Building Home & Remodeling Show this weekend

That's right the Building Home & Remodeling Show is this weekend, running from today 3/7 - 3/9 with gates opening at 1pm today in the South Hall. It is hosted by the Huntsville Madison County Builders Association.

Admission to the event is $8 for Adults, $6 for Senior Citizens, and Free for children 12 and under.

There will be many Exhibits and Sponsors for this event with additional seminars at set times throughout the weekend. There are coupons, offers, and even a discount at the Building Home & Remodeling Show website. There may also be a coupon on the site available for $1 off admission, as of 9.47am today (3/7/14), the coupon is still there.

So go for the hints, tips, and education as well as greet new companies to help your home and landscape look the best.

Huntsville Metro Area Homes

Post-Snowstorm & Time to think about Landscaping

Its now post-snowstorm and all the heavy snow has quickly melted off the trees and most areas that had sun.  However, shaded areas are still strewn with snow patches and ice clumps.  But there is a warm-up coming so whatever is left won't be around for that long.  Hopefully everyone had fun while it lasted.

Its mid February, which means its the perfect time to start thinking of Landscaping.  Maybe not physically doing it, but thinking about how you want everything laid out.  What colors, materials, and plants to put in.  Everyone's starting to think of Spring, and March is quickly approaching.  At that point all the best plants will be going quick as some people are buying up all the ingredients for their yards for they did their planning ahead of time.  Ideas for landscaping can come from everywhere and anywhere.  And if you want to ask your local nursery what looks good with plants and materials go ahead and ask them, they don't mind helping you out.  Major nurseries include Bennett on North Parkway, Earthtouch on Whitesburg, and Reseda on 72 West. Be sure to check them out and if you know of any other ones just add your comment so that others can see it.  And remember don't procrastinate or your favorite plants or pavers may be gone.

Huntsville Metro Area Homes

Landscaping, Mortgage News, and a Link

Landscaping is a tool to accentuate the home, not hide it among a jungle of assorted plants, flowers, and overgrown herbi-monsters.

Good landscaping can always be seen right off the bat.  It can provide a soft touch to ease the rigid house exterior, or it can be used to push the voice that this house is of some importance with a bordered driveway, or guided walkway to the front door.

How your landscaping is shaped, flows, and whats in it says much about you and your home.  Do you have many holly bushes adjoining the front porch warning people to stay away?  Or do you have lambs ears giving a welcoming feeling to your guests?

Remember minimal landscaping is much better than an overdone circus of a yard.  There's one just off of South Parkway that screams for a vendor to be selling cotton candy.

Quick Excellent Reminder of Landscaping Mistakes by HGTV.

Mortgage News:  Word is coming from Phoenix where President Obama will speak about restructuring Freddy Mac & Fannie Mae or possibly shuttering them altogether.  These nationalized companies still hold a large amount of mortgages as well as foreclosures. This brings the big question: mortgages might be easier to unload but how will the current foreclosures they have on their books be moved out when they use a system of local agents to handle the marketing of the properties.  Not many private companies will want to jump and accept the responsibilities of foreclosures with the maintenance that comes with it, but if no takers will this be passed off to each of the states for more local control?  Just a question that remains unanswered for now.

Link to Popular Mechanics Strange Homes.

Today's Tidbit:  Use times of constant and heavy rains to check for roof and garage leaks in walls and ceilings.

Huntsville Metro Area Homes

Cleaning up after rains, winds, and storms...

After a few weeks of very busy activity in and outside the office, its time for a new post and a few pictures of last nights angry lightning storm.  This of course coming after the heels of what seems like a week and half of constant rain.

These fantastic photos were taken by WHNT's Mike Wilhelm.

After heavy rains and some winds its possible that some branches or limbs may fall.  Now it is best to make sure its cleaned up and moved towards where the city can pick up.  If left alone, multiple problems may ensue.  If the limbs are heavy and there has been a good deal of rain, you could be soon finding that the ground has become sunken in with the weight on top.  Experience shows that it only takes the smallest amount of dropped weight to make an impact on the looks of the yard for the dent in the ground to be easily seen.  Leaving the debris unattended can also provide a home for may insects including ants, termites, wasps, and spiders.  Never a good combination anytime as soon they could spread to the house.  After more rains come, moss and mold can build up on the debris itself and also harbor decaying rot.  This rot is always clearly evident by the deep musty smell.  Also check for mushrooms, their growth is an indication of decay.

Remember get rid of the problem before it starts!

Today's Tidbit: If you have wood piles of lumber make sure they're out in the open for easy drying after rains. Never keep them leaning against the house, and keep up with them so there are no insects setting up a colony in the dark places where you can't see.  Keep it tidy!

Huntsville Metro Area Homes

Out Helping in the Huntsville Community!

