Curb Appeal Concepts LLC

Curb Appeal Concepts LLC.
"Improving First Impressions"
Hillsborough / Pinellas 813-486-9844
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	Curb Appeal Concepts Now Offers Interior Repairs. Drywall Repairs, Painting, Cabinet Repairs, etc. We Do All The Odd Jobs Other Won't !!!!
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	Curb Appeal Can mean the difference in a property selling in weeks or sitting for months. Did you know some of the most effective Curb Appeal improvements are the least expensive?

Curb Appeal Helps Sell Your Tampa Bay Home

Curb Appeal: How Can Great Curb Appeal Make Selling Your Home Less Stressful
By Connie LeGendre

When you first thought about selling your home, you may have felt a tightening in your chest? Maybe a growing pain at the back of your neck. Selling a home is, without a doubt, a stressful proposition and could bring up all those stress related symptoms.

You spend weeks, months, sometimes years making the decision to sell. And when you do, there are still so many things to focus on because making the decision is the thinking, not the doing.

Why not start working on readying your home while you are in the process of making the decision to sell your home. The worst that can happen is you solve some problems you’ve been putting off because you had no pressing reason to take care of them.

When you start preparing your home for sale, prospective buyers or friends and relatives of prospective buyers driving by will begin to notice the improvement of the front of your home.

Believe it or not, when the “For Sale” sign goes up, they will remember seeing you working on your place to put it in shape. They will appreciate all of the changes. You will even begin to enjoy the changes yourself. You’ve made changes to the little and big things you have put off.

• The windows are shining

• The siding is back to its original color because you’ve power washed it

• The flag on the mailbox finally stays up when you’re sending mail

• The weeds are gone from the cracks in the driveway

• The gutters and leaders are clean and attached to the house properly

• The fence is painted

• A kick plate on the front door has been installed

• The cracked window has been replaced

• And...

And the list goes on. But the stress doesn’t. Because you’ve been taking care of those little and big things while you’ve been making the decision to sell or not to sell.

And the day comes when you’ve made the important decision. You can drive up or walk up to your property and look with pride at the job you’ve done. There may be some reluctance about selling now that your home looks so great. But the stress of getting it done is no longer the problem.

You won't have to listen to the Realtor hinting at your shabby lawn, overgrown trees, or cracked driveway needing tending. And surprise, surprise, the home inspector is happy, the appraiser is happy, and all your work has paid off.

Best of all, the passers by who watched your property go from disheveled to great will be interested when the “For Sale” sign or MLS listing goes up. And better still, you are not only getting them through the front door, but they know you are a motivated seller looking for top dollar.

So, yes! You can take the stress out of selling your home, and sell fast at top dollar with Great Curb Appeal.

You can get more amazing information about creating great curb appeal in this free 5-part mini-course, "How To Dramatically Increase Your Home's Curb Appeal." Go to
http://www.curbappealideas.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com

Pressure Cleaning Article

Somebody Needs To Say It, So I Will - Not All Projects Are Do-It-Yourself!
By Everett Abrams

As I go through life I realize that some projects really are better left to the professional. I work in the contract cleaning/pressure washing industry and have turned my companies attention toward the exterior wood restoration area. In regards to wood restoration a pressure washer is merely a tool to save time and should not be relied on to “do the work.” It is a tool just like a hammer or saw is only a tool to a carpenter. Wood restoration can be accomplished by cob-blasting, sanding, the use of the proper chemicals, and many other methods than blasting away with a pressure washer. Going further in this line of thought I will state that, in my opinion, that it is highly irresponsible for the “Do-It -Yourself Stores” to even sell pressure washers that rate over 3000psi without the proper education. A pressure washer with over 3000psi in the hands of many homeowners and weekend warriors only leads to damage. More often than not the damage is irreversible. Most professional contractors do not need to use much more than 1500psi to clean most residential projects.

Let’s take a look at this in more detail. First of all the typical homeowner and some “so-called” professionals have little to no knowledge of the Clean Water Act (http://www.epa.gov/watertrain/cwa/ ) or water run off. More often than not homeowners are breaking the laws that a professional contractor needs to abide by. Basically, the only water that is to go into storm drains is rainwater. No wastewater is run into the waters of the United States. I often see folks washing their cars, driveways, homes, etc. and the water runs down the driveway and into the storm drains. In parts of California they have passed laws to ban residential car washing for just this reason. The true professional using a pressure washer will have knowledge and have the proper equipment to comply with the regulations.

