Photo: applewoodfixit.com

As you ready your house for the colder months ahead, don’t forget about your water system. When water freezes, it expands. So if the temperature of your pipes drops below 32 degrees, even for a short period, you run the risk of a pipe fracture or worse. Take the following precautions now to avoid a major headache later.

Inside Your Home
Anywhere cold air blows on a pipe, it creates the potential for freezing. To make sure your pipes are well-insulated, close crawl space vents and stuff insulation over the openings. Even a tiny hole can let a lot of cold air blow in; make sure you fill in all the cracks.

A bathroom or laundry room located above or next to a garage can be particularly vulnerable, so keep the garage door closed to maintain maximum heat.

If your bathroom pipes run along an outside exterior wall, try keeping the vanity door(s) open to allow heat inside. If you’re anticipating a deep freeze, consider using a fan to help circulate the air near the pipes, or purchase a small space heater for some extra temporary heat.

Finally, never turn off the heat when you leave home during the winter. Instead, set the temperature to at least 55 degrees F (higher if you’ve had problems in the past or live in an area of extreme cold). If you have multiple heat zones, be sure to adjust all thermostats appropriately.

Photo: macplumbingutah.net

Outside Your Home
Disconnect and store garden hoses. If your home has a separate shut-off for external faucets, turn it off and drain the water from those faucets.

Turn off and drain sprinkler systems. You may want to call in a professional company to blow out any leftover water in the underground lines. A broken sprinkler pipe can do damage to the delicate components that make up the entire system, increasing the cost of repair.

Know where your main waterline shut-off is before problems arise. Depending on the age of your house, it can be inside a garage, basement or laundry room, or underground in your yard. After turning the water off, turn on faucets to allow the water to drain and release the pressure in your pipes.

Signs You Have Frozen Pipes
• You turn on the faucet but nothing comes out. Look in the most likely places and use the techniques listed above to gently thaw the area. Whatever you do, do not use a blowtorch to warm up a frozen pipe. Many homes have been set on fire this way.

• The water is turned off but you hear rushing water running anyway. This could be a sign that you have a leak somewhere. You should turn off the water lines immediately and investigate.

For more on winterizing, consider:

Winterize on a Budget
Quick Tip: Winterize Your Home
Winterizing Your Patio Furniture

Everything You Need to Know About Winterizing Pipes Home Improvement, Home Remodeling & Home Repair - BobVila.com

Photo: Get More Curb Appeal

Boldly colored mums on porches or planted in garden beds are wonderful harbingers of fall, going hand in hand with that nip in the air, the turning leaves, and the children in their back-to-school clothes.

Unlike mums found in a florist’s shop, garden mums prefer cooler temperatures and continue blooming well into fall. Buyers should be aware that while mums may be on our minds right now, this time of year is not ideal for planting.

Slideshow: 10 Low-Maintenance Mums

“Mums have two cycles, reproductive (flowering) and vegetative. They are vegetative when days are long and reproductive when days are short,” says Ray Gray of King’s Mums in Oregon City, OR. “We only sell our plants in the spring (March through June), when they are in their vegetative cycle. This ensures that they will be vigorously developing new roots and be in good condition to survive over the winter.” If you want your mums to act like the perennials they are, spring planting offers better conditions.

Bluestone Perennials' Mum Homecoming

Still, if you didn’t think ahead last spring, you may still have a shot at coaxing these beauties into returning next year. First, buy your mums from a nursery or independent garden center, as the varieties sold in grocery stores and flower shops are usually not hardy enough to withstand winter. Plant your mums in a sunny spot away from artificial lights and give them lots of water, especially right after planting. Good soil drainage is important; mums will not thrive in soggy soil.

The mums should bloom through the fall until a hard freeze. Deadheading the spent blooms will encourage new ones to flourish. Insulate mums for colder weather by spreading a couple of inches of mulch or straw over the beds, but be sure to remove it in late winter so you don’t inhibit the plant’s springtime growth.

“My understanding is that the problem with mums in the winter is being wet, not cold,” says Jan Pavlinak of Bluestone Perennials. Too much mulch will hold in moisture, which “blocks the plant instead of protecting it.” Pavlinak suggests going easy on the mulch and making sure to leave the crown of the plant open (or very thinly covered).

If all of this sounds like a lot of work on a gamble to you, there is yet another option available: Buy your mums where and when the mood strikes, enjoy them for the season, then say goodbye.

