Lock The Insects Outdoors with Fly Screen

Hot and humid weather especially during the rainy season is a headache for the dwellers as it invites a lot of flies, mosquitoes and common insects. Usually such seasons are breeding times for many insects, and as their population increases they invade our home and office impairing our smooth harmony of day to day personal and professional lives. Mosquitoes, house flies, bugs and other insects spoil our environment, spread wide range of diseases and perturb our physical and mental peace. These insects bite us, breed on our food and water and infect us with harmful diseases. A best way to keep these harmful insects restricted to outdoors is by using fly screen in windows and other air passages.  

Different variations of fly screen

Insect screen or fly screen is a mesh like screen that can be easily fitted to air passages, mainly windows. The installation is very easy and they mechanically keep the insects out of home or office premises. Depending on the place of installation and screen type, insect screens vary. A few common variants are as follows:

• Mesh screen window and door panels,
• Roller insect screens for doors and bays,   
• chain type fly screens,
• Hinged insect screens for doors,
• VELUX insect screens for windows,
• Exclusive framed insect screens.

Mostly mesh screens and other roller insect screens are available in market. You can get any reputed fly screen from market and install them yourself on window panes. Most of these come with do it yourself guidelines and are quick and simple to install. Mostly they use magnets or other attachment materials. Installing hinged insect screens on doors, VELUX and specially designed framed fly screens are not that simple. Such installations require professional help and can only be fixed into place by an expert installer. Any DIY (do it yourself) attempt can damage the pane or the screen.

Fly screen also varies depending on the core material. When some screens are made of nylon, polyester, other synthetic fabrics, others are made of metals like aluminium and/or other synthetic fibers. One must remember to close the fly screen at the right time. These screens keep majority of annoying insects out of the building premises.

Insect screens are indeed very useful for keeping bugs away but they must be replaced from time to time. Be it in home or office fly screens also undergo wear and tear. Following are few reasons why you need to replace your screens in regular intervals:

• UV bleaching of screens: Fly screen is always exposed to sun radiation and the harmful rays often discolor it. A discolored screen may spoil the look of your windows and also the interior décor of your home and office. Always replace such discolored screens as they become brittle soon after.

• Damaged screens:  Pets and birds often damage the insect screens. Mostly they tear the mesh type screens making holes in them. Such torn screens must be immediately replaced as bugs and insects can enter building premises hurriedly through such tiny holes.

• Changing interior design:  Both home and office need change of interior décor from time to time. As the decor of a room changes it becomes important to replace old fly mesh as they may not match with new design.

Normal mesh type fly screen can be easily replaced by the user while the specially framed ones need professional help. Cleaning the insect screens at regular intervals is also a very good practice to enhance the durability of fly screens.

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Removing Old Tree Stumps in Your Landscape

Cutting down a tree is easy. The hard part comes when you have to remove tree stumps in your yard. You must understand that removing tree stumps is important to avoid the possibility of growing new shoots from the roots and trunk. Meanwhile, even though they are dead, you still have to remove old tree stumps since they can become hosts to fungi. Lastly, they make your garden look unattractive.

image:en.wikipedia.org

How to remove old tree stumps

Those who have done this always say that removing tree stumps is not an easy task. For instance, during the old days, the farmers used their horses or oxen to pull out the remains of trees. But where can you get oxen these days if you live in the city? Well, here are some ways to remove old tree stumps without the need for farm animals:

1.   Dig it out.

While not the easiest, this is the simplest method of removing old tree stumps. You only need a shovel to dig a perimeter around the stump. The goal is to expose the tree’s roots because they are the ones that hold the stump in the ground. When the roots are already uncovered, use a saw or axe to cut them.

2.   Burn the stump.

Make sure that you have enough space around the stump so you won’t burn the neighboring plants or grass. Put several sticks on top of the tree then pour some lighter fluid over the old tree and set it on fire. Burning can be an effective way to get rid of stumps but it can be time consuming. For instance, small stumps can take 6 to 12 hours to completely burn. Thus, the larger ones can burn for over 24 hours. It is also important not to leave a burning stump unattended.

3.   Use stump killers.

If you don’t like manual labor, there are stump and root killers available on the market to help you get rid of the remains of your old tree. When using them, make sure to follow the manufacturer’s instructions. Autumn and winter are usually the best times to apply stump killers.

When all else fails, seek professional help. Removing old tree stumps requires work so if you think this is too big a job you can always hire a professional to do it. Professionals who engage in tree service removal have both the tools and expertise necessary to properly remove old tree stumps. Sometimes, you think that you have removed everything already but there are times when owners tend to leave parts of the root structure behind. Professional landscaping and tree removal companies will remove all the remains of your old tree, including its roots structure.

Written by Robert Thompson, owner of LC Lawncare & Landscaping, where they are one of the best companies for tree service in Columbia, MO.

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Problems landlords face and how to tackle them before the tenant moves in

If you are planning to become a landlord soon, you would know how managing and owning a property is such a hard work also how stressful it tends to become in no time. All types of problems are likely to happen, taking up a majority of your time, peace of mind, effort and energy, and possibly make you pray that you had never entered the world of being a landlord. And God help you if you have a villa on offer in the market, with size as big as a villa the magnitude of problems and the frequency of it occurring increases too.