As far as cleaning is concerned it isn’t pressure that “cleans” surfaces, it is the proper chemicals and cleaning supplies used. Pressure usually causes damage and scarring and does very little cleaning. Yet often I see homeowners and some of these “so-called” professionals using nothing but a pressure washer and water to “blast” away on folks properties. Any person who uses this practice in this business, in my opinion, is considered a vandal and their work vandalism! If you have mold, mildew, and algae on surfaces that needs the proper chemicals to clean and remove the spores. Rust and grease stains are removed with the proper chemicals and not pressure. The use of biodegradable chemicals and dwell times(the time you leave the applied chemicals on a surface to be effective) is more important. I compare this to using an oven cleaner. If you try and scrub your oven with elbow grease only it will take you a whole day and you still won’t like the result. When you use an oven cleaner properly you merely let it sit then come back and wipe the surfaces, no elbow grease, like new looking oven. This applies to the uses of a pressure washer as well. Remember that I most cases pressure causes damage, it does not clean.

In regards to wood restoration it is baffling to me that anyone can believe that “blasting” wood with pressure is going to restore it. It is going to splinter it, cause furring, or even scar and etch the wood. Yet I go to many projects that folks have tried to do on their own because they thought it was “easy” or “nothing to it” , just a pressure washer, water, and BLAST OFF! Because of this I have seen folks most precious asset, their home, scarred beyond repair. I have seen cedar-sided home, log cabins, decks, fences, etc. scarred and splintered to where they needed extreme sanding and even actual replacement of the wood. This comes from not realizing the capabilities of the equipment that is available to them as well as not having the proper education.

We haven’t even gotten to safety issues. I see people all the time using these machines without safety goggles. As they are pressure washing any number of things can fly off the surfaces and become lodged in an eye. Many projects require the use of ladders and I so often see people trying to use a pressure washer from a ladder which to the novice can be very dangerous. If one is using the proper chemicals it is also very important to wear the proper clothing. I have seen many homeowners and contractors attempt to chemically strip off a deck with store bought chemicals. Many times these chemicals will soak through a sneaker and eat away at their skin. Safety is a huge concern and is usually thought of after the damage is done.

What makes it even worse for the industry is that anyone can go to these outlets and purchase a machine and go into business and say they are a professional contractor. This is so far from the truth and the problem within the industry. It is like the person who buys a hammer, saw , and other tools and is now a carpenter. These trades are easy access but by no means that because they have equipment are they a professional contractor. Pressure washing, pressure washers, and the related industry trades do not get the credibility they deserve. It really is mind boggling that within this industry we are discussing the use of chemicals, working on others properties, waste water run off and the environment, and personal safety and there isn’t the credibility or proper respect for this industry.

For anyone looking for a reputable contractor within the industry there is an organization that is the recognized leader, that is the Power Washers of North America (PWNA). You can even find a contractor in your area by visiting their website at www.pwna.org. This organization is setting standards and has educational tracts that even certify contractors in the related fields.

Written by Everett Abrams 4/30/05. Everett Abrams is the President of Deck Restoration Plus Franchises (www.deckrestorationplus.com ), Wood Instructor for the PWNA, and serves on the Board of Directors of the PWNA.

Everett Abrams is on the Executive Board of Directors of the Power Washers of North America (PWNA) as President-Elect, a moderator on the PWNA website, and Instuctor for the Wood Cerification Class of the PWNA, and co-author of the "Exterior Wood Restoration" manual that is used to teach professionals across the country. Everett also participates on the Joint Coatings Committee of the Forest Products Laboratory.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Everett_Abrams
http://EzineArticles.com/?Somebody-Needs-To-Say-It,-So-I-Will---Not-All-Projects-Are-Do-It-Yourself!&id=242042

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Serving: Valrico, Riverview, Fish-Hawk, Wesley Chapel, Lithia, Clearwater, Largo, St. Petersburg, Tampa, Temple Terrace, Sarasota, Brandon, Dunedin, Carrollwood, Seffner, Palm River, Oldsmar, Odessa, Palm Harbor, Lakeland, Plant City, Lutz, Land O´ Lakes, Largo, Ruskin, Apollo Beach Pinellas Park, Ballast Point. South Tampa
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