Get Prepped for Autumn with These Trusty At-Home Hacks

With autumn coming fast, now is a great time to tackle the at-home projects that you may have ignored while enjoying the summer sun. Here are a bunch of my favorite fall hacks to get your property ready for the change in temperature.

After dozens of summer barbecues, your grill might be looking a bit worse for wear. Cleaning a grill can be a messy and tedious job, but did you know that you can get rid of almost all those baked on food particles with a simple coffee soak? That’s right, just brew up a few pots of the cheap stuff and put it into a large, shallow, plastic tub. Drop your grill grates into the tub of joe for an hour and then rinse clean for a good as new finish.

With all the humidity we experienced over the summer, you may have noticed black, streaky stains on your roof. While it may be just cosmetic today, leaving mold and mildew to grow can lift your shingles, allowing for melting ice and snow to get in and cause leaks. Hire a pro to give your roof a good cleaning to ensure any unsightly stains don’t grow into a bigger, much more expensive problem.

Remove any window air conditioning units and inspect all windows for damage or potential air leakage. It’s better to get leaky windows repaired now than wait you have to combat the deep freeze by cranking up the thermostat.

Get your fireplace ready for use with a professional inspection and clean. Stock up on firewood before the cold, wet weather begins and make sure you store it safely in a dry place away from your house. Remember, woodpiles are a breeding ground for termites, you would love nothing more than to feast on your home.

Fix up your flowerbeds by clearing out any dead or dying plants and give the soil a good aeration. Then spread a thick layer of mulch over the beds to help keep the temperature even through the winter freeze. If you’re planting bulbs, I like to use evergreen branches to keep the ground a bit warmer and give the bulbs some protection from the snow. If you enjoy vegetables, keep some poly spun garden fabric handy to lay over your boxes after the fall harvest.

Lock in a reliable plowing professional. Most people wait until the first snow and then panic because they can’t get out of their driveway and can’t find anyone to do the job in a pinch. Start calling around now to get quotes and book in a professional who is reliable and can get the job done quickly.

What are your favorite ways to get ready for the colder weather? I’d love to share your ideas. Send me a message on Facebook.

Bob O’Donnell is the owner of O’Donnell Bros. Inc., a Bristol-based home improvement company established in 1975. To contact Bob for your remodeling needs, call O’Donnell Bros. Inc. at (860) 589-5155 or visit http://www.odonnellbros.com. Advice is for guidance only.

Keep Your Home Warm this Fall with These Tricks

While we are still enjoying summer temperatures here in Central Connecticut, the cooler weather has a funny way of sneaking up on us, which makes now a great time to start getting prepared for the change in seasons. Heating the house can get quite expensive in the autumn and winter, so I am going to tell you about few things you can do to keep your home comfortable without cranking up the thermostat.

Did you know that up to 25% of your home heating can be lost through old, drafty windows? If you put your hand up to your windows and can feel the air coming through, it’s time to have them replaced. You want to look for windows that meet or exceed the requirements set by ENERGY STAR®, the program set up by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy to help consumers save on their energy bills while also helping the environment. According to product manufacturer Harvey, replacing old windows with ENERGY STAR® windows can save an average New England home up to $465 a year. If now isn’t the right time for you to replace your windows, you can still reduce the drafty air coming through them by replacing any worn weatherstripping, and or even installing clear plastic film as a temporary solution to get through the season.

If cold air is coming through your doors, it might be a good idea to take a look at the sweep and inspect it for any damage. A new sweep is inexpensive to install and can help you retain more heat in your home. If you’re looking for an even simpler way to stop drafts, you can use a door snake, which is a long piece of fabric filled with plastic beads. You can even make one yourself using a knee sock and dry rice.

