Spotlight on: Cedar County Landscaping, Inc

Here in the Pacific Northwest, we are surrounded by beautiful landscapes and scenery. In Fact, Western Washington is known for its endless forests and fields of green. With the beauty that surrounds us, it’s no wonder we have a high regard for an appealing landscape. For those who desire a well-kept lawn all year round, we recommend Cedar County Landscaping, Inc.

Founded in 1995 initially as a one-man operation, Cedar County Landscaping has grown from a gifted passion into a flourishing business. Founder and President Jason Anderson has been the life of the company from the beginning. His experience as a lawn service specialist and a landscaper has allowed him to bring only the best employees on board to work with him. Always well-trained, professional, courteous, and safety-conscious, the staff of Cedar County Landscaping is among the best.

But what’s the big deal? Can’t any landscaper keep a lawn green? Maybe, but Cedar County Landscaping brings an innovative and imaginative edge to the table that few can match. As a homeowner or commercial property owner, your role is to dream. Every property owner has a unique dream, and a unique property. Cedar County Landscaping has the expertise needed to transform your property into your dream, in a beautiful and functional way. This applies to new construction, remodels, and upkeep on current landscapes.

Homeowners aren’t the only ones that work with Cedar County Landscaping, though! In a professional environment, making a good first impression is crucial. Cedar County Landscaping handles the year-round maintenance for commercial landscaping also. No matter what time of year, or what mood the weather is in, your property should look clean, and professionally maintained.

From new construction, to yard maintenance, and surrounding jobs such as walkways, rockeries, walls, and water systems, Cedar County Landscaping is a confident choice for both the homeowner and commercial property owner. Your yard is your first impression, so won’t you put it in the hands of the best?

At Responsible Contractors, we aim to bring you the best in each industry. We are proud to recommend Cedar County Landscaping for all your landscaping needs. To read more about them, as well as visit other contractors we recommend, visit us online atresponsiblecontractors.com.

Home Improvement in the Winter

While the freezing nights seem to be behind us, the days are still cold and wet. Washingtonians are accustomed to the rain, especially during the colder months, but it still has a way of keeping us indoors. It’s normal to develop a degree of cabin fever, daydreaming of warmer weather, even looking forward to spring cleaning. You may be excited to hear that there are home improvement projects that are friendly to this season!

1. Get Organized

We know, that’s what spring cleaning is suppose to be for. But you can actually get a jump on spring cleaning by doing internal organizing during the winter. That way when spring rolls around you’ll be able to clean more deeply, rather than spend extra time organizing your clutter. For those of us with New Year’s Resolutions that involve being more organized or productive, this is also a great chance to act on those resolutions. Consider investing in a new closet-organization system, and get rid of old clutter in the process. You might breath easier when your house feels more put together!

2) Plan for Summer

It’s true that most remodels are best done when dry. However, this is the ideal time to start planning. From choosing a contractor, to budgeting for the year and re-designing, there’s a lot of planning that goes into a renovation. If you start now, you will afford yourself time to look at more options, weigh more choices, and make more informed decisions. You’ll want to start construction when summer comes, so start preparing now!

3) Make Minor Design Upgrades

Not all of us are able to do large scale remodels on a consistent basis. But there are design changes that will keep your home feeling fresh and delightful! This time of year, if you’re fighting cabin fever, think about small upgrades you can make. Change out your light fixtures and bulbs, purchase a new appliance, paint an accent wall, or replace your window coverings! These are just a few ideas that can be a small step towards a big change. Don’t let the cold, dark nights make your home feel dark!

4) Get an Energy Audit

If you were shocked energy bills the last couple months, you aren’t alone. The days are shorter and colder, and the lights are on longer, and the heat turned up higher. This is the perfect time to have an energy audit done, as you’re using the bulk of your power. You can actually hire a certified energy rater to evaluate and test your home. He will look for energy losses, safety issues, and provide you with a detailed report. With this information, you can make targeted changes in your energy habits.

