When you buy a new house what’s the first thing that you do? Paint maybe? Or start decorating? Not me. When I bought a new house recently the first thing I did was call a plumber and have all the drains cleaned out professionally. Sounds like a weird thing to do as your first task in a new home probably. But think about it – I have no way of knowing how often the old owners had those drains cleaned. I could be walking into a house with drains that are clogged which could cause pipes to burst and leave me with an expensive problem. It’s better not to take chances.

By having the drains professionally cleaned out before I moved in I knew that the plumbing was all in good working order. And since professional plumbers also check the pipes for cracks and clogs as part of the cleaning service I could be sure that the pipes were in good shape. The last thing I wanted was for there to be a hairline crack in a pipe somewhere deep in the wall leaking water into the structure of the house.

Of course I had an inspection done before I bought the house. But that inspection wasn’t looking for things like hairline cracks or clogged drains. And I wanted to be sure that the plumbing was in top notch shape before I moved all my stuff in. So after closing on the house the first thing I did was call a professional plumbing service to come out and clean all the drains in the house and check the pipes. It didn’t cost very much, and I considered it an investment in making sure the house was in top shape before I started living there.

If you are thinking about buying a new house I’d strongly suggest having all the drains cleaned professionally before you move in. No one wants to deal with clogged drains that are clogged with debris from other people. And no one wants to risk having a plumbing emergency right after moving into a new house either. Getting your drains cleaned professionally at least twice a year is a good idea just for basic maintenance, but most homeowners don’t bother. Unless they have a plumbing problem they don’t call a plumber. So who knows how many years of gunk are built up in those drains?

Take my advice and call a plumbing service to clean out those drains before you move in. And if you already have a home – get your drains cleaned regularly. It really can save you from having an expensive emergency later on. And when you sell your home get your drains cleaned before you move out if you want to do something nice for the people that are buying the home. Then you can let them know that the drains were just professionally cleaned and they will be thrilled that you took the time and trouble to get that done before passing the house on to them. 

Did you know that one of the best things you can do if you’re getting ready to put your house on the market is get your outside windows professionally cleaned? I had no idea either. But my husband and I are getting ready to put our house on the market this spring because we are planning on moving and the real estate agent gave us a list of home improvements we should do now to get the house ready. At the top of the list was getting a window cleaning company to come and clean the outside windows. I was surprised because I would never have thought about getting the outside windows cleaned.

But it makes sense really. Clean windows make the house look amazing inside and out. The better the house looks on the outside the more likely people are to want to come and check out the inside. And having clean exterior windows lets in a lot of light and makes the inside of the house seem warm and bright.

I can’t even remember when the last time we cleaned the outside windows on this house was. We might have not done it since the first year we lived here. We have a skylight in the kitchen and a big picture window in the living room and they’re a pain to clean so they might never have been cleaned, I can’t remember ever cleaning them. And if my husband had gotten up on a huge extension ladder to clean a skylight I’m pretty sure I’d remember that. I’m also pretty sure he’d never let me forget it.

So we’re taking the real estate agent’s advice and hiring a professional window cleaning company to come and clean all the exterior windows before we put the house on the market. My husband of course would rather not take on the extra expense for a house that we’re selling but I told him that it would definitely be better to hire pros than for him to try and DIY it. He’s not the handiest guy in the world and I don’t think it would be terribly safe for him to be up on a tall ladder for hours at a time trying to clean windows.

Professional window cleaners know what they’re doing and they have the tools and equipment to clean the windows safely and properly. When I called a local window cleaner for an estimate they told me that they can do skylights and other unique window placements easily. And while they are cleaning the windows they will also check the windows for any damage to the frame or to the glass so that if any of them need replacing we can get them replaced before we put the house on the market. It seems like a good investment to me if it’s going to mean we can sell the house faster. We already have a new house picked out so we want our current home to sell as quickly as possible. So if you’re going to try and sell your home this year get your windows professionally cleaned. It’s worth the cost. 

If you want to create some truly Pinterest worthy paint projects in your home you should go to a paint store instead of a home improvement store. I found out the hard way that a paint store is going to give you a lot more value for your money.

I saw a living room paint effect on Pinterest that I really wanted to do in my living room. My living room has been the drab blue for years and I desperately needed a change. But all I could find on Pinterest was the photo. There was no blog information so I could find out how the homeowner did the effect or what paint they used. There were no instructions. Just the photo.

So I printed out the photo and headed to the home improvement store. After waiting about 40 minutes to get someone to help me I showed them the photo and explained what I wanted to do. The person helping me had no idea how to create that effect. I was basically told to look through their paint chips and pick out what I thought I would work and they’d mix the color me but that’s all they could do.

So I studied the photo and found some similar colors on the paint sample chips. I bought some sample size cans and took them home. I figured I’d play with the sample colors to see if I could figure out how to do that effect while I waited to see how the colors looked on the wall.

It was a disaster. No matter what I did I couldn’t figure out how to get the same effect as the Pinterest photo. And the colors looked awful. They were flat and didn’t cover the blue that was already on the wall even thought I bought a paint and primer combination. I was in tears. I really wanted the faux finish effect but I had no idea how to do it right.

In desperation I called a local paint store and explained what I was trying to do to see if they had any advice for me. The clerk who answered the phone told me to come on in and they’d try to help.

When I drove to the store I didn’t know what to expect. I’d never been in an actual paint store before. I’d always just gotten paint from the home improvement store. Well, the paint store was amazing! The clerk sat down with me and we looked through design books that they had out for everyone to use for a similar effect. Once we found it the clerk gave me a printed instruction sheet that told me step by step how to do the effect. It even had a supply list stapled to it listing everything I’d need!

The clerk also helped me pick out the right finish and great colors to make the effect look fantastic. Armed with my new supplies and the instruction sheet I went home to try again. This time I was able to complete the project and get the faux finish I wanted. My living room looks amazing now thanks to the help I got at the paint store.