Home In Progress

The ticks are SO bad right now where Dan H. likes to go walking that he's considering just getting a virtual reality headset so he can enjoy the outdoors that way. However, he knows that's not a good solution, so he's tested 5 Common Insect Repellents to determine which one is the best against ticks.

The Five Tested Insect Repellents:

• OFF! Sportsmen Deep Woods--Aerosol
• OFF! Deep Woods Dry--Aerosol
• OFF! Family Care--Smooth and Dry Aerosol
• OFF! Picaridin Sportsmen--Pump Spray
• Maggie's Farm Natural Insect Repellent--Aerosol

The Ratings:

FIFTH PLACE: Maggie's Farm Natural Insect Repellent

PROS

• Smelled great
• all natural ingredients

CONS

• Didn't stop ticks
• Heavy oil feel (grass clippings and other assorted pieces of nature stuck to Hannah--the test subject--for the entire length of the time outside. Not a huge deal, but she DID crab about it. A lot.)

FOURTH PLACE: OFF! Sportsmen Deep Woods Aerosol

PROS

• Repelled ticks well

CONS

• Oily feel, though not as oily as the all-natural repellent above.
• Strong odor

THIRD PLACE: OFF! Deep Woods Dry Aerosol

PROS

• Repelled ticks well
• No oily feel

CONS

• Strong odor

SECOND PLACE: OFF! Picaridin Sportsmen Pump Spray

PROS

• Repelled ticks well
• Pleasant odor
• Minimal oily feel
• Safe for gear

CONS

• Pump spray made complete, consistent coverage difficult

THE WINNER: OFF! Family Care--Smooth and Dry Aerosol

PROS

• Repelled ticks well
• Pleasant odor
• Completely dry feel
• Easy application

CONS

• None

Finding the right contractor is important. Here's why and here's how!

Also check out:

• 314 301

It's summer (almost), and so we've been talking about tons of exterior projects. However, there's a very good reason (3 very good reasons, in fact), to tackle some of those indoor projects now rather than waiting for fall!

With changes in Michigan's VOC regulations in regards to paint coatings, Benjamin Moore's Scuff-X had to be reformulated. What does that mean for a product that's been almost universally loved by contractors and DIYers alike since it came out in 2017? We've got the scoop....

We are in the studio with Scott Vanderberg and Chris Harkema from Vanderwall Brothers talking about outdoor spaces.

Your backyard can be so much more than it is! Vanderwall Brothers can help you create a perfect vision for any budget.

DETAILS

• 19156 174th Ave - Spring Lake, MI
• 616-842-4500

Many decks throughout Michigan are looking pretty rough. If your deck isn't exactly the haven you'd like it to be, you can fix that! And it's not a tough project.

Benjamin Moore Deck Cleaners we discussed:

• RESTORE
• BRIGHTEN
• REMOVE
• CLEAN

OnFloor Machine Rental Contact Info:

• Peter Ogle ([email protected])

Painting a front door is a quick and easy project with HUGE curb appeal. Yet, there are some mistakes people commonly make along the way . . . .

After finding some damaged hoses, Dan prepared to do the repairs. One of his kids spoke up and recommended Flex Tape as the solution. The commercials are all over the place and they show Flex Tape solving problems in a miraculous fashion. But did it work in Dan's situation?

Scott Hudgens, Manager of the Birmingham RepcoLite, is hosting a "Paint Your Front Door" Clinic in his store on Saturday, June 17. We sit down with him to discuss what the clinic looks like and to cover the info he'll be covering! Painting a front door is THE premier "boost-your-curb-appeal" project. If you want to make an impact and do it quickly and for very little expense, painting your front door is the answer!

When it comes to recreational fires in the city, there are a few things you need to know....

With Memorial Day weekend here, we wanted to spend a little time focusing on what the day is about, so the last half of the show is dedicated to the day and the men and women who've given their lives in the service of their country.

If you're on the fence when it comes to fencing materials, here's some information that may help you decide which one is right for you!

Having new products to offer is always fun. Knowing that some of these products are going to offer solutions for tough situations is even better.

