Closet Storage: Stagger Rod System

Ok, so closets usually come in with a standard rod or rod shelf combo that spans across the length of

your closet. This system is fine, you can organize a system based off just this hardware. Long clothes
shorter clothes in middle or vice versa. However, an improved version of this basic rod system may
be a staggered rod system.

A staggered rod system is basically using rods at different levels. The idea is that having staggered
rod system makes it possible to optimize your closet space by stacking levels, fitting more clothes into
the same space, as well as leaving space above and below for storage of things like shoes, accessories,
folded clothes, etc. You can place the rods wherever you please based upon your own needs, closet size
and shape, as well as organizational preferences.  

Double Hang Rods, would be stacked rods above and another rod below.  The top rod should be placed
above your eyeline but comfortably within reach. FamilyHandyman.com suggests you put it at
approximately 84 inches high. The lower rod should be about half of that. If you followed the suggestion
of placing the top rod at 84 inches that would place the lower rod around 42 inches.  This would give the
clothes on top and bottom equal hanging distance for bottoms, tops, jackets, etc.

Long Hang Rods, for hanging pants at full length, dresses, long skirts, long jackets, and coats, etc. items
long enough to reach below the knees or calf length while wearing it. Still, above eyeline, the length
suggested is around 70 inches off the ground.

Medium length rods or Pants rod, this height is for stuff that doesn’t need to be at the length of long hang
rods but are kind of long for the height given to the double hang rods. Items around knee-length or
full-length clothes that you prefer to folded over. The suggested height for that rod was around 60 inches.
If you wear enough pants and own enough for them to need their own rods the suggested length is around
54 inches.

Closet Storage

Perfect closet storage and organization, it’s something we all need and rarely achieved. We all try to optimize our
closet space for maximum storage, or at least try to keep it from becoming a complete mess of clothes and other
assorted items that aren’t actually supposed to be there. So, what could the elusive solution to this common
problem? One good answer could be customization.

When it comes to custom closet organization units and products you will have a good number of options. Too
many, you’ll have way too many options. So, how do we narrow down those options to something more
manageable? You need to start with my personal favorite step, planning.

The most important part of this process is planning. How big is your closet space and how much do you really
plan to keep in the closet itself? Do you have a dresser? Do you use a dresser? What clothes do you prefer to
have folded instead of hanging? You’re going to want to consider things like whether or not you share the
closet space and how it needs to be divided. How much vertical and horizontal space you have to work with.
Do your shoes need to go in there? Do you want drawers inside or outside of the closet? How about shelves or
cubbies? Where will your hamper go? Do you need more hanging space, should you add more rods? Is your
closet big enough to need tablespace? If so, how would you use it and would it be an effective storage method
for you? Once you’ve answered these questions for yourself the real planning can really begin. It might be
helpful for you to sketch out the space or use some kind of room planner that you can find online. Just
remember to take stock of how much stuff you need to fit into the space and what you’ll want and need
to achieve that goal. Also, consider room for an expanding wardrobe or shoe collection. The most important
thing to remember is what you need to keep and will you make use of? The best system in the world will be
useless if it doesn’t conform to your specific organizational needs. You need to make the organization of your
closet natural to you in order for it to do you any good.

Once you’ve planned you can begin to take action. This processed can completely be DIY’s, again there’s a
thousand products and choices available for you to pick up from the store and install yourself. You can also
hire someone else to do it if your plans are to strenuous or complicated for you to be able to achieve yourself.
Check out the rest of our series about different closet organization methods for ideas.

How to Maintain Your Outdoor Kitchen

So, outdoor kitchens are a thing, a cool thing, potentially a cool thing for you to own. Backyard grilling
would instantly become the best thing. You’ll be the envy of all your neighbors. What could be the
downside? Well I’ll tell you.

I’m not trying to tell you not to install an outside kitchen or that cool feature on your new house you got
was a mistake. I’m saying that there’s a great deal of maintenance that comes with an outdoor kitchen that
doesn’t necessarily translate over from indoor kitchens.