The seasons may be an inevitable force of change, but you can still maintain a great house and home all year round. Make the most of this season and prepare for the next! Your home and family will thank you. If there’s any part of your home which needs a more experienced hand, please find a professional. You can find a list of contractors we trust to care for your home at responsiblecontractors.com.

Spotlight on: AdvantaClean of the South Sound

Your home is your sanctuary. It’s where your children will make their childhood memories. It’s where you rest your head at night, and unwind and relax. But, what happens when your safe, clean sanctuary becomes environmentally compromised? There are a number of contaminates and problems that can disturb your dwelling. Knowing whom to call when your home needs help is important. AdvantaClean is here to help with a specific range of problems.

If you’re noticing a foul odor, or are concerned about moisture, beware of mold. Here in the Pacific Northwest, where the weather is unpredictable, mold can appear unexpectedly. While some people are more sensitive than others, mold can cause health issues ranging from allergies to serious illness, and needs to be dealt with immediately.

Mold is often easy to miss, but some problems are more obvious. Water damage and sewer accidents can leave a trail of devastation in the home. The good news? AdvantaClean is prepared to clean up the mess. If your floors are the victims of flooding, or your roof let some of the rain is, giving them a call is the first step in water damage restoration. Even worse than water damage? Sewage damage. For those of us unfortunate enough to face this mess, cleanup is not a fun process. More good news: You don’t have to clean it! Take the family out for an impromptu vacation and let the professionals handle it.

While it’s a relief to have someone to call for the large problems, sometimes the smaller problems can be a pest. Dryer vents and air ducts are also a part of a healthy home environment. When your ducts dirty, and your vents clog, your air quality suffers and you increase the risk of a fire. This, too, can be added to the list of specialties AdvantaClean is qualified to handle.

AdvantaClean has the skills, and the reputation. As one happy customer commented: “Today it is rare that you come across a company that creates an instant and lasting impression, keeps their commitments, and repeatedly goes out of their way to make the customer their number one priority. AdvantaClean is that company.” For over 20 years, AdvantaClean has been coming to the rescue when homeowners, businesses, and property owners need a hand.

At Responsible Contractors, we aim to bring you the best of each industry. We are glad to recommend AdvantaClean as a trustworthy company to help your home stay in order. To read more about them, and find other contractors we recommend, visit us online atresponsiblecontractors.com.

Autumn Lawn Care

The stores are already bringing out the Christmas decorations, and we are shuffling our way into the holiday seasons. Thanksgiving is around the corner, and each day the weather turns just a little colder. As the leaves are falling, your lawns are beginning to become covered, and muddied. Even though in the fall you’ll spend less time outside in your yard, you can still take care of it through the winter, and prepare it to be healthy when spring hits again. Here’s your fall to-do list for a healthy lawn all year round. 

Embrace the leaves: The trees shed, and the leaves will fall. It may be a family tradition to rake them into a big pile for your children to leap into. While fun, did you know you can use the leaves as a natural fertilizer? The task is simple. When dry, the leaves are easily cut and broken. By mulching them, or reducing them to small sizes and letting them scatter across the lawn, they will decompose among the grass blades and be natural nourishment for your lawn all winter. The easiest way to achieve this is to mow them! On a dry day, remove the bag from your lawn mower, and go across the lawn a couple times. This will chop and scatter the leaves.

Maim the moss: While leaves make a great fertilizer for your lawn, moss does not. Moss makes a stronger appearance after a drought, or for us in the Pacific Northwest, after a long, dry summer. You may have noticed it threatening your yard already. There are many other factors that can contribute to its growth, but you don’t want it to consume your lawn over the winter. Ditch raking the leaves, and rake the moss instead. If you see only a small patch, this may be sufficient as long as you get it at the roots. For most lawns, it’s wise to first apply a moss killer. Once the moss has browned or blackened, rake it out. If you wish to take it a step further, you can even sprinkle new grass seed in its place to encourage healthy growth.

