<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<rss version="2.0"
	xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/"
	xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/"
	xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"
	xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom"
	xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/"
	xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/"
	>

<channel>
	<title>Home Improvements Depot &#187; Home Improvement Tricks</title>
	<atom:link href="http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/category/clever-tips-and-tricks/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
	<link>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com</link>
	<description>Home Improvement Tips and Tricks for the Average Homeowner!</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Sun, 05 Feb 2012 02:22:13 +0000</lastBuildDate>
	<language>en</language>
	<sy:updatePeriod>hourly</sy:updatePeriod>
	<sy:updateFrequency>1</sy:updateFrequency>
	<generator>http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1</generator>
		<item>
		<title>How To Tell If Your Air Conditioner Is Working Or Broken</title>
		<link>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/how-to-tell-if-your-air-conditioner-is-working/</link>
		<comments>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/how-to-tell-if-your-air-conditioner-is-working/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 23 Jul 2011 02:45:01 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Tom Coffee</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Green Home improvements]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Home Improvement Tricks]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/?p=1574</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[It almost seems common for air conditioners to break down and stop working, often at the most inconvenient times and during the longest stretches of extremely hot weather. A broken air conditioner can actually be incredibly dangerous, especially around older people who may not have recognized that the AC has even stopped working. Sitting inside a hot home with the windows closed and no source of fresh air is disaster waiting to happen. According to the National Weather Service in 2010 more people died from heat-related deaths, many of them preventable, than any other weather-related catastrophe. That&#8217;s why it&#8217;s so vitally important to be vigilant during heat waves and make sure you own home air conditioner is running smoothly and as efficiently as it can. You can help your air conditioner keep up with the heat by closing blinds and not using heat-generating appliances. But when your home begins to get warmer as the day gets hotter and you suspect that your AC is broken then it&#8217;s time to jump into action. Before you rush to the phone to call the air conditioner repair company you may first want to determine if your AC really is broken or if it&#8217;s [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/how-to-tell-if-your-air-conditioner-is-working/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>How To Turn Off A Whole House Humidifier During the Summer</title>
		<link>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/summer-close-whole-house-humidifier/</link>
		<comments>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/summer-close-whole-house-humidifier/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 07 May 2011 01:56:15 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Tom Coffee</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Home Improvement Tricks]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Interior Projects]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/?p=1207</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[If you live in a climate that gets cold, dry winters then your home might be equipped with a whole house, or central, humidifier. These whole house humidifiers are designed to put moisture into the air during winter months when you&#8217;re running your forced air heat. The humidifiers are usually added on to the duct work of your furnace either when your heating system is first installed or as an upgrade. They&#8217;re relatively inexpensive and then make your home much more comfortable and even feel a little warmer inside during the winter. These humidifiers direct air through a damp filter and then into your home, adding a small level of comforting moisture to the air. They&#8217;re not only helpful and healthy, but they are also good for your home. Wood flooring experts will often recommend installing a central humidifier in your home to run during the winter so that your wood floors don&#8217;t dry out so much. You want to turn off your home&#8217;s humidifier during the summer months. Though the moisture from the humidifier helps make the air feel warmer during the winter time, it&#8217;s actually not something you want to have turned on or running in your home [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/summer-close-whole-house-humidifier/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>How To Remove Floor Tile</title>
		<link>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/how-to-remove-floor-tile/</link>
