Summer Lawn Goals: How to Make Your Grass the Envy of the Neighborhood

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Foreign.

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The House with Eric G.

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Your go to source for everything home improvement.

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Whether you're a DIY enthusiast or just looking to make your space shine, Eric G.

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Is here to guide you through the latest tips, tricks and trends coming up in this week's first hour of the show.

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You know, coming into the winter, since I had a lawn that didn't have the best care for decades before was not in the best shape.

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But the cool thing here was that I liked is it really busted up the thatch.

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I had some thatch in there and it really broke it down over the winter and that was using their stuff right there.

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So it really dialed things in and made it look really good.

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So it's going to be a healthier lawn for me.

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So just going through a process like that where it's mindless, they send you a box, you'll look at it a subscription based.

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So grab your toolbox, put on your thinking cap and let's get to work right here on around the House with Eric Garrett.

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Welcome to the around the House show, the next generation of home improvement.

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I'm Eric G.

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Thanks for joining me today.

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Happy weekend everybody.

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Hope everybody's having a great time outside.

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It's springtime for most people out there.

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Of course there's always those little places that are getting a little snow, having a good time.

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But that's something that's probably more typical you for you.

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But the rest of us are having a great time in the spring and there are so many things that we can be doing now around our house.

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And on our first hour today, we're going to be talking here about some yard care and maintenance tips to see what we can do to get it healthy, Looking good and some other things around the house today.

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This hour is brought to you by our friends at Monument Grills.

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If you're looking for a brand new barbecue, you want to save a little money.

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You don't want to spend a ton, but you want to have that performance you're looking for.

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Check them out and their new MNS and series@monumentgrills.com today.

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I wanted to talk about everything around your house in the spring, outside stuff specifically.

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But there's one thing that I see us doing and this was a request that I wanted to slide into the show, spring allergies.

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I tell you what, we here in the Pacific Northwest have had epic pollen from our trees and bushes and everything else.

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We just this last weekend on Easter Sunday, Happy post Easter everybody.

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We had a couple little rain showers that came through and I hope for us, that helped keep a little bit of that pollen down long term.

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It was better this week, so we'll see what happens.

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But sometimes those rains here for us really help keep things died down.

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But here's one of the biggest problems.

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We start doing the spring stuff, little spring cleaning.

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The first thing I want you to do is make sure you got a fresh, brand new air filter inside your H VAC system, or you've got a nice HEPA filter in your house that you can change out if you just have heat like baseboard heat or any kind of heat that doesn't have a filter to it.

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So radiant, any, any one of those having a good HEPA filter that you can plug in, you can change those filters, clean them out and be good to go, will help you with that indoor air quality.

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But our biggest problem that we have is we see the sunshine and we have this bad habit, right?

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That bad habit is us opening the windows up, going, let's let that fresh air in.

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Many times our biggest problem, though, is that fresh air we're bringing in is dirtier than the air inside the home.

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So we're bringing in all those allergens, all of those contaminants.

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We haven't cleaned our window screens yet.

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So those are trying to filter the air a little bit or they're dragging more in with a little bit of a breeze.

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That is one thing to consider.

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Make sure you got those window screens cleaned up, sealed up, looking good.

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And of course, pay attention, jump online, check your local weather station, see what the pollen count is, see what the outdoor air quality is.

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Before you go, open the house up, see how that looks.

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If it's too high, you might want to do it another day.

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But you could be bringing in so much pollen, so much allergens out there.

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That's a big one.

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Another thing you know, you can do around the house to control that is, is make sure that if you're doing some cleaning inside, I always say, and the indoor air quality is going to be worse than outside, turn on the vent fans, use the bathroom fans, the one in the kitchen, that vent outside.

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Use those to your advantage while you're making dust of cleaning the house, see what you can do to get that air.

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Turn your H Vac system, turn the fan, if it has it up on high so you can move some air through.

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Those are all great things to do when you're doing the house cleaning, because you can get, especially if you're cleaning clutter, you know, you're dusting, you're doing that stuff.

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See if you can get that air moving and see if you can get it where it's getting filtered.

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It'll be much better off for you.

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So these are some tricks and tips.

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Don't use any of those weird air air fresheners that you plug in.

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Those are not good for you.

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Just be very careful with that.

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And duct cleaning, you got to be careful with out there.

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Guys, there are a lot of scams.

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It's probably one of the number one scams, if not the number one scam in the country, especially on social media.

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But there are great people that do it if you need to have it done.

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Having your ducks clean is not a bad idea.

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But you want to make sure they're NATCA certified and I like to have them be a member or tied in with an H Vac professional in case something goes wrong or they see an issue.

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You can get somebody out there quickly to fix it.

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So watch that indoor air quality.

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Pay attention.

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You can buy a indoor air quality monitor from your online or your favorite online retailer.

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You can grab that and it will sure help you have cleaner air inside your home.

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So a little bit about that.

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Just really spend some time making sure that your indoor air quality is dialed in and you're looking good.

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Won't be so bad.