Aerate, aerate, aerate: Aeration is one of the simplest, yet most effective activities to encourage healthy lawn growth. Once every two years, in the fall, take a garden fork and poke holes at four-inch intervals. This creates space for water and air to penetrate deep into the soil, providing nourishment for the grass at the roots.

Sow and grow: You may be surprised to learn that early Autumn is actually a great month for growing grass. The soil is still warm from the summer, yet moist from the days of rain. If you have bald spots, sprinkle some seeds to thicken it up. You may even consider sprinkling your entire lawn with a thin layer of seeds. The recommended rate for new lawns will be too dense for an already-populated lawn, but half that rate or less will give your lawn the extra boost it needs.

Although we think of winter as the season snow falls and dirt turns to mud, it doesn’t mean your lawn needs to be destroyed. Good lawn care now will keep it healthy until spring hits again, and give you a head start on a beautiful landscape all summer long. If you need help, or are more comfortable with a professional, you can find landscapers we recommend to do your lawn autumn maintenance for you! Visit us online atresponsiblecontractors.com to find someone we trust to help your home.

Spotlight on: Signature Window & Door Replacement

Here’s a pop quiz! What do the weather, design, lighting, and comfort all have in common? The answer: Windows. Would it surprise you to learn that windows do more than just let in some light? What if you were told that they played a crucial role in managing your home’s temperature and energy usage? The truth is, windows do all these and more. Windows are responsible for keeping the heat in, and the cold rain out, in addition to other debris, bugs, and dust. In addition to their practical job, they also make a big difference in your home’s design and lighting. So how important are good windows to you? When you’re ready to make them a priority, you need to call Signature Window & Door Replacement.

Located in Auburn, WA, and serving the greater Tacoma and Seattle areas, Signature Window & Door Replacement are your window and door experts. Representing a wide variety of manufacturers, they have the knowledge and skill to help you select the best windows for your home: aesthetically, and functionally. When it comes to design, they offer hundreds of options, and customization through an assortment of trim designs. When you call Signature Window & Door Replacement, you can expect to have an expert help you choose the best windows for your home, make the design work, and move on to top quality installation.

Even the best windows are only as good as the installation, and that is why, when selecting a contractor, it’s important to be confident in his skill. Signature Window & Door Replacement employees installation specialists, who are craftsman with a decade or more of experience. With some of the best technicians in the industry, they set a high standard. They are so confident, in fact, that they offer complete warranties on all their windows and doors, both the product and the installation.

Signature Window & Door Replacement know that your home is among the biggest investments you’ll make. It’s personal, it’s where you spend your time, and it’s where your family will make grow and make memories. They know that compromise isn’t an option, and have done their best to build a strong reputation, so that you will have confidence and peace of mind in your windows and doors.

At Responsible Contractors, we aim to bring you the best in each industry. When it comes to windows and doors, we can’t think of a better company to call than Signature Window & Door Replacement. To read more about them and find other companies we recommend, visit us online at responsiblecontractors.com.

Enchanted Evenings: Outdoor Lighting

We’ve all driven through the neighborhood with beautiful, magical homes at night, wondering how their landscaper made the yard look that spectacular under a dark sky. Not all of us can afford a landscape designer, but all of us can create a beautiful outdoor landscape! The winter, when the sun sets before many families sit down for dinner, is the time of year you will want your front yard to look inviting, and your guests to be able to find their cars without tripping in the dark. So here’s what to know about outdoor lighting.

There are many choices when it comes to outdoor lights. From wall light and lanterns, to hanging lights, ceiling lights, flood lighting, cove lighting, lights for decks and steps, the choices can get overwhelming. How do you choose what is right for your yard?

