With the warm weather upon us, many of us are beginning to plan our summer vacation activities and adventures, for a lot of us that means travelling. Before you even print those plane or cruise tickets, take a moment to think of the steps you can take to secure your home before you leave on vacation. Peace of mind on the road, or while you’re in another country is worth a lot.  Avoid having to file an expensive insurance claim when you return by following these simple tips & tricks.

 

Mail for Days - Place a hold on mail and newspaper. There’s nothing worse than leaving on a two week vacation to have 14 newspapers piled at your front door or in your mailbox. This is like a welcome mat for burglars ask a neighbour to pick up your mail and newspapers every day or visit your local post office to place a hold on your mail.

 

Move It - Leave a car in your driveway. This is an easy step to help deter home break ins. Having a presence at your home is key. Whether this means, having a friend or family member drive you to the airport or having your neighbour park in your driveway occasionally. The occasional shift in position makes your home look occupied.
  
Keep it Clean - If you’re travelling for more than a week hire a lawn care or snow removal company to clean up the yard while you’re away. Manicured outdoor spaces give the appearance of the house being occupied.
 
Shine Bright – Since most robberies happen at night, install timers on various lights throughout your home to turn on at all different times so it looks like someone is home. Also consider installing motion activated lighting outdoors to keep your home secure.
  
Keep it Safe – Always keep your valuables such as extra cash, or expensive jewelry in a code locking safe. If your home unfortunately gets broken into, you don’t want them getting their hands on your expensive jewellery.
 
Garage Hack - tech savvy burglars can easily crack the code to trigger your garage door to open. Make sure you disable your electric garage door opener before you leave.
  
Let it Slide – Sliding doors are often the easiest and weakest link to your home security. Insure that they are locked correctly and for added security place a cut to fit stick or rod in the tracks.
 
Sound the Alarm - If it fits into your budget, consider installing a home security system before you leave. Many companies offer monitoring for a low monthly cost. Burglaries are much less likely to happen if there is an alarm system in place.
 
Shut it off – Turn off your internal water valve. The last thing you want when returning from a peaceful vacation is a flooded home from an old pipe bursting or your washing machine hose failing.
 

Remove the spare keys – Remember those spare keys you left under the planter? It’s time to bring them in so no one uses them while you’re away!

 

Taking these necessary steps to protect your home can really help put your mind at easy while you’re away. Bon Voyage!

 

 

 

Despite the chill that’s still lingering in the air, spring is finally here! Many of us associate the word spring with budding flowers and sunshine, but it also means that it’s time to break out those cleaning gloves and tackle the task of Spring Cleaning.

Spring cleaning is no small task, it can often turn into a huge project. To make your spring cleaning tasks a little more manageable, here are a few tips that can help you tackle your home.

 

1. Plan of Attack

Lists can often help people stay organized especially tackling a project like Spring Cleaning. Before you get started, walk through each room and write down what you want to accomplish. Writing a list out also helps to make sure you have all the cleaning materials you need before you start.

 

2. Turn up the Tunes

Put together a cleaning playlist to make the task more fun! Listening to music while cleaning may help make things go by faster, keep you motivated and of course it’s an extra work out!

 

3. Clean One Room at a Time

It’s easy to get overwhelmed and side tracked when you want to accomplish cleaning your entire house! Baby steps… stick with cleaning one room at a time, or pick two or three rooms to accomplish on the weekend. This way your whole house isn’t thrown upside down all at once. Much easier to manage.

4. Purge!

As you go through each room, make sure to declutter. Recycle old magazines, put items you no longer use, need or wear, like that tshirt you bought a year ago but never wear into a three bin system; keep sell or donate. Decide if it’s worth it to sell, or simply put it in a box to donate. Using a three bin system works well to keep you organized and on task

 

5. Set a Timer

It’s hard to stay on track when cleaning. You may find items you’ve forgotten about, lost, or old photographs, and before you know it you’ve spent the entire day cleaning just one closet because your too busy reminiscing the past. Set a timer so you don’t fall into this trap. Much like a list, it can help you stay on track.

 

6. Recruit Some Help

Don’t do all the cleaning yourself. What’s better than a cleaning party?! Recruit your kids, significant other or friends to help you out. When you can divvy up the work, it will hopefully take less time than if you do it all by yourself and its good company!

 

7. Top to Bottom

Start cleaning from the top of the room and work your way down. Knock down all those dusty cobwebs from the corner, dust the light fixtures, clean the windows, dust the furniture, and finally finish with the floors.

 

8. Think Green

Many chemical-based cleaners emit hazardous fumes. No matter what cleaners you use, remember to always read the labels. Instead of using numerous rolls of paper towel for cleaning, check out a microfiber cloth. They can be used on multiple surfaces and pick up dust like no other!

 

9. Fresh Air

Even when it’s cold and cloudy outside, it’s a great idea to open up all the windows in the room you’re working in. It lets the fresh air circulate and immediately freshens up the house. If you’re sensitive to all the dust you’re stirring up while cleaning the fresh air will also help.

 

10. Reward Yourself for a Job Well Done

Having something to look forward to at the end of a long day of cleaning sure makes things go faster. Plus, you worked hard and deserve it. Treat yourself to that bottle of wine you’ve been eyeing or take the opportunity to order in dinner; because let’s face it, who likes to make dinner and make a mess in your newly clean kitchen after a full day of spring cleaning.

 

Alright, so these tips won’t make all the dirt magically disappear, but the tips above may help you make the task a little bit easier. Remember to take your time and have fun!  You don’t have to do everything in one day, that’s why it’s called “Spring Cleaning”