Tuesday, July 19, 2022 / by Jenny Carroll
PREVENTING SLAB SETTLING
By Jeff Stewart, CCIM
Last month set a record for the hottest June in recorded history. It sets the stage for a similar summer as we had in the drought of 2011. This means homeowners need to be proactive in safeguarding their foundations. This is especially true for owners with properties east of I-35 in the black clay.
Slab foundations are engineered with beams, rebar and post tension cables to perform under great stress, but in the final analysis, they are still ground supported. While engineered slabs seldom fail, they certainly can settle enough to bind doors and cause unsightly cracks in brick and drywall. The key to preventing this is to maintain consistent moisture in the soil supporting the exterior beams of the foundation. As a former general contractor and officer of a builder warranty company, I have seen scores of houses with all degrees of settling. Many of the problems could have been largely a. ...
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home, summer, dripping springs, home improvement, bastrop, water
Thursday, June 10, 2021 / by Jenny Carroll
As summer begins to settle in and temperatures rise, it’s the perfect time to schedule your annual check up for your home. A check up for my home, you ask? Yes! The health of your home needs to be assessed annually to nip any potential issues in the bud as well as identifying problems before they become failures. Here are some things you can do to maintain your home and keep your systems running smoothly all year long.
What kinds of things should we be looking for?
Air Conditioner
Good question. Your A/C system, your home’s main support system in our hot summer climate, should be checked by a professional at least once a year. As it gets hotter outside our usage goes up and that’s when issues can take us unawares. Don’t find yourself sitting in a hot house this summer because you didn’t clean off your condenser unit, pour vinegar in your drainline, or you didn’t check coolant levels. Having a professional A/C company service your syste. ...
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family, home, new, summer, home improvement, water, electricity, spring
Wednesday, March 10, 2021 / by Jenny Carroll
Contributed By: Jami Carroll
Spring has sprung, and it’s time to provide for our seasonal native pollinators! Following the polar freeze that hit Central Texas last month, biologists and horticulturists have begun sounding the alarm over the storms’ negative impacts on our migratory species--including hummingbirds, butterflies, and bees. As we begin the hard work of cleaning, reclaiming, and replacing our landscapes and gardens, it’s important to provide for the smallest members of our natural environment: the pollinators. Native species, wildflowers, annuals, and herbs make welcome additions to any garden while providing healthy food and habitats for our favorite pollinators.
Many homeowners look forward to the annual arrival of hummingbirds from mid-March to April. Returning from their South American holidays, Ruby-throated, Black-chinned, & Rufous hummingbirds seek the tender, Spring blooms of flowering plants, bushes, . ...
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family, fun, home, summer, warm, water
Friday, February 19, 2021 / by Jenny Carroll
Texans have shown their mettle once again in the face of Nature’s fury. As polar weather patterns shifted to dump historic amounts of snow on ill prepared Southerners, temperatures not only dropped but uncharacteristically remained stuck in below freezing conditions. A dusting of snow is nothing new to us. We can make ludicrously small snowmen with the best of ‘em. A prolonged icy scenario however, despite the beauty of it, is not something we are remotely prepared for.
As demand for heat spiked, the un-weatherized power plants across the state began to fail catastrophically, leaving millions of Texans in the frigidly cold darkness. Some of our Stanberry agents were left without power or a heat source for over 100 hours. Subfreezing temperature inside your home, especially for the elderly or those with compromised health, is a potentially deadly situation for any of us.
As we’ve done so many times before with hurricanes, floods, tornados and more, Texans came out in; ...
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family, home, electricity, freeze, snow, warm, water
