My husband takes enormous pride in his yard. The hedges must align, the grass must be cut in perfect rows, and above all, each blade must be a lush, dark green. So you can imagine how he’s less than enthused when summer comes along and cooks it down to a crispy brown. He does his best with a hose sprinkler, but if you have a sprinkler system installed, you can be sure he’s a little green himself. So enjoy it! And maintain it, so you can keep that lushness going as long as feasibly possible.
Check out these 10 Practices to Maintain Your Sprinkler System* to learn where to install your sprinklers, when and how long you should run them, how often you should inspect them, and when to call in the professionals.
If you’ve run into some issues and you’re a DIY homeowner, here are some Do-It-Yourself Solutions to Irritating Irrigation Problems* that could save you a buck or two.
Visit APHW.COM for more home maintenance tips, and call 888.351.3681 to get peace of mind with a home warranty on your home today – now featuring coverage options for lawn sprinkler systems!
*America’s Preferred Home Warranty is not affiliated with and has not collaborated with K-Rain Manufacturing or Family Handyman in any capacity.
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Getting ready to switch out your furnace filter for the year? It might be time to consider what kinds of filters you could replace it with.
Are you keeping up with your humidifier? No, not the essential oil-misting gadget sitting on a shelf—the one in your furnace. In this episode of Contractor Cornerstones, Jackson, Michigan’s Lammers Heating & Air Conditioning President Todd Desy told us what homeowners should be checking for.
Have you noticed? Spring is in the air: The snow is melting, actual grass is visible, and the temperatures are steadily increasing (at least for the moment). In today’s episode of Contractor Cornerstones, 
Homeowners love to hate the chirp that smoke detectors emit when the batteries get low. We know these alarms can and do save lives, so we all enjoy the joke—until it isn’t funny anymore. One study found that three out of every five home fire deaths happen in homes with either no smoke alarms or no working smoke alarms.* Don’t become part of that statistic: Make sure your smoke alarms are working with these tips.
Hey there! So, we want you to have useful information about maintaining your home systems and appliances, but we also want that information to be fresh! So we’ve started interviewing the experts: The contractors you hire, know, and trust!
While not as common today, some households still use a trash compactor to minimize the size of waste. Unfortunately, that convenience comes with a side effect: A small, dark compartment perfect for growing smelly bacteria from garbage residue.
When the season means more time in the kitchen, the last thing you need is for your stove or oven to quit on you—or worse, start a fire. Semi-regular maintenance can go a long way toward ensuring they will work when you need them most, like when the whole family is over for Thanksgiving!
Most of the northern states are already covered in snow, but we’re expecting a warm-up to melt it all away by next week. Take advantage of that melt-off and winterize your HVAC air conditioner, if you haven’t already.
Okay, okay, the TECHNICAL term might be ‘ventilation.’ But there are multiple reasons why you should take a look at your roof anyway (or have a professional do it) before the snow starts flying: