Why Winterize Your Sprinkler System Now?

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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.

Our Newest Development: Falcon Pointe

Falcon Pointe is Charleston Home’s newest development. It features two exciting new floor plans and much more. 

We’re really excited to share with you our newest development here at Charleston Homes: Falcon Pointe. It’s located at 52nd and Capehart and features two models with brand-new floor plans. The Lexington is a ranch floor plan with 1,683 square feet, and the Richmond floor plan is a two-story floor plan with 2,397 sq ft. We’re going to have single-family lots, villa lots, and a community park to make sure there’s something for everyone. We’ll be here Monday through Thursday from 2p.m. to 6 p.m. and from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday through Sunday. We’d love for you to come out and see them sometime. 

Q: How Do I Maintain My Wood Floors?

If you have wood floors, you need to properly clean and maintain them.

Today we’re joined by Tom Manley from Manley Floors because one of the questions we hear time and time again is, “How do I clean and maintain my wood floors?” Tom will explain and recommend how to care for your beautiful wood floors.

Any area that may get wet, like the front and back doors and in front of the sink and dishwasher, should have a mat or rug (this includes under pet’s water bowls). Water, sand, and grit are the worst things for wood floors. Also, place felt pads underneath chairs or stools to protect the floor from scratches.

Tom always tells homeowners that they don’t need to do a weekly scrubbing of the floor—just clean it as it gets dirty. You can sweep or vacuum it, but ensure the beater bar doesn’t bang into it. Swiffers and similar products used dry are good for general sweeping; damp is okay, but wet is bad. 
 

"Water, sand, and grit are the worst things for wood floors."

For cleaning, they like to use Woodwise cleaner; it’s pH neutral, and the National Wood Flooring Association recommends only pH neutral products. We sell Woodwise at our shop, or you can buy it on Amazon. It’s for no-wax finishes, and we recommend you buy a ready-to-use spray and the concentrate versions. It’s one of the most inexpensive cleaners, but it works great and leaves no residue.

We sometimes see people using laminate cleaners on their real wood floors, which doesn’t work; it just sits on top of the wood. Then the floor starts to look worn because dust, paw prints, and footprints will start showing.

Also remember: If floors are mopped too often, the water makes the wood want to expand, and it will start de-laminating and pulling apart. Protect your elegant wood floors!

If you ever have any questions about Charleston Homes, please visit our Model Homes or visit our website. We would be glad to speak with you.

Q: What’s Causing My New Wood Floors to Creak?

Here’s how humidity (or a lack thereof) can affect your new wooden floors.

Recently, we met up with Tom Manley from Manley Floors to talk about some great maintenance tips for the wood floors in all of our Charleston Homes. 

Once in a while, we go out to a home for a warranty check and homeowners are a bit concerned with some creaking that they’re hearing. That’s generally a big issue, especially in Nebraska. 

Why? It’s because changes in humidity is what causes floorboards to expand and contract (and squeak.) If it gets a little dry in the winter and they shrink, that can cause a squeak. If it’s too humid in the summer, that also causes a squeak. 

A humidifier or dehumidifier should do the trick.

Tom recommends having your humidity set to between 35% and 45% all year long. It’s tough in Omaha because of the extremes we see, but the extreme humidity (or lack thereof) is what causes 99% of floor squeaks.

Sometimes it might be a missing nail. Although that’s pretty rare, Tom and his team are able to identify that problem and quickly fix it.

A little squeak is not a defect, according to Tom. Any time you have a squeak, you have movement, and even though these floorboards are engineered, they are nonetheless made from living things. 

In the winter, it’s not a bad idea to run a humidifier in the home. The same goes with running a dehumidifier in the summer. They’re great tools as long as you know how to use them. If you have any questions about them, feel free to contact us.

If you have any other questions, don’t hesitate to reach hout via phone or email. We look forward to hearing from you.

Q: What’s the Difference Between Direct Vent Range Hoods and Recirculating Vents?

Here’s an overview of how direct vent range hoods work.

Welcome back to another one of our warranty how-to videos for repairing and maintaining household items. Today we’ll provide a quick overview of how direct vent range hoods work.

Direct vent range hoods are different from recirculating vents in that they vent directly to the exterior of a home. This means that during high winds, you may occasionally hear a rattling noise. This noise is the flapper opening and closing.

Unfortunately, due to the construction of the hood, there’s not much you can do about this. When the flapper is open, it can also cause condensation to drip down the vent.