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It won't be so bad.

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All right, now today I wanted to talk about those outdoor yard care next here.

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And this is a big one.

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This is a big one.

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And it's depending on where in the country you are because of course, we have so many different grasses out there depending on your what part of the country you're in that it can be really confusing for a lot of people because you're watching stuff going, my, my bag of fertilizer says I should be doing this here, but you don't really know.

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And so the first thing that I say when you're trying to get the greenest lawn, test your soil and know what you're starting with.

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This is huge.

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That lab test will tell you what the is what you're hurting with.

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Do you have clay soil?

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Is it sandy loam?

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What are you working with?

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That soil test will tell you what you have and what you don't have in your soil.

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And that is a big part of understanding.

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You can go to an extension office if you have them.

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I actually use Lawn Brite.

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I love these guys because I don't have one of the spray green companies come around and knock on my door and spray my yard.

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I like Lawn Brite and this isn't a Paid segment here.

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This is just who I use.

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I can go around.

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And I started out last year, I took filled up a little tiny box for the soil and their plastic bag shipped it back and they went, wow, we got some work to do.

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And the reason why I had work to do is because I have these big fir trees.

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I live in the forest, like the Pacific Northwest forest.

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I live.

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I've got 14 of those huge massive trees.

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They drop off and change the PH of the soil.

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All the stuff coming out of the trees really change the soil.

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So you need to have that soil balance so it can accept the nutrients.

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That's the really big part of this.

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So understanding what that is.

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Right now I'm on a system where I'm actually putting lime down a few times a year to really help break that soil down and change that.

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I will be doing that probably multiple times a year for probably the entire time that I'm caring for this lawn to get it looking good.

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Because you really have to do this.

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And right now I'm gonna hit it again.

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Because it's in the wintertime.

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It was good because I could put it down and let it just break down.

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Right now, since we're getting into the spring, I want to make sure and hit it again so I can really make sure that we change that ph through the summer.

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It's not an instant thing.

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It's not like fertilizer where you put it down and it just goes and goes in a week.

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You see something different when you're working with lime and things like that that you're putting down on your soil.

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Any of those minerals like that that you're putting in.

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That's the thing.

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You want to make sure that you got dialed in because otherwise that takes a while to break down.

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So that's a you'll see it in a few months thing versus see it in a week.

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Something to consider now when we come back, we're going to be talking about here using some technology after we talk about fertilization, because there's some things you can do to save money and have a greener lawn, which I like.

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And we'll do that just as soon as around the House returns.

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We're just getting started.

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When you're over at aroundthe house online.com, make sure you check out our social media channels, our YouTube page.

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We've got our own for the radio show and podcast here, of course.

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And of course around the house Northwest, our TV show that we do that I do over on Fox 12.

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So on Fox 12 plus so you can find that all right there.

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So lots of content, lots of stuff for you for taking on that next project or for finding out more information before you start that next project.

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Around the House we'll be right back after these important messages.

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Don't change that dial.

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To find out more information, head to aroundthe house online.com don't change that dial.

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Around the House will be right back after these important messages.

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So many people with welcome back to the around the House show, the next generation of home improvement.

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I'm Eric G.

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Thanks for joining me today.

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And of course this hour is brought to you by our friends at Monument Grills.

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Check them out@monumentgrills.com for that brand new barbecue.

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If you're on a budget, you want the finer things in life.

Speaker A: 00:13:20

Yes, you can have both with monumcrills.com we've been talking about yard care and maintenance and really getting that stuff dialed in for you.

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And it really makes a difference with what you're doing, especially when what you're doing we're talking about here using a company like Lawn Bright who does the soil testing and then following their directions, once you've sent that in, they come back and they'll send you a box too of hey, here's the basics you need to start with.

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And then they start looking at it with your climate.

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When do you need to fertilize?

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When do you need to use a weed killer, when do you need to do all that stuff?

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And what I like about it is they use green organic products.

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It's all hose end.

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So it's really easy to use for most homeowners.

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And you can knock it out really quickly.

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And so you can go out, you can put it down and you don't have to worry about burning your lawn.

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It just is a really good way to get that dialed in.

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And my lawn looks so much better than it ever has.

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And I've been going since last fall.

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And really how you set up that springtime to be looking really good is that fall prevention stuff.

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So with them, you're putting all the stuff down you need to in the fall.

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I hit it with my lime, I hit it with all the stuff I needed to.

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And then you just let Mother Nature go for the winter.

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And that way when springtime comes around, you've got a healthier lawn to begin with.

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So you're already a month or two ahead.

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You know, if you're just diving into your lawn care routine right now and you didn't do anything in the fall, something to think about later in the season for you.

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So you're in a better spot with that.

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So what I'm doing now is I just hit it with my, with the weed prevention stuff here as well as the fertilizer.

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And boy, a week in, it's looking golden.

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It's really getting thicker, it's really filling in, which I like.

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And I had some, you know, coming into the winter since I had a lawn that didn't have the best care for decades before was not in the best shape.

