Baby, It’s Cold Out There….

Prevention tips for frozen pipes

• Disconnect garden hoses and shut off the water supply to those faucets.
• Turn off and drain water from any above ground exterior pipes, drip lines or pool supply lines.
•  Insulate exposed pipes. If your garage isn’t heated, remember to wrap any exposed pipes in there, too.
• Keep your thermostat set above 55 degrees at all times.

If you lose power during a winter storm and the temperature starts to drop in your home, allow a slow trickle of water to flow through faucets. This can help prevent pipes from bursting.

Stop ice dam damage – insulate, ventilate and mitigate

• Insulate, seal or weather-strip all attic access doors.

•  Keep your attic well-ventilated to outside air.

•   Make sure your attic floor has adequate insulation to minimize the amount of heat escaping into the attic from the house. (An added benefit is lower heating costs.)

•     Prevent ice dams by removing heavy accumulations of snow from your roof. This allows water from the melted snow to reach the gutters and drain to the ground. Consult a roofing professional for assistance. Do not climb on your roof.

Julie Coover has been an agent for American Family Insurance since 2008.  Her office is located at 32565 Lexington Ave Ste B, De Soto, KS, 66018.  Julie can be contacted at (913) 583-1219, jcoover@amfam.com or online at www.juliecoover.com. Above content provided by Julie Coover.

If your pipes do freeze, the following may help unfreeze them:

Apply heat to the section of pipe using an electric heating pad wrapped around the pipe, an electric hair dryer, a portable space heater (kept away from flammable materials), or by wrapping pipes with towels soaked in hot water. Do not use a blowtorch, kerosene or propane heater, charcoal stove, or other open flame device.

Apply heat until full water pressure is restored. If you are unable to locate the frozen area, if the frozen area is not accessible, or if you can not thaw the pipe, call a licensed plumber.

Frozen pipes can be extremely costly if they break.  Depending on the location it could require tearing out sheet rock and multiple other costly and inconvenient repairs.  It is extremely important to heat your home if the outside temperatures reach extremely lows.

Holiday Light Tour in Kansas City

I have been watching The Great Christmas Light Fight the last two Mondays on ABC and was inspired to post a YouTube video of few homes who have fantastic displays.  If you get the chance its worth checking out the ABC Christmas Light Fight.  These people are extremely dedicated to putting on the most fantastic light shows for the community.  You would probably hate to be the neighbors but fun to drive by as a member of the community.

 

 

If you and your family are still wanting to enjoy some light displays in the Kansas City Metro area below are some good places to visit:

 

Make your own Light tour

 

Commercial Displays

• Plaza lights
• Mayors Christmas Tree at Crown Center
• Kansas City Power and Light
• Union Station
• Christmas in the Park- drive through light show at Longview Lake
• Downtown Marriot
• Legends at Village West
• Vince and Associates- Metcalf and 103rd St- Overland Park

Residential Displays

• Christmas Card Lane- 151st Street to Ridgeview Road- on Butterfield Place
• Musical Christmas Light House- 132nd and Roe- Overland Park
• Paulie's Penguin Playground- 16617 Indian Creek Parkway- Olathe
• Christmas Place- 131st Place west of Antioch Road
• Candy Cane Lane- 7900 block of Outlook Lane- Prairie Village
• Bender Christmas Light Path- 12303 W 105th St- Overland Park
• 92nd Street- 5500 w 92nd Street- Overland Park
• Haskins Street- 8007 W Haskins St- Lenexa
• Goddard Street- 9319 Goddard Street- Overland Park
• Preston Evans- 13109 Pennycross Rd- Lenexa
• Trossen- 12716 Pawnee Lane- Leawood
• Curtis Christmas Lights- 9508 w 117th St- Overland Park
• Ultimate Holiday Tree- 13800 Switzer Rd- Overland Park

For MORE holiday light locations in Johnson County KS visit here!

 

Happy Holidays!



Dont Forget to Notify the Following Companies When You Move....

Utility Companies
-Electric
-Telephone
-Cable
-Water
-Gas

Government
-Post Office
-School
-IRS
-Library
-Veterans Administration

Insurance
-Auto
-Health
-Life
-Home
-Accidental
-Renters

Professional Services
-Doctor
-Dentist
-Lawyer
-Accountant

Subscriptions
-Magazine
-Newspaper

Business account
-Bank
-Cell phone
-Department Stores

Miscellaneous
-Dry Cleaners
-Hairstylist
-Drug Stores
-Fitness Gym

Most Importantly Family and Friends

Upgrading VS Maintaining Your Home

This can be extremely complex to understand for some. I have come across this situation on several occasions, sellers not understanding an upgrade to the home versus maintaining the home.  They tend to think that maintaining the home counts as an upgrade. 

Maintaining:
For instance, if your roof is leaking and you pay to have a new roof put on, you are maintaining your home. Had you not put a new roof on the home you would have significant costs associated with rain and weather damaging your home. 
If your windows have lost their seal or have moisture in between the pains and decide to replace them, you are maintaining your home.
If the a/c or heater goes out and you get a new high efficient unit you are again maintaining your home. Without the repair you would not have heat or a/c. 
If you have plaster walls instead of sheet rock and you change to sheet rock you are maintaining your home.  You are bringing your home to the standards of a majority of other homes on the market to what people are expecting
Same if you have stains on your carpet and decide to replace it, you are maintaining you home.
Painting walls would be maintaining- keeping the home fresh and new. 

By maintaining your home you are keeping up normal repairs associated with living in the property. (also considered normal wear and tear)

Upgrading:
If you have a functioning bathroom sink and vanity with no repairs needed and you decide you want to put in a new vanity with a vessel glass sink, you are upgrading your bathroom sink/vanity. You are making the bathroom more desirable and likely appeal to more buyers since your bathroom is trending with the newer homes updates. 
If you have decent kitchen counter tops and decide you would like to replace with granite counter tops you are upgrading your kitchen.  You are creating a value add to the home by making it more sell able or desirable. 
If you change outdated features of the home to more modern or "with the times" updates you are upgrading the home. (this would not be damaged or broken items/repairs, only fully functioning items that are replaced to keep with the times)

You cannot expect to be reimbursed above and beyond for maintaining your home, where as upgrading may warrant additional money (not a $1 for $1 return). It is expected that home owners are to keep their house in average to good condition to hold their value.  By not maintaining your home you will eventually have significant repairs, nothing lasts forever without upkeep.