For info on on the growing habits and care requirements of some of our favorite varieties, don’t miss 10 Low-Maintenance Mums.

For more on fall gardening, consider:

How To: Mulch Your Flower Beds
18 Ways to Color Your Garden This Fall
8 Disease-Resistant Apple Tree Varieties

Mums: Hardy, Colorful, and Fall-tastic! Home Improvement, Home Remodeling & Home Repair - BobVila.com

Cleaning your painted walls may seem like a daunting task, but it’s actually quite simple (though somewhat time-consuming). Whether you’re doing regular yearly cleaning or hoping to say goodbye to a stain, the first step in cleaning your walls is to assess what type of paint you have. Semi-gloss and glossy enamel paints tend to stand up best to washing. Flat, satin, and eggshell latex paints, on the other hand, may fade or rub off with overly abrasive cleaning.

Regardless of paint type, regular dusting is in order. Before you do any washing, run the dust brush attachment of your vacuum over ceilings and walls. Often, this is enough wall-cleaning for the year.

Stains and smudges require a bit more elbow grease. Before diving in, test a patch of wall in an unobtrusive area with your intended cleaning solution. If the paint still looks bright and there are no water marks left after drying, you’re good to go. Otherwise proceed with caution. A sloppy attempt could make things look worse than before you started. If you know from the outset that you have flat or eggshell latex paint and the patch test doesn’t go well, consider instead a fresh coat of paint or professional cleaning.

If no water marks remain after drying and the paint holds up well, it’s time to choose which cleaning solution is best for your needs. To preserve the quality of your paint job, always start with the gentlest materials possible—in this case, water on a cellulose sponge. Step it up a notch, if necessary, with a mixture of warm water and mild detergent soap.

If that still doesn’t seem like enough firepower, try experimenting with other homemade solutions, such as 1 cup ammonia, 1/2 cup vinegar, and 1/4 cup baking soda to one gallon of warm water.

For spot-cleaning, try a paste of baking soda and water gently rubbed over the stain, then rinsed with clean water and dried with a soft cloth.

You may want to lay towels, newspaper, or another absorbent material on the floor under your workspace to catch drips. Also, wear rubber gloves to avoid dirty water dripping down your arms. Begin at the top of the wall and work your way down, alternating between the wet, soapy sponge and a wet, clear sponge to rinse; each sponge should have its own bucket. Rinsing with clean water is essential to ensure that dirt and grime won’t cling to soapy residue; do not skip this step.

Rub in a gentle, circular motion to avoid damaging paint and make sure to wring out the sponges well to avoid drips. Work in sections, and once you’ve completed a section, dry the area with a clean, soft cloth.

For particularly hard-to-remove stains (e.g., grease splatters on kitchen walls), try a specialty product like Siege Premium Kitchen Degreaser, a solvent-free degreaser. The Mr. Clean Magic Eraser is a good bet for removing crayon and fingerprints, making it an especially useful product for homes with children.

For more on house cleaning and maintenance, consider:

How To: Clean Power Tools
Top Tips for Keeping Countertops Like New
Bob Vila Radio: Maintenance Checklist

How To: Clean Painted Walls Home Improvement, Home Remodeling & Home Repair - BobVila.com

The common privet. Photo Courtesy: Villagewalkbonita.com

Whether you’re looking to create a privacy enclosure, windbreak, or wildlife deterrent, or simply bring some traditional appeal to your outdoor space, hedgerows are a versatile, beautiful addition to any garden. Although commonly used in reference to any type of hedgerow, “privets” are actually a specific type of plant; members of the genus Ligustrum that includes about 40-50 species of evergreen, semi-evergreen, and deciduous shrubs and small trees. While actual privets do the job beautifully, hedgerows can be created from a variety of plants, offering an option to fit any purpose and style.

Due to the large array available, choosing which plant to use in your hedgerow might seem daunting at first. Your goal, however, should help you determine the best plant for the job. Here are a few to consider, depending on your aims. You don’t have to choose just one; alternating two or more types of plants can create a pleasing display of color and texture.

Privacy

Arborvitae. Photo: Aces.edu

Tallhedge, privet, boxwood, and arborvitae work well for creating a living visual shield. These types, which can be made to look “wall-like” offer traditional, European appeal. Privet, in particular, is very hearty and can grow in most types of soil. It retains its foliage almost all winter long.

