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Monthly Archives: June 2013

Greening your home: Start at the tap

25 Tuesday Jun 2013

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Greening%20your%20home%3A%20Start%20at%20the%20tap
In today’s environmentally conscious times, it seems we’re surrounded by the need to shop, act and live “green.” Some of our choices are easy and small, while others can be big and costly. But one thing is for sure – each choice can make a significant difference. 

 
Some of the most important green choices we can make are right within our own home, according to Kevin McJoynt at Danze, Inc.
“Installing items like Energy Star appliances and energy-efficient windows is a great step in moving your home to be more green,” says McJoynt. “But changing your in-home water usage can have the most impact.”

 
According to McJoynt, water shortages, energy demands and the cost of transporting water continue to rise. “Finding ways to simply reduce our usage without dramatically altering our lifestyle could save billions of gallons of water each year in the United States.”
McJoynt offers up these tips on how you can immediately start conserving water (and save money) in your home:

 
* Replace older toilets (1992 or earlier) with newer, high efficiency toilets (HETs). They operate at 1.28 gallons per flush and could save 11 gallons of water per toilet per day. Danze has several new HETs that outperform and are more stylish than many toilets found in current homes.

 
* Be sure to turn off the tap when brushing your teeth – it could save nearly 3,000 gallons of water per year. 

 
* Update your bathrooms with newer WaterSense certified lavatory faucets. According to the Environmental Protection Agency WaterSense program, if every household in the U.S. installed these water-saving lavatory faucets, more than $350 million in water utility bills and more than 60 billion gallons of water annually would be saved, plus $600 million in energy costs for heating the water.

 
* Always turn the water off between tasks. Letting your faucet run for five minutes uses about as much energy as letting a 60-watt light bulb run for 14 hours.
* Make sure to wash only full loads of laundry. Using a high-efficiency washing machine is ideal, as they use about 28 gallons of water per load, versus an average machine that uses 41 gallons.

 
* Take a shower rather than a bath. A full bath tub requires up to 70 gallons of water, while taking a five-minute shower uses 10 to 25 gallons. Want to be even more efficient? Switch your showerhead to a water-saving option.  

 
“We realize showers are a tricky one when it comes to saving water. Homeowners want to make sure they have a well-performing shower experience,” says McJoynt. “However, the EPA WaterSense program recently published standards for showerheads that consider both conservation and performance to build support of these water-saving units. Be sure to look for the WaterSense certification mark.”

 
* Fix those leaks. Most leaky faucets can waste more than 3,000 gallons of water each year.

 
“Better design and engineering of many new bathroom products actually gives the user improved performance as well as efficiency,” adds McJoynt. “Faucets, toilets and showerheads are great examples. They’re just like other appliances that use less energy, but still work very well.”

 
If all the water-saving green choices still have you overwhelmed, select one tip at a time and incorporate it into your home. Looking for other tips? Visit the EPA’s WaterSense website. 

 
For more information about the performance and efficiency of Danze faucets, showerheads and toilets, visit http://www.danze.com.

Courtesy of BPT

Pairing 101: Why care about the pair?

25 Tuesday Jun 2013

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Why%20care%20about%20the%20pair%3F
Food experts know that the right wine or spirit can enhance the enjoyment of any dish. The perfect marriage of the right wine and a flavorful meal creates a combination that celebrates and enhances the experience of both. 
Navigating an extensive wine list or cocktail menu should be a journey in experimentation to find your favorite flavors – and never a daunting feat at the table. With a few basics and simple tips, you can ensure that you enjoy your meal to the fullest.

 
“Whether you’re dining out or cooking at home, the trick to a satisfying pairing comes from understanding the fundamentals and understanding your personal palate,” says Leigh Merritt, director of bar innovation for Bonefish Grill restaurants. “Keep in mind that pairing isn’t an exact science, and personal preference is always most important. When you drink what you enjoy, the entire meal comes together.”