Image:pinterest.com

So, before you start your journey of worrying, here are some things that every rental villa holder should do to lower the stress and help lower the chances of having problems. They might not take away all your issues, but most probably they will be totally worth the time to do once and continue. But remember to do this all before the tenant moves in.

Before we start, with the life hacks, here is something that you should know. Many of the issues are also locality based. For example, maintaining your house for lease in Chennai would require a lot less efforts than your villa in some developing city, because of the two reasons–the need to maintain the image of being India’s most accommodating city and the availability of manpower and complex repair tools in real time.

Put your villa in good shape

Properties, which are in a clean shape, are usually preserved better by the tenants. Everybody wants to reside in a clean, nice place, in your case, in a place that looks straight out of a magazine. The renters would possibly take a good care of your villa if you have given them a neat house to live in.

Try to do all the work as and when you purchase the villa, while it is still unoccupied — doing upgrades while you have your tenant living inside can be animmense pain for every party. Invest in items like room paints, new flooring, window coverings, appliances, and landscaping. They might be expensive initially, but most probably you will love yourself for doing this investment now so as to avoid the chances of spending more in name of décor maintenance down the time.

Change the plumbing fittings and valves soon

A water issue is the one problem that is present in every house of India, in every single property, around the nation.These one causes the most harm and one of the biggest time-consuming problems to solve. In case your supply lines, plumbing valves, washer/dryer hoses, faucets, or toilets has not been touched in years, then it is probably a good time to see to it. Always ensure that the main water shut-off valve of your villa is working — and that the tenants have the idea of where that is. 

Again, all these measures can count to be very costly, but as a matter of fact,you are saving yourself from a major investment that might go into solving a drought that was once a leak.

Be attentive in fixing defective items

This goes for both before and after your tenant has moved in. With a property as big as a villa, the numbers of items that can go defective over time are many. So be sure to make a checklist of items that are functioning and those that might need your attention, before the tenant comes in.

For when they move in – in case something breaks, try to solve the issue quickly. Clearly gas, water, or electric issues would require attention sooner and problems like broken appliances would take time to get resolved, but the faster the retort the healthier the landlord-tenant relation. At times it can get hard to answer to the non-emergency issues in a practical manner, however do your best to correct the issue.

These suggestions are not quick or easy, and you might not succeed at implementing them every time. But when you work hard to keep the issues at bay, it would make your tenant’s life much easier while saving a lot of your money for the future.

Currently associated with 99acres.com, Tripti writes on real estate market and trends, both national and global. With a professional expertise in introducing readers to how real estate market functions, she strives to keep her readers updated with every what's what of the turbulent market. Apart from writing what keeps her going is petting dogs, and a thick chocolate milk shake.Get to know more about real estate market and trends follow G+.

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Cleaning Your House before an Inspection: 5 Rules to Follow

image:en.wikipedia.org

A home inspection is something that most people don’t focus on when they’re selling a house and that’s a huge mistake.

Sometimes, home inspections occur because you are selling the house and as a result, you will need to show potential buyers the home. To ensure that the house is capable of being put on display, an inspection is conducted.

One of the most looked at aspects during an inspection is how to clean the house. If the house is dirty, you will probably fail the inspection. With that being said, it is important to have your house cleaned and be ready for inspection. Below are 5 golden rules of cleaning that any home owner should abide by to ensure that they pass the inspection.

Rule #1: Clean the Garden

The first thing that any inspector will look at when they visit your house is the garden. If the garden is messy and has dried leaves, then it will put the inspector off before going inside the house. Be really sure that the garden is clean. Remember, first impressions really do count.

Rule #2: Clean the Carpets

Cleaning the carpets is often overlooked by many individuals. It is important to realize that inspectors pay attention to every single little detail of your house. In order to leave a good impression, you must clean the carpets. You can purchase carpet shampoos from local stores. If you want to go a step further and make life easier for yourself, you should rent or purchase a carpet cleaning machine. This will make carpet cleaning simpler.

Rule #3: Clean the Kitchen

One of the toughest jobs when getting your home ready for inspection is cleaning the kitchen. It’s really hard to start cleaning the kitchen because it’s hard to decide where to get started. People get confused and forget a lot of details when cleaning. You can start by cleaning the kitchen table, then the kitchen counters. Double check everything to make sure that the kitchen is thoroughly clean.

Afterwards, clean the appliances and make them shine. Remember to use a degreaser to make life easier for yourself. Remember, the inspector or the potential buyer inspects everything, not just the stuff in plain sight.

Rule #4: Clean the Bathrooms

Again, a very tough job to do but it must be done. When cleaning the bathroom, a bottle of bleach can be your best friend. Spread some bleach on the bathroom floor, counter, sink, tub, and the toilet itself. Leave it for 10 minutes then start scrubbing. After cleaning, your bathroom will look so much better and it will sparkle.

Rule #5: Spray the House with a Deodorizer

No one likes nasty or bad smelling homes. Even if the house looks good and clean, no one will like it if it smells weird of funny. With that being said, it is important to use a deodorizer to ensure that there is no bad smell in the house. Remember to use air fresheners so that your house smells magnificent.

Andy is a blogger and marketer at Walkers specialising in international relocations.

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