4/16/09

Keep gutters and downspouts working hard to protect your house from water damage. Clean leaves, sticks and pine needles from gutters. Scoop up the debris with a gloved hand and add it to the compost. Also, if you need to replace the gutter, choose steel over aluminum or vinyl. Aluminum expands when the weather gets hot and contracts when it gets cold, causing nails and screws to weaken. Vinyl gutters usually come in 10-foot lengths, so there are lots of seams that could leak.

4/15/09

The simplest repairs sometimes create the biggest results. If your faucet is dripping water, visit the hardware store and replace the washer. When your faucet is dripping at a rate of one drop per second, you're wasting 2,700 gallons per year! For less than a dollar, you can stop the waste and end up saving lots of dough on your utilities bill.

4/14/09

Having trouble getting to sleep? Try aromatherapy. Aromatherapy is the belief that the right scent can evoke a certain mood when breathed in: Peppermint can excite and lavender can soothe. But instead of spending lots of money on pricey linen sprays, make your own. Fill a mister bottle with distilled water and add about 20 drops of lavender oil (from the natural health food store). Shake and spray on your sheets. Then just lie down and relax.