First, it’s outside. Yeah, duh, that’s the point. I get that but that means weather, as in temperature. Do
you live somewhere where it gets super cold, or super hot, or both! You can prep properly for the winter
and you should. Disconnect your appliances from their services, empty and clean the fridge, cover the
furniture, drain the pipes of standing water. When you go to use your outside kitchen again you need to
check the various systems and appliances to be sure they’re all working properly. Make sure everything
is in proper working condition when you go to use it, every time, you never know. Preventative measures
can only go so far… it’s outside, the temperature is what it is.  

Second, it’s outside. Yes, I know I already said that. I said what I meant and I meant what I said. Outside
means nature, and nature means dirty. You can’t control the cleanliness level in your outdoor kitchen the
same way you can in your indoor kitchen. Shoot, keeping an indoor kitchen clean is nearly impossible.
You can only do so much outside, but you should always keep the grill as clean as possible. It’s what’s
going to kill all the germs on your food, grease also attracts animals that you would rather keep away
generally, especially while you’re cooking. Also, it’s just generally safer to cook on clean things when
using open flame.

Finally, once again, you’re outside. You’ll have to deal with a different kind of wear and tear outside
than you’d have to deal with inside. The materials installed for the floor and counter should be pretty
durable… you’re outside, I’d certainly hope so. However, there are a few things you should do for the
sake of upkeep. Get your counters, I’m hoping they’re stone, probably granite, resealed every three to
five years to protect them from the with sun and the rain. Sweep regularly the floors and wipe down the
counters regularly, it’s easier to miss dirt when you’re already outside but there’s nothing appealing about
eating in a visibly dirty environment. Power wash as a part of your spring cleaning to get rid of any year
long build up.

Winter Pool Maintenence

Let’s be honest whether or not you live in the south, swimming is or has already come to an end. If you own a pool it’s about to lie completely dormant during the fall and winter months and your pool maintenance is about to become a chore with no tangible pay-off for the next couple of months. You can’t just stop maintaining your pool altogether… I mean you could try that, but it’s not a particularly good idea, so what are you going to do?

The first step is to Winterize your pool. This means doing one final thorough cleaning of your pool, getting rid of any debris and dirt from inside or around it. Make sure your filter and pump are clean and in good condition. Check your pools chemistry, and if you have a cover, clean it off and cover up the pool.  

After this point your maintenance schedule changes a bit. It lessens significantly, so there is that. Still clean the area and check on the pump at least once a month to keep your pool clean and the mechanisms in good working order. The next change in your maintenance is to check your water chemistry once every other week. Stagnant, standing water is a breeding ground for bacteria, mold, algae, and mosquitoes so run the pump for a couple of hours, once a week to keep things from growing.

Use an enzyme product to help break down non-living contamination and prevent a waterline ring from forming. Adding this product will save you from having to scrub your pool tile or finish when opening your pool in the spring.

Upkeeping pool maintenance during the winter may seem tedious and pointless, especially since it’s not currently being used. However, it’ll save you a lot of money and a whole lot of trouble in the long run. Leaving a pool unchecked over the winter months is a good way to let structural damage and filth build up without notice, causing a giant headache come spring when you feel like taking a dip in the lovely pool you paid for that is anything but lovely now. Keep up with your maintenance over the winter, I promise it’ll be worth it.

Pool maintenece

Summer is coming quickly to a close for those of us who live in the south. It’s too late for most of y'all who
live any further north than North Carolina, but it’s still 70 degrees in Georgia! Which means we have one
last chance to enjoy summer activities. Yes, it’s time to take our final trips out to the pool. However, after
a long season swimming and frolicking in our respective pools, it’s far past time to wonder, what kind of
shape are they in?

I’m hoping that you’ve been maintaining a fairly regular pool maintenance schedule. If not… ew, but it’s
not too late to start. Pools actually don’t require a lot of care, if you have been keeping a schedule. If not
well… it’s a royal pain in the butt and most of your equipment is probably in tatters and needs to be
replaced. So, here’s what we’re going to do. I’m going to write out a schedule for you and you can decide
if or when you’re going to follow it or not. Making you do maintenance for your pool isn’t my job, but
I can eliminate the planning step for you.

Every to Every other Day

Spot clean: Get your weird fish butterfly net thing with the long handle and remove the random junk from
your pool. I suggest doing a quick sweep every day to keep it from building up or every other day if your
yard and pool doesn’t collect much debris.

