It finally feels like summer outside - at least most days of the week - and homeowners across the Mid Atlantic are sitting out on their decks and patios late into the evening now that it is finally warm out. As a result, many homeowners are taking out their extension cords and stringing them through storm doors and beneath windows so that they can power outdoor lamps, radios or other devices. If you don't have a power outlet on the side of your house, you may be tempted to do this, but this practice is less than ideal in most situations.

Placing any cord underneath a door or window jam increases the prevalence of wear on the wire, which may cause the protective layer of insulation around the electrical currents to be weakened. Every time you slam the door to your back porch, you could be creating the risk of sparking or arcing. The results of this will be costly damage if a fire sparks - not to mention potentially fatal.

Only use electrical cords that have been designed for outdoor use, as indoor wires are made for outlets that aren't exposed to moisture like this other variety. You also really want to avoid sliding them under doorways and instead use the outdoor outlet that is found attached to most houses. If you don't have one of these outdoor outlets, consider contacting a trusted Virginia electrical service like John C. Flood to come see if they can rewire your residence and install one of these outdoor outlets for you.

With the recent news of devastating storms sweeping through the Midwest - one tornado alone left a 2-mile swath of devastation in Oklahoma that killed dozens and leveled an elementary school - residents of the Mid Atlantic have been reminded of Mother Nature's unpredictable temper. Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C, are more than familiar withof freak weather events. After all, this region was among the ones hardest hit by last October's Superstorm Sandy, which destroyed houses up and down the Atlantic Seaboard.

When disaster strikes, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) steps in to help those who were affected by giving funds to help cover the costs of damage. Before any money is allocated, however, homeowners are required to undergo an inspection with a FEMA official to determine whether or not they qualify for aid.

Here are a few things you should anticipate if you need to contact a FEMA official at any point during the summer:

• It could take up to 10 days before FEMA contacts you to schedule an inspection once you send out a request for aid.
• FEMA inspections generally take anywhere between 15 to 45 minutes to be completed, and a resident of the house must be present the whole time.
• Only allow an inspector who arrives in an officially marked FEMA vehicle and is carrying proper identification to enter your home. If they ask you for your Social Security number or any banking information, the individual could be an imposter.

Before storm season starts up, be proactive about protecting your home from damage. An experienced Maryland sump pump and plumbing service like John C. Flood can make sure your appliances are all in working order and therefore less vulnerable to potential damage.

Often times, a major plumbing disaster only gets worse when a homeowner attempts to remedy the problem despite being ill-equipped for the job. Instead of contacting a professional Fairfax plumbing service like John C. Flood, these homeowners will attempt to save a buck or two by tackling the project themselves only to end up paying markedly more in the long run to complete a significant repair.

If you have a plumbing problem that runs the risk of quickly escalating into a costly mess, do all you can to have an experienced plumber visit your residence immediately. While you are waiting for the plumber to arrive, however, there are a few things you can do to at least prevent the problem from getting any worse. The most important tool that a homeowner can possess is knowledge, and being aware of the location of all your home's shutoff valves is the most vital information you need to know when it comes to your home's plumbing.

Most of these valves are located in the basement of the house in highly visible areas. Sometimes, though, individual knobs will be hidden behind the panel of a wall near an appliance. Locate and label all of your shutoff valves and make sure everyone in the family is aware of their placement. The most important valve to be knowledgeable of is the main shutoff, which is usually located right near the main line letting water in and out of your house. It may take a little bit of work to twist this valve closed, but it will be extremely helpful in the event of a plumbing disaster.

Spring and summer are traditionally the busiest shopping seasons for potential homeowners. With the current housing stock dwindling as buyer demand increases going into the warmer months, a seller's market has emerged across the country, giving residents looking to unload their current properties the upper hand in negotiations. However, even with the advantage laying in the hands of owners, a closing can still get derailed - or at least made less-than ideal for a seller - when a buyer hires a home inspector to come investigate the property.

In many cases, these contractors will unveil deficiencies in the property that even the homeowner didn't realize existed, causing the prospective purchaser to demand a slash in the asking price. Often, the amount of money that these home inspections cost the seller on a closing exceed the price it would have cost them to be proactive about minor fixes in the first place.

Before putting your home on the market, have a home inspector come in and evaluate your property to check for the deficiencies that potential buyers will be watching out for. Simple things like the water heater being outdated - or even not positioned correctly off of the floor - can be caught, allowing you to preemptively address them before the open house. 

Once you know what fixes need to be made, a Fairfax general contractor like John C. Flood can come make sure repairs are made in a timely and cost-effective manor. Contact us today for the best Fairfax water heater, sump pump or electrical service available.

It's important that your bathroom is as clean as possible all year long, since this area is the site of many of your home's biggest germ havens - from the drain in your shower to the basin of your toilet. However, in the summer, making sure your bathroom is clean is an even bigger priority, as this already humid space only gets more muggy when the meteorological conditions outside are contributing to the air-bound moisture within your home. This contributes to an increased presence of mold and mildew that needs to be addressed before it has an adverse affect on your family's health.

The shower head is another area where there tends to be a high concentration of germs and moisture gets trapped. Start the season off on the right foot by giving this appliance a thorough cleansing before the hot weather makes maintenance harder than ever.

