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Ask The Pro Newsletter
-DoubleDave's Pizzaworks *COUPON*
-Trees
-KEEP YOUR COOL TO AVOID A THERMOSTAT TUG-A-WAR
-Planning Ahead for Disaster - Taking a Home Inventory
-Bugs and the Hot Summer
-Old vs. New Appliances
-Tips to Save on Plumbing Calls
-Enhance your Decorating Confidence!
-If you have a leak, it is probably not the shingles
-Your Upholstered Fabrics Need to Be Protected
-Did you know, EVERYONE lives in a flood zone?
-What To Do When A Hurricane Threatens
-If you can’t take the heat get out of the kitchen
Volume 2, Edition 8
The Ask The Pro Newsletter is your outlet for pre-qualified contractors, tips from professionals, and
instruction on how to find safe contractors. The Ask The Pro Newsletter is loaded with information to
keep you up to date in what to look for when hiring professionals today.
For more information on how to find qualified contractors, weekly tips from Ace Hardware, and weekly
information from qualified professionals listen to the Check A Radio Show Saturdays from 11 AM - 12 PM
central on CNN 650. For more information about the Check A Pro Radio Show click here to visit our
website!
If you are not currently a subscriber to The Ask The Pro Newsletter but would like to receive the email on
a monthly basis, you can subscribe here.
Thank you for your interest in the Check A Pro Radio Show.
Jim Klauck
Host, Ask The Pro Radio Show
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
Dream Landscape Design, Inc.
Melinda Sperl
Trees
The trees being removed in Galveston are a good lesson to all of us of the damage that can be done to
our trees. Trees tend to be taken for granted and we often are shocked when they die. Of course, we
know the reason for these trees dying is the result of salt water flooding the island from Ike. But, are we
doing damage to our own trees daily without even knowing it?
Trees do not show damage immediately the way our shrubs do. If you were to build a house or pool
requiring severe cutting of the trees roots, the tree will slowly decline over 5+ years. Yet I am often told of
how someone’s tree has survived this and that and my thought is to just wait and see.
Weed killers are your trees number one enemy. These herbicides are specifically created to kill anything
that is not your grass, including your trees. You won’t notice this immediately but over time the effects will
show with leaf drop, insects and disease.
Fertilizers have a small amount of salt content in them. As we know from Galveston, a little goes a long
way so keep your fertilizer applications to the amounts suggested on the bag. Please do not fertilize in
this heat!
It is important to contact qualified professional at the first sign of a problem. By treating early you could
very well save your beautiful tree.
Melinda Sperl is a Horticulturalist and the owner of Dream Landscape Design, Inc. You can reach
Melinda at Melinda@dreamlandscapedesign.com or www.dreamlandscapedesign.com
______________________________________________________________________
Hallmark Cooling.Plumbing.Heating
Bill Fortner
KEEP YOUR COOL TO AVOID A THERMOSTAT TUG-A-WAR
Hallmark Cooling.Plumbing.Heating offers temperature truce tips to beat the heat and meet energy
conservations goals
Houston, TX (March 31, 2008) – Mom’s in a sweater and claims she can see her breath while dad tries
to lower the thermostat again, moaning about heat stroke. Brokering a family temperature truce when the
warm weather hits can feel like a diplomatic mission impossible but it doesn’t have to.
“Thermostat tug-a-wars at home don’t have to prevent families from reaching their energy conservation
goals and blowing their electricity budget,” said Bill Fortner, Vice-President, Hallmark Cooling.Plumbing.
Heating. “A little communication and a few simple practices can go a long way to keeping everyone cool
and comfortable all summer.”
Mr. Fortner advises families to hold a meeting to discuss family conservation goals and to negotiate a
temperature that everyone can support. Once a home temperature has been agreed upon, use these
tips from Hallmark Air Conditioning & Heating to make family temperature tug-a-wars a thing of the past
and ensure you are on track to reach family conservation goals:
• Install a programmable thermostat to prevent family members from adjusting it at will and set it to
decrease at night and when no one is home - the US Department of Energy suggests that you can save
around 10 percent a year on your heating and cooling bills by simply turning your thermostat back 10°
–15° for eight hours while you’re at work or sleeping.
