Extend the Life of Your Carpets
Remember, a carpet cleaning doesn’t just improve the appearance of your carpets, it drastically extends their life as well. All that dirt and grime doesn’t just look bad, it wears and tears at your carpet fibers over the years. Furthermore, the more it works its way into your carpet, the more damage it’s going to do. By scheduling a carpet cleaning once a year, you can rest easy that damaging dirt and debris buildup will be kept to a minimum. In fact, many new carpet manufacturers require regular cleanings if you want your warranty to remain valid. They’ve caught on as well. The cleaner your carpet stays, the less they’ll have to pay out for carpeting that doesn’t live up their bidding.

Improve the Health of Your Family
The other often overlooked aspect of regularly calling in a carpet shampooer is the hidden health benefits. 90% of the dust in your home is shedded human skin, and parasites like dust mites live in paradise in a home that neglects picking up their primary food source. Other pests, such as bed bugs and fleas also have a harder time taking root in the face of regular visits by a carpet shampooer. Besides that, carpet cleanings are integral to keeping up the proper ventilation in your home. Much of that ventilation occurs through air circulating through the base of your walls, and a dirty carpet seriously impedes that important flow. Regular, deep cleanings keep those avenues open and can make a big difference if you or a family member suffers from allergies or is inflicted with asthma.

Peace of Mind
Carpet shampooers are also good to call in to maintain your peace of mind. Think about all the things that come into contact with your carpet over the course of a year and longer. Mud and dirt are only the beginning. Food spills, pet stains and odors, and whatever else you track in on your shoes, is soiling your carpet on a daily basis. Especially if you’ve got children making the rounds, thinking about all the foreign material that’s lodged in your carpet can make you want to quarantine them to the hardwood. Scheduling regular carpet cleanings takes care of the problem and means this is one less thing you’ll have to concern yourself with.

Article written by Matt Goering who is formerly a carpenter and house painter, and is a freelance writer for the home improvement industry who has published over 600 articles.

The following tips will help you in your quest for a drier basement.

EVALUATE THE SOURCE OF THE MOISTURE:
In order to get rid of basement moisture, you need to first identify where it comes from. The following are common sources of basement moisture.

Inadequate drainage: If you get puddles on the floor during heavy rainstorms, your moisture at least partially comes from inadequate drainage around your house.

Moisture released through the foundation: Many new foundations are sealed with a moisture on the outside of the foundation wall, but older brick and cinder-block foundations can absorb moisture from the ground and release it into your basement.

High water table: Areas prone to flooding, like those near rivers, often have higher water tables that can rise after heavy rains, causing your basement to fill with water.

Human-generated sources: Venting a dryer indoors, basement showers, or windows that let in humid air are all easy-to-remedy sources of excess moisture in basements.

TACKLE POTENTIAL SOURCES FROM BIGGEST TO SMALLEST:
The biggest source of basement moisture is often inadequate drainage. First, check your gutter system: are the downspouts emptying at the base of the foundation? A significant amount of water is collected off the roof of a home during a rainstorm, and you don’t want to dump all this water right where it can leach into your basement. Even if the ground slopes away from the house, you want to extend the downspout at least three to four feet away from the foundation wall.

Ideally, your property should slope away from your foundation walls on all sides. If your house is built into the side of a hill, however, this may not be an option. The trick is to collect any surface water before it actually reaches your house. Drainage ditches will often do the trick; just make sure they have enough slope to actually carry the water around the house and away. If the water is already being channeled to a particular spot (like down a path,) consider installing a drain and pvc pipe to carry the water safely away from the house.

Now that you have gotten rid of a major source of moisture, it is time to tackle the basement walls. Moisture that comes through old brick or cinder-block walls is not always obvious. (In fact, obvious moisture may actually be condensation from dryer vents or humid outside air.) Your walls may feel a bit damp, or there may be slightly darker spots in certain areas.

If you suspect moisture is coming through your walls (and ESPECIALLY if you plan on sheetrocking,) buy a good waterproofing masonry paint like DryLoc. These paints are designed to seal up the pores of masonry surfaces and block water from getting through.

High water tables can prove one of the more difficult challenges when it comes to keeping your basement dry. Sump pumps and french drains (perforated pipes in a bed of gravel) installed under the floor may be needed, depending on the severity of the water problem. Depending on the particular situation, this can be an involved and expensive process. Fortunately, high water tables only pose an occasion issue for most home owners. If you have no intention of finishing your basement, sump pumps will often be adequate to deal with occasional flooding due to high water tables.