 
Here are Merritt’s top tips to consider when creating a great pairing:
Understand wine flavors

 
Three factors influence the taste of wines: the type of grape, where that grape is grown, and how the wine is processed and handled will affect the flavor notes. The same species of grape grown in California will have different characteristics than one grown in Chile. Grapes fermented in oak will differ from wine in stainless steel. Don’t be afraid to ask questions when purchasing spirits or ordering drinks at a restaurant, and enjoy learning about the flavors you like.

 
Assess the whole dish
In general, light-styled wines do pair better with lighter styles of food such as shrimp or scallops, as their delicate flavors harmonize better. However, it’s important to pay attention to all the ingredients on the plate. For instance, grilled shrimp may have a subtle flavor by itself, but when served with the bold flavors of a Chimichurri sauce, the dish takes on a different profile that can taste great with a richer, deeper wine.

 
Why care about the pair?
A good wine and food pairing will work together to bring out the best flavors in each. The wine shouldn’t overpower the food, nor should the food overpower the wine. This delicate balance can be achieved by using either complementary or contrasting flavors. 
Complementary flavors

 
Some pairs come naturally, like fresh seafood and lemon, or fresh sashimi and wasabi. The similar flavors work together to create a classic duo. When dealing with libations, complementary flavors similarly yield a symbiotic, balanced result. This strategy brings wines together with dishes that share similar notes, such as an earthy pinot noir and robust Chicken Marsala or Fontina Chop. The combination of tastes has a lot of synergy and smooth transition from food to drink.

 
Contrasting flavors
Wine can also have a cleansing effect on your palate, and using contrasting flavors can make a meal very exciting. To create a good contrast, remember that opposites attract, and pair foods and wines that have divergent traits, such as a crisp sauvignon blanc and a fresh Grilled Grouper with a Lemon Butter sauce. The crisp acidity of the wine cuts through the creaminess of the sauce and gives a different, refreshing sensation for the palate. Another example of this contrast effect would be a sweet wine, like gewürztraminer with fiery Bang Bang Shrimp or Diablo Shrimp Fettuccine.

 
Several restaurants will even let you sample wines or explore half-pours to expand your oenophile experiences. Remember to have fun and experiment with your food and drink pairings to find your own personal preference. You may be surprised by the different flavors of food and wines that work well for your palate, creating a great experience every time.

Courtesy of BPT

How to think like a buyer when getting your property ready to sell

18 Tuesday Jun 2013

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curb%20appeal
The house is finally done after a whole lot of “blood, sweat and tears”, and now it’s time to get your wholesale flip “retail buyer ready”. Real estate investors all have the same question at this point; how can I make my house stand out from the other homes for sale in the neighborhood? The answer is quite simple. Your home has to make a better first impression than your competition. Your potential buyer has to want to come inside from the moment they drive up to the house. So how do you do that?

Learn to think like a buyer!

Curb Appeal Is Everything!

Pay special attention to the landscaping and keep the grass cut and trimmed while your house is for sale. If you are selling during the summer months, extra watering may be needed to keep the lawn in tip top shape.

    Give your yard a manicured look. It will really pay off to spend a few dollars to have the plants neatly trimmed, the planting beds weeded, and fresh mulch put down. A great touch is to put brightly colored flowers near the front of the house. You might even want to add a couple of pots of flowers at or near the front door well give it an extra touch. Be sure to pick plants that don’t need daily watering.

All your windows should be sparkling clean on the exterior as well as the interior.

Take a good look at your front door. Does it need a fresh coat of paint or maybe just a good cleaning?

Spend a few dollars and replace your old mailbox, then add some attractive house numbers. These simple things will give your house a polished look.

Make sure your deck or patio in the back yard is neat and inviting. You want your buyers to be able to imagine entertaining or just relaxing in this space at the end of the day. A power washer can be rented for about $40-$50 dollars if heavy duty cleaning is needed. Go ahead and power-wash any siding on your house at the same time.

Store all garden equipment and trash containers out of sight.

Look at the interior of the house through “buyer’s eyes”

Have a professional do a thorough house cleaning when the house is finished, paying special attention to the kitchen and the bathrooms. Remember these are the rooms that sell houses!