• Upgrade to newer, high efficiency appliances and cooling systems - central air conditioning units
that meet 13 SEER (Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio) requirements will deliver as much as 30 per cent
more efficiency than that of an older, 10 SEER.
• Keep your outdoor air conditioner coil clear of toys, dirt, and grass clippings and carefully clean it
with a garden hose.
• Get the family to clean out that attic and ensure it is properly insulated which can reduce annual
energy costs by five to 30 percent depending on whether you’re topping up existing insulation, or adding
to an un-insulated attic; in hot climates such as Texas, insulating exterior walls can lead to savings up of
to 20 percent according to the EIA.
• Consider installing ceiling fans - which are more energy efficient - to maximize air circulation and
move the fresh air throughout the home. If you already have ceiling fans in your home, make sure
everyone knows the proper direction for the blades — they should move the air downwards in the
summer and upwards in the winter.
• The Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimates that as much as 20 percent – or $20 of every
$100 spent on energy costs – is wasted due to leaks in ductwork, windows and doors, especially in
older homes with forced-air systems; sealing leaks in ducts, windows and doors can help avoid paying
to cool the outdoors.
• Switch from incandescent lighting to high efficiency compact fluorescent bulbs (CFLs) and ask all
family members to turn off lights when leaving rooms; CFLs are 75 percent more efficient than
incandescent bulbs, and last 10 times as long. They also burn cooler which can help reduce cooling
needs.
• Unplug vampire electronics – devices including video game consoles and computers that draw
power from outlets even when they’re turned off can add hundreds of dollars more to your annual
electricity costs.
• Set family kilowatt goals for lowering home energy consumption and track from month-to-month,
and year over year. Celebrating successfully achieving goals is another incentive to get everyone involved
with conservation.
• Turn off the air conditioning and open the windows when the temperatures outside are more
comfortable.
“Remember that for every degree above 77 that you set your thermostat, you’ll be saving an extra three to
five percent on your energy bill,” noted Fortner.
For more information on how to avoid temperature tug-a-wars at home, conserve energy and save
money, visit www.hallmark-ac.com or Hallmark’s parent company, Direct Energy at www.directenergy.
com.
About Hallmark Air Conditioning & Heating
Hallmark Air Conditioning & Heating has been serving the Houston area since 1967. As a division of
Direct Energy, one of North America's largest energy and energy-related services providers with over 5
million residential and commercial customer relationships, Hallmark provides Houston residents with
the strength of a nationwide company and the customer satisfaction you expect from your local HVAC
service provider.
________________________________________________________________________________
Barhorst Insurance Group
Rian Beaudoin
Planning Ahead for Disaster - Taking a Home Inventory
The Houston area is vulnerable to hurricanes, severe storms, and flooding. One can
never know when disaster may strike, but you can plan ahead and be prepared. One way
to do this is to take a home inventory - a room-by-room inventory of your personal
belongings to help prepare you and your family for a potential disaster.
As stated by the Insurance Information Institute, an up-to-date home inventory will allow
you to purchase enough insurance to replace the things you own, get your insurance
claims settled faster, and substantiate losses for your income tax return.
First, decide on a way to make an inventory that works for you (ex: by room, by category,
by price, etc.). Next, make your inventory list. There are several ways to do this. You
could write everything down in a notebook, take pictures and write information on the back
of the photos, or save it on your computer - whichever works best for you. “Before photos”
are always good to have because they can be compared to the “after photos” in order to
assess damages. If possible, keep your receipts and note the cost, when it was
purchased, and any other necessary information. Items such as CD’s, pots and pans,
books, etc. can be grouped together and assigned a general estimate rather than
individual documentation. Some items, such as jewelry and art, may require separate
insurance (aside from Homeowner’s Insurance), so be aware of which items are and are
not covered. Lastly, don’t forget to keep your list updated as you acquire
items.
Be sure to store a copy of your inventory in a safe place outside of the home. You will want
to give a copy of this list to your insurance agent if your home is damaged.
