Landscape Renovation to Sell Your House

I enjoy variety in life. Today it was evident as I left my nail guns behind and grabbed some mulch to renovate the landscaping for a client who is about to list his home for sale.

This older Inglewood home has some charming qualities to it and had at one time had some decent landscaping. My job was to clean up the beds and make the home look great. This was a low-budget makeover with the only materials expense being a load of mulch. Thankfully, there were already some nice plants there to be uncovered.

On the one side of the home was a small decorative brick wall that could not even be seen because of an overgrown shrub that had taken over. I thinned out the shrub and tried to give some margins between the brick wall and the surrounding plants.

For the most part, I just pulled weeds and added mulch. This can go such a long way toward sprucing up any home. Add just a handful of anchor plants like shrubs or perennials and you can have a nearly carefree landscape to compliment your home.

I found a few stray plants that seemed out of place that I moved to open spots. The beds don't have to be full, but I hate to toss anything, so I tried to use these 'volunteer' plants somewhere. Mostly, this was a shade-loving ground cover called vinca minor that has lush green leaves and small blooms in spring.

With about 6 hours of my time and a load of mulch, this house is ready for the market!

-Peter

www.CarpentryGuy.com

Fix For A Little Termite Damage

When termites get a hold of your house there could be major damage. Fortunately for a couple of my clients, the damage was quite minimal for today's repair.

Termite damage usually comes up whenever someone is selling their house. In this case, the inspection found a place near a side entrance where the termites had eaten some of the subfloor and into one floor joist. Thankfully, most of the members were still quite solid, so the fix only required some reinforcement.

Usually a termite fix requires sistering a new joist along side a damaged one and sometimes adding jack stands or piers where more foundational support is needed. In this case I was able to reinforce the existing subfloor with some 1x8s on the end of the joist that would supporting some new plywood under the old subfloor above.

In all, the fix was easy- other than having to crawl to the other side of the house for the repairs.

-Peter

www.CarpentryGuy.com

Fix For a Simple Leak

I have some friends selling their home in Inglewood. The buyer's home inspection found a very slow drip coming from a pipe under the house and they called me to track it down.

The leak was somewhat deceiving because the pipes were all covered with pipe insulation. I had to keep removing the insulation until I got to the source of the water. Finally, I found that it was an solder joint at a copper elbow that was dripping very slowly.

The entire area was very accessible from the crawlspace, so this would not be too difficult to reach. I cut the elbow and about a foot of the copper pipe that had already had several repairs in the past. For cuts like this I use a simple copper tubing cutter that I like to use because it's very compact and will fit into tight spaces.

I installed a new elbow, about 14" of new 1/2" copper pipe and a coupling to join it together.

To make this repair as quickly as possible for the homeowner I used a couple Sharkbite fittings. These fittings can be used for Pex or copper pipes and just slide on. It's quite simple, and though the fittings are more expensive than copper ones it can save you money if you don't have the soldering supplies. (They are also easy to take apart if necessary.)

In the end the entire fix took less than 30 minutes once I had the parts in hand.

-Peter

www.CarpentryGuy.com

Save Your Home with Gutter Extensions

No, that title isn't melodramatic. I'm serious!

I've seen hundreds of homes where gutter problems over the span of a few decades have practically ruined the house. The purpose of gutters is to collect that rainwater and get it away from the house. However, so often the downspouts just deposit the water right next to the foundation.

Having all this water next to the foundation will eventually lead to loads of expensive problems from either the settling of the structure or the moisture getting into hidden areas and causing rot and/or mold issues.

The sad thing is that the fix is super-easy. Just add a gutter extension onto your downspout and get the water away. The one in the picture is expandable and found at most home centers for under ten bucks. It will fit either the large or smaller downspout sizes and comes in brown & white.

When you install them, make sure you attach them with some gutter screws to hold them in place. Otherwise, a big rain is sure to loosen them and eventually, you'll be without your all-important downspouts extensions again.

Even if you have a professional gutter installation or live in a brand new house, you should check to see where the water ends up. Home builders often leave the gutter extensions for you to fool with, although every good home inspector will look for this and comment on how well the water is directed away from the structure.

Think of it as your home's first line of defense against the elements. In my opinion, it's a no-brainer.

-Peter

www.CarpentryGuy.com

Porch Painting

I love porches, especially if it's attached to an older home. It is one of the great characteristics of homes in the South that isn't as common in the North where the snow would cover them for much of the year.

Anyway, today I was painting a porch in East Nashville to spruce up a home before it is listed for sale. A fresh coat of paint around the front door of your home is always great when you are trying to sell it because that's where the buyers will get their first impression of your home. They are often left waiting here a few minutes while their Realtor unlocks the door, giving them a chance to give it a good look.

Here you can see the difference:

It was a beautiful day to spend outside, although I have a feeling that it will soon be hot and humid again soon...

-Peter

www.CarpentryGuy.com