Does water stream into your basement every time it rains? The fact is ground water can seep through block or concrete basement walls or floors even when there are no visible cracks. There are three primary causes of basement leaks and their remedies:

Problem 1 – Missing, damaged or clogged gutters or downspouts. When gutters and downspouts become blocked for some reason they become unable to carry rain water and snow melt away from the house. All of this water gets dumped onto the ground, which in turn becomes saturated and allows the water to stand and seep into the basement.

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Like everything else in your home, your garage doors will need to be repaired from time to time. After all, they do have a number of moving parts, they receive lots of use and they are constantly subjected to the elements. If your garage doors are in need of repair you might be wondering if you should attempt to fix them yourself or hire a professional to do the job for you. Well, the best answer that I can give you is “maybe”.

If you happen to be mechanically inclined and are able to carefully and accurately follow instructions, you’re probably a good candidate for making “do it yourself” garage door repairs. If not, I would strongly suggest hiring someone to do the job for you. Here are a few things to consider before making your decision:

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If you live in an older house you’re probably spending a lot more than necessary to heat your home. Why? Well, there are a couple of reasons:

1 – Most older windows are single paned which means they’re pretty inefficient at keeping the warm air inside the building. Newer, more efficient double paned windows have an insulating layer of air or argon gas which helps keep heat loss to an absolute minimum.

2 – Older windows often have heat-leaking cracks between the glass and the frame which allow a surprisingly large amount of cold air in and warm air out. These cracks are sometimes too small to see with the naked eye, but the air sure can find them!

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Whether you raise koi or another type of carp in your fish pond, a proper level of oxygen must be maintained in order for the pond to be healthy and allow the fish to thrive. There are several ways to keep the proper balance in the pond, but the most aesthetically pleasing way is by installing a solar powered fountain.

A solar powered fountain continuously sprays water into the air, which then drops onto the pond adding oxygen to the pond water. This spray makes a beautiful sight as well as sound. Because solar powered fountains are wireless, there is no need for the pond to be near a power source. The only thing required to make the solar powered fountain operate is the sun. Some fountains will sit lower in the water than others, and not all fountains will produce a spray.

How Does the Fountain Work for the Pond’s Health? When the fountain circulates the water, water from deeper in the pond is brought to the surface where it can “breathe in” oxygen carrying it back into the pond. This additional oxygen increases the dissolved oxygen level in the pond. This process is called aeration. It is a necessary part of keeping a pond healthy.

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Now that spring is just around the corner it’s time to start planning how you want your lawn and garden to look once the weather warms up. And one of the best ways to spruce up your property is to adorn it with benches, flower planters, birdhouses, swings and other such items.

A walk through your local garden center will give you plenty of ideas, but you can save a ton of money and have a ton of fun by building your own. All you really need are a few basic woodworking tools, an inexpensive table saw, a little imagination and some spare time in order to create all the things you need and want for your own personal “Eden”.

A strategically placed garden bench and perhaps an accompanying table will transform any garden from blah into fabulous, and a birdhouse and feeder or two placed in nearby trees will provide hours of rest and relaxation for the weary – human and otherwise! Simple “country-style” planters are excellent for making special flowers and plants stand out from the crowd. And of course no back yard or garden would be complete without a wooden swing!

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