This is an exciting week in the Keller Williams community.  Today and pretty much the entire week, we're celebrating KW Cares/Red Day.  This is where agents and teams go out in the community to build, clean up, and donate.  If you see people in red KW Cares shirts doing any of these activities, you know they're part of the Keller Williams family giving up their time to help the community.

The Carol Jacobs Team will be out in neighborhoods as well.  We will be mainly focusing on cleaning up any storm and rain debris, help with landscaping, and working with gardens to get them back up and running after the flooding some of them took.

Other events the KW Huntsville agents are working are Burritt Museum, Women at the Well, Casa Garden, Hope Place, and Head Start Reading.

Today's Tidbit:  The Life South Blood Mobile came by yesterday and many agents around the office gave blood.  The bus was surprisingly large.  The team never has seen it up close before as it came in right before noon.

Huntsville Metro Area Homes

Quick Household Tips

We had a lot of fun at Panoply.  The great artwork, the AMC Materiel Band, and the food were all terrific.  The fireworks weren't bad either with the lightning show behind it.  Today we decided to just go through a few household hints that we have learned and a few that few found online.  We've only tested out a few of these, so test them at your own risk.

After touching garlic, rubbing your hands on stainless steel gets rid of the garlic smell.  No doubt this has something to do with the ions in the stainless steel?

Keeping a sheet of fabric softener with you will keep away mosquitoes.

Ants can't digest grits/polenta so spread a few around ant holes and they'll come and try to eat it.

Don't rub dirty windows, the dust and build up could scratch the glass.  Use a wet/damp rag and wipe instead.

On wood floors never use ammonia cleaners, and always keep your potted plants in protectors.  The moisture from underneath the pots can damage the wood just like the ammonia.

Having fresh peppermint will keep mice out of the area.

Use toothpaste on foggy car headlights.

Never cut grass to below 1.5 inches, below that and there's a high risk the grass will burn and die.

Pour boiling salt water on weeds in cracks to kill them.

On window box flowers place a layer of gravel on top of the soil to prevent soil splattering everywhere during heavy rains.

Huntsville Metro Area Homes

A Quick Note on Sunrooms & Greenhouses

Today we do a short and quick chat on Sunrooms and Greenhouses.  We took a little from our own experiences and some from our staff research.

(Photo from HGTV)

The definition of a sunroom is a normal insulated room with many windows and skylights held together in a structure that can be made of aluminum, metal, vinyl, or wood.  The professionally installed sunroom has the biggest return on investment in the West and in the South.  These rooms are also known as Florida rooms, they are year-round rooms usually with skylights, energy-efficient windows, tile flooring and heating/air-conditioning.   True sunrooms have at least four hours of sun per day. Sunrooms that are constructed well and decorated nicely usually become gathering places for the family and are usually found off the kitchen or living or great rooms. Not many people realize, but the structure option and window option drastically changes how the sunroom will end up.  With the structure, as stated earlier, people have a choice of vinyl, aluminum, clad, or wood with a window choice consisting of single pane, double pane, triple pane, Low E,  Argon gas filled panes and tempered glass.  The structure and window choices made will serve as to what type of sunroom it will be.  Information and Designs can be found at Better Homes and Gardens, HGTV, and Wikipedia (for quick info).

(Photo from HGTV)

Greenhouse.  The word makes the mind burst with images of the top gardener, wonderful plants, and yearlong vegetables.  The truth is it comes with a commitment to time, money, space, and a large dose of responsibility.  Now the people that have greenhouses have a large number of abilities and choices to make. They have the ability to have seedlings grow, winterize their plants until the last freeze is over, and constant growth for the year-long haul of vegetables and flowers.  However, the choices are just as many as the sunrooms above.  Where some come in large greenhouses, others small, then either freestanding or connected to the side of a house.  Then comes material questions, if they want glass plating or plastic but there is also flexible plastic which can be relocated and put up and down depending on the season of the owner's wishes.   The accessories that the owner must consider purchasing include ventilation, heating & cooling, mist and fog systems, shade covers, and possible lighting systems which may affect certain plants.  On the subject of ventilation, there multiple ways of getting air in and out of the greenhouse.  You can have an exhaust fan, intake shutters, and exhaust shutters, and roofing vents (manual or electrical), electronically controlled ventilation as well as ventilation in general will provide fresh air, prevent pest infestation, and encourage pollination.  However, unventilated greenhouses have the capability of harboring viruses within.  Air that is stagnated is makes for a strong breeding environment for viruses.  Greenhouses usually have a high depreciation.  Usually for home resale it goes along with property at no value. Tyler Matteson of Grower Talks magazine said "A greenhouse is strange hybrid, it looks like a building,  for tax purposes it is a fixture, and for evaluation purposes it is like a tool. And according to Tyler, the IRS takes off 100% of the book value of the asset.  The best thing to know about Greenhouses is that it can be expensive, you need time, a sense of responsibility, and be able to do upkeep.  HGTV has a good write up on Greenhouses.

