Know When you Need to Replace Your Fridge Door Seal

Refrigerators are appliances that need to be kept on charge 365 days a year and to achieve this, every part of the fridge, including the fridge door seal should be in perfect working condition.

When there is a noticeable increase in your monthly electricity bill without anything being wrong with your appliances, the finger would definitely point toward your fridge or rather, to the fridge's door seal.

What does a fridge door seal do?

A seal keeps the cold air inside the fridge from mixing with the atmospheric air by keeping the refrigerator door tightly closed. There are no gaps in this seal and it helps the fridge to do its job unhindered. Even the constant opening and closing of the fridge door will not be a major problem as long as there is a tight-fit seal keeping the cold air inside once the door is shut.

Even a freezer door seal does the same job although that door is not opened as many times. These seals get worn out and tear if the fridge is old or has been used for a long time. If they loosen or develop a tear they will need to be replaced.

Can it be replaced?

Fridge seal replacement is fairly easy if the person doing the job knows what he is doing. Operation Homes has a wide staff of contractors that can do the job quickly and inexpensively. There is a range of fridge door seals available in the market catering to the brand and model of the fridges manufactured, although many of them might not come with instructions.

You will need to remove the older seal and replace it with the new one, making sure there are no gaps or space left where air can pass through. The same thing can be done for a freezer seal replacement.

If the replacement was not done properly, the seal will start loosening and it might need to be done again. To ensure the job is done right, call Operation Homes now!



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All You Need to Know About Grout Cleaning

The space between ceramic tiles, better known as grout, get accumulated with dirt and dust over a period of time. These grouts are very difficult to clean; many try heavy scrubbing to clean off these areas, but what they do not realize is that this damages the ceramic tiles.

Grouts can be of the same cement based, epoxy based, or furan resin varieties. They are further classified into sanded and non sanded categories.

Grout Cleaning

Grout cleaning can be done in several ways. If you are a "do it yourself" person, then you might like to buy a grout cleaning tool for yourself. This tool has a triangle shaped head, and all you need to do is run it down on the grout lines. You can also clean grouts with elbow grease and heavy wired brushes if you are not keen on buying a tool. Scrubbing with the help of baking soda can also help.

A paste of hydrogen peroxide and baking soda is often used in grout cleaning. Scrubbing the grouts with a bleaching solution can also clear the dirt and dust accumulated in those places. Cleaning the grouts with the help of alcohol is also a good idea.

However, it has been noticed that these methods have been detrimental to ceramic tiles. Heavy scrubbing and using bleaching agents is never a great idea.

All you need to know about grout cleaning

Grout cleaning is essential. The dust and dirt accumulated between the tiles can give a very unpleasant appearance to the floors of your home. It is also very unhygienic.

Grout cleaning can be done at home using the above methods, but it is recommended to opt for professional grout cleaning services. These companies are trained to know how to do it the best way, so that you get a clean home and your tiles do not get damaged as well.

To find a professional the help you with grout cleaning or anything else, call Operation Homes at 253-241-0777.



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8 Points to consider when remodeling a historic home

If you have a historic house and want to remodel, here are eight points to consider ahead of time:

Restoration or Renovation? Are you restoring the house to its original glory or renovating with an eye toward modernizing the house while retaining its historic character?

Do your homework: There are a lot of resources that will tell you how your house should look and how to restore it. Every state has an office of historic preservation. They will help you even if your house isn't registered as a historic home. Also look for renovation networks, preservation associations, or other groups of like- minded renovators.

Design a plan: If you have major changes in mind, you will need an architect and contractor who are familiar with historic homes. They can help you come up with a plan about what to preserve and what to replace. This plan will make the next steps easier.

Preserve Historic Details: Consider all the elements that give the house historic character, including the floor plan, the hardware, lighting, and size and shape of the rooms. Think about how you can achieve your renovation goals while preserving the house's historic character.

Find Craftspeople: Hire subcontractors familiar with the construction techniques and unique features of your home's time period. You may have to search for a while to find people who offer the specialized skills you need.

Find Suppliers: There are companies that make "like-old" materials, which are new but conform to the aesthetic standards of your home's era. If you want materials with the patina of age, look around at flea markets, salvage yards, and demolition sales.

Keep your Budget: If your funds are unlimited, decide ahead of time which areas of the house you will focus on. You may need to start small with one or two focal points, such as restoring the stairs or replacing them molding.

Preserve the Exterior: You want your house to look the part from the outside, but keeping the historic exterior is challenging when you modernize. You may want contemporary energy efficient windows but they can look out of place on an older home. However, some contractors can install new triple-paned glass while restoring the original frames.

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Landscaping- A profitable career option

Do you like looking after plants? Are you usually busy decorating your garden and making it look more exotic? now you can develop your spare time pursuit into a job and set up your own business. The requirement for landscape artists and gardening mavens is rising consistently.

More folks are seeking the services of executive to plan, maintain, and decorate their personal, public, and business gardens. Gardening and landscaping are fields which offer stable work and amazing money possibilities.

Nature of Work:

• Landscape gardeners work to develop muddy fields into pretty gardens full of flowers and plants
• They are working for non- public gardens, public parks, golfing courses, greenhouses, and patio gardens to make exotic flower beds, gardens, and trees
• They use their understanding of botany, landscape installation, plant materials, soil science, and pest and disease identification and treatment, to make superb landscapes and gardens.
  
