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Tips to Prevent Pests from Entering Your Home

An infestation can be prevented with a bit of elbow grease.

Is your home or office becoming a welcome haven for pests such as roaches, ants, bed bugs, spiders, termites, or mice? While the sight of little ants crawling or spiders weaving webs can be fascinating, these insects certainly do not belong inside your home. Mice scurrying around the house and roaches raiding your pantry for food might not paint a pretty picture either. So, how do you keep your home free of these unwanted intruders? What are the most effective pest control methods that work?

Keep Your Food Supplies Sealed

Most pests eat almost anything that they can find. Free food is an excellent reason for roaches, rodents, and ants to find your home attractive. Seal your snack and cereal bags, pack away food items, and never leave dirty dishes in the sink. Ensure your trashcan has a tight lid, and immediately … Read Full Post »

How to Avoid Common Landscaping Mistakes

A beautiful landscape invites people to linger, enjoy the sights and savor the fragrances for a few moments. The only problem is that creating this kind of landscape isn’t as simple as it appears. After all, if it were easy, everyone would have one. Add to this the intense Houston climate, and a pretty landscape can seem like an impossible dream. Yet it doesn’t have to be.

All you need for a fabulous landscape is a bit of knowledge. To help you get started, websites like HGTV are an excellent resource for landscaping ideas and suggestions. Then, to ensure that you don’t make the most common landscaping mistakes, here are five tips on what to avoid:

Planting Without a Plan

Creating an attractive look requires some thought. A garden is no exception. If you’ve ever seen a landscape with plants of every color and size virtually thrown together, you have a fair idea … Read Full Post »

Plumbing Problems Best Left to the Professionals

Are you having plumbing issues in your Austin home? Are you the type of person who either doesn’t know how to fix plumbing problems or who simply doesn’t want to fix them? If you answered yes to one or more of these questions, a local plumber can help. In fact, there are many plumbing issues that are best left to professionals.

Leaky Pipes

Not only can water leaks cost you a whole lot of money, but they can also cause a significant amount of damage to your home. While some of these leaks may be easy to detect, others are often hidden under your house or deep within your walls. These problems can lead to such issues as mold, mildew or damage to your floors, walls and ceiling.

Broken Hot Water Heaters

If your hot water doesn’t seem to be lasting as long as it did before, it’s best to have a professional check … Read Full Post »

Why Mulch Creates a Stunning Lawn

Many people skip the mulch when landscaping their properties, but there are so many good reasons to consider adding it to your lawn. If you want your yard to look its best, consider adding mulch for a truly stunning result.

Create a Barrier

Flowerbeds, shrubs and grass can all tend to run together, and you don’t want to lose the aesthetic value of your beautiful plants if you can help it. With mulch, you can create an easily recognizable barrier between your gorgeous green grass and all of your favorite plants.

Add Color

Although green grass and green plants are attractive, your lawn could probably use a little bit of color. Mulch comes in many different shades, so you can choose a color that will match your house and lawn the best. When you do, your mulch is sure to stand out and really shine.

Keep Weeds at Bay

Weeds can be a real eyesore in … Read Full Post »

Flower or Fungus: How Can You Tell?

You might have trouble remembering critical differences between plants and fungi unless you’re a botanist. Don’t let this get you down. While their cell structures and metabolic processes are very different, many types of plants and fungi appear to grow and reproduce in similar ways. Consult this handy guide if you see a strange organism popping up through your lawn’s grass.

Are All Fungi Bad?

First, it’s important to note that not all fungi harm your lawn. Many species break down organic matter that can harbor grass-eating pests or give rise to weeds that choke the life out of your lawn. Indeed, many homeowners use fungi in walled-off areas to break down organic waste like sawdust, wood chips, mulch, tree droppings, and food byproducts.

Critical Types of Flower-Mimicking Fungi

Here’s some helpful science: Mushrooms are the “fruiting bodies” of the underground fungal structure known as mycelium. In other words, they’re the “flowers” of the … Read Full Post »

Plants That Attract Outdoor Pests

Are you growing a rodent’s dream buffet in your backyard?

