If you are one of the many people whohave recently purchased your first homethanks to a government tax rebateincentive or simply because you have been saving a while for this day, it’s likely you’ll want to improve your home to make ityour own. Green improvements just maybe the way to go.

As a first-time homeowner, there are amyriad of things you must learn aboutyour new place. You may not be familiarwith how to embark on homeimprovements, never mind how to makethese improvements environmentallyfriendly.

Here are some improvements toconsider that are eco-conscious and could help you save considerable money overthe life of your investment.

• Install a tankless water heater.Tankless water heaters heat water ondemand -- as you need it. Therefore, youdon’t waste energy repeatedly heating 50gallons of water to be stored in a tank.Electric models cost less, but gas ones tend to be more efficient. The added benefit isyou’ll never run out of hot water.

• Lay down a cool roof. White or light-colored roofs will reflect sunlight and keep the house cooler in the process. Thismeans exhaust fans in attics will have torun less, and you won’t need to turn theair conditioning on as high.

• Ask to use reclaimed wood. If you’rehiring out repair work or adding anaddition, find out if you can use reclaimed wood. Reclaimed or salvaged lumber canbe used for a variety of reasons, such as to build walls, as support beams, or in roofconstruction. Many companies specializein obtaining building materials from older homes that are about to be torn down ordismantled. They turn the wood into

First-TimeHome Buyers

product for newer construction.

• Use low VOC paint. One of the firstimprovements new homeownersgenerally make is changing wall colors,which is easily achieved with some paint.Traditional paint is high in volatile organic compounds, which can be hazardous tothe environment and your health. Choose low-VOC paints and breathe easier. Mostare comparable in price to other paints.

• Use eco-friendly flooring. Bambooflooring is made from the highlyrenewable resource. Bamboo is actually a grass and grows very quickly – theopposite of trees for traditional lumber.Bamboo comes in a variety of colors, too.Other options are composite products,such as linoleum floors made from natural raw materials that are bound togetherwith natural oils and resins.

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When the weather warms, homeowners often flock to their backyards to entertain,relax and enjoy the great outdoors. Butoftentimes the work and maintenance that is involved with keeping a yard looking its best can negate the rejuvenating effects of spending time in an outdoor space.

Luckily, there are ways to cut down onthe yard maintenance so you can free upmore opportunities for sitting back andrelaxing with friends and family. Consider these tips from By the Yard, Inc.,manufacturer of durable outdoor furniture made from recycled materials.

1. Choose native plants and perennials:Let’s face it, as rewarding a hobby asgardening can be, it does require aninvestment of time and energy. Bychoosing plants wisely, you can cut downon the number of plants that perish andneed to be replanted, and you can alsotake a hands-off approach to gardening.Perennials will bloom each year and won’t have to be replanted every season. Fillyour yard with many perennials and thenadd colorful annuals to flower pots andother containers to fill in the gaps withlittle effort.

2. Look for maintenance-free outdoorfurniture: Who wants to spend seasonafter season scraping or painting outdoorfurniture that hasn’t stood up against theweather? Many types of outdoor pieceshave to be protected from the elements,including being covered or put awayduring nasty weather. That adds up tomore of a headache than homeownersneed. Milk helps build strong bones, andrecycled milk jugs help build strong,maintenance-free furniture. The over 90product designs from By the Yard(www.bytheyard.net) are made in the USA of High Density Polyetheylene (HDPE)from recycled milk containers and plasticwater bottles. Unlike most other plastics,the material used to fabricate the furniture is considered colorfast. It will not fademore than 3 percent over a 10-year period.This is furniture you never have to replace or put away, rather simply enjoy all season long.

3. Invest in a sprinkler system:Watering a yard by hand can take a lot of time andmay not be efficiently watering the lawnand plants. Sprinkler systems take thework out of watering by automaticallydeploying at times programmed by you.This way you can schedule the sprinklersto turn on in the early morning, when you may have already left for work, oftenconsidered the best time of the day forwater penetration and prevention ofevaporation. Sprinklers and drip irrigation systems come in many designs and can be customized for your needs. When set upcorrectly, they can be an eco-friendly wayof watering the landscape.

