How to Improve Your Home's Indoor Air Quality in Winter

Home air quality is not something many of us consider regularly. Whereas outdoor air pollution is regular concern for many Americans, the quality of the air we breathe in our own home is often neglected. And while indoor air quality should always be considered, it is especially important to review your home's air quality during the winter months when your home is less likely to circulate outside air. Below are just a few ways to help you improve your home's indoor air quality during the stuffy,winter months.

Cleaning:
One of the easiest ways to improve your home's air quality year round is to clean your house. By vacuuming your carpets, mopping your floors and eliminating dust, you can help reduce the amount of particulates trapped in your home. Particulates such as dust can build up quietly over time and slowly impact the quality of your air. And in the winter months when your home is generally closed up and your snow boots may track in small objects like rock salt, it is incredibly important that you are regularly cleaning your home.

Limiting Pollutants:

As you clean your home however, be sure to reduce the amount of chemical cleaning supplies you use. Most home cleaning products are filled with chemicals that can irritate your eyes and lungs if you are exposed for an extended period of time. While it may be difficult to eliminate all artificial and chemical cleaning supplies in your home, you can start by simply limiting or reducing your use. Over time, you can experiment with more natural cleaning solutions such as vinegar. This will help reduce amount of harmful toxins trapped in your home during the winter.

Humidity:
Humidity can be a real challenge in the winter. Typically when you heat your home for the winter, you reduce your home's humidity. This dries out the air and can contribute to a scratchy throat or dry skin. To help combat this, consider investing in a humidifier. These devices, which can either be portable standalone unit or installed into your duct system, will help add some much need moisture into your home's dry, winter air, allowing you to breathe a little easier.

Circulation:
One of the most challenging aspects of indoor air quality during the winter months is the lack of circulation. As you're unable to open any windows in your home during the winter, it can be hard to get fresh air into your home. An easy solution is to use fans in your home to help move air around your home. While this won't bring in fresh air, it will help prevent your home's air from feeling stale. In some more modern homes, the HVAC system is equipped with a ventilator system which helps exchange air in your home while minimizing heat loss during the winter.

Plant Life:

Another great way to improve your home's air quality while also adding a little life to your home, is to invest in a few house plants. Plants will consume carbon dioxide and replace it with fresh oxygen. They also can help add humidity to your home. Consider adding a few plants as a creative way of improving your home's indoor air quality during the winter.

Improving your home's air quality during the tough winter months starts with knowing your home. Whether you're finding air leaks to repair or weatherproofing your windows, these are important first steps in controlling and improving your home's indoor air quality. And by following some of the suggestions above, you can start to breath easy all winter long.

How to Improve Turf Laying: Perth Lawn Experts Site Tips for You

Gardening is a hard and stressful task since you need to accomplish numerous obligations in order to maintain the look and appeal of your garden. Gardening can also be expensive since you need to purchase items you need to use for your gardens. With this said, some homeowners look for other ways to improve their property.

However, in Perth, gardening is now better and more efficient with the help of services like turf laying. Perth homeowners state that this option has helped them make their properties better and more exquisite.

Turf laying is the most ideal option to create gardens, but there are still a few factors you need to consider when laying turf. To help you lay turfs properly, listed below are some tips you need to know.

Soil preparation

It is essential for homeowners to ensure that the soil in their backyard is prepared. This is necessary since it may affect the look of the turf after you lay it. Make sure that the soil is clean. Get rid of items and other debris in the soil and flatten it out. After which, homeowners need to fertilize the soil. This is important in order to ensure that the soil can provide the right nutrients that the turf needs in order to help it become greener and healthier.

Turf laying

When laying turf, you should be knowledgeable about the best option to do it to ensure that the turf is laid properly to avoid issues. This may be hard for homeowners to do, so hiring an expert in turf laying is needed. These experts can make sure that your soil is properly cultivated. In addition, they can also trim the turf depending on your needs. Experts can also help improve your soil to help make the turf healthier.

Watering

Finally, all you need to do is to water the turf regularly. Some experts state that watering newly installed turf is needed to soak the soil and help the turf to grow. Watering can also help the turf obtain the right nutrients it needs. Therefore, experts recommend homeowners to water the turf three to four times a day for four weeks to obtain better features.

Knowing these simple tasks can surely help homeowners lay turf more efficiently. This can also help them make their properties better, which can provide the benefits to make their lifestyle more comfortable.

About the author:

Kenneth Lawrence is a passionate “Handyman” and a content creator. He writes articles about home renovation, kitchen improvement, interior designing, gardening, roofing and other topics that can help homeowners. As of now, he visits http://www.fitchcontracting.com.au to know more about turf laying.