Check Water Level: Your pool is outside and it contains water. Water evaporates and it rains. Just do a
quick check to make sure that the water level isn’t too low or too high for your equipment to run properly.

Clean out the basket. The basket is like a filter it doesn’t necessarily need to be changed but it does need
to be cleaned. This can also be done a little less than every other day as well depending on how much debris
regularly ends up in your yard or pool. So, if you don’t have any trees you may be lucky (if you’re not
bothered by the lack of shade).

Weekly: If you already have a regular once a week cleaning day then just add these to your list of chores.

Clean the perimeter:  All the dirt collecting outside your pool will eventually migrate into your pool.
Again, ew. Do you know how much of that water ends up in your mouth? Let’s just avoid as much of that
as possible.

Vacuum the pool bottom. Get all the stuff you weren’t fast enough to get during the week and has now
ended up in the depths of your pool. Pay special attention to the corners to collect all the build-up, ‘cause
ew. Then collect all the stragglers at the bottom and your done.

Shock the pool. Your pool is standing water, think about that. Standing water readily collects and grows all
sorts of thing like algae, mold, bacteria, etc. Raise the chlorine level to 5 or 10 ppm just to kill off anything
nasty multiplying in your water and on the water’s surface.  A DPD test kit can help detect levels of
combined chlorine, you can break it up by shocking the water to a level 10 times the tested level when
combined chlorine exceeds 0.3 ppm.

Check pool chemistries. There’s a lot going on in your pool on a mineral and chemical level. At least once
a week you need to go out and test the chemistries in your pool. You can even leave the tests to do their thing
as you get other chores done. Just once a week, make sure your pH, total chlorine, alkalinity, calcium,
cyanuric acid, and saturation index are on point.

Clean your filter/Check the Pressure. Check your pressure gauge. I say to do this weekly because the times
you may actually need to clean the filter could fluctuate. Just check the pressure and if it’s between 5 to 10 psi
higher than normal, it’s time to actually clean the filter

Monthly:

Look for tears in the liner. A torn liner means leaking water and unstable water levels and other various
problems. If you don’t get it fixed fast enough the problem can exacerbate itself. When you commit to a vinyl
liner you commit to patching up any holes it may collect in it.

Clean the pump room. Yeah, do that. Dust off the mechanics and their surrounding areas and keep
everything running properly.  

Clean your skimmer. Using a scrubbing sponge and soap, clean the scum and dirt out of the skimmer’s throat
and well.

Check all pump seals and safety equipment. You actively need all of these things to be working for safety reasons. Tighten all the bolts and such. Just a once around to make sure everything is in working order.

What do you do About Radon?

You may have heard that you need to watch out for Radon and the dangers of radon when you buy a new
house.  Here’s the thing. How many of us know what radon is? Besides, some vague memories from
chemistry and the word radon sounding a little too much like radioactive that makes you uncomfortable
with the idea of radon being in your house, do you know what it actually is? Is it likely to be found in
your house? If it is, is it really that big of a deal?

So, are you likely to run into a radon problem? The short answer is YES, it’s a very common problem to
have. Radon gases are naturally produced by the earth and it occurs practically everywhere.

Is radon that big of a deal then? Another short answer, YES! Here’s the rundown, radon, is indeed, a
radioactive gas. Put simply radon is the breakdown of radioactive materials in the earth releasing traces
of radioactive gases into the air in small amounts. You can’t see, taste, or smell traces of it in the air but
it can be extremely dangerous in large enough amounts. Overtime radon exposure in larger amounts can
cause lung cancer, especially in smokers.

Here’s what you do. Checking for dangerous amounts of radon is simple. You can do this yourself or hire
a professional to it for you. You can get a short-term test, which will tell you what the radon levels in your
house are like over the span of about a week. Then there are long-term tests that give you a better look at
the fluctuations of radon levels in your home over longer periods of time, up to 90 days. The level can
fluctuate. I suggest starting with a short-term test. If the results are around 3, get a long-term test to check
the levels over a longer period of time. If your radon level hits 4, you need to be taking action already.
Radon tests should be done on the lowest level of your house.

