Qualicum Beach Real Estate Blog

Installing deadbolt locks in your Qualicum Beach real estate is not difficult.  You just need to have a drill, a saw blade and screwdriver as well as a kit for the deadbolt.  The deadbolt will lock on both sides of the door, although you can get some deadbolts that can be unlocked from the outside by flipping the latch.  If you have a glass paneled door, you are going to want to get a deadbolt that locks from both sides to prevent someone from smashing the glass and unlocking the door. 

A deadbolt lock is the most secure of all locks that can be put on doors.  They are surprisingly easy to install when you purchase a deadbolt kit.  If you have a door that is solid wood, you only need to have a deadbolt that locks on one side.  Take a look at your door before you purchase the deadbolt lock to see if there is a way that someone could break into the door if they smash glass and choose the right type of deadbolt accordingly. 

In order to install the deadbolt lock, you need to drill a hole through the face of the door that will hold both ends of the lock mechanism.  They should line up with one another so that they are directly opposite one another on the door.  After this part of the lock in installed, you will have to see where the lock will come into the door jamb. You should close the door lightly and mark it with a pencil, drilling the door jamb where indicated.  You then have to affix the latch for the door lock into the door jamb.  The mechanism should fit snugly into the door jamb when it is turned - this is all there is to installing a lock. 

Before you secure the lock in the door, you will want to test it out first to make sure that you have drilled properly.  If all is well, you can then secure the lock tightly by using a power screwdriver.  All of the screws should be tightened so that they cannot be moved and the lock secure on the door.  Test the lock again to make sure that it works and you are all set - you have just installed a deadbolt lock on your door.

If your Qualicum Beach real estate property is experiencing flooding issues, perhaps you need to seek out help from a professional company.  In many cases, the flooding problems are due to a crack in the foundation that can be fixed with an epoxy injection.  If you are finding that your basement is experiencing flooding, do not ignore it.  Get an expert out to take a look at the problem and find the solution. 

There are certain companies that specialize in taking care of problems such as cracks in foundation walls.  These can usually be filled in with an epoxy injection so that they no longer leak.  While this may be considered a plumbing problem, not all plumbers are licensed for this sort of work.  You need a company that specializes in epoxy injections if you want to stop leakage in a basement or crawlspace due to cracks in the cement. 

Not all leakage in the basement is due to cracks.  While it is true that a house settles a bit after the foundation is laid and the house is built, most of the water that gets into a basement is due to lack of landscaping.  This happens quite a bit in a new house where there is no landscaping around the house.  This is because there is nothing to absorb the water from the rains.  When you put landscaping and grass around the house, however, you will notice that you are not getting water over the wall in your basement any longer. 

Flooding issues can also be something that you can do little about.  Sandbags against the side of the house can protect against flooding in some cases, but they cannot keep out large floods.  If you have flooding in your house, you need to take a look at where it is coming from and hire a professional to take care of the flooding. 

Fortunately, there are many contractors out there that can address your concerns with regard to flooding in your home.  If you move into a new home, or existing home and are concerned about flooding, take a look to see if the area is in a flood zone.  If so, you may need to get special insurance to insure against flooding.  Flood insurance is something that is written on a separate policy than home insurance, so talk to your insurance agent if you want to be covered for flood damage to your home.

Cleaning your Qualicum Beach real estate windows does not have to be such a difficult job to do.  You should, by habit, clean your windows twice a year - in the fall and in the spring.  Windows that are not up to date and do not have double insulated glass as well as the ability to pop out are more difficult to clean.  There are many different types of windows on the market today.  Clean them as follows:

Old fashioned double hung windows with storms

You have to remove the screens and storm windows in order to clean these windows which must be cleaned on both the inside as well as the outside.  In a second storey house, you can clean the outside of the windows using a pole unit that is made for this task.  You should use soap and water as well as a squeegee in order to clean the outside of the windows.  There are also sprays that you can use that can simply be attached to a hose and sprayed on to clean the outside of the windows as well. 

The inside of the windows and storms can be cleaned with soap and water and then sprayed with glass cleaner to make them sparkle. 

New pop out double hung windows

Newer windows that have double insulated glass often pop in to make for easy cleaning on both sides.  There is no need to have to go outside to clean these windows as they can be just as easily cleaned from the inside of the house as well as the outside.   Not only do the newer style windows save on energy, but they also make for easy cleaning. 

Casement windows

Casement windows crank out and are also easy to clean from the inside.  You can simply remove the screen, crank the window out and clean with soap and water as well as a squeegee.  Soap and water work best, especially when you are cleaning the outside windows as they accumulate the most dirt.  Glass cleaners are used to make the windows shine.  Dish soap is ideal for cleaning windows.  Just mix it with water and use a gentle sponge to clean the windows with this solution.  The squeegee will remove all excess water. 

Cleaning windows in your home is not difficult to do at all.  Once you have completed this job, you are ready for the upcoming summer or winter months.

