Home and Garden
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Houseplant watering, fertilizing slows down in winterDec 31, 2024 7:26 pm - During the winter, most houseplants are not in an active growth phase due to shorter days, reduced humidity and lower temperatures. Generally, houseplants require less water and much less, if any, fertilizer because their growth slows during the winter.
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Are home inspectors picking your pockets?Dec 30, 2024 6:29 pm - Can buyers and sellers just do their own home inspections and save the extra costs of the inspection, one reader asks. Find out the pitfalls they might fall into.
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What to know about kitchen cabinet renovationDec 27, 2024 4:15 am - Homeowners who want to give their kitchens a new look and feel without doing a full renovation can consider kitchen cabinet projects. An understanding of kitchen cabinet projects can help homeowners decide if this undertaking is for them.
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Lawyer passes baton on educating board members, unit ownersDec 25, 2024 6:00 am - After more than 13 years of having the privilege of writing this column, I am passing the baton. Although the column is called “Condo Talk,” it has addressed legal issues concerning the full variety of homeowner associations in Illinois; that is, condominium associations, master associations and common interest community associations.
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Optimize your organization: Tips to eliminate the clutter and cut down your stressDec 24, 2024 9:35 pm - If clutter has you down, consider these strategies to organize your interior spaces and start the new year with a new outlook.
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Younger generations swap tradition for self-expression with holiday decorationsDec 24, 2024 4:50 pm - Whether dressed in black, mimicking bare branches or decked out with enough bows for a Taylor Swift concert, the Christmas trees in some U.S. homes this year display an unconventional streak. They beckon visitors to behold the decorator's personality, not a mere symbol of Yuletide cheer.
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Shake snow from plants; shovel with careDec 23, 2024 6:38 pm - There has not been much snow in the Chicago area yet this year, but when a storm does finally come, carefully shake snow off plants during heavy wet storms to minimize damage.
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Why disclose old, ungrounded outlets?Dec 23, 2024 6:15 am - Q: As a fellow home inspector, I think you go overboard with electrical issues, such as ungrounded two-prong outlets in old homes.
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Worried about lead pipes? Here’s what to do.
Dec 21, 2024 2:44 am - Although lead pipes were banned decades ago, millions of homes still contain them. In fact, lead from water service lines remains one of the leading causes of childhood lead poisoning. There is no safe level of exposure to lead, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Lead exposure causes developmental delays, difficulty learning and behavioral problems.
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AT&T hopes to sell landline holdouts on a new kind of home phone
Dec 21, 2024 2:22 am - AT&T Inc. hopes to persuade people across the country to break up with their landlines by the end of 2029. To do so, it’s deploying a new weapon that might help: a wireless home phone.