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Winterizing your home is important because by doing so you are protecting your greatest asset. There are many items to winterize before a deep freeze: you should clear out rain gutters, flush outside hoses, finish any paint touch ups, do a landfill run if necessary, and so much more. Again: this is all about making sure your home survives the extreme cold. Especially in a country like Canada, where such extreme weather is experienced, winterizing is key.

One major winterizing task people are quick to forget about is their outside doors. While it may seem simple enough—they close, they lock, you move on—these are crucial to prepare for winter.

First, you want to make sure that your door closes easily and the hinges are well greased. Stiff doors…

Gardening season is upon us, and the secret to a great garden is great soil. What makes soil great? Compost!

Thanks to the City of Calgary, every home has a Green Compost Bin. You can regularly put compost waste in it for collection, or you can keep it inside your yard and do your own thing. If you choose to make your own compost, here is what you need to do:

Add Base: Food scraps are the base for your compost. You can basically compost any kind of food, except for meat & dairy products. This is because meat and dairy will attract rodents and maggots, but also compromises the nutrient balance of the compost. Have a mini compost container in your kitchen for easy access, then regularly dump it into your compost bin outside and clean it to reduce…

It is time to prepare for snow, Calgary.

We have had a beautiful, mild autumn this year! All of us here at Team Ken Richter hope you have had a chance to get outside and enjoy it. If not, take advantage of this weekend! Temperatures are expected to rise to 6 degrees Celsius, so get a warm drink and go soak in the sunshine.

With snow coming soon whether we want it or not, here are some items to take care of before it’s minus thirty with wind chill and these tasks become much more arduous:

Lawn Care: Rake up your leaves, give your lawn one last mow, remove any dead branches, tidy up the plant beds and take out your shovel from the shed. We recommend putting wooden stakes in the grass along flower beds so you don’t accidently shovel away your…

Every fall we write about winterizing your home. This is because properly winterizing your home is extremely important. Your property is precious and valuable, do not risk it being damaged. Think of it like a child you need to bundle up in the wintertime. The weather has been beautiful so far, but we all know that with Halloween quickly approaching, snow is inevitably on the horizon...

First things first, make sure the structure of your home is in top condition. Pay particular attention to the roof, windowsills and siding. Winter can get wet quickly with Calgary chinooks, so limiting your chances of leakage is crucial. Heavy snow can also collapse already damaged roofs, so again, take care of these right away.

Pipes can be another major problem…

There are many reasons why homeowners decide to change their windows, including: water leakage, drafty seams, too much condensation (which can cause mould to grow on the interior), lack of outdoor noise control, poor temperature regulation, etc.. While cracks or breaks on the surface of the window are obvious cause for immediate replacement, the listed reasons for changing your windows are gradual issues that you need to keep a cautious eye on.

Many people choose to hire a contractor to come replace their windows. This is certainly a wise idea for large and/or heavy windows that will require precise professional care. However, for your average window, you can easily replace it yourself so long as you exercise extreme control and care. Don’t be…

Legacy Homes are truly beautiful. There is something so special about having a home passed down from generation to generation. These homes carry so much history and the walls have seen a thousand stories. To be entrusted with this legacy is such an honor and is something to be valued. If you have been entrusted with a legacy home, you should feel proud of yourself! 

So, what exactly is a legacy home? A legacy home is one that is passed down to you from someone else. This could be a newer home, or an original homestead from way back when. Legacy homes often carry significance to a family and are a transition of a major asset. These are not to be confused with Legacy Homes, a home-building company. 

While being the recipient of a legacy home can…

 

Security systems have always been a way to give homeowners peace of mind whenever they are away from their property for work, school, vacation, errands, or simply sleeping. In medieval times, castles were surrounded by moats to ward off unwanted visitors. In Victorian times, bells were placed along doorways and windowsills to alert residents of arrivals. In the seventies, 'beware of dog' signs were posted and pit bulls purchased. More recently, alarm systems triggered by the opening of a secured door have been used. Today, technology companies are designing new and improved home security. 

Studies have shown that the mere presence of home security, whether legitimate or not, is enough to ward off a potential trespasser. Some people will post…

Smart Home Technology is a booming industry. What used to be the creative imagining of science fiction stories is now a reality. Homes are now being built with built-in smart home technology or retrofitted to accommodate smart home technology. These products aim to help our homes run more efficiently, from energy use to time spent.

Here are some new smart home technology products for you to check out:

Lockly: A door lock that does so much more than a simple key ever could. Digital Trends writes, “Lockly is known for its high tech smart locks that have advanced features like fingerprint sensor technology, a touchscreen keypad that moves the numbers for added security, app control, voice control, and temporary codes for guest access.”

Jupiter…

This week we saw the autumn dew turn to frost in an altogether expected, but disappointing, turn of weather. Besides, what is a month in Calgary without snow? A miracle. They may have predicted we would have a snow free October, but here in Alberta we know better than to trust a long-term forecast.

With the fresh snow coming our way this weekend, it is time to winterize! Ideally you would already have this done, but sometimes life gets the upper hand. If you're scrambling now to winterize your property while it is currently wintering, here are some tips of things to check in on so you can stay toasty warm all winter long:

• If you have any leaks, cracks, or holes in your home, now is the time to fix them! What is merely annoying during the…

Outdoor living spaces are such a enviable luxury. Plain backyards can be transformed into works of art with varnished decks, ponds, twinkling lights, gardens and patio furniture. Here in Calgary we get the pleasure of having some beautiful outdoor living spaces since most homes have some variety of a backyard and the weather is nice enough to use the space to its maximum potential for about two months of the year. Unfortunately, this good weather does not last.

All of the outdoor living space elements mentioned above need to be winterized for the other eight months of the year. This is to ensure they don’t get damaged in harsh weather conditions. Here are some tips on how to properly winterize your outdoor living space before the frost comes:

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