Homeowner Tips

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	How to kill mold (Updated 10/15/2004)
	Mold is a very serious issue with regard to your family’s health and your home’s resale value. Mold is not something to be taken lightly. It will not go away by itself and it can affect the quality of life in your home. To tell you how serious this can be, think about this: Home insurance companies can refuse to insure your home if mold is present or if your home has had mold problems in the past. Mold can be a severe health risk for your family. This is especially true for the very young, the elderly or those with breathing difficulties such as people with asthma. If left untreated, mold will decay your home and lead to structural damage that might not be covered by your homeowner’s insurance. Your insurance company could claim that if you had taken proper action to prevent the mold that the subsequent damage would not have occurred, therefore they are not going to honor your claim. When you get ready to sell your home it is very likely that you will be asked how your home faired during the hurricane season of 2004. You must disclose any damages from these storms. A smart buyer will ask you to show what you did to repair the damage and if you had mold as a result. If you cannot show that you repaired the damage and had the mold removed you may have significant problems getting your asking price and may have problems even getting someone to make an offer on your home. If you suffered water intrusion during the recent hurricane season you should take immediate action to prevent mold or stop what mold has already taken hold of your home. Please consider doing the following: Spray a mixture of 1 part household bleach and 4 parts tap water on the mold. Be careful not to get this mixture on anything that can be damaged by the bleach. Obviously, this mixture would not be good on furniture, carpet and drapes. This is meant more for sheetrock, baseboards and concrete walls. This will kill the exposed mold and keep it from growing. However, this will NOT get the mold behind the sheetrock walls. This must be done by other means. Contact a professional mold spraying firm to come to your house to spray for mold. If you are considering stronger legal action then you should consult an attorney who can then recommend a company that they are comfortable with that will test your home for mold and then make a report of the various types of mold that are present before and after they treat your house. The one thing that you should not do is NOTHING. Mold is a very serious problem and will not go away by itself.
	Moles digging holes in your yard? (Updated 4/20/2004)
	During a Board Meeting, a homeowner reported great success using Spectracide Mole Stop to get rid of these "ninja gophers." Alternatively, you can give the following homemade-solution a shot: Take 1 cup of Murphy’s Oil Soap, 1 oz. Castor Oil and 1/4 cup Cayenne Pepper. Mix and cut 2 to 1 with warm water. Put this in a hose end sprayer and saturate the area where you are having the problem. If you can find its burrow entrance, flood the hole. The Castor Oil is a natural stinging agent and causes their skin to itch, the oil soap will make the Castor Oil stick to their skin, and the Cayenne pepper will burn where they itch. This mixture will not kill it but it will make it very unwelcome. If you have a strong rain, re-spray as soon as the ground is dry and do not let the family pets get in this area. This is also works for squirrels, raccoons and possums.
	How to keep your yard lush and green all year long (Updated 6/14/2004)
	In order to keep your yard looking healthy all year long, you must fertilize it and treat it at the right times during the year with a broadcast spreader. Many homeowners in our neighborhood have had great success with Scotts brand lawn care products. The Scotts website not only provides excellent lawn care tips, on it you can subscribe to reminders (a.k.a The Scotts Annual Lawn Care Program) that will tell when to fertilize and what type of fertilizer/lawn care product to apply. Click here to visit the Scotts website. It is also recommended that you test your sprinkler system from time to time to ensure that it is spraying water correctly. Most brown spots on the lawns are from the lack of water during the dry season and the sprinkler system is not spraying water correctly. Some sprinkler heads may become clogged over time and just need to be cleaned. For help with sprinkler heads Click here for RainBird sprinklers and Click here for Hunter sprinklers Sometimes the sprinkler heads need to be lifted so that they can clear the top of the grass and are not blocked by the grass itself. This is relatively easy to do, but seek assistance if you are uncomfortable in attempting this task. You can take a do-it-yourself class at either Lowe's or Home Depot. If that isn't for you, you can contact an irrigation company to come out and raise the heads for you; naturally this will be more money out of pocket. Of course, you can contact the ARC using the feedback page and request some help. They'll be more than happy to show you how to raise your sprinkler heads; they may even be able to help you do it.