_____________________________________________________________________
The BugStoppers Termite & Pest Control
Olen Youngblood
Bugs and the Hot Summer
This time of the year brings a lot of insects to our homes and yards. The hot summer temperatures can
encourage chinch bugs to damage your lush green lawn. This pest is commonly found in our St.
Augustine grassy areas throughout Texas, but can also frequent Bermuda grass Fescue, and Zoysia
grass. The damage done by this pest looks like irregular patches of dead grass that is surrounded by a
yellowish color that increases in size. This tends to occur in very sunny areas of the turf grass as well as
a dry, high spot of the lawn. However, this should not be confused with heat stress from a lack of
watering or certain other lawn diseases.
Chinch Bugs are controlled by watering and treating with insecticides labeled specifically for Chinch Bug
Control. It is important when applying insecticides, to always follow labeled precautions and directions.
Never over use or misuse insecticides. Additionally, be careful not to fertilize too much during the
summer. Over fertilizing contributes to more lawn cuttings – “thatch” - which makes lawns more
attractive to the pests. Finally, 3 to 4 pounds of nitrogen per 1000 sq. ft. should be applied each year to
turf grasses such as St. Augustine.
Chinch Bugs are small and slender, 1/16 to 1/5 of an inch long. Their bodies are black and they have
wings with triangular markings on them. They are most easily found at night at the edge of the yellowing
“damaged” area. In Texas, Chinch Bugs are inactive in the winter. When the warm spring weather
starts, female Chinch Bugs start to reproduce. In favorable conditions, the female can deposit more that
200 eggs which will hatch in 2 to 3 weeks. Their complete life cycle is 7 to 8 weeks with generations
overlapping each other.
CONTINUE TO PAGE 2 --->
-Trees
-KEEP YOUR COOL TO AVOID A THERMOSTAT TUG-A-WAR
-Planning Ahead for Disaster - Taking a Home Inventory
-Bugs and the Hot Summer
-Old vs. New Appliances
-Tips to Save on Plumbing Calls
-Enhance your Decorating Confidence!
-If you have a leak, it is probably not the shingles
-Your Upholstered Fabrics Need to Be Protected
-Did you know, EVERYONE lives in a flood zone?
-What To Do When A Hurricane Threatens
-If you can’t take the heat get out of the kitchen
Volume 2, Edition 8
The Ask The Pro Newsletter is your outlet for pre-qualified contractors, tips from professionals, and
instruction on how to find safe contractors. The Ask The Pro Newsletter is loaded with information to
keep you up to date in what to look for when hiring professionals today.
For more information on how to find qualified contractors, weekly tips from Ace Hardware, and weekly
information from qualified professionals listen to the Check A Radio Show Saturdays from 11 AM - 12 PM
central on CNN 650. For more information about the Check A Pro Radio Show click here to visit our
website!
If you are not currently a subscriber to The Ask The Pro Newsletter but would like to receive the email on
a monthly basis, you can subscribe here.
Thank you for your interest in the Check A Pro Radio Show.
Jim Klauck
Host, Ask The Pro Radio Show
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
Dream Landscape Design, Inc.
Melinda Sperl
Trees
The trees being removed in Galveston are a good lesson to all of us of the damage that can be done to
our trees. Trees tend to be taken for granted and we often are shocked when they die. Of course, we
know the reason for these trees dying is the result of salt water flooding the island from Ike. But, are we
doing damage to our own trees daily without even knowing it?
Trees do not show damage immediately the way our shrubs do. If you were to build a house or pool
requiring severe cutting of the trees roots, the tree will slowly decline over 5+ years. Yet I am often told of
how someone’s tree has survived this and that and my thought is to just wait and see.
Weed killers are your trees number one enemy. These herbicides are specifically created to kill anything
that is not your grass, including your trees. You won’t notice this immediately but over time the effects will
show with leaf drop, insects and disease.
Fertilizers have a small amount of salt content in them. As we know from Galveston, a little goes a long
way so keep your fertilizer applications to the amounts suggested on the bag. Please do not fertilize in
this heat!
It is important to contact qualified professional at the first sign of a problem. By treating early you could
very well save your beautiful tree.
