www.thisoldhouse.com got this unique article readily available and its loaded with fun facts and interesting ideas for windows.<\/p>\n
This article appeared in the Summer 2022 issue of This Old House Magazine. Click here to learn how to subscribe.<\/p>\n
From pest control to deck maintenance, follow these simple tips to keep your home and its yard up to par this summer.<\/p>\n
Whenever you clean aluminum storm windows<\/a>, give their metal frames extra attention\u2014especially if they\u2019re old and oxidized\u2014to ensure they slide freely. Remove the storms, and vacuum the tracks and around the sill. Then lightly coat the tracks and spring-loaded locking tabs with a silicone lubricant spray such as B\u2019laster (blasterproducts.com). Clean and dry the glass as usual, then pop the storms back in.<\/p>\n Courtesy Rob Sullivan\/Cobra Pest Control<\/p>\n<\/div>\n These damaging insects may resemble bumblebees, but they bore into wood to lay their eggs in \u00bd-inch diameter tunnels. Wood decks, siding, window trim, and fascia boards are among their favorite nesting spots. The tunnels can let in water and, in extreme infestations, weaken the wood. See signs of damage? Spray the wood with citrus or almond oil to repel the bees. Treat active tunnels with pyrethrum, a natural insecticide, then slather wood filler into the holes.<\/p>\n White or gray stains on brick or stone walls and walkways are efflorescence, waterborne salts that leach out of wet masonry and are left behind once the water evaporates. Treat the deposits with a 1-to-4 solution of white vinegar and water. <\/p>\n Wait for a warm, dry day to spray the solution on the stains, then scour them away with a stiff-bristled brush. Rinse with fresh water. To prevent efflorescence from returning, coat masonry surfaces with a penetrating sealer containing siloxane or silane.<\/p>\n Holes in your screens? Here\u2019s how to patch them yourself. <\/p>\n Left: Courtesy Phifer Incorporated Right: Courtesy Screenmend<\/p>\n For metal screening:<\/strong><\/p>\n For fiberglass screens:<\/strong><\/p>\n When compromised gutters send water next to the foundation, it can enter the basement, cause a mortared foundation to deteriorate, or even trigger soil to expand and crack poured foundation walls. <\/p>\n It\u2019s easy to stop gutter leaks: Wait for dry weather, clean the gutter\u2019s interior at the drip points, and then plug them from the inside with caulk or tape. Butyl rubber caulk is a good choice; it adheres well in hot or cold weather and creates a watertight seal that flexes as the metal expands and contracts. (Avoid silicone caulks; they\u2019re not repairable.) <\/p>\n Or use a super-sticky UV-resistant membrane, like Gorilla Waterproof Patch & Seal Tape. It bonds instantly; there\u2019s no wait for it to cure.<\/p>\n Jaclyn Southby\/Edgewater Design Group<\/p>\n A wood deck\u2019s finish will inevitably wear away in high-traffic areas, but you don\u2019t have to refinish the entire surface to protect the wood from sun and water\u2014just give it a touch-up. First, see if the spot will accept a new finish by dribbling some water on it. <\/p>\n Dreamstime<\/p>\n<\/div>\n If the wood absorbs it within a minute, it\u2019s ready. When the wood is dry, use a random-orbit sander to take only the worn boards down to bright wood, as shown. On boards with both worn and unworn wood, sand-worn areas as above, but at the border between the sanded and intact finish, give the intact finish a light scuff sanding an inch or two past this boundary. <\/p>\n Sweep and wipe away any sanding dust to leave a clean surface. Using a brush that\u2019s the same width as the deck board, apply a coat of fresh finish to each of the sanded boards. Lap finish onto the scuffed boards to make the scuffing disappear, but keep finish off unscuffed decking. Allow it to dry and add another coat if needed. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n The above post was first published on this site<\/a>.<\/p>\n Hope you valued the info that they provided. Leave me your reaction down below, write a quick comment and let us know which subjects you would like us to cover in up coming blog posts.<\/p>\n Similar content can be found on our main site: surewindows.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" www.thisoldhouse.com got this unique article readily available and its loaded with fun facts and interesting ideas for windows. This article appeared in the Summer 2022 issue of This Old House Magazine. Click here to learn how to subscribe. From pest control to deck maintenance, follow these simple tips to keep your home and its yard … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":396,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[26,28,15,16,17,13,11,12,14,22,21,8,27,19,10,32,31,30,29,33,6,18,9,35,20,23,24,7,34,25],"class_list":["post-395","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-replacement-windows","tag-aluminum-windows","tag-andersen","tag-awning-windows","tag-bay-windows","tag-bow-windows","tag-casement-windows","tag-commercial-windows","tag-custom-windows","tag-double-hung-windows","tag-double-pane-windows","tag-egress-windows","tag-energy-efficient-windows","tag-fiberglass-windows","tag-french-windows","tag-house-windows","tag-jeld-wen","tag-marvin","tag-milgard","tag-pella","tag-ply-gem","tag-replacement-windows","tag-round-windows","tag-storm-windows","tag-sunrise-windows","tag-transom-windows","tag-triple-pane-windows","tag-vinyl-windows","tag-window-installation","tag-windsor","tag-wood-windows"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/surewindows.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/395","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/surewindows.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/surewindows.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/surewindows.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/surewindows.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=395"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/surewindows.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/395\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/surewindows.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/396"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/surewindows.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=395"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/surewindows.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=395"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/surewindows.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=395"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Halt carpenter bees<\/h3>\n
Get rid of whitish streaks on masonry <\/h3>\n
Keep bugs at bay<\/h3>\n
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Seal leaking gutters <\/h3>\n
Spot-finish worn wood decking<\/h3>\n