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Another successful post construction cleaning at the Rectory in Centreville, MD for Gary Smith Builders.

Another successful post construction cleaning at the Rectory in Centreville,  MD for Gary Smith Builders.  Here is what Gary Smith Builders had to say “Heath,
Just wanted to say thanks for your help on the Rectory. I’m sure you realize how fortunate you are to have an employee such as John Workman. He represents your company in such a professional manner and aims to please! In these days it’s hard to find such employees”

Endless Summer

Summer is not over yet! Still plenty of great warm weather!We have hit my favorite time of year  – late summer/early Fall.  Yes – I do get super stoked as the weather starts warming up and we can all spend more time outside, but now it is when we can really enjoy the weather.  Warm, dry days followed by cool, comfortable nights.  So many opportunities for family time and fun with friends.  So that means it is not time to think about the winter just yet!

But it is a time to prioritize our time.  With work, school, sports, etc, free time is a bit more limited.  The question becomes how best to spend your time – on cumbersome cleaning projects or outside enjoying yourself?  Many people tell me hiring a professional cleaning company is just a luxury they can’t afford.  Again – it depends how you like to spend your time.  Many of these same people think nothing of spending a couple hundred dollars on a dinner either.  Hiring a cleaning company has many advantages over doing it yourself.  First – we have staff.  Manpower.  To to do the hard stuff.  And to get in and out in a short period of time.  Second – we have all the supplies and equipment to get the job done correctly the first time.  No running back and forth to the store for more cleaning products.  Thirdly – time.  Why spend an entire weekend on a cleaning project we can handle in a few hours during the week?

 

 

 

 

Some areas Schuman’s can take care of so you have more time to have fun:

  1. Boat washing and detailing.  We can wax, compound, take care of your isinglass, stainless, canvas, and your boat’s interior.  We make sure it is ready when you are.
  2. Pressure washing.  We scrub/clean/pressure wash siding, decks, patios, driveways, pool furniture, etc.  The transformation once you remove that built-up grime, dirt, and mold is amazing!
  3. Gutter cleaning.  Protect your foundation and keep water away from your crawlspace with regular gutter cleaning (includes actually cleaning the exterior of gutters as well)
  4. Window cleaning – interior and exterior.  Dirt, grime, smudges, dust, and pollen all combine to make your windows darker and dirty.  Another project we can do better and faster than you attempting  yourself.
  5. Home detailing and cleaning.  With a home detail, we get all the cobwebs, dirt in the corners, baseboards, cabinets, ceiling fans, laundry room – all the areas you never get to plus scrubbing bathrooms and kitchens and floors.  To do yourself will take days.  Who wants to be inside on days like we have had lately??

Summer is short.  Weekends are shorter. Enjoy your time off!

Nautic Air in Lakeland Boating Guide

Check out our Nautic Air marine unit featured in the Gear Guide. Boats are notorious for bad air quality. Nautic Air utilizes advanced PCO green technology to purify the cabin air and help create a healthier environment.Gear_SEP14[1]

"Please remove your shoes. Mahalo"

This sign is on most homes in Hawaii to remind locals and non-locals alike to take off their shoes before entering the home.   To walk into someone’s home with your shoes (or “slippers”) on is considered very disrespectful, rude, and quite simply, something you just don’t do.  So it got me thinking – why this “tradition”?  Was it spiritual?  Part of the ancient Hawaiian culture?  Nope.  They just think it is disgusting to bring whatever you have walked in throughout the day into the home.  Hmmmm…

Think about where your shoes go throughout the day – parking lots, public restrooms, grassy areas that have been used at pet restrooms, and areas that have been treated with pesticides, fertilizers, and herbicides.  For allergy sufferers, our shoes pick up pollen from the grass and any other surface.  Then whatever is on your shoes or your guests’ shoes comes right through your home.

Many of us sit or lay on the floors and our children and pets play there as well.  If you are like me, you may even fold your clean laundry there at times.  So keeping dirty shoes off this area REALLY is important.    And there is a reason carpet cleaners describe certain areas as “high traffic” and there is a marked difference in dirt and stains in these areas.   We literally wipe off the day’s grime on our floors.    And where do you think all the dirt comes from when you sweep?  Usually from dirty shoes.