Make sure all floors have been cleaned and are in good condition. This also applies to any carpet that hasn’t been replaced.

Give the house the “sniff test”. Does it smell good?

Buyers don’t want to have to paint before moving in, so be sure the house is painted in neutral colors. Painting the trim a crisp white makes the home look modern and inviting.

Home staging always pays big dividends! Consider doing some simple home staging so that prospective buyers can imagine what the home will look like with furniture in it.

Does the basement have a “musty” smell? Figure out what the problem is and correct it.

Does everything in the house function properly? Make sure all the light bulbs are working, and all of the cabinet handles and doorknobs are securely attached. Walk through the house and give it the same scrutiny that a buyer will, double checking the smallest details in the home.

Be sure to change your filters. If the furnace or AC filter hasn’t been replaced during the rehab, clean or replace it.

Author: Sharon Vornholt

Sharon’s Website: http://LouisvilleGalsRealEstateBlog.com

Green living project: Revamp your kitchen pantry to avoid waste and save money

11 Tuesday Jun 2013

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For a basic green living project with benefits to your wallet and the environment, consider revamping the kitchen pantry. The cupboard is the starting point for most kitchen activity and is more than just a storage space. Develop good buying habits and build a strong foundation and you can avoid the waste of food and money. Here’s how to tackle the task at once or little by little.

Assess

When you are not in a rush to whip up a family meal or put away loads of groceries, take some time to really look at the items in your pantry. What is in front? What is hidden in the back? What’s used most frequently? What is expired?

Be more aware of your consumption habits, suggests Cory Schreiber, a chef instructor at The International Culinary School at The Art Institute of Portland. This awareness is a simple step to greener living. Avoid impulse purchases by being more mindful of the emotions that can be involved in food shopping, he adds. Not only do you avoid waste this way, but conscious consumption is more cost effective too.

Utilize

Another cost-effective method that Joshua Joe, storeroom manager at The International Culinary School at The Art Institute of California – Los Angeles, a campus of Argosy University, recommends is a common inventory and accounting process used by schools, hotels and other food service providers. Practicing a first-in, first-out method of consuming your pantry goods is a true way to save money and prevent food waste, says Joe, who purchases the school’s food supplies. With approximately 500 culinary arts students regularly coming through the school’s dry storage area, Joe encourages the students to use the earliest bought, or oldest, goods first. The tendency is to go for the freshest or A+ product when the A grade item will do, he says. You don’t want to let perfectly usable goods go to waste.

Stock up

Once you have a handle on what you are buying and how you are consuming it, it is time to stock up.

Schreiber proposes buying high-quality essentials and purchasing goods in bulk. Buy the highest quality staples you can afford, recommends Schreiber. For example, six pounds of a good butter can last you a solid five months. Other items where quality counts and the products can endure include oils, vinegars, salts, dried herbs and spices.When possible, buy dry goods in bulk too, he adds. Grains, rice, legumes and pastas are all good products to shop for in a food store’s bulk department.

To store the loose pasta or grains, look for containers with a lower environmental footprint. Using glass, metal and ceramics is the easiest solution, says Chris Stanley, an Industrial Design instructor at The Art Institute of Seattle. Stanley, who has taught courses on the history of industrial design and in materials and manufacturing, adds, choose something classic in design so you won’t be tempted to throw it out in two years. Or, you can re-use glass jars and that fruit cake tin your aunt sends you each year.

Not only is buying in bulk less expensive, but less packaging means less energy used to create the materials and less garbage to throw away – all of which are more friendly to the environment.

Courtesy of BPT

Economical and eco-friendly: Sustainable solutions to help you save

11 Tuesday Jun 2013

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solutions%20to%20help%20you%20saveGreen consumers are no longer a niche group; today, they’re everyday individuals who are willing to go the extra mile to save the planet – provided they receive a bit of return on their investment.

Information gathered from the Home Improvement Research Institute and analyzed by Jack Suvak, Moen Incorporated’s senior director, research and insights, shows that today’s consumers want green products that are convenient, cost-effective and don’t sacrifice performance.