		<comments>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/how-to-remove-floor-tile/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 15 Apr 2011 10:02:29 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Tom Coffee</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Home Improvement Tricks]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Interior Projects]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bathroom]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/?p=1173</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[If you&#8217;re going to remodel a kitchen or upgrade a bathroom in your house then chances are that you&#8217;re going to be faced with the job of removing the old tile from a floor and replacing it with something more modern. Removing the tile from a floor can be a long, messy and sometimes frustrating demolition job, but it isn&#8217;t usually a particularly difficult job as long as you have a little patience and imagination. First, you&#8217;re going to want to have a few tools. To remove tile you&#8217;re definitely going to want a hammer, a pry bar, a tile scraper or two (usually metal tipped) and plenty of safety gear including goggles, a dust mask, heavy leather gloves and knee pads. No matter what kind of tile you&#8217;re removing, it&#8217;s important to remember that tile can be incredibly sharp when broken and shatters like glass. How To Remove Floor Tiles 1. Prep the Room: Before you go ripping out a lot of tile you&#8217;re going to want to make sure the area is clear of any obstructions or things that can get in the way. That includes removing cabinets, removing the toilet and getting rid of other things that [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/how-to-remove-floor-tile/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>How To Remove Wallpaper</title>
		<link>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/how-to-remove-wallpaper/</link>
		<comments>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/how-to-remove-wallpaper/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 24 Mar 2011 10:09:59 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Tom Coffee</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Home Improvement Tricks]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Interior Projects]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/?p=1127</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Removing wallpaper is one of those messy and tedious jobs that nearly every homeowner grumbles through at least once. Most people tend to do it right after they move into a new home and want to remove the wallpaper from a previous owner or they want to do it right before they move out of a new home and they know that taking down wallpaper will help them sell their house. The key to removing wallpaper is not how do you get the wallpaper down, but rather, how do you remove the old wallpaper and the old glue from the walls without damaging the drywall or plaster underneath? It&#8217;s not as bad as you may think in most cases. I&#8217;ve known people who hated the idea of removing wallpaper so much they they have actually gone through the trouble to put up new drywall over existing walls instead of dealing with wallpaper. Though taking down wallpaper is never a particularly fun job it also doesn&#8217;t have to be that bad if you&#8217;re prepared for a little work and you have the right tools. I recently had to remove wallpaper from the small bathroom I&#8217;m renovating and took some pictures and [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/how-to-remove-wallpaper/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Home Improvements With A Baby In The House</title>
		<link>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/home-improvements-with-a-baby-in-the-house/</link>
		<comments>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/home-improvements-with-a-baby-in-the-house/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 09 Sep 2010 10:26:16 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Tom Coffee</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Home Improvement Tricks]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/?p=959</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I know, this isn&#8217;t the kind of post you would normally find a site about home improvements, but I&#8217;ve been giving it a lot of thought lately. My wife and I welcomed our second child, a beautiful little daughter, into our family back in July and we&#8217;ve all been slowly getting acclimated to a somewhat erratic sleep schedule. Now you know why I haven&#8217;t had much time to write about my basement remodeling project (which is still moving&#8230; just a little slower than anticipated!) What could possibly go wrong? Now that I have a baby in the house I&#8217;ve also had to modify how I take the time out of my busy schedule to continue improving my home at the same time. While I worked like crazy to get most of my the larger aspects of my basement refinishing project done before our daughter was born, there are still some outstanding things which I&#8217;ve been finishing up. If you have never had kids or if you&#8217;re expecting to have kids soon (maybe that&#8217;s the reason for your sudden interest in home improvement!) then below are some things you should know and think about: Home Improvement Time is Precious &#8211; When [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/home-improvements-with-a-baby-in-the-house/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Deciding When To Pay Someone To Complete A Home Improvement Project</title>
		<link>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/home-improvements-and-the-project-triangle/</link>