So aside from the “gross” factor, having everyone remove their shoes before entering your home can cut down on the cleaning time as well.  It reduces the sand and dirt that must be swept or vacuumed and helps your carpets stay cleaner much longer.    And we all want to find ways to clean less often!!  Plus limiting allergens can make everyone feel better.

Adopting this “Hawaiian Tradition” makes sense for all of us – and actually hanging a sign to remind visitors is not a bad idea.  The first step is to schedule a carpet cleaning and get all that gross and nasty stuff up off your carpets.  Then order a cute sign for each door and make sure your family is on board.  Enjoy a cleaner home knowing you haven’t tracked who-knows-what across the floors!!  Aloha 🙂

 

 

 

Pre-Spring Boat Update

We are all just chomping at the bit for Spring, warm temps, and sunshine to get here.  But while we are waiting, we have a few things to keep in mind while your boat is still covered and/or up on land:

  • We are making our monthly rounds to check on all of our shrink wrapped boats, ensuring that everything is holding up through the winter. If you notice a problem, please call us right away.  We have had and may still get some high winds.
  • Bilge and Engine Room Detailing –  While your boat is sitting under shrink wrap, let us take care of your Engine Room and Bilge area.  If your shrink wrap has an access door we can give you an estimate on getting the bilge and engine room clean. This is a great maintenance area to get taken care of before the Spring rush.
  • Be sure to check for leaks—Even though your boat is wrapped for the winter, be sure to check on it from time to time to make sure there aren’t any leaks.  The shrink wrap protects your boat from the elements, but from time to time water can still find a way to leak into your boat.  Water leaks can cause interior damage and staining.  Beyond just the visual nuisance of water leaks, long term leaks can lead to mildew and poor air quality in your boat.  Take the time this winter to check on your boat, so you are ahead of the game in the spring.    This is even more important if you did not wrap your boat this year.
  • If your boat is up on land, it is cheaper for you, easier for us, and better for the environment if we detail your boat as well as any other necessary work before you launch.  Talk with Brad or Beth about scheduling.
  • Renewal contracts are on their way!  Call us if you have not received yours in the next week or so.

Ok – now grab a Key West Ale or margarita and start preparing for a great Spring Season!!

Breathing what is in your crawl space…

We bet your crawl space is the last place you like to visit in your home.  For many reasons (they can be a bit creepy!!).  But there are several concerns when a crawlspace

damp, moldy crawlspaces create additional problems iNSIDE your home isn’t dry or functioning properly. In homes with crawlspaces, approximately 40-60 percent of the home’s make-up air, and thus the air we breathe, comes from the crawlspace. If it gets wet, a number of issues arise.  So regularly checking the area UNDER your home is very important.

 

Here are some issues to look for:

  • Cracks in the foundation
  • Damp, wet, or stained masonry
  • Visible mold or mildew (musty smell?)
  • Wetness either above or below the plastic sheeting (if you have it)
  • Discolored or stained wood beams
  • Wet or damp insulation
  • Any rusted metal (I-beams, pipes, insulation hangars, etc.)
  • Signs of insect or vermin activity
  • Rotting wood (gently poke with a screwdriver)

Other than mold, what are the negative effects of a damp crawlspace? The increased humidity causes:

  • Sticking doors and windows
  • Smelly damp carpets
  • Buckling hardwood floors
  • Aggravated asthma or allergies (more humidity, more dust mites, etc.)
  • Condensation in upper floors or in the attic
  • Condensation on your windows
  • Increased pest activity (termites love moisture)
If you notice any of the issues above or like many of us – just refuse to go under your house, give us a call and we can help out.

Fall is a great time to declutter

With holidays (and guests) coming in the next few weeks, now is the  perfect time to start some de-cluttering.  Soon you will be adding to the chaos with decorations and new “stuff”.  So clearing some items now will make the next few months flow a little easier.

Not only does a cluttered house cause some panic at the thought of friends and family dropping by, but a cluttered and disorganized home is much more difficult to keep clean and healthy.  And I am not even talking about the ongoing stress of never being able to find what you need!  Cleaning is much harder – whether you are trying to keep on top of it yourself or have us coming in.  Clutter collects dust, pollen,  pet hair, and keeps us from getting everything totally clean.  And make sure you have a place for everything.  Ever tell your kids to put something away and they ask, “where do I put it?” – and you don’t have an answer???  That is how clutter starts!