If you don’t have proper insulation and ventilation in your home, most of your heat is probably going right through the roof, literally. In fact, The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that proper insulation can cut as much as 50 percent off your heating bill. Take advantage of a free inspection from a local contractor to see how your insulation stacks up to the R-Value that’s recommended by ENERGY STAR® for our area. An R-Value is the measure used to assess insulation’s ability to resist heat traveling through it, and in Connecticut, the recommended R-Value is R49 to R60 for an uninsulated home and R38 to R49 for an attic that already has three to four inches of insulation.

If you’re worried about losing heat through your attic but adding insulation isn’t possible for you right now, one easy fix is to build an insulated box to sit inside the attic and over the hatchway. Just measure the opening of the hatchway and purchase some rigid foam sheathing panels that are cut a few inches longer than the opening. Assemble a five-sided box using heavy-duty duct tape and place it inside the attic, covering the hatch opening.

What are your favorite ways to keep the house warm during the autumn and winter? I’d love to hear from you. Send me a message on Facebook at www.facebook.com/odonnellbros.

Bob O’Donnell is the owner of O’Donnell Bros. Inc., a Bristol-based home improvement company established in 1975. To contact Bob for your remodeling needs, call O’Donnell Bros. Inc. at (860) 589-5155 or visit http://www.odonnellbros.com. Advice is for guidance only.

Enjoy Autumn Colors for Longer with These Vibrant Plant Picks

If I had to rank household tasks from easy to downright dreadful, raking leaves would be near the top of my pain in the "you know what" project list. But as much as I cower at the thought of autumn clean up, I must say that the beautiful display of colors from the trees makes this seasonal task just a little bit more palatable. If only those changing leaves would stay on the trees just a little while longer! 

This got me thinking, what if we could enjoy the beautiful colors of fall for more time during the year with less raking and maintenance? With that being said, I have put together a list of my favorite plants and shrubs that offer the look and feel of autumn from spring to the first snow. 

Japanese Maple

This is one of my favorites for its vibrant red leaves that stay bright for three seasons of the year. The Japanese maple is a smaller tree, growing between two and 30 feet tall depending on the variety, but it requires a low level of maintenance (preferring full sun to partial shade) and adds a lot of color to any property.  

Redbud

This tree blooms early in the spring with bright pink and purple flowers and then transforms through the summer with the appearance of green, tulip-shaped leaves. In the autumn, the leaves turn a nice golden color, making it a real horticultural chameleon with a lot of personality. The tree, which can grow to around 30 feet, even produces bold buds on its trunk and structural branches.

Witch Hazel

My daughter tells me that this shrub is dual functioning as the bark from its stems and roots are extracted and distilled into many popular natural facial toners. But besides its skincare benefits, witch hazel also offers dazzling yellow leaves and flowers that produce a pleasingly spicy scent from October through December.

Burning Bush

With a name like that, you won’t be surprised to find this flowering plant sprouting with fire red leaves that will add a real pop of color to your shrubbery from spring to fall. A word to the wise on this one though – its aggressive growth tendencies actually put it on the list of prohibited plants in Massachusetts and New Hampshire, so you’ll want to keep it well contained.

Kale

This one is my wife’s favorite. You might see kale popping up on menus in restaurants all over town, but the vegetable also looks great in the garden and can be used to add loads of color to pots, on porches, and anywhere else around the yard. Kale is one of many cousins in the cabbage family and its green, white and purple leaves have serious staying power – even peeking through after the first winter frost.

This variety of plants, trees and shrubs is really just the tip of the iceberg in terms of keeping fall colors in your yard all year long. What are your favorite autumn-hued plant picks? I'd love to hear from you. Drop me an email or send me a message on Facebook at www.facebook.com/odonnellbros.

Bob O’Donnell is the owner of O’Donnell Bros. Inc., a Bristol-based home improvement company established in 1975. Email your questions to info@odonnellbros.com with the subject line “Ask the Pro.” All questions may be considered for publication. To contact Bob for your remodeling needs, call O’Donnell Bros. Inc. at (860) 589-5155 or visit http://www.odonnellbros.com. Advice is for guidance only.