Your Qualicum Beach real estate can be more environmentally friendly if you just take a few tips on how you can go green and do your part in saving the environment.  Here are some tips on how to make your real estate property a bit greener:

Use green lighting

Newer light bulbs take up less energy, last longer and therefore create less waste in the landfills. You should switch to the newer, green light bulbs if you have not already done so as a way to help the environment.  You will also find this easier on yourself as you will not have to be changing light bulbs as frequently. 

Make a compost

You can form a compost in your yard where you can put leaves, branches and grass clipping.  This is easy to do and can save you on disposal bags that are used in lawn care.  The natural byproducts that you put in the compost pile will gradually decompose and return to the earth from which they came.  This is a natural way of disposing of natural products from your yard and is better for the environment.

Use natural household cleansers

Stay away from household cleansers that are full of toxins.  Not only are they harmful for you and your family, as are the fumes, but they are also harmful for the environment.  You can go green by using as many natural products to do you’re cleaning as possible.  In most cases, these products get your house just as clean without flushing toxins into the eco system. 

Hang a clothesline in the basement or outside

Not only will your clothes smell fresher after being hung outdoors to air dry, but you will be saving energy as well as money by not using your clothes dryer so much.  A clothesline is an easy product to hang and will do the job of drying your clothes just as a dryer.  You may have to wait a bit longer before the clothes dry, but you will not complain when you take a look at the energy that you save. 

Learn to conserve energy as much as you can to not only help the environment, but yourself as well.  The more energy you save, the more money you save as well.  Going green in your real estate property is not only good for the environment, but also good for the pocketbook as well.

Your Qualicum Beach real estate has walls that are most likely made from either drywall which is a plaster board, or plaster.  Newer homes have drywall while older homes may have walls made of solid plaster.  Either way, it is important to understand how to fix holds and dings in the walls to make sure that they stay smooth.  This is especially important when you are preparing to paint your walls. 

The method that you use to fix the drywall holes depends upon how deep are the holes in the wall.  If the holes are very deep, you have to use a mesh in order to fill the holes.  You can find mesh that can be cut to fit into the holes at your local hardware store.  Once the mesh is affixed to the hole, you can then start filling the hole with wall compound. 

There are a variety of different wall compounds on the market today.  They include those that have already been mixed with water and those that need to be mixed with water.  You can also find several different types of tubs of wall compound.  You will need to apply the wall compound with a putty knife that is smooth on one end and thick.  It will fill in the hole and should cover the hole so that it is completely flush with the rest of the wall. 

After you have applied the wall compound, you have to wait for it to dry.  You should give it 24 hours drying time before you take the next step, which is sanding the compound so that it is smooth.  You should use coarse steel wool to sand the wall and then finish it with fine steel wool.  You want to have a smooth wall so that it looks as it did before the hole.  In some cases, you may have to add more wall compound, wait for it to dry and then smooth it again. 

Once the wall compound has been completely smoothed out, you can then commence to painting the room.  You should fix all of the holes in the wall before you start painting, even if they are just nail holes.  Nail holes can be fixed the same way, they do not need mesh and you can also use wall putty, which is a mini compound, to plug up these holes.  Again, you do want to be sure that all of the walls are smoothed out before you start painting. 

If you are planning on painting your walls to spruce up your house or get it ready for resale, be sure to fix all of the dents, holes and nicks that often occur in drywall or plaster.   Many of these holes can be avoided if you install proper door stops.  Most of the reason for holes in the wall is if a door is opened too abruptly and the doorknob dents the wall.

Your Qualicum Beach real estate needs maintenance and one of the things that have to be replaced is the roof.  There are many different types of shingles that you can choose from when you choose a new roof.  Before your choose shingles, you should make sure that your neighbourhood does not have any restrictions on shingles and what types have to be used. 

Regular shingles come in different types.  Some are more elaborate than others and are called Hallmark shingles.  Both are made of asphalt like material.  Then there is shale, tile and clay shingles that can be used on your roof.

If you live in a cool climate like I do, then chances are you are going to go with regular shingles.  There is no need to get clay tiles on the roof, which is very expensive, because of excessive heat.  I have friends who live in Florida who have these types of roofing tiles because of the heat in that American state.  In most states, regular shingles will do well.  You can even go with wooden slates if you really want some unique design. 

We went over our original roof once.  You can do this although most roofers will tell you that this is not advisable. But to tear off the entire roof and get a new roof costs thousands of dollars.  You are better off to go over the old roof once if there are no leaks or problems with the roof.  This way, you can protect your roof, prevent leaks, make your house look nice and not have to worry about paying all that money for a new roof. 

We got maintenance free exterior siding in our home and then also chose to get a new roof to go along with it.  We went from a very dark brown house that was the style in the 1970s, to a light tan colour that was more up to date with today, the shingles matched the roof and we also got white windows.  Just about our entire exterior, except a few places in high eaves, was then maintenance free. 