Windbreak

Hybrid Willows. Photo: Daves Garden

Though technically trees, hybrid willows and poplars are both excellent windbreakers. Depending on how you prune them, they can appear as more of a shrub than a tree. Leave the lower limbs on for more privacy.

To dissuade wildlife intruders

Variegated Holly. Photo: Shutterstock

Anything with thorns or prickles will help deter grazers, such as deer, from your property. Hedge roses, holly, and blackthorn are all effective, and beautiful, choices.

Flowering 

Forsythia in Spring. Photo: Conservation Garden Park

Rose of Sharon, azalea, spirea, forsythia, and lilac are all suitable as hedgerows with the added benefits of beautiful blooms come spring.

How-To
Buy hedging plants either in soil, or bare root. If purchased in soil, the plant can be put in the ground either in the fall or the spring. Dormant (bare root) plants must be planted in spring.

First, measure and stretch a line of twine or rope to make sure you’re planting in a straight “row.” Dig a trench, and set the plants in it. For a privet hedge, aim for a foot-deep trench with about a foot between plants. Pay attention to what you are planting: some bushes will have different root depths or may need more spacing in between. You should be able to tell how deep to plant by looking at the stem poles of your plants.

Once you’ve got them in the ground, spread the roots out and distribute the soil over them, making sure not to pack the soil too hard. Soak the roots with water. It is a good idea to prune your hedges severely at planting time to stimulate growth if they have been dormant. Doing so will give you denser growth, too.

Before you begin work on your hedgerow, make sure to research the particular plant you choose to use, as every variety requires different care and pruning. If you give your hedgerow the water, fertilizer, and pruning it needs, it will reward you with years of beauty and elegance.

For more related content:

Landscaping Made Easy
Boxwood: Maintaining Structure in Your Garden
Creating Privacy Through Landscaping

Creating Privacy and Beauty with Hedgerows Home Improvement, Home Remodeling & Home Repair - BobVila.com

Photo: Apartment Therapy

Before hanging anything, it’s important to find out what your wall is made of. Ideally, you should attach floating shelves (or anything else you’re hanging) to a wall stud, as this will give you the most supportive base for your project. A stud finder—a hand-held device that uses a magnet to detect metal, such as the nails and screws in the wall studs of your home—can help you locate these.

But what if you want to hang a shelf in a spot with no stud? First, check to see if your wall is made of drywall or plaster. To do this, simply knock with a light fist against the wall. If it sounds hollow, it’s drywall. Not hollow? Probably plaster. Another test is to see how readily a nail goes through. If it slides right in, you’ve got drywall. If it takes a few more taps, then you’ve either got plaster or have found a wall stud (tapping around the sides of the hard area will help you determine which). Knowing the type of wall you’re working with will help you decide what kind of hardware is necessary for your project.

If you’re going to be attaching your floating shelf and bracket to a wall stud, you do not need any anchors. If you are working with plaster or drywall, however, additional support is necessary. Wall anchors, also called molly plugs, will help you build a sturdy foundation for your shelf. Regular hollow wall anchors are fine for plaster; for drywall you will need butterfly or toggle anchors. Before deciding which anchors to buy, consider what you want your shelves to hold. Anchors are rated for how much weight they can support, but to be safe, it’s best to stay on the low end of an anchor’s max weight rating.

Illustration: Gabriel Silveira for Popular Mechanics

MATERIALS AND TOOLS
Shelf and bracket
Stud finder (optional)
Wall anchors
Screws
Handheld Electric Drill
Screwdriver
Level
Tape measure

DIRECTIONS

1. Measure and mark the spaces on the wall (on both ends) of where you want the shelf to go.

2. Using a level, draw a discreet line in pencil across the wall to ensure that your shelf will sit straight.

3. Use the hand drill to drill pilot holes into the wall for the anchors.

4. Insert hollow anchors into the holes, following specific directions on the package.

5. Align your bracket with the anchor-filled pilot holes. Using a regular screw driver, attach the bracket to the wall by screwing into the anchors.

6. Slide shelf onto bracket.

Photo: Ana White

For more on storage and wall hangings, consider:

Drywall 101
How To: Find a Wall Stud
5 Creative Alternatives to Kitchen Cabinetry

How To: Install Floating Shelves Home Improvement, Home Remodeling & Home Repair - BobVila.com