The recent recession hasn’t stalled the green movement; rather it has morphed it into a new environmental pragmatism that embraces restraint, simplicity and cost-savings. This new sustainable ideal isn’t hard to adopt; in fact, the resources are affordable and almost endless. From water- and energy-saving products to local steals and deals, going green has become easier and more cost-effective than ever before.  

Reduce, reuse, freecycle
How can we put less strain on our natural resources? When you purchase a new item, from furniture to clothing, some types of resources are used to make it. By choosing second-hand items – from that vintage designer dress to the charming antique armoire – you are keeping existing natural resources safely in the ground and products that still may have a long life ahead out of landfills. Celebrities and style icons, from French designer Christian Louboutin to popular television actress Courteney Cox have proudly displayed unique vintage pieces in their homes during recent photo spreads, removing the stigma that’s sometimes associated with second-hand.    

Besides for-profit furniture and clothing shops, non-profit organizations such as the American Cancer Society and The Salvation Army also run stores that sell donated products to benefit a worthwhile cause. Sites like TheThriftShopper.com are a great way to search second-hand shops by name and location.  

No time to go shopping? Bring great finds directly to your computer screen. Start by visiting craigslist.org, which features free online classified ads for sale items, or Freecycle.org, a nonprofit movement of individuals working to reduce waste by giving away unwanted items. Many local communities also publicize on-site or online sales for those looking to give away or sell gently used goods.   

Resource reduction
When modern convenience is a must-have, it’s okay to buy new – especially if it helps to conserve resources. Perhaps you have taken small steps toward having a more sustainable home by doing things like remembering to turn off the lights when you leave a room, setting the sleep timer on the TV or limiting time spent in the shower, but there are products that can accomplish these tasks for you, making it that much easier to do your part for the environment.  

One easy and inexpensive way to promote conservation is by upgrading bath products to water-saving models. Many water-conserving bath products are available for the same price – and with the same functionality – as full-flow models. Moen offers water-saving shower heads in both standard and handheld options, including its new single-function, Eco-Performance hand shower, which provides a clean, transitional design and choice of an adjustable wall bracket or 24-inch slide bar, for optimal flexibility. Best of all, its flow rate is up to 30 percent less than the industry standard for shower heads – without a noticeable difference in experience.  

If you won’t go to a water-saving shower head because you don’t think you can forego your luxurious rain shower experience, think again. Moen also offers Eco-Performance rain showers, like its eight-inch Flat Rain shower, which provides full-body coverage with invigorating water sprays – at a flow rate of 20 percent less than the industry standard for shower heads.
    
In addition to showerheads, faucets provide another great way to save water and money. Select manufacturers – like Moen – have converted all residential lavatory faucets to water-saving models, so you can use less water while brushing your teeth or washing your face. To calculate your approximate water savings by using these types of sustainable products, check out the water savings calculator on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s WaterSense program website: http://www.epa.gov/watersense.    

Modern appliances are another way to achieve significant energy savings. Today, everything from refrigerators to heating systems are made to be so energy efficient that you’ll often recoup the expense of purchasing the appliance in saved energy costs within a matter of a few years. The U.S. EPA’s ENERGY STAR program provides a useful Save Energy @ Home Tool that tells you, room by room, how much energy you waste per year by using old, inefficient products in the home.  

solutions%20to%20help%20you%20saveMulti-tasking magic
Beyond new and used products, look for items that take the place of two or more products in the home, utilizing less resources to make and saving money through fewer appliance purchases.  The Vitamix 5200 is the ultimate multi-tasker, doing the work of not only a blender, but also completing tasks like cooking soup, kneading dough, grinding grains and even making ice cream for dessert. Similarly, two-in-one toaster and convection oven appliances eliminate the need to purchase both of these items separately, and conserve resources, by using less power than a full-size oven to heat small meals or snacks.  

Speaking of multi-taskers, there are likely some items in your cupboard that can stand in for cleaning products, making these the ultimate two-in-one solution. Baking soda is an excellent cleanser, deodorizer and water softener; cornstarch can be used for everything from window washing to carpet cleaning; and lemon is an effective natural anti-bacterial agent.  