The new roof added years of life to our real estate and we are glad that we did this.

Your Qualicum Beach real estate garden furniture should be either covered or stored away for the winter.  If you have a place to store your garden furniture, then this is the time to gather everything up and take it to the storage facility.  Many people rent storage facilities as a way to keep their garden furniture and other seasonal items.  If you have garden furniture that is made of wood or metal, you will want to make sure that the cold elements of winter do not do it any harm.  If you have cushions on your garden furniture, they should be removed and put into storage for the winter. 

If you have an outdoor barbeque grill, this is a good time to either cover it with an all season covering, or move it to storage. Many people have a grill that is permanently affixed into the ground. In such a case, you will want to cover it up so that it does not get ruined by the cold weather.  If you do not have a barbeque cover, you should get one. 

Any outdoor furniture or ornaments that can be put into storage should be put away at this time of the year.  This includes garden ornaments like gazing balls.  These can break with the cold weather or may just end up getting ruined.  While you will not take your entire garden apart for the winter, you can act to protect as much of the garden furnishings, barbeque grills and ornaments that you can and store them away for the winter months.

If you have hardwood floors in your Qualicum Beach real estate, you might want to varnish the floors so that they not only look better, but are easier to clean.  Varnished floors tend to have a lot less debris than floors that are dull.  You can sweep up easily and even spills will come up better when you have varnished floors. 

In order to varnish the floors, you first have to get up the existing varnish off of the floor.  This can be done in a number of different ways, including sanding the floor as well as using chemical varnish remover. Both ways can be messy, so be sure that you have plenty of ventilation and that you cover the furniture in the room where you are working.  There are also masks that you can wear that will aid with ventilation. 

Once you have stripped the floor of varnish, you then need to sand it and make sure that it is perfect smooth and clean from debris before applying varnish.  Varnish comes in matte finish, semi gloss and glossy.  The look that you attempt on your floors is strictly a matter of taste.  The varnish will not only give the floor a sheen, if you use a glossy varnish, but will also protect the wood of the floor from staining. 

Varnishing floors is not difficult to do, but it can be time consuming.  In order to do this as quick as possible, you are better off to use a sander to remove existing varnish and roll the new varnish on with a roller application.

If you are looking for a way to cover your Qualicum Beach real estate windows, blinds are an excellent option.  You can use vertical or horizontal blinds and they come in a variety of different styles.  I saw that my neighbour had wooden blinds in his house.  The reminded me of the old Venetian blinds that I remember from so long ago.  My grandmother had these in her house and they were difficult to clean because they had a thick cloth strip that allowed them to move up and down. 

The new wooden blinds have the thick slats of Venetian blinds, but not the thick piece of cloth.  Instead, they are a lighter weight of wood and have strings that pull the blinds up and down.  They are easy to keep clean if you wipe them down periodically.  They are far easier to clean than the mini blinds that were popular a few years ago.  The mini vinyl blinds are a good option if you are looking for an inexpensive way to cover your windows but are difficult to hand clean.  When cleaning these blinds, I would normally put them in the tub and shower them, running off all the dust and dirt.  This was a twice a year project I would undertake when my wife and I would clean our windows. 

With our new wooden blinds, we do not have to wash them in this manner.  We can keep them clean by dusting them and they are easy to wipe down by hand.  You do not have to worry about getting the paper cuts on your hands from the blinds, as often occurs when you are attempting to clean vinyl blinds by hand. 

There are so many options from which to choose when looking for a way to cover your windows these days, but I favor the wooden blinds with the thick slats.  They were easy to install and look good.

Does your Qualicum Beach real estate lack sufficient storage space?  There are many ways that you can add storage space to your home, even if you have a tiny home that does not have a basement or a garage.  Most of us struggle with storage space for various items that we accumulate over the years.  It makes the house look cluttered when it is not put in its place. 

We have several solutions to our storage problems.  While we are fortunate enough to have a garage, I have made the most of the use of the garage by creating a pull down stairway that leads into the crawl space above the garage.  The crawl space is filled with insulation, over which I put down plywood.  This made it easy to go up there with a ladder and put items up there for storage that we do not use all year long.  But using the ladder to get into the crawl space door was a problem.  That is why I purchased a pull down ladder unit at my local hardware store that was surprisingly easy to install. 

I simply went up into the crawlspace with the unit and followed the directions that came with the pull down ladder.  The ladder folded up, but was made of wooden steps that will hold about 300 pounds.  This is a good strong ladder that will work like a steel ladder, but it folds right into the storage space. 

Now, when I want to get into the crawlspace, I simply pull on a rope and the door opens and the ladder slowly drops down,  It does not come flying down, which is good in case some kid pulls on it.  I can then just climb up into the crawlspace and deposit or take away items for easy storage purposes.