We sit down with U.S. Navy Chaplain, Retired, Beth Stallinga to talk about Memorial Day from the perspective of someone who's spent her career in service to her country. Don't miss this interview!

Usually, we equate the year 1868 with the beginnings of Memorial Day. But recent (1990's) historical evidence suggests that there was another, much earlier beginning for the heart and soul of Memorial Day....

Long-time co-host of the show, Hailey, had her baby! We share some info and do a little reminiscing...

New regulations regarding VOCs in paint and coatings went into effect in April in Michigan. And while it may seem like it may not impact you . . . chances are, everyone will feel it a little.

Gone are oil-based deck products, polyurethanes, interior and exterior stains, and more. What does that mean? Are the waterbased alternatives as good?

Also, if you (like so many people do) rely on oil-based products to get the job done, you'll be eager to hear that RepcoLite is actually still allowed to produce all of these oil-based, go-to, traditional products for 5 more years. So if you need them, we've got something that will work for you.

We talk about all of that and much more in this segment!

With only a little time left in the show for the week, we opted to discuss hoses. Dan #2 is looking for a new hose and he's sick of the standard options--the ones that kink and are hard to uncoil. He's found a great alternative....

• Flexilla Garden Hose

This week, our show was pre-empted in the West Michigan market, so we decided to air a "Best Of" episode featuring some of our favorite segments.

In honor of the end of Tulip Time 2023, we talk about the surprising (and surprisingly "tasty") history of tulips.

Ever touched up some scuffs on your wall only to have less than perfect results? We've got answers!

Ladders are common tools around the home. They're crazy old . . . and with all that use over all those years, there are bound to be some interesting stories that have arisen through the ages. We discuss some of our favorite (and the funniest) ladder-related history and folklore.

Painting a floor can really infuse a room with energy and interest. If you're thinking about this kind of project, check out this segment. We've got the info you need to get great results.

FORMULA I USED:

• 1 Pound Oxygenated Bleach
• 2 Gallons of Water

THIS IS FOR DIY Formulas! If you purchased a roof cleaner, follow label instructions

FIRST: RINSE PLANTS AROUND BASE OF HOUSE

SECOND: RINSE THE ROOF WITH LOW PRESSURE

• IF You spray from the ground, be cautious NOT to spray up under the shingles.
• May be better to get on the roof and spray at a downward angle
• Be careful–it’s slippery
• ALSO: Be careful with a hose on the roof
• Don’t damage your shingles
• This alone may be reason to call someone else to do it….

THIRD: IF DEALING WITH HEAVY MOSS, SWEEP LIGHTLY

• Use a soft-bristled brush
• Scrub lightly from top down
• Don’t damage shingles
• Remove what you can of the moss before spraying on your cleaner
• Most of my moss wouldn’t come off at that point

FOURTH: APPLY YOUR CLEANING SOLUTION WITH A GARDEN SPRAYER

• Allow to stay for 15 - 20 minutes
• Rinse thoroughly
• AGAIN: LOW PRESSURE
• And spraying from the top down
• IF POSSIBLE don't do this from the ground
• Don’t push water up under the shingles.

FIFTH: A SECOND QUICK SWEEP

• After rinsing . . . Swept it again
• This time a lot of moss came off–filled up the gutters
• Lichen began to powder away over the following week
• It MAY take more than one treatment to kill all of the MOSS.
• If you have to reapply
• Do so only after it's been allowed to thoroughly dry.

SIXTH: GIVE THAT LANDSCAPING ANOTHER RINSE!

Just to be safe, it doesn't hurt to spray your landscaping down one more time after you've finished on the roof.

A FEW THINGS TO REMEMBER:

• Don't use a pressure washer!
• Don't allow the bleach to remain on the surface for more than 30 minutes without rinsing.
• Take precautions with bleach -- goggles, etc.
• RINSE WELL – oxygenated bleach will leave a white residue if not rinsed well
• Protect the landscaping, decking, etc. below and around the house
• Pre-rinse plants and decking and rinse off immediately after.
• Use plastic to cover plants
• For some folks, this is a Hire it Out Project!
• If that’s you, make the call!
• Don’t get on your roof if you’re not comfortable with it!
• There are plenty of places out there waiting to help!

