You began to notice dishes were coming out with a slight residue or, worse, they were thickly coated with remaining food that had baked on during the dry cycle. Whether it happened slowly or overnight, your dishwasher is now leaving you with dirty or cloudy dishes. Why Isn’t Your Dishwasher Working Well? This is actually more normal than you may think. Dishwashers work enormously hard, day in and day out....
Here are the pros and cons of 10 types of kitchen countertops. Historically, granite has been an expensive material, but its cost has come down somewhat as supplies have increased and engineered stone has become more common. Contrary to expectations, the architectural soapstone used for countertops is actually quite hard and resistant to stain. However, it will scratch over time, although this can add to the antique patina of the stone....
The last time it snowed, we swore we’d swap out our shovel for a snowblower. Of course, that was much easier said than done as we were soon overwhelmed by the sheer number of options out there. When it comes down to it, there are a few key features any good snowblower should have: power, speed, and easy-to-operate design. To see if the affordable, single-stage Troy-Bilt Squall 208EX Snow Blower could check all of these boxes, we put it to the ultimate test—a New England winter....
Basement vs. Upstairs Laundry Rooms When you have a house that presents equal opportunities for either a basement laundry room or an upstairs laundry room, you need to examine your lifestyle, preferences, and dislikes, plus take into account the needs of other occupants of your home. When to Locate the Laundry Room Upstairs If your house already has an upstairs area set aside for a laundry room, it makes perfect sense to locate the washer and dryer there....
Bathroom Use a Castile soap scented with powerful disinfecting essential oils, such as tea tree or eucalyptus, full strength or diluted, such as in this do-it-yourself Castile soap multi-surface spray, to clean bathroom countertops, tile, tubs, toilets, and more. For extra cleansing action, use Castile soap to make a natural soft scrub. Carpets To get your carpets looking like new again, try a very small amount of Castile soap as a carpet shampoo in carpet cleaning machines, being sure to test it on an inconspicuous area first....
Overview of Neighborhood Scout To find the best place to live, Neighborhood Scout site offers some free matchmaker tools that enable you to compare your favorite neighborhood to neighborhoods in the new city or town you plan on moving to. Not only does it provide matching statistics it also drills down into details about crime rates, housing costs, and appreciation, along with school quality and income rates. Before you go any further, you should know that some features of Neighborhood Scout are free while others are only available to paid subscribers, in particular, any details about a specific area including specifics contained within their reporting tool....
And while you can’t get inside the main unit of most disposals, it helps to know what’s down there when you need to free a jam or troubleshoot other problems. This also takes the mystery out of fishing around inside the unit with your hand when you need to extract something (only when the power is off, of course). Main Components of a Garbage Disposal A garbage disposal is essentially a plastic or metal canister with a motor in the bottom and a large open compartment that catches food waste....
The Vornado VH10 is a compact space heater designed to take the chill off a room any time of the year. It has two fan speeds and a temperature dial that lets you crank up the heat when you need it most or dial it down when the room starts to warm. The heater is rated for 1,500 watts at its highest setting, but you can conserve energy by turning it down to 750 watts....
More and more items, even simple T-shirts and jeans, are labeled as “Dry Clean Only”. Many clothing manufacturers recommend the most conservative type of cleaning treatment of the fabric to ensure the best results for the consumer. Dark blue denim jeans may receive the “Dry Clean Only” label to prevent fading or the jeans may have embellishments like leather trim or studs that could cause issues when, in fact, they can be washed just like any jeans....
Water lettuce can be used in water gardens, ponds, or containers both indoors and outdoors. This plant’s foliage only grows about 6 inches tall, but its dense root system under the water can grow up to 20 inches deep. It is a very fast grower once mature and is considered an invasive plant in certain areas. Water lettuce is great for cleaning the water of decomposition byproducts and is often used to keep the water healthy for fish and aquatic life....
The Eastern redbud (Cercis canadensis) is a familiar sight throughout the eastern United States, from New England down to Georgia. It’s an early source of food for many pollinators including bees, hummingbirds and butterflies, who enjoy the nectar in its pink flowers. In recent years some new varieties of this reliable landscape tree have been introduced, including a lovely weeping form. The most common cultivars are “Lavender Twist” and “Ruby Falls,” both names emphasizing the tree’s colorful spring blossoms....
Do-it-yourselfers will find trellises easy to make with lightweight wood that may be already lying around in a supply shed, garage, or side yard. Whether bought or made, a trellis needs to be strong enough to support the weight of plants as they grow and mature and durable enough to withstand wind, rain, and snow. Recommended materials for a sturdy trellis include: Wood Wrought iron Strong synthetics or plastics Monofilament (fishing wire) Wire...
Not only can decades influence the types of styles we choose to implement in our homes, but so can our personalities. Our zodiac signs can give us an idea of our design wants, needs, and preferences. Below we’ve matched up each zodiac sign to a distinct design decade—check out yours below to see which one resonates with you. Aries (March 21 - April 19): 1960s Influenced by the hippie movement, the ’60s were forward-thinking, bold, and unconventional....
How Do Dryer Sheets Work? Most dryer sheets are small pieces of non-woven synthetic fabrics coated with a solution of a quaternary ammonium salt or a silicone oil-based fabric softener. Some sheets are made of natural or cellulose fibers that can be recycled. The heat of the dryer softens the fabric softener allowing the coating to transfer to fabrics. It is this coating that makes clothes feel softer to the touch....
Types of Mulch Some mulches are more aesthetically pleasing than others while other mulches are more functional and can add nutrients to the soil. There are two categories of mulch: organic and inorganic, and both have their advantages and disadvantages. Organic mulch: This is a natural mulch and not made of anything synthetic. It’s best for adding beneficial nutrients to your garden, and it can suppress weeds, but it doesn’t always fully block weeds....
Bamboo flooring imbues your living space with a depth and richness generally associated with highly expensive, vibrant, and richly patterned hardwood. With the right surface treatment, this chameleon-like material can also adopt the look of walnut, oak, or pine flooring. Bamboo’s structural weakness means that flooring manufacturers must invent ways to turn grass into a material that behaves and looks similar to wood. Not only that, a browning treatment for bamboo flooring called carbonizing, or carmelizing, can further weaken the bamboo by up to 30 percent, increasing the need for strengthening measures....
History of Tropical Landscaping There has long been a fascination with the aesthetic of a tropical garden in Europe. Partly this is due to a romanticizing of the concept of Eden, and other idyllic locations from literature such as Shangri-la or the Avalon of King Arthur. But it’s also a result of centuries of exploration tied to European colonialism, and there’s a long tradition of portraying Europeans in tropical locations in novels and films, such as Evelyn Waugh’s “A Handful of Dust....
Frost and Freeze Advisories Before a frost or freeze, weather services will usually issue an “advisory.” Advisories typically are put out for a time frame of anywhere between a few hours to a whole day when there is a good chance of unusually cold temperatures. The advisories generally fall into the following categories: Frost advisory: This occurs when the temperature is expected to fall to a range of 36 degrees Fahrenheit down to about 32 degrees Fahrenheit....
To streamline the process even further, look to certain stores and cookware companies that have created starter kits that will suit most needs and budgets. These pot and pan sets and utensil bundles make it easier for people on a budget and first-time “on-their-own” apartment/home dwellers, who might find choosing each item separately a bit overwhelming. Prepware Before you can actually begin the cooking process you need to prep the food that is going to be cooked....
