Tag Archives: spring

EP57 – May 5, 2018: Spring Exterior Painting, Gardening With Children, and Trash Heap Desk Revival

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When we think of gardening, we think of things like container gardening, pest resistance gardening, and vegetable gardening. We don’t necessarily think of gardening with and for our kids. But why not?! It gets them interested at an early age and it gets them out in the fresh air. It will be something they look forward to every year. And they will be able to see the fruits of their labor.

Listen here:

Show notes for episode 057:

This past week has been filled with BEAUTIFUL weather! It's been warm and sunny and we even got some much needed rain. Spring has finally graced us with its presence.

Because spring seems to be a little late this year, people are frantically working outside to get spring projects done. And often, those projects involve paint. We got a question from a listener wondering what the temperature needs to be for her to paint outside. Is it warm enough just because the calendar says May? Find out!

With the arrival of spring, many of use are thinking about planting flowers and vegetables. What we might not be thinking about is including our kids. It's a confidence boost when they see something they planted grow from a tiny seed into a great plant.

We are thrilled to have Ian Warnock, Lead Horticulturist from Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park in the studio with us. Ian has worked at the Gardens for over 20 years and has spent much of his time designing and maintaining the Children's Gardens. He involves young visitors to the garden in as many ways as possible. He'll even let them mow the grass!

Photos courtesy of Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park

How many of us watch those shows in TV or Netflix where people take a junk piece of furniture and turn it into something that everyone is clamoring to buy? How many of us want to be able to do that?

We like those shows as much as anyone, so we decided to try it. We learned a few lessons and have decided to share them. The effort was definitely worth it.

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EP06 – May 6, 2017: Simple Steps to Home Staging and More!

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Home staging. We’ve all heard about it, but how many of us know how to do it? On today’s episode of the RepcoLite Home Improvement Show, we list 5 simple steps that will help you make your home as appealing to new buyers as possible. We also discuss the best colors to choose when painting your home for resale. Do you go with neutrals and look like every other house out there? Or do you roll the dice and try to stand out with color?

We have the answer to that and more on today’s episode.

Listen here:

Show notes for episode 006:

Spring is the best time to put your house on the market.....along with everyone else in town! So how can you set your house apart from all the rest, while getting top dollar?

Home staging is a great solution if you are planning to sell your home. It helps potential buyers to see your house in a different light. And it isn't as bad as you may think. We've got 5 simple home staging tips that will help you put the best house forward.

And here's the article with the interesting statistics we referenced in the show:

Paint color is a hotly debated topic whether you're selling your house or not. We help you decide between a neutral or dramatic color scheme. And tell you the last two important steps to home staging.

And, because we have a few extra minutes, Dan decides to tell us about his brick chimney leak and tells us about a great product that will seal the brick and stop the water before it's too late!

We always ask that our listeners email us with questions and Lisa emailed a great one about painting cabinets and trim that we think many other people may have as well. We thought about just answering, but we had a few questions. So, we asked Lisa to call us with her question so that we could give her the best possible answer. Hence, our first caller!

On today's Ask RepcoLite segment, we've got the answers for Lisa's questions!

While we have had a lot of rain recently, at some point it will dwindle and we will be forced to create our own rain to keep our grass green. I have spent a lot of time dragging a hose and sprinkler around to keep everything that SHOULD be green from turning brown and dying. It's hard work!

Aaron Katerberg from Grapids Irrigation stops by to tell me what it takes to put in a new sprinkling system. And Dan asks about upgrading his old system so he can stop jumping out of bed in the middle of the night to turn off his sprinklers when he hears rain!

EP05 – April 29, 2017: One of a Kind Furniture and More!

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Today, we sit down in the studio with Kim DeBoer and discuss the adventures of refinishing furniture. Kim talks about some of her best experiences and the joys of taking something old and unwanted and turning it into a centerpiece in your home!

That and more in today’s episode of the RepcoLite Home Improvement Show!