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But the cool thing here was that I really liked is it really busted up the thatch.

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I had some thatch in there and it really broke it down over the winter.

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And that was using their stuff right there.

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So it really dialed things in and made it look really good.

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So it's going to be a healthier lawn for me.

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So just going through a process like that where it's mindless, they send you a box, you look at it a subscription based and it is way cheaper than the lawn care companies out there that'll come by and spray who knows what across your lawn.

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So check those, those guys out at Lawn Bright.

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They've really been my secret to getting my lawn looking really good.

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Now the next thing in is here is watering.

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And watering is such a big deal depending on where you're at in the country.

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For me, we have in the Pacific Northwest where I live, my microclimate here is that we have everywhere from maybe October through June is our wet season and the rest of the year is desert dry for us, which makes for great summers.

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But it also means that you've got a lot of white lawns out there.

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And so really for me, watering is a key to making sure that my lawn is healthy.

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And then for me, being in the woods, anytime that I've got something dry, white that's flammable, that's a concern for me for wildfires.

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So to me, one great prevention tool is to have a greener lawn.

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That way, if I have a neighbor's house catching on fire, I don't have all that burnable stuff out there.

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So making sure that is green, that is lush, looking good tends to cool things a little bit versus if it was a hardscape out there for me.

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And since we're not on any water restrictions right now, we don't have anything like that going on.

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It means it's going to work out pretty well.

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But there are cool systems out there.

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If you're thinking about putting in a new sprinkler system, there's Some new stuff out there that really works well.

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Now, if you've got the old system just changing out and putting in like a ratio sprinkler timer or one of those can be a game changer for that old school system that can really make it be so different with that.

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So it's something to consider if you're looking at changing up or trying to save water, what the new sprinkler system timers do.

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And so many people out there have that old system that came with the house.

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Maybe it's an old Toro one or whatever you've got out there.

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Rain bird.

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If you change out to one of these smarter systems, it's taking weather into account.

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So it logs in, uses the Internet.

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It knows when you're getting rain, it knows how much rain you're getting.

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So instead of it, instead of your sprinklers running late at night or in the morning and it just rained or it's raining, it knows what's going on.

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So it'll skip ones.

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So it'll keep you from over watering, which is really good.

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So it saves you on it.

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When I changed my system over, I actually saved about 21% on my water bill the next year because of my sprinkler use with smart sprinkler systems.

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So that is really exciting.

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It's really fun.

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I like using technology for something like this because it really saves me a ton of water.

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That's the cool part with doing this saving money and having a healthier lawn.

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Now, here's the thing.

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Making sure that your system, if you got an existing one, put in that new timer, get all the valves working correctly, everything dialed in.

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Then you're going to be good to go.

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Make sure that you're not wasting stuff.

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So spend a little time getting that tuned in is good this time of year.

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Now I put in a system which is the most precise irrigation system ever designed.

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It's made by Ira Green.

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Now, this stuff is dumb crazy.

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It basically, if I was going to put this into a description that everybody could understand, Think of your sprinkler having the control to be like a printer head.

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So I can actually have a square lawn that it will sit there and actually sit there and do the square.

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It's not a big round one.

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So it can give you hard lines of water.

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So instead of needing four big heads in a square that over waters in the middle, underwaters on the outside, I can put in the ear green system with one head in the middle of that square.

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That will expand and go out to the corner and come back in.

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So it's a new way to do sprinkler systems.

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Now, you do probably want to do that system new because instead of having to go on your different zones, let's say you have one line that goes.

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You have a pressurized line that's always on that goes to the sprinkler.

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Then there's a data cable that goes in that same hole that controls that sprinkler head like a printer.

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So that's really what keeps that sprinkler system working.

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That saved me a ton of money.

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And my lawn is way better.

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I don't have that marshy spot in the middle.

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I don't have the dry spots out to the edges.

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And I can just set it up with an app.

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It's so easy to use, and it's a great way to go.

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Now you're going to spend a little more money on it, but you're not going to be buying all those extra sprinkler heads as well.

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So it's a brilliant system that works well.

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So think about that.

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It's a great system, can save you a ton of money.

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So that's something to take a look at.

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Check them out@ira green irrigation.com ir green they've got some great stuff over there.

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And where sometimes you might have 20 or 30 heads on the sprinkler system, with the ear green system, you might have four or five tops.

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And it's that crazy on how this works.

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It's really exciting.

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It's something that I've used now for, oh, a season and a half.

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And it is a fully engineered system that you can use your smartphone with that will really get you dialed in.

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So these heads will go from 5ft to 30ft.

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That's the programmable throw.

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And then the precipitation rate, that's software controlled, can go anywhere from 2 1/2 to 6 1/2 gallons per minute.

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All right, when we come back, we're going to be diving a few more yard care tips here.

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Some things that you can be thinking about as you're doing it.

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We'll do that just as soon as around the House returns.

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Don't go anywhere.

Speaker B: 00:21:46

To find out more information, head to aroundthehouse online.com don't change that.

