Why Winterize Your Sprinkler System Now?

Know anyone who's interested in building a home? 
If you have any friends, family, or co-workers who are looking to own their first or second home - would you forward this message to them? We'll be happy to show them our 11 new construction home plans along with the benefits of owning a Charleston Home so they can make a decision that's right for them.

With the cool fall weather, I thought it'd be a good time to talk about draining your sprinkler system. When the weather gets cold, the ground gets even colder, and the water left in your sprinkler system has a chance to freeze, which would ruin your sprinkler system.

Any time that the temperature gets below freezing you're going to need to drain the system until it's been fully winterized. To drain the sprinkler, simply locate the shutoff valve next to your sprinkler meter. On both sides of the meter there will be shutoff valves that control the water to the home, which you'll need to shut off.

Then you will have to find the sprinkler valve. To shut it off, turn it vertically to shut off all water to the sprinkler system. A very important step in this process is to clear the water from the drain. You can do this by opening the drain valve next to the sprinkler shutoff valve. The drain valve will allow any excess water to escape and drip out. Be sure to place a bucket underneath the valve to capture any excess water.

You're going to have to step outside to drain another valve on the outside. All you have to do is open it up and release any excess water that has formed. Most homes also have ports on the outside drainage valve, and you'll need a Flathead screwdriver to rotate the system to 90 degrees. You'll need to do this with every port that you have on your home, and some can have up to four or five.

For a quick recap of this process:

1. Shut off the water to the sprinkler system.

2. Open the drain to release trapped water.

3. Open the drain for the system outside.

4. Adjust the ports of the 'open' position.

5. Have the system professionally winterized by late October / early November.

That's a very abbreviated list above, so be sure to contact us if you have any questions. I can recommend someone to you who can come in and completely winterize your system once it becomes too cold to use it anymore.

Q: How Can You Overcome New Construction Anxiety?

These four tips will help you allay new construction anxiety.

Are you embarking on a new construction home build but feeling anxious about the process? Our associate broker Dan Graves knows how you feel—he’s been there before, and today he’s taking over our video hosting duties to share four tips for overcoming new construction anxiety. These tips will help you stay on track and build the home of your dreams.

Cited below for your convenience are timestamps that will direct you to various points in the video. Feel free to watch it in its entirety or use these timestamps to browse specific points at your leisure:

2:00—Evaluate your needs versus your desires

2:38—Stick to your budget

3:30—Drown out all opinions you hear during the process

4:48—Trust your builder’s expertise

5:26—Wrapping things up

As always, if you have questions about this or any real estate topic or are thinking of buying or selling a home soon, don’t hesitate to reach out to us. We’re happy to help.

Q: What’s the Difference Between Prefinished & Traditional Wood Floors?

Here’s where prefinished and traditional wood floors differ.

Today we’re joined by Drew Dillenburg of Tom Manley Floors so he can explain the difference between traditional wood floors and the prefinished wood floors we offer new home builders.

According to Drew, unlike traditional wood floors, most prefinished wood floors are aluminum-oxide, factory-finished floors. The samples are a good representation of the color, but you can expect variances due to the flooring being natural wood. These floors are engineered to allow for a wider plank (usually six to eight inches) and not be as dramatically affected as solid wood floors during times of high humidity.
 

"Since prefinished wood floors don’t need to be sanded, they also take less time to install."

Even though they’re true wood floors, prefinished wood floors are built with six layers of plywood on the underside to keep them level and deal with the daily expansion and contraction high humidity causes. With traditional wood floors, wider planks would be more susceptible to cupping in high humidity because there are fewer boards to split the gaps between them.

Since prefinished wood floors don’t need to be sanded, they also take less time to install, and the color and smoothness of their finish is more consistent. 

If you have questions about these floors or anything else, reach out to us via phone or email. We would love to help you.