When talking about sprinkler systems, the word sprinkle itself may be misleading. Rather than spritzing aimlessly, a sprinkler system is actually carefully designed to direct water to different parts of a lawn in an exact, controlled way.

With a new sprinkler system, you can enjoy your lawn year-round—without the added stress of keeping it healthy. But before you program your system and wait for your lush, green lawn to grow, follow these simple steps for setting up and maintaining your system.

After finishing the massive task of painting your house, you can sit back, relax, and enjoy the new look of your home. But whether you hired a contractor or tackled the job on your own, painting your house’s interior or exterior can be a big investment of your time and money.

Selecting a color that complements and accentuates your existing décor, as discussed in Part 1 of this blog, is just the first step to a creative paint job. There are also painting techniques homeowners can use to create distinctive wall textures or even change the entire atmosphere of a room.

EBSCO Research is pleased to announce the launch of the 2013 edition of Best Pick Reports. The EBSCO Research staff—now publishing reports in ten markets across the US—works hard to connect homeowners with reliable, hardworking, top-quality home service companies.

The launch of the 2013 edition of Home Reports is under way, and the EBSCO Research staff is excited to connect you with the highest-rated companies in Atlanta, as determined by you and your neighbors. If you live in one of the areas where we conduct research, you should have already received a copy of our blue-and-white Home Reports book.

Whether you’re looking to freshen up some of your walls or head in a bold new direction with color in your home, preparing to paint a room can be just as important as the actual paint job itself. Dave Williams, founder and president of Williams Professional Painting in Northern Virginia and Maryland, offers some tips to help you prep like a pro.

If you’ve ever tried to catch a flea, you know that they’re resilient, hard-to-kill parasites—fleas have flattened bodies, making them very difficult to squash. To make matters worse, fleas change radically over the course of their life cycle and must be targeted differently as eggs, juveniles, and adults.

A day in the work life of a pest control technician is a busy one. Pest management companies service residential customers as well as businesses and corporate clients, but according to Rusty Markland, operations manager of PestNow in Northern Virginia, through it all a technician’s main focus is providing high-quality service.

Indoor service plans, detailed in Part 1 of our blog, are often recommended for homeowners who are already combating a pest situation. For those of you hoping to stay ahead of the problem or avoid using pesticides inside your home, outdoor service plans can be an ideal preventative measure.