Speaker B: 00:21:50

Dial around the House.

Speaker B: 00:21:52

We'll be right back after these important messages.

Speaker A: 00:23:24

Welcome back to the around the House show, the next generation of home improvement.

Speaker A: 00:23:27

I'm Eric G.

Speaker A: 00:23:28

Thanks for joining me today.

Speaker A: 00:23:29

If you want to find out more about us, head over to aroundthehouse online.com and of course, this hour is brought to you by our friends at Money McReals.

Speaker A: 00:23:37

Check them out@montymcreels.com for the latest in barbecue technology.

Speaker A: 00:23:41

If you're tired of buying those inexpensive barbecues that last a couple years and you throw them away, pay just a little tiny bit more and get something that's going to last you with all the latest in cooking technology that's going to make you a better cook outdoors.

Speaker A: 00:23:57

Now, we've been talking about yard care maintenance tips outside and I wanted to wrap up just the yard care piece right here that we were talking about earlier in the last segments because here's the thing.

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Part of having a great lawn care maintenance schedule is to make sure that you've got that lawnmower dialed in.

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If you're out there with a dull blade, when was the last time you had that blade sharpened?

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Was it this year?

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Was it last year?

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If not, I just about guarantee that thing needs a little bit of love.

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So take some time, get it sharpened, make sure it's balanced, take a look around.

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What I usually do on my lawnmowers is I have a, depending on the one I've got, I usually have two sets of blades.

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I have one I can take down and have a sharpened, balanced, ready to go.

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So when I swap them out, I'll just run it down, drop it off, pick it up later, make sure it's done.

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Can I get it in there and get on it with a little bit of a level, any kind of a balance and hit it with a grinder and some stones?

Speaker A: 00:24:58

Sure, I could, but it's just easier for me to drop it down there.

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Give a local company some business they can go through, get it dialed in and make sure you get the right blade for the situation you've got.

Speaker A: 00:25:10

Having that sharp blade really makes a difference on the quality of your lawn because that sharp blade is going to look really good when you go through and it cuts clean and it's just going to have a better looking lawn.

Speaker A: 00:25:21

That's the secret to that.

Speaker A: 00:25:22

So little maintenance on that, you'll be good to go.

Speaker A: 00:25:26

So that's the key.

Speaker A: 00:25:27

Keep that blade nice and sharp.

Speaker A: 00:25:30

And if it's a gas power runner, make sure it's running good, make sure it's got the power, it's not getting bogged down because as you get that lawn thicker, you make sure you got the lawnmower that's going to handle it.

Speaker A: 00:25:41

And that's a good one.

Speaker A: 00:25:43

Now, I'm not going to get so much into the debate of electric versus gas because that's pretty controversial.

Speaker A: 00:25:49

I changed over to electric a number of years ago with a battery power.

Speaker A: 00:25:54

I went with Greenworks at the time because I was working some videos with them which are up on the YouTube channel.

Speaker A: 00:26:00

Those lawnmowers have been great.

Speaker A: 00:26:02

Haven't had an issue with them.

Speaker A: 00:26:03

They've been great.

Speaker A: 00:26:04

The batteries work great.

Speaker A: 00:26:05

I don't have a problem with mowing my lawn and I'm on almost a half acre, so I've got plenty of lawn and something easy knocks it out.

Speaker A: 00:26:16

Not a problem.

Speaker A: 00:26:17

And I don't have to worry about gas or oil changes and that stuff.

Speaker A: 00:26:20

It makes it easy.

Speaker A: 00:26:21

And I get a lot more storage because I can fold that lawnmower up and put it on its side or on its back, depending on how they work.

Speaker A: 00:26:27

Mine folds up, takes a corner of the shed up.

Speaker A: 00:26:30

So it's very easy that way.

Speaker A: 00:26:32

Something to consider.

Speaker A: 00:26:34

But I've gone electric and did that probably five years ago and I do not regret it.

Speaker A: 00:26:39

It has worked well for me.

Speaker A: 00:26:41

And if you've got a power tool platform, whether it's Dewalt or Milwaukee or Ryobi, they all have them that fit their systems.

Speaker A: 00:26:48

So take a look out there and see what you have.

Speaker A: 00:26:49

If it would work, it's not a bad way to go.

Speaker A: 00:26:52

And I'm doing it because it's easy.

Speaker A: 00:26:55

Of course I want to be nicer to the environment, but that's not the reason why I went and I wanted to have something that was going to be easy, cleaner, less maintenance.

Speaker A: 00:27:02

And speak of maintenance, I tested out a product here and again I have no contact with these guys.

Speaker A: 00:27:08

They used to be a Portland based company.

Speaker A: 00:27:11

Now a larger company bought them out.

Speaker A: 00:27:13

Their former sponsor of the show, 30 seconds outdoor cleaner.

Speaker A: 00:27:17

And I always had some mixed, mixed reviews for my use of that stuff.

Speaker A: 00:27:22

It didn't always work as good as I had hoped.

Speaker A: 00:27:25

But they have a new cleaner that is like a pressure washer in a bottle.