PREVENTATIVE MEASURES

The moss and lichen will come back as time goes by. Here are some easy preventative steps to help slow that down:

• Trim back tree branches! 
• Sunlight is your friend!
• Remove debris that accumulates on the roof regularly with a leaf blower.
• Always work DOWN the slope! 
• Don't blow debris or spray water up under the shingles.
• Keep gutters clean to promote water drainage.
• Figure on regular maintenance

We don't usually think about throwing a new coat of paint in our campers or RVs . . . but maybe we should....

We are people, too! We know how tempting it is try to squeak by with one coat of paint. Here are 5 quick reasons why you shouldn't do that!

1) ONE COAT MIGHT NOT LOOK AS GOOD AS YOU THINK!

• Lighting can affect what we see
• Wet hide versus Dry hide – not the same things

2) 2 COATS GIVE BETTER LONG TERM RESULTS

• Better Color Representation → Better Look
• Better Durability, washability, etc.

3) IT'S MORE CONVENIENT TO DO IT NOW . . . 

• Furniture’s moved
• Drop cloths are down
• Tape is applied
• Your tools are out!
• Putting everything away now and finding you need a second coat just turned that one project into two projects!

4) SECOND COATS ARE WAY FASTER

• You’re not cutting in again
• You’re not doing all the prep
• You’re just rolling that surface!

5) PLANNING ON A SECOND COAT CAN PREVENT YOU FROM MAKING A HUGE MISTAKE!

• When people PLAN on only doing one coat
• They tend to apply paint far too heavily!
• Runs, sags, and overall mess usually follow
• Planning on two coats right from the start means you apply paint correctly with each coat!

Zack Krieger from Ayers Basement Systems joins us to talk about some wet basements, creepy crawlspaces . . . and the fixes that are available! Don't live with bad basements--Ayers can help!

• Call Ayers: 866-379-1669
• Or visit Ayers online

Cleaning the house is (relatively) simple! Dan tackled the (neglected) vinyl siding on the back of his house. And in 20 minutes, or so, he had tremendous results. You can give your home a much needed bath this weekend using Jomax House Cleaner. Check out the segment for more info!

Life's busy and projects and maintenance and all kinds of other jobs can get pushed to the side. And often, when that happens, there's a bit of guilt that starts to build. We should be wrapping these things up. And if we're not, what does that say about us?

Well, I'm in the middle of a long slog through this and in my efforts to figure out what I might need to do to get myself moving again, I think I stumbled on some obvious info that might be helpful to more people than just me.

So, if you're feeling overwhelmed and a little guilty about projects at home, maybe this will help a little.

CUT YOURSELF SOME SLACK

It sounds touchy-feely, but being down on yourself--being negative--isn't productive. Negativity doesn't produce more results or better results. It really just slows the process down. So it's important to ease up on yourself a little bit. You're not a lazy homeowner, you're just busy.

Maintaining a home is a marathon and it's OK to take your time as you move through your projects. So, stop beating yourself up for what you may feel is a lack of results. That's first. But there's a lot more....

GET MOVING WITH A LIST

For me, the problem is basically that there are so many things I'd like to do or need to do that I don't know which to do first. They hover over me, filling up my mind, and I find myself randomly chasing down projects only to abandon them part way through when I see the next "squirrel". In the end, I find I'm almost running in circles.

If you've got so many things to do that you don't know where to start, here's something simple: make a list. Just brainstorm. Everything that comes to mind, everything that's looming over you, demanding your attention. Take all of those things and throw them down on paper. You're not prioritizing this list yet. You're not filtering it. You're just throwing everything you can think of that's bothering you, that needs to be done, that you want to see changed . . . down on that pad of paper.

Once that's done, then sort the list into 3 categories: Must Do; Should Do; and Would Like To Do.

If you get all the way through that step, you've just solved your "I don't know what to do first" problem. You've got a list of maybe 3, 5, 10 or more Must Do projects. That's a perfect place to start.

TIME TO START

Now that you've got those Must Do projects clearly identified, now what you (and I need) is a little momentum. We need to see some success. We need to see how good it feels to cross something off the list . . . and we need to leverage that energy, that momentum, into more accomplished projects.