If your shower head can twist off, remove it from the line and submerge the piece in vinegar overnight. Should your shower head not be removable, fill a plastic bag with vinegar and seal it around the the piece using an elastic band. The following morning, use a toothbrush to thoroughly scrub all of the contours of the appliance, removing dirt, grime and lime scale.

Now that your shower head has been cleaned, be sure to monitor it throughout the season, keeping in mind that now is the time of year where your appliances can get dirtier than ever. If you have a bigger issue with plumbing at all during the summer, contact John C. Flood, the leading Virginia plumbing service, to come make the necessary repairs.

A recent report from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) has found that builder confidence is up industrywide when it comes to home construction this month. In the group's Housing Market Index - a monthly study compiled in conjunction with financial giant Wells Fargo - the composite ticked upward three basis points from April to May, now sitting at a healthy 44 for the period.

"Builders are noting an increased sense of urgency among potential buyers as a result of thinning inventories of homes for sale, continuing affordable mortgage rates and strengthening local economies. This is definitely an encouraging sign even amidst rising challenges with regard to the cost and availability of building materials, lots and labor," NAHB Chairman Rick Judson, a home builder from Charlotte, N.C., stated in the group's press release.

For months, activity has been ramping up in the housing industry, with buyers flooding the market faster than home builders could keep pace. With the busy summer real estate season just about to begin, the supply of new residences is anticipated to tighten even more if buyers can't keep up.

If you are looking into purchasing a new property over the next few months, make sure to watch out for signs that the home is a positive investment. Things like outdated electrical systems or plumbing leaks could result in costly repair bills down the line. Should you only discover these issues after signing the lease, an experienced Arlington electrical service like John C. Flood can help you fix the problem without costing you a fortune.

In just a few weeks, children across the Mid Atlantic will be getting out of school for summer break, which has prompted families throughout the country to begin planning their annual vacations to seaside locales. Virginia and Maryland are chock full of some of the nation's most sought after seasonal hot spots, from peaceful communities along the Delmarva Peninsula to the sandy beaches of the Atlantic shore. 

In many cases, the vacation homes that are found in these coastal zip codes don't get a lot of use during the off-season and sit dormant for much of the year while owners occupy their primary residences. As a result, problems that may arise due to unforeseen circumstances such as coastal flooding or freak weather events - an all too common occurrence over the past few years in the region - will only exacerbate in the absence of a homeowner who is there to conduct maintenance. 

If you haven't visited your vacation home frequently enough over the past year to evaluate any repair work it may need before summer starts, do so now before the warmer months are officially here in full force. This way, a plumbing or electrical problem won't dig too much into your family's vacation, and you'll be able to enjoy your second house in peace.

An experienced Maryland plumbing service like John C. Flood is your best bet when it comes to resolving these issues, as we have more than 100 years of experience serving the communities of the Mid Atlantic when they need us most.

As we've discussed in the past on this blog, spring is National Electrical Safety Month, and now is the perfect time to brush up on the best practices and preventative measures that homeowners should take to avoid an electrical disaster. Some of these tips and tricks are generally common sense - like keeping water away from any open current, or replacing a frayed wire to avoid any sparks or arcing - while others may not be so obvious. 

For example, you may not realize it, but there could be underground wires surrounding your house that could easily be compromised when you are gardening. If you have a light post in your front yard, there is likely a wire that connects it to your home's main electrical hook up, or if you have a detached garage with power in your back yard, that connection too probably runs beneath your lawn. Even some pool owners power their filters through underground wiring set ups.

Whether you are simply laying down new sod or intend to plant some shrubbery along your driveway, before taking a shovel to dirt, you want to be sure you aren't severing a wire that could make you vulnerable to potential electrocution.

If you aren't aware where these connections might be located, contact an experienced Fairfax electrical service like John C. Flood today to highlight the likely site of your outdoor wiring. This way, you can freely conduct any yardwork you'd like this spring while lowering your risk of electrocution.

Before the introduction of the ground-fault circuit interrupter (GFCI) power outlet in the United States, nearly 800 people a year died from household electrocutions. Now that this kind of outlet is standard in most new construction, that number has dropped down to roughly 200 fatalities annually.

Basically, GFCIs de-energize a circuit when they detect a ground current to prevent a potentially deadly electrical flow from passing from the outlet through an individual holding onto the device. These outlets are extremely common in most homes and are especially useful for higher voltage appliances.

It's easy to recognize a GFCI as they are found in most buildings with up-to-date electrical layouts. When you look at a normal 120-volt outlet in the United States, there are two vertical slots and then a round hole centered below them. The left slot, which is slightly larger, is "neutral," the right slot is called "hot" and the hole is called "ground." All of the electricity goes back and forth between the hot and neutral prong, while the ground acts to regulate flow. 

If there is ever an imbalance in the flow, the round ground prong will detect it and trip the circuit in a fraction of a second - hopefully enough time to prevent electrocution.

Your home or business should at the very least have GFCI outlets on the walls as a safety precaution. If your house's electrical wiring isn't up to date, contact an experienced Washington, DC electrician like the kind found at John C. Flood to have the space upgraded as soon as possible.