Speaker A: 00:27:30

And I was shocked.

Speaker A: 00:27:32

Did a segment here recently on for my around the house show, the around the house Northwest television show.

Speaker A: 00:27:38

ht this stuff from Home Depot: 1998

Speaker A: 00:27:42

In my market it is the 30 seconds outdoor multi surface Cleaner ready to use.

Speaker A: 00:27:47

So it's a hose end for 20 bucks.

Speaker A: 00:27:50

I sprayed this on my composite deck, let it soak, followed the directions.

Speaker A: 00:27:55

I took a little scrub brush just to make sure I got the stuff.

Speaker A: 00:27:58

Holy smokes.

Speaker A: 00:28:00

In 20 minutes it did what two hours of pressure washing, of careful pressure washing would have been on the deck because I hate pressure Washing on soft surfaces like composites, it's always dangerous, you can always do damage.

Speaker A: 00:28:15

This stuff worked so good and it is good for stain removals on decks, patios, roofs, fences.

Speaker A: 00:28:23

This stuff works amazing.

Speaker A: 00:28:25

So basically all you do is attach the garden hose, turn the water on, saturate the dry surface with the product and let it sit.

Speaker A: 00:28:33

Then you're just going to twist that on it, rinse it off and it takes, it just kills dirt, algae, mold, mildew, all the stuff I get on my deck outside, it works really good and it's safe around your garden plants, lawn, that kind of stuff.

Speaker A: 00:28:52

So it's not, it's not going to be an issue there.

Speaker A: 00:28:55

But I tell you what, that stuff works amazing on the dirt in grime in my area.

Speaker A: 00:29:02

So I'm not sure what's gonna happen in your area, but whoo, that stuff works killer.

Speaker A: 00:29:08

So I tell you what, it worked really good.

Speaker A: 00:29:10

Now the key with a lot of these cleaners is it says you wanna work on it when it's dry.

Speaker A: 00:29:14

So worked out good.

Speaker A: 00:29:17

So this is stuff that I would work.

Speaker A: 00:29:19

I think there's one bad review on it, but I tell you what, it's just awesome.

Speaker A: 00:29:23

That stuff just works beautifully.

Speaker A: 00:29:25

And I tell you what, it could not be any better of a product to use.

Speaker A: 00:29:29

It was saving me so much time and anytime I can get something that's gonna clean up and if I don't have to drag the pressure washer out and make a big battle of that, I'm super happy.

Speaker A: 00:29:41

So take a look at it.

Speaker A: 00:29:42

It's the 64 ounce outdoor multi service RTS cleaner.

Speaker A: 00:29:46

They have no idea I'm talking about it.

Speaker A: 00:29:47

This is not a commercial in the show.

Speaker A: 00:29:49

It's just a great product out there that works super well.

Speaker A: 00:29:52

So I'm very happy with it and it's really done a great job.

Speaker A: 00:29:56

So as long as you follow the directions, which I think is the biggest key with people out there, it just works well and it's cost effective.

Speaker A: 00:30:04

So take a look at it.

Speaker A: 00:30:06

It comes out of there pretty quick.

Speaker A: 00:30:07

Here's the thing, there's a lot of it.

Speaker A: 00:30:08

It's not going to do a huge, huge one.

Speaker A: 00:30:10

You might have to get a couple or get at least the bottle of the radio, the of the regular cleaner to go with it.

Speaker A: 00:30:15

They do have.

Speaker A: 00:30:16

The stuff just works really good.

Speaker A: 00:30:18

So take some time with that.

Speaker A: 00:30:20

You'll be very impressed.

Speaker A: 00:30:22

Now here's one thing I wanted to talk about with our lawn care that I didn't talk about earlier that I meant to talk about in the show, and we'll talk more about it here in the next segment.

Speaker A: 00:30:32

But this is an important one.

Speaker A: 00:30:34

If you have clay soil and don't have a basement, this is something to consider with a regular foundation system.

Speaker A: 00:30:43

I have worked with engineers on houses that had cracks in their concrete or block foundation.

Speaker A: 00:30:49

Now, if they were built on clay soil, they don't dig down and put it down into bedrock.

Speaker A: 00:30:53

So that house is sitting on clay soil.

Speaker A: 00:30:56

If you go through and don't water your lawn during a period of time when it's dry, that clay soil can shrink and crack, which means your house will settle.

Speaker A: 00:31:08

And the next time when it gets wet, it will expand.

Speaker A: 00:31:12

So be very careful with your house.

Speaker A: 00:31:15

Be very careful with your foundation, because that can lead to foundation damage.

Speaker A: 00:31:22

So even if you're not going to water your lawn during your dry season and you're on clay soil, think about it, how it works, because you want to keep that clay soil balanced so it's always somewhat damp so it doesn't have a chance to shrink up like a dry kitchen sponge.

Speaker A: 00:31:40

So whether or not you're putting a soaker hose around the base of the foundation there to keep it damp or what, make sure that you've got that so it's not expanding and contracting.