The fans for these direct vents usually have only a few settings: low, medium, and high. You’ll also find a couple of metal filters underneath that you can clean by running through the dishwasher.

If you have any questions about this or any other real estate-related topic, don't hesitate to reach out via phone or email. We would love to help you.

A Quick Guide to Fixing Your Sump Pump

You can fix a malfunctioning sump pump all by yourself. Here’s how.

Today’s how-to video is the first of a two-part series where Todd Hansen joins us at one of our model homes to show you how to fix a malfunctioning sump pump.

As you can see in the video, the first thing Todd checks in this situation is whether the pump itself is full of water, which it is. Next, he checks whether the GFI outlet is tripped (which it is) and resets it.

After this, he checks to see whether the pump will work by unplugging the float and pump cords from the outlet, disengaging them from each other, and plugging just the pump cord back into the outlet. After the pump starts running again, he unplugs the pump cord so the pump doesn’t continue to run and burn itself out, and then reattaches both cords to each other before plugging them back in.

"To check the impeller, you have to separate the pump from the discharge pipe."

If this doesn’t take care of the problem, there are a couple of potential issues with the pump: Either a piece of debris got sucked up into its impeller or the pump itself has burned out.

To check the impeller, you have to separate the pump from the discharge pipe. First, unplug both cords from the outlet and remove the water alarm from the pipe. Then, use a screwdriver to unscrew the clamps around the pipe. As you loosen the clamps, let the water drain out of the pipe.

Stay tuned for the second part of this series to find out what to do next. As an added safety measure, if you try everything we discuss in these videos and the pump still won’t work, use a utility pipe or a bucket to drain the excess water until you can get the pump fixed.

As always, if you have any real estate questions, don’t hesitate to call or email us. We’re here to help.

Tips and Tricks For Keeping Your Furnace Clean & Functional

Today I’m here to provide you with some tips on how to properly maintain your furnace.

You should always check your furnace’s filter once a month. To do that, switch your unit off, remove the magnetic strip, and pull out the filter. Check to make sure that it’s clean; if it’s dirty, replace it so that your unit can function at peak performance.

When you replace the filter, be sure to align the arrow on the filter (marked “Air Flow”) with the ones on your unit so that you know you’re putting it in correctly.

You should also pay attention to the dampers on the ducts that lead to individual areas of your home. If you have a ranch home, these will go to individual rooms on the main floor. If you have a two-story home, there are trunk lines that go up to the second floor and the main floor—both have dampers on them. 

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You should always check your furnace’s filter once a month.

It’s very important to adjust the dampers for the season based on your comfort level so that you’re not cooking yourself out upstairs or freezing yourself out on the main floor.

On the furnace unit displayed in the video above, we have a whole-house humidifier. You may have seen these installed in homes during your walk-throughs. These units keep the humidity levels in your home at a comfortable level per your tastes, but are usually kept between 35% and 45% humidity. It’s critical to monitor the humidity of your house—you can’t set the humidistat once and leave it there. Keep a barometer in your house so that you can see what your readings are and adjust accordingly.

During the winter, make sure that your damper on the humidifier is on; that way, the air flows into the unit. In the summer, flip it off to block the air flow. If you remove the cover, you can see the media inside—since both air and water flow over this, it’s possible for it to become clogged by the minerals in the water. Do your best to keep them clean, but if they must be replaced, you can find them at any local home-improvement store.

If you have any questions about maintaining your furnace throughout the year, please look for additional videos within this blog page.

How to Apply Grout on a Backsplash

 

I’ve gotten a couple of requests lately for how to deal with the backsplash grout caulking separating from the countertop. That’s why today I’ll teach you how to apply grout on a backsplash.

You will need a grout sponge, a putty knife or scraper, a caulk gun, and the grout caulking. Begin by using the scraper to remove the old, dry caulking. Wipe the old stuff off the counter or use a vacuum. Sometimes it comes off in a neat string, and sometimes it comes off in bits and pieces.

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Fixing the grout is fairly simple.

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You want to keep your grout sponge as dry as possible. Get it damp and wring it out very well. If you put too much water on, the caulking will come out light-colored and watery-looking. Taking the caulk gun, cut the tip off an eighth of an inch. Apply a small bead between the backsplash and the counter and draw it across. 

Finally, take the sponge and wipe it across a couple of times. This keeps the line smooth so there’s not too much product on there.

If you have any questions, give me a call or send me an email. I would be happy to help you!

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 8 new construction home plans along with the benefits of owning a Charleston Home so they can make a decision that's right for them.