		<comments>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/home-improvements-and-the-project-triangle/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 05 Jun 2010 01:40:58 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Tom Coffee</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Home Improvement Tricks]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/?p=900</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[As you may have guessed I rather enjoy working on my home and running out the hardware store every weekend to tackle new and different projects around my house. I like having a sense of accomplishment at the end of a long weekend and I like making my 50 year old house a little more livable. But lately I&#8217;ve been hitting some roadblocks when it comes to my home improvement projects and it&#8217;s put me in a philosophical mood. I&#8217;ve been thinking about my limitations and what I can and, more specifically, can&#8217;t always do around my house. My home improvement limitations roughly fall into the same categories as the somewhat infamous Project Triangle. The old joke is, &#8220;You can have it done right, on time and within budget. Pick two.&#8221; When it comes to any project, not just home improvement projects, there are essentially three characteristics or &#8220;limitations&#8221; that must be weighed and measured. So when you decide that something needs to be done around the house or you need to complete some sort of project at work, there are three factors you must consider. These three factors will determine if you decide to do complete your home improvement [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/home-improvements-and-the-project-triangle/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Using A Smart Phone For Home Improvements</title>
		<link>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/using-a-cell-phone-for-home-improvements/</link>
		<comments>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/using-a-cell-phone-for-home-improvements/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 02 Mar 2010 10:48:04 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Tom Coffee</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Home Improvement Tricks]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[tools]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/?p=733</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[When you think of &#8220;essential home improvement tools&#8221; I bet your cell phone doesn&#8217;t rank up there with &#8220;hammer&#8221; or &#8220;screwdriver&#8221; but it probably should! I am a firm believer in using a cell phone or smartphone like an iPhone or Blackberry for small and large home improvement jobs. I started using an iPhone last year and I can now honestly say I don&#8217;t do much work on my house without it anymore. Most smartphone and cell phones can assist in DIY home improvement projects in a variety of ways, but here are some ways you can use today&#8217;s cell phones to help you with projects around the house: Cell Phone: I&#8217;ve also learned to carry my cell phone with me whenever I&#8217;m working on projects around the house, especially outside or when I have to climb up on the roof. If I happen to get stuck or I need help or I hurt myself, then I know I don&#8217;t have to worry about whether or not someone can hear me yelling. The whole world is just a phone call away. It&#8217;s also pretty handy when you&#8217;re in the middle of something and you don&#8217;t have to run inside to [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/using-a-cell-phone-for-home-improvements/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Save Money By Making Your Own Air Filter Replacements</title>
		<link>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/make-your-own-air-filters/</link>
		<comments>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/make-your-own-air-filters/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 26 Jan 2010 11:23:17 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Tom Coffee</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Home Improvement Tricks]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[diy]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/?p=688</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[We have some small room air filters in the bedroom of my home which we run pretty regularly to help cut down on some of the dust in the house that&#8217;s generated from an active family, two cats and an old force hot air heating system. The little air purifiers work pretty well, the filters were getting a bit expensive for my tastes, so I decided to see if I could just make my own air filters for a fraction of the cost. Turns out, it&#8217;s pretty easy! You can essentially buy cheap air filters and cut them to whatever custom size you need. Just buy a larger (and cheaper) air filter of the same thickness and cut it down to size. I&#8217;ve had an ongoing battle with dust in my home for a while, and each thing I do makes the situation a little better. I regularly change the large air filter for my home as part of my regular furnace and air conditioner maintenance and I even wrote a review of a professional duct cleaning service. I also regularly vacuum and we try to keep our cats away from our bedrooms when we can. I decided to also [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/make-your-own-air-filters/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>8</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Gas Furnace Not Starting or Starting Intermittently &#8211; How To Fix It</title>
		<link>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/gas-furnace-start-intermittently-clean-flame-sensor/</link>
		<comments>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/gas-furnace-start-intermittently-clean-flame-sensor/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 05 Jan 2010 11:15:08 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Tom Coffee</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Featured]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Home Improvement Tricks]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/?p=661</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[My gas furnace is only a couple years old, so I wasn&#8217;t real happy when our gas furnace began operating intermittently, sometimes starting when it should and sometimes not. We would be sitting in the living room playing a board game or just walking around and one of us would say, &#8220;Hey, it&#8217;s kind of chilly in here&#8230;&#8221; Essentially, the heat would be working fine for several weeks and then one day it just wouldn&#8217;t start. We&#8217;d sometimes hear the furnace try to kick on, but it wouldn&#8217;t last very long before it shut down again. Our gas furnace was basically cycling through its &#8220;starting cycle&#8221; much too quickly and it was never actually running for more than a few minutes. If this sounds like your gas furnace problem then read on to see what you can do to fix it before making an expensive service call to a heating repair company. You can actually buy replacement flame sensors online. Our &#8220;easy&#8221; fix for this problem would be turn the heat off at the thermostat, wait about 10 to 15 minutes and then turn the heat on again, hoping for the best. Sometimes that would work and the heat would [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/gas-furnace-start-intermittently-clean-flame-sensor/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>12</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Cheap and Easy Way To Store Your Christmas Lights</title>