Speaker A: 00:31:52

That'll be easier on the inside of your house.

Speaker A: 00:31:53

You won't have to worry about all of those little cracks checks, all that different stuff, busted drywall, cracked drywall, and of course, that broken foundation around the vents and all those places around.

Speaker A: 00:32:06

So take some time.

Speaker A: 00:32:08

Make sure if you're on clay soil, keep an eye on that.

Speaker A: 00:32:10

If you're getting it where you're starting to see the cracks because you're not watering enough, that can cause foundation damage to your house.

Speaker A: 00:32:17

So be very careful with that and it can save you a ton of money so you can get that repaired and keep that damp around there.

Speaker A: 00:32:25

It will be better for your home and you'll have less problems inside.

Speaker A: 00:32:29

That's a key right there to making sure you've got that house dialed in so it'll really prevent a lot of those cracks around doors and windows.

Speaker A: 00:32:36

And things like that happen in older homes.

Speaker A: 00:32:40

Just a little water can go a long way.

Speaker A: 00:32:42

All right, everybody, when we come back, we're going to wrap up our yard care and maintenance tips here to make sure that your house is ready for a beautiful summertime.

Speaker A: 00:32:50

We'll do that just as soon as around the House returns.

Speaker A: 00:32:53

Don't go anywhere.

Speaker B: 00:32:54

To find out more information, head to aroundthehouse online.com don't change that dial.

Speaker B: 00:33:00

Around the House.

Speaker B: 00:33:01

We'll be right back after these important messages.

Speaker A: 00:34:43

Welcome back to the around the House show, the next generation generation of home improvement.

Speaker A: 00:34:47

I'm Eric G.

Speaker A: 00:34:48

Thanks for joining me today.

Speaker A: 00:34:49

We've been talking about that lawn care homespring maintenance tips outside.

Speaker A: 00:34:54

In the first segment, we did talk a little bit about indoor air quality, making sure that your allergies are solid.

Speaker A: 00:35:00

One little addition on that, when you come inside from doing all that lawn work, drop your clothes off, keep from dragging that inside, go take a nice shower, get yourself cleaned up and leave those shoes at the door, not walk them through the house because that will cut down on those indoor pollutants.

Speaker A: 00:35:17

Now, one thing here we've been talking about is we were just talking about foundation damage.

Speaker A: 00:35:22

We were talking about indoor air quality earlier, just with the spring allergies.

Speaker A: 00:35:26

But one thing I wanted to talk about is prevention and some maintenance while you're outside.

Speaker A: 00:35:33

Prevention.

Speaker A: 00:35:34

I'm talking about most places in the country now have a wildfire risk.

Speaker A: 00:35:38

We saw New Jersey have it on.

Speaker A: 00:35:40

We've seen Florida.

Speaker A: 00:35:41

We've seen, of course, here on the west coast, it's big.

Speaker A: 00:35:44

Maybe think about not putting that bark, mulch or flammable stuff up against the foundation.

Speaker A: 00:35:50

Maybe that's a great place for some rock.

Speaker A: 00:35:52

Something not flammable.

Speaker A: 00:35:54

Make sure if you're doing some fence repairs or replacing fences, don't worry about it.

Speaker A: 00:36:00

Put a metal fence in for six or eight feet there up to that, up to the house, make it a firebreak.

Speaker A: 00:36:08

Maybe you put in a metal gate.

Speaker A: 00:36:10

You can do that as well.

Speaker A: 00:36:12

These are all things that will help you in case maybe you've got a neighbor who catches their house on fire from the barbecue and the fence catches on fire.

Speaker A: 00:36:21

That way it's not a road right up to your house.

Speaker A: 00:36:23

We've talked about this in other episodes, but really making sure that you don't have anything flammable up against the house is key.

Speaker A: 00:36:30

And now's a good time too.

Speaker A: 00:36:31

As the leaves are coming out and all the flowering bushes and plants, make sure that those things are trimmed well, back away from the house so even in a windstorm they're not bouncing up, doing damage to windows, doors, siding, roofs, gutters.

Speaker A: 00:36:44

Keep that stuff dialed in and looking good.

Speaker A: 00:36:47

That can be a huge difference, especially if you're out there doing painting and touch up stuff.

Speaker A: 00:36:52

Making sure that those things don't get there keeps the bugs and the rodents down because it doesn't give them a clean line right onto your roof.

Speaker A: 00:37:00

So These are things you can really take spend some time on to make sure that you are good to go.

Speaker A: 00:37:07

And a little bit of trimming goes a long ways and just looks better as well.

Speaker A: 00:37:12

Now, when you're outside working on those fences and gates, there is a cool one that I like out there that I use.

Speaker A: 00:37:18

Yardlock Keyless gate lock Kit.

Speaker A: 00:37:22

This is for wood fences.

Speaker A: 00:37:24

This thing, I love it.

Speaker A: 00:37:26

So you can get them online, you can get them on Amazon.

Speaker A: 00:37:29

They're about 65 bucks.