Although it’s common knowledge that to beat your enemy in battle, you must first learn to think like them; this principle is often forgotten in the gardening world. The most common problem for gardeners is that in the excitement of planting everything they want, they forget to think of which plants their outdoor companions are silently waiting to devour once they turn their back. You may be unknowingly planting a feast outside that consists of all of your neighborhood rodents’ favorite foods, and they’ll be all too happy to invite the rest of their four-legged family over to finish off your flowers and vegetables before you ever get a chance to enjoy them.

Let’s look at the preferred snacks of rodents, such as rats, mice, voles, squirrels, and groundhogs. This is the first step in long-lasting rodent control.

Rodent Appetites

Rats have perhaps the … Read Full Post »

Is a New Home Addition Worth the Cost?

home addition

The real estate sector is back in business, and MSN reports that property values are increasing at long-term rates once again. Now is the perfect time to upgrade your home with a brand new addition and increase its square footage.

What Does an Addition Require?

Once you flesh out the details with an architect or designer, you’ll want to secure a permit for the new construction. Permit rules vary by city, but your general contractor will help you file the necessary paperwork.

Please note that construction prices vary by company, so the cost of your addition may be higher or lower than the national average. Using a sample 150 square foot addition in Austin, a basic room without plumbing will run about $100 a square foot or a total of $15,000, but you might have to pay closer to $20,000 depending on the windows, doors, and flooring material you choose.

A bathroom addition requires … Read Full Post »

Silverfish out of Water

While goldfish are relaxing to watch, nobody feels compelled to chill out at the sight of silverfish. Silverfish insects, like actual fish, are covered in tiny scales. Their flat, silver-grey or brown teardrop-shaped bodies don’t seem too intimidating, but their long antennae and projectile rear bristles can send the squeamish running for cover. If you do run from a silverfish, run fast—they’re known for their speed, and they can jump up to two feet vertically. Fortunately, they won’t chase you, and they don’t present any medical threat unless you fall and hurt yourself while trying to get away from them. However, they can wreak havoc on your home.

What’s on the Silverfish Menu?

As expert chewers, silverfish can demolish your food stores and paper-based materials. They love carbohydrates like sugar, cereal and flour, but they’ll also eat dried meats, toothpaste, shampoo, wallpaper, books, boxes and glue. It’s hard for a home to … Read Full Post »

Is Your Landscaping Drought-Resistant?

Although a beautiful landscape may not be easy to create, almost everyone recognizes one. A perfectly green lawn, full shrubs, majestic trees and gorgeous flowers are among the pretty plantings that most people would think of as part of an attractive landscape. However, maintaining that beauty comes at an environmental price that just isn’t compatible with the green way more and more people are attempting to live today. The large amounts of water and fertilizer that often go into lush landscapes are an environmental nightmare. Now people who want a fabulous landscape without the environmental impact are turning to drought-resistant landscaping.

While drought-resistant gardening involves a variety of practices, the main idea is to design a pleasant landscape that uses the least amount of resources. Since Bryan-College Station sets the eco-friendly landscaping trends in the region, you might want to consider ways to make your landscaping more drought-resistant. In the end, … Read Full Post »

Protect Your Home from Eight-Legged Invaders

When the weather gets cold, arachnids look for a warm place to hide. Unfortunately, this place is sometimes your home. In Texas, spiders and scorpions are the most common arachnids that invade family homes. Some are capable of inflicting painful and even fatal injuries. Here are our best tips for identifying arachnids and protecting your home from unwanted guests.

Spiders

Tarantulas are intimidating, and wolf spiders are scary. However, these creatures have nothing on the infamous black widow and the deadly brown recluse. The brown recluse is known for its flesh-eating venom. Because there are several types of recluse spiders in Texas, their colors range from dark brown to an orangey tan. This makes them difficult to identify. These spiders are about the size of a quarter. They hide in dark crevices during the day and come out at night, which is when most bites occur.

Black widows are dangerous. Their colors usually … Read Full Post »