		<link>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/cheap-and-easy-way-to-store-your-christmas-lights/</link>
		<comments>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/cheap-and-easy-way-to-store-your-christmas-lights/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 28 Dec 2009 08:49:15 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Tom Coffee</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Home Improvement Tricks]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Interior Projects]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[lighting]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/?p=109</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The sales and marketing of Christmas lights and decorations is only superseded by the even larger sales and marketing of wild and clever plastic containers and gadgets that are meant to be used for the storing Christmas lights and decorations. I&#8217;ve tried several different clever containers and methods for storing my Christmas lights from one year to the next. Some work better than others, but I was looking for a simpler way. I&#8217;ve tried putting the light cords back into the original plastic trays with very little success. It&#8217;s both too time consuming too easy to break bulbs or LED&#8217;s out of their sockets when you&#8217;re trying to cram everything back into the box the way they came out. My method for storing my Christmas lights is cheap and easy and it&#8217;s worked for for me for several years now. Here&#8217;s what I do: 1. Remove and Test your Christmas Lights: I take down each strand of Christmas lights separately and test them after I get them down, just to quickly make sure I haven&#8217;t broken or crushed anything accidentally in the removal process. This may seem silly, but it saves me from storing a set of lights that is [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/cheap-and-easy-way-to-store-your-christmas-lights/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Make Your Own Simple Christmas Tree Watering System</title>
		<link>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/make-your-own-simple-christmas-tree-watering-system/</link>
		<comments>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/make-your-own-simple-christmas-tree-watering-system/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 19 Dec 2009 02:36:55 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Tom Coffee</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Home Improvement Tricks]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[diy]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/?p=644</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Like a lot of people right now, I have a cut live Christmas tree in my living room right now. It&#8217;s decorated and covered with lights and I have a nice little tree skirt and the whole things looks green and great for the moment, though I know that if I don&#8217;t water it for a day or two then I&#8217;ll quickly have a pile of brown needles around the base and the tree will start looking a little less green and little more like something from a Charlie Brown special. You can keep your Christmas tree green by making your own DIY tree watering system. I created a simple Christmas tree watering system with this simple pipe. I use a funnel to pour the water down the pipe. I have the new common Christmas tree stand with the pegs around the side that screw in and lock the tree into place. These plastic stands are pretty good and they&#8217;re a lot more sturdy than the metal Christmas tree stands of twenty years ago, but they&#8217;re still a real pain in the neck to pour water into. My tree branches are usually right at the lip of the stand, leaving [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/make-your-own-simple-christmas-tree-watering-system/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Making Sidewalk Art With A Power Washer</title>
		<link>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/making-sidewalk-art-with-a-power-washer/</link>
		<comments>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/making-sidewalk-art-with-a-power-washer/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 16 Sep 2009 09:46:51 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Tom Coffee</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Exterior Projects]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Green Home improvements]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Home Improvement Tricks]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/?p=450</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Today&#8217;s consumer power washers are good cleaning tools but you can also have some fun with them and add a decorative flair to your home. Just about any type of small to medium pressure washer should work for this project, no matter how low the psi might be. With a little imagination and creativity you can use a pressure or power washer to clean the sidewalks and pavements around your home and also leave some fun designs on your