Speaker A: 00:37:31

But they are a serious lock for your wood fence that is so easy to install.

Speaker A: 00:37:37

And again, this is not a commercial here, guys.

Speaker A: 00:37:40

But I tell you what, check out Yardlock.

Speaker A: 00:37:43

These guys have got it dialed in.

Speaker A: 00:37:45

It is a great system.

Speaker A: 00:37:46

It uses a 4, 4 number code like a master lock or one of those you would see, but Yardlock has got it.

Speaker A: 00:37:54

It's basically an opening box.

Speaker A: 00:37:56

So what you do is you put your 4 code in there.

Speaker A: 00:37:58

When you pull the box lid forward, forward, it opens up the latch to go through.

Speaker A: 00:38:04

So really easy, easily adjustable.

Speaker A: 00:38:06

Works really well on those wood gates.

Speaker A: 00:38:09

And it is something that can make life super easy.

Speaker A: 00:38:14

And just look up Yardlock, you can get them at Home Depot, Amazon, those kind of things.

Speaker A: 00:38:18

Amazon's easy because it'll deliver right to your door.

Speaker A: 00:38:21

Look, Home Depot on Amazon selling those things for about 65 bucks.

Speaker A: 00:38:25

And they've got all these different models.

Speaker A: 00:38:28

They've got a heavy duty one, they've got a, a big one depending on what you're doing.

Speaker A: 00:38:32

But I tell you what, it is an easy way to make that fence secure and it's going to help you with that.

Speaker A: 00:38:39

So another thing to think about for kind of locking down your house a little bit when you're out there changing locks and doing things like that or changing out hardware for that gate.

Speaker A: 00:38:48

Now another thing that I like to do too, just for curb appeal safety is when I'm out there working on stuff around the house like this.

Speaker A: 00:38:55

On the maintenance side of things, the other thing I like to do is make sure when I pull up to the front of my house, there is not a place for someone to hide.

Speaker A: 00:39:02

I don't have to worry about some homeless bum hanging out up there.

Speaker A: 00:39:04

I don't have to worry about someone hiding behind the bushes that could jump you when you're coming up to the door or it could easily slide inside the garage door.

Speaker A: 00:39:12

So a couple things that in.

Speaker A: 00:39:14

Exterior lighting is always key.

Speaker A: 00:39:16

Exterior lighting is one of my favorites.

Speaker A: 00:39:18

There's so much you can do with that to make the house look beautiful.

Speaker A: 00:39:23

And not have it be, you know, not going on spending the dumb money on lights.

Speaker A: 00:39:28

Now here's the thing.

Speaker A: 00:39:29

When I'm talking about dumb money and lights, those are the solar ones, those are the ones you buy at the home centers that are the cheap plastic ones that seem to last a year or two and then they start getting discolored, they stop working and you throw it away.

Speaker A: 00:39:41

Go into your specialty lighting store and get what you need.

Speaker A: 00:39:45

I have got a set that has been working now for probably nine years and I bought it from a specialty lighting store.

Speaker A: 00:39:52

It's made out of metal, it's powder coated, works as good as the day I got it.

Speaker A: 00:39:57

So if you get the right set, spend a little bit more money, you won't be throwing them away in two years, which is a really big deal with these things.

Speaker A: 00:40:05

So take some time.

Speaker A: 00:40:06

When it comes to lighting, there is a lot of great stuff out there and there's a lot of things you can be doing to really get it dialed in.

Speaker A: 00:40:13

Now another thing that I've been doing here and I got to give a shout out to my friends at East Oak.

Speaker A: 00:40:19

I've been doing this for my TV show right now and I have really enjoyed it.

Speaker A: 00:40:23

I got, I had a wood, a fire pit down more of a state park style fire pit that was sitting down there in my backyard.

Speaker A: 00:40:32

And I've eliminated that now because the problems that I've had with that is that one, it's messy to deal with all the firewood.

Speaker A: 00:40:42

Two, it was sitting on the ground, which I always had to worry about root fires, things like that.

Speaker A: 00:40:47

And so I've gone to a couple different ways.

Speaker A: 00:40:50

I'm going to the more smokeless fire pit to go that route so it's a little easier to use.

Speaker A: 00:40:56

And two, I'm not getting blown in the face with smoke every time like I am when I'm out camping.

Speaker A: 00:41:02

And the other one is I went to one of the fire pit tables so we could be sitting down up on the composite deck where it's not an issue with the propane and I just don't have the mess.

Speaker A: 00:41:13

So take a look.

Speaker A: 00:41:14

East Oak's a great company, solid stuff.

Speaker A: 00:41:16

I've been working with them for a while and great products.

Speaker A: 00:41:20

You can find them on Amazon.

Speaker A: 00:41:21

That's the easiest way to find them.

Speaker A: 00:41:23

They will sit there and work out really well.

Speaker A: 00:41:26

And they've been something that's been really quality for getting stuff online.

Speaker A: 00:41:30

And it's in stock.