Melinda Sperl is a Horticulturalist and the owner of Dream Landscape Design, Inc. You can reach
Melinda at Melinda@dreamlandscapedesign.com or www.dreamlandscapedesign.com
______________________________________________________________________
Hallmark Cooling.Plumbing.Heating
Bill Fortner
KEEP YOUR COOL TO AVOID A THERMOSTAT TUG-A-WAR
Hallmark Cooling.Plumbing.Heating offers temperature truce tips to beat the heat and meet energy
conservations goals
Houston, TX (March 31, 2008) – Mom’s in a sweater and claims she can see her breath while dad tries
to lower the thermostat again, moaning about heat stroke. Brokering a family temperature truce when the
warm weather hits can feel like a diplomatic mission impossible but it doesn’t have to.
“Thermostat tug-a-wars at home don’t have to prevent families from reaching their energy conservation
goals and blowing their electricity budget,” said Bill Fortner, Vice-President, Hallmark Cooling.Plumbing.
Heating. “A little communication and a few simple practices can go a long way to keeping everyone cool
and comfortable all summer.”
Mr. Fortner advises families to hold a meeting to discuss family conservation goals and to negotiate a
temperature that everyone can support. Once a home temperature has been agreed upon, use these
tips from Hallmark Air Conditioning & Heating to make family temperature tug-a-wars a thing of the past
and ensure you are on track to reach family conservation goals:
• Install a programmable thermostat to prevent family members from adjusting it at will and set it to
decrease at night and when no one is home - the US Department of Energy suggests that you can save
around 10 percent a year on your heating and cooling bills by simply turning your thermostat back 10°
–15° for eight hours while you’re at work or sleeping.
• Upgrade to newer, high efficiency appliances and cooling systems - central air conditioning units
that meet 13 SEER (Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio) requirements will deliver as much as 30 per cent
more efficiency than that of an older, 10 SEER.
• Keep your outdoor air conditioner coil clear of toys, dirt, and grass clippings and carefully clean it
with a garden hose.
• Get the family to clean out that attic and ensure it is properly insulated which can reduce annual
energy costs by five to 30 percent depending on whether you’re topping up existing insulation, or adding
to an un-insulated attic; in hot climates such as Texas, insulating exterior walls can lead to savings up of
to 20 percent according to the EIA.
• Consider installing ceiling fans - which are more energy efficient - to maximize air circulation and
move the fresh air throughout the home. If you already have ceiling fans in your home, make sure
everyone knows the proper direction for the blades — they should move the air downwards in the
summer and upwards in the winter.
• The Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimates that as much as 20 percent – or $20 of every
$100 spent on energy costs – is wasted due to leaks in ductwork, windows and doors, especially in
older homes with forced-air systems; sealing leaks in ducts, windows and doors can help avoid paying
to cool the outdoors.
• Switch from incandescent lighting to high efficiency compact fluorescent bulbs (CFLs) and ask all
family members to turn off lights when leaving rooms; CFLs are 75 percent more efficient than
incandescent bulbs, and last 10 times as long. They also burn cooler which can help reduce cooling
needs.
• Unplug vampire electronics – devices including video game consoles and computers that draw
power from outlets even when they’re turned off can add hundreds of dollars more to your annual
electricity costs.
• Set family kilowatt goals for lowering home energy consumption and track from month-to-month,
and year over year. Celebrating successfully achieving goals is another incentive to get everyone involved
with conservation.
• Turn off the air conditioning and open the windows when the temperatures outside are more
comfortable.
“Remember that for every degree above 77 that you set your thermostat, you’ll be saving an extra three to
five percent on your energy bill,” noted Fortner.
For more information on how to avoid temperature tug-a-wars at home, conserve energy and save
money, visit www.hallmark-ac.com or Hallmark’s parent company, Direct Energy at www.directenergy.
com.
About Hallmark Air Conditioning & Heating
Hallmark Air Conditioning & Heating has been serving the Houston area since 1967. As a division of
Direct Energy, one of North America's largest energy and energy-related services providers with over 5
million residential and commercial customer relationships, Hallmark provides Houston residents with
the strength of a nationwide company and the customer satisfaction you expect from your local HVAC
service provider.