4. Consider lawn alternatives: Abeautiful lawn may be a sight to behold,but for many homeowners the work

5 Ways to Less Maintenancein Your Backyard

involved, including sowing the seeds,fertilizing and mowing, make the finalproduct bittersweet. Look to groundcovers,pavers, clover and other landscaping ideas to break up the amount of lawn in yourlandscape. If you have young children orpets who are notorious for wreaking havoc on a lawn, you may want to cut down your lawn ratio even further. If you have yourheart set on rolling acres of pristinebeauty, hire a service that can do themaintenance for you.

5. Think about how you use youroutdoor space:Whether you like to sitoutside and relax or are more intofrequent entertaining, design your spacearound these factors. This way you don’thave furniture or other yard accessoriesthat interfere with your plans and require additional care. Also, look for items thatcan serve multiple purposes, such asbenches that can hold planters but also be seating areas when there are more guestsaround. How about furniture that can bekept out all year long if you like toentertain outside no matter the season?

With a few simple tips you can spendless time working in the yard and moretime enjoying it.

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CITIZEN’S NEWSFriday, June 4, 2010 15

Basement Remodels a Favorite for Homeowners

Perhaps thanks to the growing popular-ity of home theaters, basement remodelsare becoming more and more popularamong the nation’s homeowners. Withadvancements in television and hometheater technology, it’s no wonder home-owners are looking to make the most oftheir oft-ignored basements to enhancetheir home entertainment experience.

But remodeling a basement involvesmore than simply throwing out the ping-pong or pool table and replacing themwith leather sofas and a big screen tele-vision. Before doing anything with thebasement, it’s best to prepare the area toensure the home theater experience is asenjoyable as possible.

Check for moisture. Nearly every base-ment has issues with moisture. Perhapsvictims of floods or heavy rains, basements do not typically boast ideal living con-ditions, requiring work before homeown-ers and their families and friends canspend time in them knowing they’re safe.

Many times, fixing moisture inside abasement involves going outside thehome, particularly to inspect gutters andthe external surface area around the base-ment. Gutters and downspouts could bechanneling water in the direction of thebasement. If so, direct downspouts awayfrom the home.

Surface area around the basement could also be directing water toward the home. If that’s the case, it might be a safe bet toconsult a landscaper to determine if thatarea can be dug up and possibly made toslant away from the house. While thismight seem time-consuming, it’s worth itto ensure a home theater does not become a musty place where no one wants tospend signficant time.

Decide what to do with the ceilings. Forthose who really want to create a theaterexperience in their basement, the ceilingswill likely need some work. Many base-ments have ceiling tiles, which create anambience more suited to a basement than a theater. Homeowners should considerreplacing ceiling tiles with drywall. It’sgood to work on the ceiling before doinganything with the floors, as paint or debris from the drywall will likely drip or fallonto the floor, creating a mess that no one wants on his or her new floor.

Examine the walls. After working on the

ceilings, the walls should be next on thelist. Home theaters tend to have dark walls like those in movie theaters, so if the walls are white, homeowners might want topaint them with a darker color. Again, this should be done before doing anythingwith the floor to avoid stains or debris onany new flooring.

If the walls need new drywall, it’s a good idea to plan a layout of the room once it’s a finished product before hanging any new drywall. This will give a sense of whichwalls will need holes for cables and othercords, and holes can be cut in the dry wall accordingly once that layout has beendetermined.

Fix the floors. Oftentimes, basementsare not carpeted, typically covered with athrow rug here or there and some lino-leum tiles. However, for those hoping toget a genuine theater experience in theirbasement, it’s best to lay down some car-peting. Much like the walls, carpets should be a darker color to create an ambiencemore like that of a movie theater. If putting a refrigerator or bar area in the basement,avoid laying carpet down in that area asspills might stain the new carpet.

Of course, before laying down any car-peting, homeowners must clear the roomof everything that’s removable. Thisshould give homeowners the chance toremove any clutter from the basement and decide what to keep or clear out of thebasement.

Before buying any products, determineif they will fit. Chances are large products can fit through the doorways and into thebasement. Since many homeowners havepool tables and refrigerators in their base-ments already, it’s highly likely that otherbig ticket items like large screen tele-visions and leather sofas will be able to fit through the doorways.

However, for homeowners who haveused their basement largely for storage,it’s best to do some measurement beforevisiting the nearby electronics store andbuying that big screen television. After all,there’s no guarantee that 70-inch projec-tion screen television or those leather arm-chairs can fit through the basement door-way. Though homeowners will eventuallyfind something they like that will fit, thedoorway measurements might dictate that decision more than homeowners know.

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