First, consider the purpose. Do you just need something basic to light the pathway? Are you in need of some flood lighting on the driveway? Do you have a wrap-around deck that hasn’t been used past dark? The scale of your project will help you choose the appropriate lighting. When you have an idea of what you want, determine the approximate square footage of the area lit. You can use a simple formula to roughly estimate how much wattage your project might use: Multiply the square footage by 1.5. While not exact, it will give you an estimate of how much energy you’ll be adding onto your monthly bill.

Next, consider your project, and options to conserve energy. If you want to turn your home into a light exhibit, you should prepare to use significant energy doing so. Today’s market does offer some energy-saving options, though! When shopping, look for lighting with the Energy Star logo on the packaging. You might also consider LED bulbs. While the look may be different than what you’ll get from a traditional incandescent bulb, the energy savings can reach up to 75 percent, and they have a significantly longer life span. Another great design tip that can conserve energy is to install light-control options. Dimmers, motion sensors, and timers are among the options on the market today. These make your home smarter and give you options to use light only as needed.

Did you know that you can actually choose light bulbs based on desired color? Bulbs come with ratings that will tell you how the light will appear. Ranging from 2700k-7000k, the lower the number, the warmer the light.  On the upper end, anything over 4000k will appear cool, white, or blue. Use this knowledge to set your home’s ambience.

Some other tips to keep in mind: Only use fixtures designed for the outdoors. It’s important to use weather-resistant materials, and the simplest way to do so is to only use a light outside that was made to be outside. Remember when lighting to keep it reasonable. You don’t need the brightest lights in every corner of the property, and you’ll want to make sure the light stays in your yard. It’s not neighborly to let your lights reach your neighbors’ homes. And remember your priorities before you get carried away. Walkways, entryways, and any feature you wish to highlight. Good design highlights the focus points, and provides the right ambience elsewhere, and as needed. Lastly, don’t forget to have fun! Design is always an exciting update, and now you’ll have a reason to look forward to the shorter days.

Remember, if you do need help, we can refer you to a professional. At Responsible Contractors, we aim to bring you the best of construction. To see contractors we recommend to help you with your home, visit us online at responsiblecontractors.com. For a specific recommendation, contact us! We are always happy to give you a referral.

Before You Turn on Your Heater

Our summer heat has finally left us, and while fall has been pleasantly warm, the cold weather is just around the corner. Soon your home will grow cold, and blankets, sweaters, and slippers will all make an appearance. Before you start using the heater, though, it’s important to have your systems checked. Your home’s heating system has been resting, unused for months. Here’s why you need to have it checked.

The first, and most important reason, is for your safety. According to the National Fire Prevention Association’s website, heating equipment is a leading cause of home fire deaths. Why is this? Your heat exchanger is responsible for transferring heat from one substance to another, allowing heat to move throughout the home. While not in every home, heat exchangers are in a variety of heating systems, and found in many homes. When debris builds up, or if your system is allowed to cool to too low of a temperature, it can crack. This can lead to house fires, and there may not be any noticeable warning signs other than having it inspected by a professional. The other common danger with unchecked heat exchangers, is they provide an opportunity for carbon monoxide links. We all know of this silent killer, but did you know that in the United States, it is responsible for approximately 430 deaths per year? It’s not worth taking a chance.

The next reason you need to have your heating system checked is to keep your energy usage and bill down. According to the Department of Energy, heating and cooling account for approximately 56 percent of American homes’ energy usage. A heating system which hasn’t been checked in months may not be operating efficiently. Or you may have an outdated heating system in your home. Either way, these will cost you more money to keep your home at a comfortable temperature.

We recommend having your heating checked each fall, so that when winter comes, you can maintain a desirable temperature, with confidence that your family is safe and your system is efficient. Don’t know who to call? We can help! To find a professional we recommend to inspect, and if necessary repair or replace your home’s heating system, visit us online atresponsiblecontractors.com. Or contact us and we can give you a direct referral!