So pick one of the smaller Must Do projects and get it done. You don't need to tackle it all in one work session, but don't start any other projects from your list until this first one is done. That's really key! You need to start, work through, and finish this first one.

FIGURE IT OUT or HIRE IT OUT!

Sometimes it's having too many projects that causes us to get stuck. But sometimes we're stuck because we don't know how to do something. We know we don't know how to do it, we're convinced it may be difficult to figure it out, and so we just linger in limbo.

I do that all the time. I'm too cheap to hire things out usually (and I feel that I should be able to figure them out and do them); but I'm also convinced that certain things are going to present a ridiculous learning curve. And so I just push the project to the back of my mind and hang out in that horrible limbo.

That's not productive--obviously! And if that's you, it's time to either jump in and learn the skills necessary, or hire the work done. I know that hiring things done sometimes feels like a cop-out. I also know it sounds expensive. But it also sounds like progress. And seeing projects get crossed off my list is really going to ease up on some of my anxiety levels!

So, if you know you just aren't going to have the time to tackle a project, or if you just don't feel you can learn the skills quickly enough, or if the tools are so specialized that you don't want to buy them . . . bring in a professional. It's worth it!

If you're bound and determine to tackle the project . . . then it's time to jump in, learn what you need to learn, and get it done. Stop delaying. Look at your list of things that need to be done and put an asterisk by any that are going to require you to learn something new. And then make work of learning those skills!

My son had a clicking in his car for months. It was driving him nuts. He looked up the problem, but was convinced the fix was just beyond his abilities. He didn't want to drop the money to bring it in and so he just tolerated it. Until he couldn't tolerate it any longer. Finally, he devoted a Saturday to the project and planned to spend the morning watching YouTube videos until he understood what he needed to do. Turns out, after watching the second 4-minute video, he knew everything he needed to know. 20 minutes later, he had the part out and was off to the parts store for a replacement. Another 20 minutes later and the whole thing was fixed.

He'd delayed for months because he'd convinced himself it was tougher than it was. That could easily be the case with projects that are delaying you and I. Find out! Identify them, dig into them, and who knows . . . you might find that something you've delayed doing for months can be fixed in a few hours.

IT'S A MARATHON

Home ownership, maintenance, and decorating is a marathon. Unless you've got some hard and fast deadline (selling the house, hosting a party, etc), you have time to work through the projects at your pace.

So, personally, I need to take a step back. Take a deep breath. Make a list . . . and start working at it, one project at a time.

The world of Real Estate has been crazy for a while. Today we're talking with Sue Prins and Ginger Herman from Sue Prins Group Five-Star Real Estate Leaders about what it looks like for buyers and sellers.

• SUE PRINS: 616-723-2400
• GINGER HERMAN: 616-633-5880

When staining pine, it's not uncommon to see the results turn out looking blotchy. If you're looking to fix that, we've got some steps that will help.

With some recent lightning storms, we've heard a couple horror stories where people lost a lot of the electronic devices in their home after a power surge. There's a simple, inexpensive solution that most of us know about . . . but not all of us use: surge protectors.

And before you tune out because you think you've got a couple surge protectors on your devices, make sure that what you're using isn't just a power strip. They look like surge protectors, but don't do a whole lot when it comes to protecting your stuff! Here are a couple of great articles that spell it out clearly:

• Surge Protector Vs. Power Strip Vs. UPS
• What's the Difference Between a Power Strip and Surge Protector?

Hailey's still on the "composting train" and now she's digging into worm farming. It's a fun project that could help you turn all your food scraps into valuable compost--black gold!

• Worm Farming Instructions

Every now and then a paint miracle emerges from a lab somewhere . . . like some sort of superhero. A number of years back, it was Scuff-X. Now, we're looking at Element Guard from Benjamin Moore--an exterior paint that allows you to paint even when rain is only an hour away....

It's not been a nice Spring . . . at least not yet. And there's a good chance you haven't worked on getting your gutters cleared after winter. But with all the Spring rain just around the corner . . . it's time to get the gunk out!