According to my friend, Anne Fleming who owns OTAPTNIS, an organizing and decluttering company, the fall is a great time to get your home in order.  Cooler weather lets us get up in attics as well as make sure all our “treasures” can make the best use at many donation centers.  Her advice is to start slow.  Set some goals and make sure you commit to actually getting rid of things – not just moving to another area.  Focus on one area at a time and accept that it will get worse before it gets better.  She suggests starting in one corner and working your way around the room.    Here are some other quick decluttering ideas!

  • Declutter for 15 minutes every day. It’s amazing how much you can get through if you just do it in small increments like this. Set a timer for 15  minutes and see what you can accomplish in that time.  Do this every day and watch the clutter start to disappear.  Send the kids to their rooms to do the same.  Just 15 mins.
  • Pick one closet – empty completely.  Then decide what NEEDS to go back in.  Donate the rest. 
  • Walk around your cluttered house with a decent sized box and determine to FILL IT with stuff you will donate to a charity (and then make sure you drop it off or arrange pick up right away!)
  • Fill a garbage bag with items to discard. Don’t stop until it’s full.
  • Create a mail center.  An “in-box” for your incoming mail ; bills to be paid, items that need actions, and things to be filed/shredded.
  • Learn to file quickly. Paper clutter adds up very fast. Consider a scanner and switch as many bills/statements as possible to electronic files.  Keep the paper from coming into your house
  • If you have “too many” special knick-knacks, choose a certain amount to display and rotate through your stash throughout the year. For example, every 2 months, switch them up!
  • Clean the floor… the whole floor. This will force you to get everything up and off of it – the perfect reminder to put stuff away instead of putting it back down where it was.
  • Dump everything out of the junk drawer and only put back in the things that truly need to go there. Put everything else away in the proper spot again.
  • Sort through your medicine cabinet and dispose of all of the old medications, beauty products, and the other misc. that find their way in there.
  • Write a basic menu for the next 2 weeks to use up the build-up in your pantry.
  • Recycle the catalog pile. You can find what you need online. And they will send you another one next week J
  • Have a place for everything.  Invest in more organizational and storage supplies so that everything truly does have a place.  I have some great totes, file holders, and organizers to create a functional and attractive room or closet on my other site (yes – we needed one more business.  This one specializes in keeping you organized so you can then keep your home cleaner).  You can personalize them so everyone knows what goes where. Check out my other site for totes and bins to simplify your life….
  • Whenever you’re boiling water, watching the broiler, or making coffee (something that keeps you in the kitchen) , declutter. If the kitchen is tidy, tidy up the next room – it’s only 3 minutes but it keeps you on top of everything.
  • Clothing rule: If you haven’t worn an item in 6 months, sell or donate it.
  • Love this idea – The One-Year Box. Take all your items that you unsure about getting rid of (e.g. “I might need this someday…”), put them in a box, seal it and date it for 1 year in the future. When the date comes, and you still didn’t need to open it to get anything, donate the box WITHOUT OPENING IT. You probably won’t even remember what there was in the box.
  • Declutter one room (including any closets, desks, cabinets, etc.) before starting on the next one. Spending time in that room will feel *so* good, and it will be so easy to keep clean, that it will motivate you to do more!
  • Have someone else (who you trust!) help you go through things. They don’t have the (sometime’s irrational) emotional attachment that you might have, but can still recognize if something should be kept.  This might be when you want to call in an expert like Anne (410.221-0330).  She empties it all out, sorts out, then sees what you need to keep.  She will also discard items and take the rest to worthy donation sites.  Easy.
  • Call us to have your house cleaned.  It is amazing how motivating that can be.  And a super clean home is a wonderful reward for all your hard work!

 

Visualize your clutter-free home room by room, and work hard so you can enjoy your home once again. You’ll never again have that panic feeling when you have people drop in unexpectedly, but instead will open wide the door and say “come on in” with pride!  And you will enjoy your home so much more.