Speaker A: 00:41:32

Usually you can buy that stuff.

Speaker A: 00:41:33

Everything from their patio heaters to their propane stuff works awesome.

Speaker A: 00:41:37

I bought some deck boxes as well, which has been great.

Speaker A: 00:41:40

120 gallon deck box, this thing, you can sit on it.

Speaker A: 00:41:44

So it's like a bench.

Speaker A: 00:41:46

You could store stuff in it.

Speaker A: 00:41:47

You could put a padlock on it and lock it down.

Speaker A: 00:41:50

This stuff is heavy duty.

Speaker A: 00:41:53

Buy it once and forget about it.

Speaker A: 00:41:54

It's waterproof, so I can put anything in there that I want and to keep mother nature out during a storm.

Speaker A: 00:41:59

So any of that stuff really, you can keep it secure and just tidy up.

Speaker A: 00:42:03

That is one of the biggest things that I see.

Speaker A: 00:42:06

Trying to keep that back deck area is just controlling the clutter.

Speaker A: 00:42:12

Can be a hot mess.

Speaker A: 00:42:15

So not a lot of fun doing that stuff.

Speaker A: 00:42:17

But once you get it organized, looks good all year around, which is nice.

Speaker A: 00:42:23

That's something you can do.

Speaker A: 00:42:25

And it's all their stuff is pretty easy to put together.

Speaker A: 00:42:28

So just jump over to Amazon, take a look at East Oak.

Speaker A: 00:42:30

They're one of my little secrets for getting something quality on a budget.

Speaker A: 00:42:34

And they just make some great stuff.

Speaker A: 00:42:36

So whether you're looking for a patio heater or, or one of the tables or even one of the smokeless fire pits, they all have a great way to do that.

Speaker A: 00:42:43

Well, I wanted to say before we go out here at the end of this hour, I wanted to share with you some new stuff we got coming up here.

Speaker A: 00:42:50

We'll have a new blog post coming up here this week for on barbecue season.

Speaker A: 00:42:54

I love cooking.

Speaker A: 00:42:56

I love outdoor cooking.

Speaker A: 00:42:58

I've got a lot going on there as well as we've got some new videos coming up here as well from the national Hardware show and other places where I talk to some great companies and got some great stuff to share with you out there.

Speaker A: 00:43:10

To find out more about that stuff and make sure that you're subscribed to the YouTube channel.

Speaker A: 00:43:15

Just look for around the house show and you can find it over there.

Speaker A: 00:43:18

And one easy space is just go to around the house online to our new website Powered by site Hype Designs and you can take a look at it there.

Speaker A: 00:43:24

It's got all of our links you can run over there.

Speaker A: 00:43:26

Take a look at that, our YouTube channel.

Speaker A: 00:43:28

I'm putting stuff up every week from new products to great interviews.

Speaker A: 00:43:33

Sometimes when I have the interviews here, you can see the video and see the details we have of the full length over there.

Speaker A: 00:43:39

It's a great way to do that as well so you can follow along and instead of sitting there just listening to me talk.

Speaker A: 00:43:44

If you're a video person, we've Got it over there.

Speaker A: 00:43:46

As well as you can listen to this show because we're also on YouTube as well.

Speaker A: 00:43:50

So if you're out trying to play catch up or you want to go back on the Wayback Machine and see something we talked about last year, you can find it there as well.

Speaker A: 00:43:57

And that's just all over@aroundthehouseonline.com and then if you are a podcast listener out there and you want to get the show early, you can join our premium membership over there.

Speaker A: 00:44:07

It's just four bucks a month, so the price of coffee and you get exclusive content and you get the hot fast lane into me with your home improvement questions that I will be personally answering those because you can just ask me right there.

Speaker A: 00:44:20

And if you're working on a project, I can be your coach with a few emails on that stuff to help you along the way and keep you all dialed in.

Speaker A: 00:44:28

So we got a lot of great stuff coming up over there, as well as some new content coming up that I can't wait to share with you.

Speaker A: 00:44:34

We got new people coming on here.

Speaker A: 00:44:35

We're gonna be talking some cabinetry.

Speaker A: 00:44:37

Got a great Amish company coming up.

Speaker A: 00:44:39

So just a lot of great stuff that I can't wait to share with you in the months ahead and the summers ahead here on around the house.

Speaker A: 00:44:47

It's our 37th year and I appreciate you all tuning in.

Speaker A: 00:44:52

All right, everybody, have a great Saturday here.

Speaker A: 00:44:55

We've got one more hour of the show this weekend.

Speaker A: 00:44:58

I'm Eric Cheap and you've been listening to around the House.

Speaker B: 00:45:02

Make sure to follow us on social media.

Speaker B: 00:45:04

Just head to aroundthehouse online.com for all the links.

Speaker B: 00:45:09

Make sure you check out our new YouTube channel.

Speaker B: 00:45:11

Just type in at around the House with Eric G.

Speaker B: 00:45:14

And click subscribe and ring the bell for updates.

Speaker B: 00:45:17

We will see you next time.