Okay get your mind out of the gutter! I’m talking about cracks in the bathtub or shower at tile and tub surrounds. The joints where the tub meets the wall and floor should be properly sealed with caulking to help prevent moisture penetration. If this is not done, water can leak behind walls or onto the floor and damage the plaster or drywall at wall or ceiling below, not to mention the chance of mold growth. I’ve even seen subfloors rotted out from water damage. This is easily avoided and can save you hundreds if not thousands of dollars in the future.

I don’t mean one of your in-laws, although if they are up there, please help them down! Attics are a great place for insects, rodents, birds, bats, and moisture to enter. You should see if there are any areas that need sealed off or repaired. A common area that may need repaired is the screens around gable end louvers or roof vents. The screens eventually deteriorate, leaving a welcome hole for birds, wasps, and squirrels to enter. Wasps also build nests in these areas and inhibit the necessary airflow needed for proper attic ventilation. You should clean out any wasp nests, they shouldn’t be active this time of year, and repair any holes. Any signs of moisture penetration should be further evaluated by a roofer or contractor and repaired as needed

Any vegetation around your home should be kept around twelve inches away from the exterior walls. Tree limbs should be cut so that they are not overhanging the roof or chimney. Any growing vines should be removed from the house. Vegetation can act as a ladder for carpenter ants to crawl onto your home, and these characters are always up to no good. Don’t invite them over! Cut the vegetation away and keep trees limbs from overhanging. This is especially important if you have wood siding or trim on your home. The vegetation will keep the moisture in the wood which is a welcome site for any wood destroying insect.

I guess by now you see why I haven’t made it as an advertising executive? Well at least I can get your disposal smelling good. As you probably read in the monthly checklists, throwing orange or lemon peels down the disposal and some baking soda will keep it smelling fresh and clean. Small ice cubes will also help to clean the blades and freshen it up.

What the heck are they called? People call them all kinds of crazy names. The correct term is GFCI breakers and they can help save your life! As well as having GFCI outlets in your home, you may have GFCI breakers in your electrical panel. They work on the same concept although will generally control several outlets, such as all the exterior outlets, all of the bathroom outlets, or both. If you ever have an outlet that has no power, be sure to check the main panel and see if a GFCI breaker is tripped. If you want to read about how I really messed up one time with a GFCI outlet, go to the GFCI article section and read all about it!

It seems like common sense, right? Well, every year we see someone on the news with nine fingers and even less teeth saying, “I didn’t think it would go off that fast!” Well Junior, now you know. If you are going to mess with fireworks, please be careful and keep the kids away. Maybe even wait until the kids are asleep so they don’t learn any bad habits from Uncle Cletus. Stupid is what stupid does!

Sounds funny, although I see it time and time again; gutters so filled with debris that there is vegetation growing inside. I’m all for adding flowers to the exterior of your home, although the gutters are not the right place. Your gutter system is an important part of keeping water out of your basement and if they are filled, they can not do their job. So let’s keep them clean and keep the flowers in the flower beds!

Technically if you have an electric dryer, you can vent it into a canister like the kind they sell at home improvement stores, although I don’t recommend it. A gas dryer has to vent outside to get the carbon monoxide out of your home. I think that any dryer should vent outside. I have seen through the years, houses with extensive dryer lint on the walls in the laundry room that looks like it has blue carpet on the walls! There also is a considerable amount of moisture that stays in the house from the dryer. So consider venting it outside no matter what kind of dryer you have.

Do you have an interior door that keeps swinging shut? Some times it’s because the floors are out of level or the door is not plumb. Regardless, I have an easy solution that can help tame your free swinging door. Take out one of the pins from a hinge. You can tap it out from the bottom of the hinge with a nail or small screwdriver. Once you have it out, place the pin on a hard surface such as your concrete floor slab in basement or garage. Tap the pin in the center with a hammer to slightly bend the pin. Don’t over do it, just a slight bend. Tap the pin back into place on the hinge and test out the door. The bend will cause the hinge to bind slightly and keep the door from swinging closed; although still allow it to close properly when needed.