Any radon level from 2 upwards can be fixed. I would call a professional to consult on reducing the radon
levels in your home. There are some DIY things you can do to lower the radon level in your home but I don’t
suggest blindly following a tutorial. Some fixes done wrong can actually raise the radon level in your house.

Fixer-upper Property Finds

So, you found yourself a fixer-upper that your thinking of plucking off the market. Maybe you could make it into your dream house. Maybe, after watching one too many design shows on HGTV you’re willing to take on flipping a property yourself as a project and then selling it. Well, I’m not here to convince you one way or the other but here are a few things you should look for in a project property, especially if you looking to sell.

Good structure. You’re not here to start from the beginning. This is not a rebuild the house from the ground up scenario. That’s expensive in both time and money. Unless your getting the property for a steal and you’ll be saving money no matter what, it’s probably not worth having to rebuild the structure.  You need to get a proper, professional inspection.

Good hardware and appliances. You’re not going to want to replace every system and appliance in the house, especially if you’re looking to sell. One thing will be expensive, several would be a nightmare. A couple of updates here and there aren’t too bad but you need to know before buying what the problems are and how much replacing them may cost. Your inspector can give you an idea how long the current systems should last.

Underwhelming. Underwhelming doesn’t usually mean much. People will not buy a house because there’s not enough interest to draw them in. Here’s the thing underwhelming is an easily fixable sin. Most anything can be spruced up with some imagination, ingenuity, and a couple of basic design tricks. Especially, if the house is nice but not very flashy features. The property could be a complete gem, that’s being overlooked because it doesn’t sparkle enough.

Kinda ugly. Speaking of a gem, needing to be shined, it could just be completely covered in mud. Ugly isn’t always a bad thing, at least not for you. Here’s the question is the ugliness structural or is it cosmetic? Cosmetic ugly can be fixed. A bad backsplash, ugly carpeting, those are just bad design decisions, nothing that can’t be changed.

Interior painting tips

So, it is time to break out the rollers and paint chips. There’s a thousand and one reasons that might cause you to need to paint or repaint some of the walls in your house. Maybe you just moved in and the color of the walls are not quite to your liking. Maybe you're tired of your old colors or want to add an accent wall. Maybe, you’re just covering up some old water damage. Either way it’s time to paint. Here are some tips that I hope will keep this process from being a chore.

Do your prep! We’re not off to a good start. Prep work, as essential as it is, is undeniably a chore. You just want to get the process done but you’re stuck with a bunch of extra steps. Hopefully doing this prep work will save you time in the long run by eliminating the cause of unnecessary problems that you’d have to struggle to fix later. First, patch up any holes. The look of any holes will be exacerbated by painting. Remember to sand the spots you’ve filled

in so that it matches the rest of the wall. Not sanding will also make the damaged spots stand out more.  

Next, clean your walls.  Just a quick once over will do. Run over the walls with a broom and then a quickly rub down the walls with a microfiber cloth to get rid of the last of the dirt. Having clean walls prepares the surface for painting and prevents premature peeling. Finally, primer, Primer, PRIMER! The step everyone wants to skip. You may want to take another sitting just to do this. You could get a two-in-one paint and see how that works out for you (I’m not a paint expert you tell me). Either way primer is a must if you’re looking for longevity, it makes the color of the new paint color show up better. This is especially true if your covering up a darker color. Primer just generally makes the whole thing look nicer.

Trim! You’re going to want to use as few paint strokes as possible when going over the trim. The fewer strokes you can use while painting trim the smoother the end result will look.  Load up the brush with paint to avoid skips in paint that you’d have to go back over and use long strokes. Overlap the previous stroke a little to avoid missed spots that you’d have to go back over with shorter stokes.

Brushes

To keep brushes from going dry when you need to walk away by using ziplock bags or plastic wrap. Plastic will hold in the moisture for several hours if you need to walk away. If your using a ziplock, cut a whole in the bottom, open the bag put the brush in handle first through the while you made, and zip it up.  

In order to keep brushes prepared between coats of paint you can keep your brushes, handle up in water. This keeps your brushes from getting hard and while cleaning off the excess paint from the brushes. I wouldn’t suggest you mix colors.