________________________________________________________________________________
Barhorst Insurance Group
Rian Beaudoin
Planning Ahead for Disaster - Taking a Home Inventory
The Houston area is vulnerable to hurricanes, severe storms, and flooding. One can
never know when disaster may strike, but you can plan ahead and be prepared. One way
to do this is to take a home inventory - a room-by-room inventory of your personal
belongings to help prepare you and your family for a potential disaster.
As stated by the Insurance Information Institute, an up-to-date home inventory will allow
you to purchase enough insurance to replace the things you own, get your insurance
claims settled faster, and substantiate losses for your income tax return.
First, decide on a way to make an inventory that works for you (ex: by room, by category,
by price, etc.). Next, make your inventory list. There are several ways to do this. You
could write everything down in a notebook, take pictures and write information on the back
of the photos, or save it on your computer - whichever works best for you. “Before photos”
are always good to have because they can be compared to the “after photos” in order to
assess damages. If possible, keep your receipts and note the cost, when it was
purchased, and any other necessary information. Items such as CD’s, pots and pans,
books, etc. can be grouped together and assigned a general estimate rather than
individual documentation. Some items, such as jewelry and art, may require separate
insurance (aside from Homeowner’s Insurance), so be aware of which items are and are
not covered. Lastly, don’t forget to keep your list updated as you acquire
items.
Be sure to store a copy of your inventory in a safe place outside of the home. You will want
to give a copy of this list to your insurance agent if your home is damaged.
_____________________________________________________________________
The BugStoppers Termite & Pest Control
Olen Youngblood
Bugs and the Hot Summer
This time of the year brings a lot of insects to our homes and yards. The hot summer temperatures can
encourage chinch bugs to damage your lush green lawn. This pest is commonly found in our St.
Augustine grassy areas throughout Texas, but can also frequent Bermuda grass Fescue, and Zoysia
grass. The damage done by this pest looks like irregular patches of dead grass that is surrounded by a
yellowish color that increases in size. This tends to occur in very sunny areas of the turf grass as well as
a dry, high spot of the lawn. However, this should not be confused with heat stress from a lack of
watering or certain other lawn diseases.
Chinch Bugs are controlled by watering and treating with insecticides labeled specifically for Chinch Bug
Control. It is important when applying insecticides, to always follow labeled precautions and directions.
Never over use or misuse insecticides. Additionally, be careful not to fertilize too much during the
summer. Over fertilizing contributes to more lawn cuttings – “thatch” - which makes lawns more
attractive to the pests. Finally, 3 to 4 pounds of nitrogen per 1000 sq. ft. should be applied each year to
turf grasses such as St. Augustine.
Chinch Bugs are small and slender, 1/16 to 1/5 of an inch long. Their bodies are black and they have
wings with triangular markings on them. They are most easily found at night at the edge of the yellowing
“damaged” area. In Texas, Chinch Bugs are inactive in the winter. When the warm spring weather
starts, female Chinch Bugs start to reproduce. In favorable conditions, the female can deposit more that
200 eggs which will hatch in 2 to 3 weeks. Their complete life cycle is 7 to 8 weeks with generations
overlapping each other.
CONTINUE TO PAGE 2 --->
DoubleDave's Pizzaworks Bob Sudkamp *COUPON* Are you looking for a spot for your next team party, birthday party or group event? DoubleDave's Pizzaworks, located at 1660 South Mason (corner of Highland Knolls), can be your event location. Our party room can accommodate a large group of people. We have a wide assortment of games for the kids to play while enjoying our specialty pizzas like our Veggie, Buffalo Chicken, The Works, Barbecue Chicken and our Meateaters along with our famous Peproni rolls, Stromboli an assortment of desserts and a our Texas sized salad bar. DoubleDave's offers dine in, pick up, delivery and can cater your next event. Give us a try! We can be reached at 281-391-3283. *Bring this add in for $1 off your next order. |
Check A Pro Radio Show Check A Pro Radio is sponsored by CHECK A PRO. Learn more at www.checkapro.com.