by hand throughout the attic on top of the existing insulation.

To apply it simply open the bag, aerate the insulation with your hands (loosen it up) and spread it over the existing insulation. Make sure you fill in spaces around ducts, wiring and piping converting these awkward spaces into energy saving areas.

Scott McGillivray is a full-time real estate investor, contractor, television host, writer, and educator. www.newscanada.com

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Wednesday, October 23, 2013

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Fall is definitely the time to cozy up Only in Alberta can we plummet from +18C and sunny to -2C and snow flurries in less than a week!

Kim

MECKLER The wonderful thing about our province is watching the seasons turn, especially fall. It’s like Mother Nature is throwing one final colourful party before she becomes bitter and cold hoping we will forgive her harshness.

Fall is definitely the time to cozy up! Scarves are woven around necks and I finally put my first pair of socks on this morning!

It’s wonderful to see knitted fabrics working their way into stores and onto toss cushions and furniture. I am a fan of cable knit and I think there is nothing

more wonderful than home accessories adorned in this cozy sweater look.

Whether they are toss cushions, furniture throws or slippers, nothing is cozier than cable knit anything to wrap around you on a chilly fall day.

Cable knit sweaters have deep roots in the Aran Islands where wives of fishermen would spend lonely nights knitting sweaters for their husbands.

They generally used unprocessed wool which is the traditional off-white colour we have come to associate with fisherman’s cable knit.

The wool has a natural coating of lanolin which is a waxy substance which keeps water off of the sheep, when unprocessed yarn is used to make sweaters it makes them naturally water repellent which is perfect for the hardworking husbands.

The homey, comfortable soft wavy pattern is a natural solution for those wanting to warm up their inte-

riors. Both literally (what would be cozier than a soft wool coverlet to snuggle under?) and figuratively - because most of us have that whimsical image of a creamy cable knit sweater in our heads.

Mine is that perfect Ralph Lauren fall vignette with a man and a woman in stylish cream sweaters and knee high leather boots getting ready to ride a thoroughbred through a

perfect autumnal setting. It invokes cravings for warm fires and apple cider with cinnamon sticks, doesn’t it?

I often think that cable knit shouts tradition and homemade values at us and when its incorporated into our homes I believe that it invites all who cross your threshold to tuck their feet up and relax as you spend the afternoon catching up on idle gossip.

To savour a warm inte-

rior while the wind and leaves blow past your window and to cherish time with friends.

We may not be riding glossy horses through the Vermont countryside but we can wrap our homes in warmth and traditional comfort with the addition of a few cherished pieces.

Fall is the perfect excuse to bring some cozy into your home and I think cable knit is a very good

choice for instant charm.

As wonderful as creamy traditional cable knit is, you are able to find cable knit in all shades of the rainbow and in all textures from knobby and countrified to smooth and refined.

Pick your product, choose your knit and wrap yourself in traditional, cozy warmth!

Kim Meckler is an interior designer in Red Deer with Carpet Colour Centre.

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Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Fall is a good time for spa maintenance Fall is here and it’s time get your spa ready for the cold winter months ahead.

Taking good care of your spa now will make caring for it in the winter much easier for you.

Your spa needs to be drained every three to six months depending on how often it is used and how many people are going in it. Fall is a perfect time to drain your spa since you

NATASHA

KREIGER probably won’t want to drain it in the middle of winter. Before draining,

use a pipe cleaner in the water. This will help to remove the mineral build up that accumulates in the plumbing of the hot tub.

Make sure to remove the filters before using this type of product. It is also a good idea to purchase new filters when you drain and refill your spa.

When the water is out of it, clean the surface of the spa with a spa cleaner.

Make sure that you don’t use abrasive cleaner or strong chemicals; these could remove the sheen from the surface of your spa or scratch the surface which can cause fading.

Before refilling the spa, be sure to remove any residue from the surface cleaner to prevent foaming and water chemical imbalance.

Fall is also a good time to maintain the cabinet of your spa. If you have a cabinet made out of a com-

posite product, you can just give it a good cleaning with soapy water to remove any dirt that may have built up over the summer.

After cleaning the cabinet, give it a good rinse ensuring there isn’t any soap still on the surface. If you have a spa with a cedar cabinet, you may need to stain the surface. You’ll need to clean the cabinet and sand it before staining.

It is a good idea to buy a stain made specifically for

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hot tubs which can be purchased at a spa store.

Caring for the cover of your spa is also a good idea in the fall. If the hot tub doesn’t have a roof over it, the cover will be taking on the elements and snow and ice can take their toll on it.

The cover can be cleaned with mildly soapy water or a cover cleaning product, and then rinsed well.

There are also products that you can use on your cover that will help protect it from fading and cracking from sun exposure. This is also a good time to ensure that your cover isn’t water logged since it won’t be able to insulate your spa in the winter if it’s full of water. You can tell if your cover is water logged when it is really heavy to lift and this means that you’ll need to replace it.

Winter can be hard on your spa but if you give it some TLC now, it will run more efficiently for you through the season.

If this all seems like too much, you can also hire a spa company to maintain your spa for you.

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Wednesday, October 23, 2013

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Vital things to know about furnaces

By Addison Colb Natural or gas gas from an outdoors source is piped towards the furnace where it’s burned to create warmth.

Often a fan-driven forced-air distribution system blows the warmed air through ductwork that vent in to the various rooms of the home. Older gas furnaces make use of a standing-pilot ignition. Maintenance involves turning from the pilot each spring and relighting it each fall. More recent, more effective gas furnaces make use of an electric spark to light the gas as necessary.

Most gas furnaces are very reliable. Do you know the signs and symptoms of problems? The furnace might not produce warmth or might not produce enough warmth. The pilot light might have to go out frequently or won’t light.

The thermocouple might be faulty. The pilot may sensational looking not ignite the burners. The furnace might be noisy. You will find some maintenance along with a couple of minor repairs that you could make. However, major service ought to be left to some trained specialist.

To reduce issues with your gas furnace, take some time every month to determine the air conditioning filter and clean or change it if required.

Annually, clean the blower rotor blades, lubricate the blower motor, and inspect the belt.

If there’s no warmth, look into the electrical service panel for any burned fuse or tripped breaker. Relight the pilot light.

If there’s insufficient warmth, adjust the burners air shutter and clean the burners ports.

When the pilot light doesn’t light or doesn’t stay lit, clean the pilot hole carefully having a toothpick, test the thermocouple and change it if it’s faulty.

When the flame flickers, adjust the pilot.

If there’s an overflowing seem once the burners ignites, adjust the pilot to some greater setting and clean the pilot hole and also the burners ports.

When the burners takes greater than a couple of seconds to ignite, clean the pilot hole and adjust the pilot light.

When the burners flame is uneven, clean the burners ports. When the burners flame

is extremely yellow, clean the burners open vents within the furnace room to supply more air adjust the burners air shutter.

When the furnace constitutes a rumbling noise once the writers are off, clean the burners and adjust the burners air shutter.

When the air is simply too dry, clean or replace the evaporator pad for those who have a humidifier test the humidistat and adjust water-level float to boost water level.

If some rooms are extremely awesome yet others too warm, the distribution system may need balancing. Make reference to the Forced-Air Distribution Fix-It Guide at FixItClub.com Make sure your filter may be the right size for the furnace.

Some alternative parts for gas furnaces are interchangeable (filters, nails) and offered at the local home improvement store.

Others, for example writers and controls, should be bought in the manufacturer or aftermarket supplier or via a heating equipment supplier indexed by the local phone book. www.articlecity.com

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