Eliminate easily-controlled moisture problems by venting dryers and bathrooms to the outside. During hot, humid days, keep basement windows closed. Don’t hang clothes to dry in your basement, and make sure any leaky plumbing is repaired. Automatic dehumidifiers can remove remaining moisture, but the tank will have to be emptied every few days. If you can somehow route a garden hose outside your basement, perhaps by drilling a hole through a window molding, there are dehumidifiers that can drain through a hose, eliminating the need to empty the tank. (Just remember, the hose will need to slope downhill for this to work. You may need to place your dehumidifier on a high shelf to accomplish this.)

Even if you have no plans for finishing your basement, using these tips to create a drier basement will be good for your health, the longevity of your home itself, and will make the basement a safer place to store things or set up a small work area.

1. Repaint.
Of course, this only works if your otherwise beautiful wall has been painted to resemble the murky depths of a stagnant pond, or a mural of the French Riviera that went horribly wrong. Repainting assumes that, underneath a few ugly color choices, your wall is not inherently ugly. If this is the case, get a good primer and a pleasing shade of whatever color makes you happy, and go at that ugly wall. You can also paint over dated paneling, those fake ceramic tile boards, and wood, as long as you use a good quality primer made for the purpose. Some primers even claim to adhere well to ceramic tile itself.

2. Hide it behind fabric.
Similar to sweeping your pile of dirty clothes under the bed, you can stick that ugly wall behind something pleasant to look at, and no one will be the wiser. Tapestries are a good choice; no longer are they just for castles or hippies, but come in a wide variety of styles and colors. Quilts are another good way to cover up an ugly wall. Draperies, hung from ceiling to floor, can be used to cover up the wall. Theoretically, you could hang fabric over all the walls in a room; as long as your fabric was not too dark, the effect would be pleasing. Practically, though, this might make finding light switches and outlets difficult.

3. Repaper.
Depending on the condition of your wall, fresh wallpaper might be able to save it. If your wall is not smooth and flat, most wallpaper will be difficult to properly install, but there is a very heavy type of paintable wallpaper that is designed to cover up cracks and minor imperfections. This paper is available in simple textures, as well as more intricate patterns that can help to hide particularly uneven walls. After you apply it, you can paint it the same color as the rest of the room, which will help your ugly wall to blend in seamlessly with its surroundings. Just make sure to remove all loose or peeling material from the wall before applying, or your new wallpaper will also start to peel.

4. Hide it behind enormous furniture.
While a gigantic dresser might be difficult to obtain, there is plenty of floor to ceiling shelving available. Instead of your ugly wall, you could be surrounded by floor to ceiling books, collectible plates, antique dolls, or your great grandfather’s prized collection of seven hundred porcelain elephants.

5. Posters.
We are not talking about your old college dorm, “101 Ways to Cure a Hangover” posters stuck in the wall with four mismatched thumbtacks. A group of posters, framed in cheap plexiglass frames and hung close together in a group, can be a great way to cover up an ugly wall and add some visual interest to a room. Posters that would have historically been posted on city walls or fences work best grouped so closely together: band posters, old advertisements, old movie posters, and theater bills all work well. Make sure the colors of the posters compliment each other and the room itself.

6. Work with the ugliness.
Hey, sometimes ugly can be cool. Just look at those interior decorators who spend hours making it look as though the plaster is crumbling off the wooden lath or brick beneath. And there you were, complaining that your plaster walls were showing the brick. Okay, maybe most of our ugly walls involve damaged drywall and peeling wallpaper, which are significantly less sexy than exposed brick. But you can still see if there is a way you can embrace the ugliness. Maybe stripes of paint or large flower shapes can make that plaid wallpaper attractive again. Maybe not, but it can be fun to find out. If your wall is horrifically ugly to begin with, what could you possibly do to make it worse?

7. Hang stuff on the wall.
Put up a bunch of wall hooks (assuming your wall is stable enough to accept hooks), and hang your coats, your hat collection, or a bunch of sparkly vintage dresses on the wall. Or put a few small shelves up and put some wildly trailing plants on them. Wall mirrors, old photos, framed flowers, your father’s collection of antique road signs; they can all cover up your ugly wall. Of course, now your room feels ten foot square and you are so overwhelmed by all the visual clutter that you want to cry, but at least you can’t see the wall behind all that stuff!