Having a green home doesn’t need to involve spending more money – it’s about simple solutions and behavioral shifts that will produce a long-term return on investment for you and the environment.

IMAGE CAPTIONS:
——————————————-
Caption 1: The Flat Rainshower from Moen provides the ultimate at-home spa experience – while offering a 20 percent savings over a standard showerhead.

Caption 2: The clean, transitional design of Moen’s WaterSense-labeled single-function hand shower appeals to a wide variety of decorating styles.

Courtesy of BPT

What lies beneath your dream home? New homeowners skip sewer line inspections

04 Tuesday Jun 2013

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What%20lies%20beneath
In a buyer-friendly market, home shoppers can be pretty particular in their search for a dream home. Increasingly, buyers are seeking flawless, move-in ready homes, and while traditional home inspections are a must-have, something equally important lurking beneath homes often goes overlooked.
A sewer line inspection is not included in the standard home inspection and is regularly waived in the purchasing process. Additionally, many buyers do not know that responsibility for the condition of the lateral sewer line leading from the street to the home lies with the homeowner, not a municipality. Buyers should reconsider including this important step before they sign a deal.
If a problem occurs, a sewer line replacement costs at least $4,500, but prices vary widely and costs increase dramatically by region, depending on depth and length of the underground pipes and if street repairs become part of the issue.
Experts at Roto-Rooter, North America’s largest provider of plumbing repair and drain cleaning services, encounter this scenario far too often. Consumers, who just signed the dotted line on their dream home, soon find that they’re trapped in an expensive plumbing nightmare.
“Just a couple of years after purchasing our home, we had a $15,000 sewer line disaster in our lap,” says Jennifer Schappacher of Cincinnati. “The sewer line clogs began not long after we moved in, but as they became more frequent we had Roto-Rooter inspect the line with a video camera and only then did we realize the pipe had offset sections and a partial collapse that was causing sewage to back up into our house.”
The Schappachers looked at only a few houses before deciding on one in a quiet shady neighborhood. It was charming with large, mature trees that shaded the entire street. But since the house was built in 1959, its concrete and clay underground sewer pipes were vulnerable to heavy root intrusion from the big trees. As those roots entered the pipe joints in search of water, they pushed the pipes apart and allowed surrounding soil to spill into the pipe, narrowing a 6 inch diameter pipe to just 1 inch in some sections.
Generally, a plumber can complete a sewer line camera inspection for $250 to $550, depending on the region. While not cheap, it’s a relatively small price to pay when buying a home, especially if it helps a buyer avoid thousands of dollars in unforeseen repair bills.
To avoid unexpected and costly plumbing problems, the experts at Roto-Rooter recommend having a plumber conduct a video camera sewer line inspection, in addition to a standard home inspection, before buyers purchase a home. The process involves passing a waterproof fiber optic video camera through the pipe. The specialized cameras are equipped with bright LED lights so the inspection will reveal any cracks, breaks, offset or collapsed sections of pipe. The plumber will often provide a DVD copy of the inspection as part of the service.
“Sewer inspection camera equipment is expensive and often is only utilized by well-equipped plumbing companies, but the video inspection service itself is easy to complete and well worth the extra step,” says Roto-Rooter master plumber Larry Rothman.
Root growth is the most common cause of sewer line damage and is often responsible for blockages and separated pipe sections. Outdated and eroding pipe materials are also a common culprit in sewer line deterioration. Older pipes are much more susceptible to root intrusion than new plastic pipe.
Inspections are especially important if:
* The home is 20 years or older.
* There are mature trees around the property.
* The home has been vacant for a period of time.
* The concrete surrounding the home is cracked or raised.
* There is considerable visible root growth in the yard.
Many homeowners, especially new homeowners, do not know or think about their home plumbing. For seasonal maintenance tips and general information, visit Roto-Rooter’s plumbing basics section online at http://www.rotorooter.com/plumbing-basics.

Courtesy of BPT

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