Exterior Painting Tips!

One of the most unfortunate parts of exterior maintenance of a house is keeping the paint looking nice. NOBODY wants to pay someone to repaint or have to repaint the outside of their house themselves. Paying for it would be expensive while doing it yourself would be difficult and time consuming. Besides, how do you know it’s going to last if you do it yourself, how do you know you’re doing it right. Well here are some tips on how to make the process a little easier and make sure your not doing it again next summer.

Choose when you paint and what side of the house your painting on! Summer is coming to a distinct end here in the south, it’s already over in more northern states. So, your going to want to get this done before the cold really sets in. If it’s still warm where you are there could be nothing more heinous than doing hard work in direct sunlight. Paint on the dark side of the house. Wait until shadow is cast on the side of the house you need to work on and do your best to keep up with the shade. If it’s already getting chilly where you are you might want to follow the warmth and paint on the bright side of the house. Put on some sunscreen because direct sunlight for extended periods of time isn’t good for anybody’s skin but staying in the sun will keep you from getting chilled.

Do your prep! Prep work is an essential part of painting if you want it to last. You may want to pick a completely separate day for this in order to break up some of the work and jump right into the painting process when your ready.

First, strip off chipping paint. Get something with a sharp edge, something like a putty knife. If you’ve gone through the painting process before and there are several layers of paint already on the house, you can also pressure wash flaking paint off. If you’re dealing with something that’s more delicate than paint thinner on a rage will do the job getting the old paint off.

Next, remove and replace anything old and rotting. A new layer of paint won’t fix things that are fundamentally unsound. Replace window sills, slats on the shutters, siding, etc.

Finally, primer, Primer, PRIMER! The step everyone wants to skip. You may want to take another day just to do this. You could get a two-in-one paint and see how that works out for you (I’m not a paint expert you tell me). Either way primer is a must if you’re looking for longevity and it’s just a step that makes the whole thing look nicer.

How to maintenance your garage door.

You get home, you pull into the driveway, you push the button on your garage door opener and you expect the garage
door to open. It did yesterday and everyday before that. Sure, sometimes it has audibly complained but it worked and
that’s what mattered but this time, it didn’t. So, you wonder why? Why, when you’ve used it everyday since the day
you moved in has it failed you? Maybe it’s because you’ve used it everyday since the day you moved in and haven’t
put any thought into maintenance. Yes, ladies, gentlemen, and everything in between.

The components of garage doors are made up of several things. An opener, you now that weird box on your garage
ceiling. The opener is a motor with a chain moves the garage door up and down.  There are springs and cables, a
highly tensioned giant spring mounted above your door and the cables that are attached that allow the door to be
raised physically with far less effort than the actual weight of the door should allow. Then there are the sensors,
those weird camera looking, laser light things. They keep you or anything that breaks the line from getting crushed
by the garage doors descent. These are the components you need to check and maintain to make sure your garage
door is working the way you need it to.

First off, your garage door isn’t supposed to be making more noise than the first time it opened. Those extra noises
your hearing… they’re not supposed to be happening. Your garage door moves every day, meaning the parts making
it move are shifting around as well. Check all the screws, bolts, hinges, etc. Look at all the small pieces and make
sure that they’re all in place. Doing that is the first step when something goes wrong with your garage door.

Next, you need to clean the track. There is literal brake cleaner you can get to do this, just use that and an old
raggedy cloth. Then you can use lubricant to coat the outside of your torsion spring. After that you should check
the garage doors balance. You do this by pulling the manual release, you know that weird string hanging down
from the ceiling. Then you pull the garage door up halfway. If it stays up it’s fine, if not… call somebody that’s
going to become a problem.

Then, Get something super solid, something that won’t break and put it under the door. Make sure it doesn’t
break the beam of the sensor. Close the door and if it stops then your good, but if it tries to keep moving… well
you know what’s wrong.

Finally, make sure your sensor is working properly. Make sure the two sensors are lined up properly. They
should be looking directly at each other. Close the door again and then break the infrared. Then if the door stops,
then and reverses, the sensors working properly. If not you definitely need to get that checked, that’s actually
a hazard.