8. More joint compound!
If your walls are strong and stable, but suffer from someone’s attempt to create a stucco texture that does nothing but collect dust and scrape your elbows when you walk down the hallway, try scraping off the highest points and smoothing joint compound over the rest. You won’t end up with perfectly smooth walls, but you should be able to improve the texture significantly. Instead of sanding the walls when you are done, a slightly damp sponge can be used to smooth it out, creating much less mess.

If all else fails, there is always the sledgehammer and a trip to the home improvement store for new sheetrock. In most cases, though, you can make your walls a lot more attractive without resorting to wall-directed violence. And remember: a wall doesn’t have to be perfect to be beautiful.

Prevention: Instead of going through the trouble of cleaning afterward, you can prevent beforehand if you just spray a little non-stick spray on the rack first. Spray the rack first, then turn the gas on, so you don’t spray and cause undue excitement from your spouse. Spraying will not prevent all from sticking, but it will make it much easier to clean afterward.

Pan Bottoms: Does your pan look like it has suffered multiple burn marks? Is it caked with soot? Simply rub a bar of soap over the bottom of the pan before placing on the rack. The soap will dissolve the soot as you are cooking.

Self-Cleaning Grills: If you wrap your cooking rack with foil, then place it back in the grill, you can clean it like a self-cleaning oven. Turn the grill on for 30 minutes, which will heat up the “debris” on the grill and release its clinging power into the foil. After the foil and rack has cooled, removed foil and any stubborn debris.

What Leak: Sometimes, we can smell a gas leak, but we can’t figure out where it is coming from. Is it the tank, the hose, the connection? The easiest way to find a leak is to use a little dish soap and warm water. Pour a little on the connection and the hose, and then if you see the soap bubbling up, you’ve found your leak.

Not only can you make some extra dough, you are also helping to save the planet. Consider visiting the Better World Books the next you move, when unpacking from a move, or at the end of the school year.

Below are some questions and answers about how you can turn those books into cash.

1. How does selling my books to you work?
Selling your books to Better World Books is easy. Just enter the ISBNs of the books you are interested in selling. The books will be added to your buyback cart and our buyback price will be shown. Adjust the quantities and choose how you want to be paid. If you choose PayPal, you’ll need to enter the e-mail address associated with your PayPal account.

Choose the literacy partner you want your buyback to benefit and decide if you would like to make an additional contribution to that partner’s literacy initiatives. You will also need to select your address. If you make any changes to your buyback cart, be sure to click ‘Update Cart’.

Click ‘Agree to BuyBack’ and print your pre-paid USPS Media Mail label and packing slip. Next, simply package your books and drop them in the mail. Once we receive your books in our warehouse, we’ll process them and issue payment.

2. Do you really make a donation to literacy when I sell my books to you?
Yes. Every time you sell your books to Better World Books, you are helping bring literacy and opportunity to people around the world. For each book we purchase, we’ll make a donation to one of our five primary literacy partners. We even let you choose which of our partners you want your buyback to benefit. You can make an additional donation by choosing to give part of your buyback total when you confirm your order.

Our five primary literacy partners are Invisible Children, Books for Africa, Room to Read, Worldfund, and the National Center for Family Literacy.

3. How will you pay me?
You have a few of options. We recommend choosing Gift Certificate or PayPal because you’ll get paid more and it’s fast, green, and secure. If you prefer not get paid with a Gift Certificate or through PayPal, we can do it the old fashion way and mail a check to you. It will just take longer and you won’t get paid as much. Don’t have PayPal? Visit PayPal to learn how to sign up.

4. When will I get paid?
We know there are a few books on BetterWorldBooks.com you are dying to have, so we’ll get you your money as fast as we can. All payments are normally processed within 2 business days of receiving your buyback.

5. How long is the price quote good for?
Price quotes are good for a limited time only. Books must be postmarked within 7 days and received within 30 days of your buyback order. If your package is postmarked more than 7 days or received more than 30 days after your order was placed we will re-evaluate the books based on current buyback prices. The new price quote may be different from your original offer.

6. How do you determine your buyback prices?
Our buyback prices are set based on current availability and future demand.

7. Who pays for shipping?
If your buyback total is at least five dollars or you choose to donate at least three books, shipping is free! We pay for shipping when you use the pre-paid USPS Media Mail label we provide at checkout. If you choose to use a different service or carrier, we cannot reimburse you for shipping. Please do not use Priority Mail envelopes or boxes when using our prepaid Media Mail label. This will help us keep our costs down which helps keep our buyback prices higher.

For more information or more questions and answers go to Better World Books.