• They prepare the ground for planting, transplant nursery plants, use manure and insecticides and sow seeds
• Trim and prune hedges, trees, and plants
• Install rock gardens, pools, decorate, and maintain drainage systems. Keep walls, fences and planters, and counsel clients on plant care
• They often work with tools ranging from little spades to huge grass mowers, tractors, loaders for example

Landscape and gardening are troublesome roles concerning lots of creativeness and awareness of plants. There will be profitable job potential for people with the interest and correct coaching in landscaping.

Career possibilities in garden and landscaping:

Landscaping pros typically work outside in nurseries or botanical gardens. They can opt to become Horticulturists, Country Rangers, Garden Chiefs, Landscaping designers and can start their own business too. Landscape gardeners can find work in:

• Retail gardening centers
• Landscaping and grass care agencies
• Indoor gardens and botanical centers
• Tree farms- graveyards-greenhouses
• Central authority departemtns

Abilities needed for gardening/landscaping

Though there isn't any particular educational qualification for being a landscape gardener yet, some qualities can prove advantageous. These include:

• Love for nature
• Good knowledge of plants
• Creative aptitude
• Good vision
• Physically robust
• Industrious

About landscaping business

To start any business one must make agreements for the basic assets need. For gardening and landscaping, obtain the following:

Gardener: A wagon or trailer to hold your apparatus and waste. A grass mower, rake, brush and other little hand tools also will be needed

Landscaper: Essentially you want hand tools and a lorry or trailer. While beginning, try getting the majority of the equipment on rent. Once your business is well-set, you can consider purchasing your own tools and machinery. /

Interiorscaper: A lorry or other heavy auto if obligatory. Except for that, you could need to have watering cans and other various tiny hand tools. Start little and then slowly go forward. this way you won't be investing too much and the profits can then buy tools and other necessary items. Use word of mouth advertising, fliers, classified ads to marker yourself and sell your servics. Gardens and parks are becoming more popular. The top five botanical gardens alone generate over 3,000,000 visitors per year. The total amount of firms operating in the landscaping sector is foretold to rise by 45% in the approaching years. So prepare to turn your pursuit into a full time work opportunity that will give you assured returns!







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Plan first, plant next

To use gardens in your landscape is a process that can be time consuming. If you do not have the man hours to do it right, you may want to hire a landscape professional. If your gardens are not correctly done, they can be more of a headache and eye sore than none at all. you must have the right equipment to get started. Without the right equipment, you will be spending more time preparing.

Landscape gardening is started with a blueprint of your lawn or yard. It is easier to visualize on paper than in your head. If you do not like something, it is easier to change on paper than in your yard as well. this blueprint shall include everything in the yard and what will be added. eview the blueprint and make any changes you see necessary. if you do not like a border or type of plant in an area, now is the time to change it. Remember some plants like shade and and some like direct sunlight.

Organize everything you will need for the project. Professional landscapers have a trailer full of tools designed for special jobs. The plant list should be on the blueprint. Take this list and get the plants at aqualified landscape store. They will also assist you with the fertilizer and chemicals you will need. When you have the tools you need, plants, chemicals, and fertilizer, you are ready to begin.

If you do not want to handle chemicals and fertilizers, a professional may be the way to go. You must rid the garden area of grass and weeds. you can do this by spraying or tilling many times. Mark out the shape of your garden area and spray a herbicide on the area. When the foliage has wilted you can till the area with a garden tiller. Rake out all sod and test your soil. Somep loants need different types of soil, make sure the soil is right for your plant choice. When soil meets the requirements, it is time to plant them. Most plants have directions on how to plant them.

When your gardens are planted, they need special care. This is generally not as time involved as preparing your gardens, but it still is a timely process. Your gardens need water and fertilizer on a regular basis. You must check them for diseases and damages from insects and animals. It maybe a good idea to have your professional landscaper stop from time to time to assist in these conditions.

Landscaping with gardens can make your yard of lawn stand out. You can use rock borders or landscape blocks to set your gardens apart. There are figurines and other decorations that can add to your garden.






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What don't we do?

That really is the question- what don't we do? What doesn't Operation Homes do? Well, quite simply we do it all! It's not just our slogan- it's our mantra. We are a single source provider of ALL home improvement services which translates into- What don't we do? Ok, now that you know the Operation Homes slogan inside and out- lets really focus on what it means. We have contractors that specialize in every area imaginable- REO maintenance, painters, landscapers, house cleaners, plumbers, and electricians. We work with property management companies, real estate agents, investors, commercial companies, banks, and insurance companies. We will also be working with home owners very soon with our new referral based website, coming in July.

The new and improved www.operationhomes.com will be launched at the end of July and aimed to serve homeowners. We will connect homeowners to pre-qualified contractors- 3 licensed contractors to be exact, so homeowners can get the best pricing and service imaginable. Our soft launch will focus on Washington in August and our nationwide launch will be right around the holidays- just in time to get the house ready for the relatives.

In the meantime, check out our blog for home improvement tips and tricks, DIY projects, and updates on www.operationhomes.com. Please leave feedback and your own tips and tricks and we'll incorporate them into our finished website. And don't forget, if you're having difficulty fixing something around the house and you're not sure who can help- go to www.operationhomes.com, because really- what don't we do????