Top Home Improvement Projects for a Return on Investment

Improving the value of a home is one of the most compelling reasons to renovate it. If you are struggling to decide on your next home improvement project, determining your return on investment is a great way to help you break a tie. Those who want to gain a bigger profit when selling a house are always looking for the best ways to maximize their returns from renovations. Here is a guide to the best home improvement projects for adding value to a home.

Make a Break for Space

One of the simplest and most powerful ways to raise the value of a home is to knock down a wall or two inside of it. Buyers these days want open floor plans. Knocking down a wall between the kitchen and dining room in an older home will greatly enhance its interior beauty, and it will pay for itself many times over in the value that will be added to the home’s selling price.

A Front Yard Makeover

There is nothing like boosting a home’s curb appeal to add to its value. Just like books, people and everything else, a home’s worth is often judged by its exterior appearance. You can add a lot of value to your home for a minimum investment if you do some landscaping in the front yard. As important as it is to improve the appearance of the plants, you also must add nice touches like warm lighting, a beautiful stone walkway and a handsome driveway to boost its curb appeal.

HVAC Update

Many people only think about a home’s appearance when they want to renovate it to add value. It is also important to think about the things that lie under the surface. One of the best places to start renovating in this area is the HVAC system. Not only will a modern HVAC system add a lot of value to a home’s worth, it will also give back a huge return on investment in the form of energy savings.

Brighten up the Place

You can increase the amount of natural light in your home in a number of ways, but one of the very best is to add solar tubes. Much less expensive than installing traditional skylights, tubular skylights bring in natural light and moonlight to create wonderful mood lighting in a home at all times.

Do the Little Things

You would be amazed at how much value is added to a home from just taking care of basic maintenance. Weeding a flowerbed, fixing a leaky faucet and insulating the attic are all inexpensive, simple tasks that will raise the value of a house.

The important thing to keep in mind is that some renovations have more value than others. There is sometimes a limit to what homeowners can get done in a fixed amount of time. Concentrating on these home renovation projects that offer a great return on investment is the best way to prioritize them.

Tim Smith writes for Modernize.

Wax or Lacquer for Wooden Floor Finish

When it comes to flooring, wood is one of the most preferred options. Wooden floors fit any kind of interior and give a beautiful touch to a place. To look even better and to make sure it is provided with the right care to last longer, a wooden floor needs to have a finish. There are a few types of wooden floor finishes, the most popular among which are wax and lacquer. Both options have several advantages and disadvantages, which often make household owners dwell between the two types and wonder which one is better. If you are in the same situation right now and you're trying to figure out which type of finish you should apply on your wooden floor, here is more information about wax finish and lacquer finish that will definitely give you a hand.

 

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Here are the pros and cons of both wax and lacquer finishes and which one you should choose for your flooring at home kindly presented by Hire House Cleaner London.

Lacquer Finish

Lacquer finish is durable and easy to maintain. Wooden floors with a lacquer finish are easy to clean, which is definitely a great advantage. When it comes to lacquer finish, there are two options available – matte, gloss and oil effect, as the last one gives a wooden floor a more natural look. Compared to wax, lacquer protects the wooden floor in a different way by creating a barrier on the surface of the wood. Lacquer finish is faster in drying, which makes it a good solution for places that need urgent completion and faster results. The best quality of lacquer finish is the fact that it wants little maintenance.

One of the biggest disadvantages of lacquer is the fact that the protective layer it creates is approximately flexible, which means that scratches on the wood are easier to occur. If a sharp object is dropped on this type of finish, ugly scratches are usually left on the surface. Also, if not cleaned regularly, lacquer finish stops protecting the wooden floor, which then starts to look grey from the dust. This is especially popular in areas on the floor that are less visible or harder to access, such as under furniture. Another disadvantage of lacquer is that applying it is not an easy task at all and requires professional assistance.

Wax

Wax finishes prevent moist from soaking through the wood and allows it to breathe. This type of finish is also better in terms of natural look of the wood, as it doesn't alter the original look of the wood but only improves it a bit. You can choose between mat and satin effect, both of which help make the wood look warmer and saturate the colour. One of the most essential advantages of wax finish is convenience it gives when applying. It is very easy to apply a wax finish and it doesn't require professional help, as basically anyone can do it when using the right tools. Wax finish is also much more durable and resistant to abrasive moves. Even if a small damage appears on the finish, it is very easy to fix with the use of some more wax in the affected area.

A disadvantage of wax finish is the fact that it requires much more effort to maintain than lacquer. There are some brands that offer cleaning and maintenance products; that are specially designed for wax finish on wooden floors. However, it still takes more time and effort to clean and take good care of it. Another weak side of wax is its need to apply a new finish on the floor every once in a while, about once or twice a year, depending on the traffic.