Listen here:

Show notes for episode 005:

Shopping for furniture to refinish or repurpose can be stressful! What's worth buying? What can actually be refinished and what is just going to make you sad? And where do you look to find these pieces?

Kim DeBoer is a professional painting contractor who does a lot of furniture refinishing on the side. She's been doing this for years and has answers for all of these questions and more!

It's Spring and the weather's getting warmer! And that means that we're right on the cusp of air conditioner season. But did you know that there are a few simple projects you can tackle on a Saturday morning (or anytime!) that will help you make sure your unit runs efficiently, for less cost, and lasts longer!

Today we go over the 2 must-do jobs this Spring!

Staining a deck is a great project! It's fun and even relatively easy. In fact, the most confusing part of the whole project is trying to choose the right stain. Should you go with an oil-based product? Or a waterborne? What opacity is best for your situation? Clear or Solid or something in between?

On today's Ask RepcoLite segment, we've got all the answers!

Spring is here and with it, we get warmer weather, baseball . . . and ants! My home is right now under invasion and so I'm very excited to be in the studio with David Popp from Rose Pest Solutions. He's here to talk about ants, termites, what to look for and what to do when you find a problem!

EP04 – April 22, 2017: Painting Vinyl Siding and More!

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Vinyl siding was supposed to last forever. But . . . it doesn’t. At least the color doesn’t. After a while, houses with vinyl siding can start to look tired, faded, boring . . . old. Well, Benjamin Moore’s Revive is a paint specifically made for vinyl siding. It sticks remarkably well and is available in a range of over 300 vinyl safe colors! It’s definitely worth a look if you’d like to change the entire look and feel of your home this summer!

That and more on this episode!

Listen now:

Show notes for episode 004:

Did you know you can paint vinyl siding? Kevin Hermann dropped by our studio to discuss Benjamin Moore's Revive Vinyl Siding Paint and gave us some tips to get the job done right. The best news is, there are over 300 "vinyl safe" colors to choose from! These colors will allow you to choose a color that is darker than your original siding, without warping your siding. A whole new world of possibilities has been opened!

Kevin also stressed the importance of proper prep/cleaning before painting. Revive does not require a primer if you take right the steps to clean the siding first. Check out our blog post for everything you need to know about getting your siding ready for paint.

Browse Revive's Color Palette of over 300 Colors!

Kevin Hermann is a Territory Representative for Benjamin Moore. He has been with the company for 26 years and has a wealth of paint knowledge. He answers questions from what type of paint to use for a specific project to application tips. And if you really push him, he might even tell you a fish story or two!

How often do we drive through a neighborhood and slow as we come to a house with a beautiful front yard? We sigh heavily as we dream about that house.

But wait! This can be your house. No need to dream! These curb appeal projects are simple and inexpensive. They range from cleaning the exterior of the house to landscape primping. We've got 4 projects that don't take a lot of time or money. And if you go through these and are STILL looking for more ideas, listen to our podcast about curb appeal, check out our front door color Pinterest board, or read our blog post that gives you 6 more inexpensive projects.

We also found this great HGTV slideshow with before and after curb appeal photos. It proves how far a change in landscaping (often minimizing it!), some paint and a little color will go!

When it comes to snowblower maintenance, how many of us just fill the gas tank and push it to the back of the garage to collect dust for the next 6 months? Lots of people! But there's more to it.

If you have limited time or energy, we have the one step you ABSOLUTELY should not bypass. If you have a bit more time to spend, we have 4 other things that will help your snowblower start the first time you pull the cord when faced with a foot of snow next winter. We also have a tip that will save you from being like Dan and annoying your neighbors for the better part of four hours!

Imagine this scene: you are shoveling your driveway after a long day at work. Everything is fine until you are stopped abruptly when the blunt end of your shovel tries to impale you through the stomach. Dan is all too familiar with this feeling.

But the pain is over! Andy Van Dyke from VDC has the solution for those pieces of sunken concrete. The best news is, it's way cheaper than we would have imagined.