Sunrooms and Greenhouses provide a bit of glamour into the homes.  Both come with their own style and uniqueness, but both also come with the thought that like everything else in the house, it will need upkeep.

Huntsville Metro Area Homes

Madison School Rezoning, Local Events, and Inside Plants

Today's post is not big by any means.  We're just going to talk about Madison Elementary Schools rezoned for next year.  Weekend events on tap.  And Inside Plants.  The last two topic were posts by one local Huntsville native and one by a national real estate website.

Yesterday, the Madison City Alabama school board 5-0 unanimously passed the new elementary school rezoning proposal.  This elementary school map is what the board approved of.  I have linked to it.  It is in PDF format so you will be able to zoom in for a closer look.  This will be for the school year beginning fall 2013-2014.  Its not the best looking organized creature, but it is what it is.  On the Madison City Schools website there is also information about waivers in specific cases.

Rocket City Mom has put together a great run through of this weekend's events.  Make sure you check it out!

Maria Salova wrote an article on Homes.com about inside plants for homes and apartments.  The article is both informative and intriguing as it shows ways to add style to simple plants.

Today's Tidbit:  The weather is supposed to be fantastic this weekend, mid 70s.  This is a perfect opportunity to get things done.  Normally we don't get beautiful back to back days without something interfering with it.  Either we get rain somewhere in between, or a controlled burn to our West which then blows over the city ( like the last great weekend ).  Let's hope we have a great weekend!

Huntsville Metro Area Homes

A Few Events for Spring 2013 in Huntsville, Alabama

With the city waking up from the Winter doldrums, there are many events on tap for the Spring.  Our team usually hits the field with so many events to visit.  Some below are charged admission and some are free.  If you do not see something you know of that is happening during Spring be sure to add it to the comments section below for others to see!

Huntsville Museum of Art: Rock and Roll Photography
3/01/2013 - 03/31/2013
Phone for information: (256) 535-4350

The Heart of Dixie Orchid Society's annual show & sale
Wednesday, March 20 and Thursday, March 21 from 9 AM - 5 PM in the Huntsville Botanical Garden's Boeing Education Room.
More information at 256-230-5932

Easter Egg Hunt at Fleet Feet Sports:
Thursday, March 21, 2013, 5:30 PM – 7:30 PM. Fleet Feet 2722 Carl T Jones Dr SE Huntsville, AL 35802

American Freedom Festival Concert
At VBC Arena
March 22, 7.30PM
Phone: (256) 533-1953

Local Artist Market:
Local Artists will be selling their creations to the public.
Lowe Mill ARTS & Entertainment.
Saturday, March 23, 2013, 12:00 PM – 4:00 PM

US Space & Rocket Center Easter Egg & Meteorite Hunt:
Registration is required by March 19. Check in at Shuttle Park (the gate near the Space Shuttle; not the Davidson Center)
AGE GROUPS:    
2-3 years old/ CHECK IN AT 10 a.m.          
4-6 years old/ CHECK IN AT 10:30 a.m.        
7-8 years old/ CHECK IN AT 11 a.m.                              
ADMISSION: Admission to Egg and Meteorite Hunt is $5 per child.
Saturday, March 23, 2013, 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM.
US Space & Rocket Center Easter Egg & Meteorite Hunt Page


An Evening w/ Garrison Keeler
At Von Braun Center Mark C. Smith Concert Hall.
Sunday, March 24, 2013, 3:00 PM – 5:00 PM
Broadway Theater League

Huntsville Botanical Gardens - Spring Festival of Flowers
Sunday March 31, 2013 - Tuesday April 30, 2013
Spring Plant Sale:

Members sale: April 18, 10 a.m.-7 p.m.;
Public Sale: April 19 & 20, 9 a.m.-6 p.m.; April 21. 12-5 p.m.



FREE Walking Tour of Historic Huntsville
4/06/2013, 10:00 AM
Address: Depart from Alabama Constitution Village on Gates Street Huntsville, AL 35801
Phone: (256) 533-5723


Panoply Arts Festival
4/26/2013 - 04/28/2013
Fri. 5-9 PM, Sat. 10 AM-9 PM & Sun. Noon-8
Address: Big Spring Park, Downtown Huntsville, AL 35801
Phone: (256) 519-2787

Today's Tidbit:  If you don't see any event that interests you here, you can go online, talk to friends and family or just walk around the neighborhood to find new activities or events, somewhere along the line something will peak your interest and remember to enjoy the new season!

Huntsville Metro Area Homes