cement. There are no chemicals involved, it&#8217;s completely temporary and kind of fun! Even a little hand held power washer like this one from Amazon is powerful enough to make artistic designs on cement and concrete. First, before you go playing with your power washer, be safe. Power washers, even the little home units, are dangerous tools that can seriously hurt someone. Never aim a power washer at a person or animals, always wear goggles or safety glasses when using them and be very vigilant about what you are washing because you could be damaging something without even knowing it. If you have corded power washer then you also need to be extra careful about mixing water with any electrical tool. [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/making-sidewalk-art-with-a-power-washer/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Improving the Cooling Power of Your Central Air Conditioner</title>
		<link>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/improving-your-central-air-conditioner/</link>
		<comments>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/improving-your-central-air-conditioner/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 14 Aug 2009 10:16:45 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Tom Coffee</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Exterior Projects]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Home Improvement Tricks]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Interior Projects]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hvac]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/?p=395</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Now that we&#8217;re into some of the hottest days of the summer those of you with central air conditioners might be finding that on the really hot days your home isn&#8217;t staying as cool as it once did. Maybe you&#8217;re even finding that your central AC isn&#8217;t able to keep up with a stretch of high heat and humidity that lasts several days or more. Here are some quick things I&#8217;ve learned that you can do to improve the efficiency and cooling ability of your central air conditioner: The previous owners of my home severely cut down their central air conditioner&#8217;s cooling ability by putting makeshift scented filters in all the air vents. First, you&#8217;ll want to make sure that you&#8217;re regularly maintaining your central air conditioner properly by changing the filters regularly, cleaning out the outside compressor unit and generally taking good care of it even when it&#8217;s working just fine. There are lots of different brands and designs of central air conditioners now, but they all require the same basic care: keep them clean and clear and they should keep you cool. Next, you&#8217;ll want to be sure your AC is working well. If it isn&#8217;t working at [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/improving-your-central-air-conditioner/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Planting Grass Seed In the Rain</title>
		<link>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/planting-grass-seed-in-the-rain/</link>
		<comments>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/planting-grass-seed-in-the-rain/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 06 May 2009 10:36:10 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Tom Coffee</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Home Improvement Tricks]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Lawn and Garden]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[grass]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/?p=266</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Yes, you can plant grass seed in the rain! As I&#8217;ve alluded to before, I&#8217;m a big supporter of laying down grass seed when it&#8217;s raining or about to rain. Whether you&#8217;re simply over seeding your lawn for the year or you&#8217;re filling in some bare spots in your lawn, I think rainy days are some of the best times to plant grass seed. Rain for the next three days? Let&#8217;s plant some grass! The advantages are actually pretty obvious: Planting grass seed in the rain obviously saves you water and money. Even if you have well water, there&#8217;s still a cost associated with running the pump to get the water and there&#8217;s no reason to pump water up from the ground at a cost when it&#8217;s coming down from the sky for free. Planting grass seed in the rain helps the seed get started sooner. The key to growing grass and keeping your grass looking green is really simple: water. The more water, the better. I like to go out in the rain and sprinkle around grass seed because I know that seed is hitting the soil and getting mixed with water almost immediately, which speeds up its growing [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/planting-grass-seed-in-the-rain/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>5</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Hiding TV Wires Outside Your Walls</title>
		<link>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/hiding-tv-wires-outside-your-walls/</link>
		<comments>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/hiding-tv-wires-outside-your-walls/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 19 Feb 2009 11:35:41 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Tom Coffee</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Home Improvement Tricks]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[New Home Products]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/?p=150</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[As flat screen televisions have become more popular, so have the innovative ways of hanging and mounting them. Years ago TV sets were so large and heavy they could only sit on the floor or on specially designed media centers, but today&#8217;s flat screen televisions, while being large, are also much thinner and lighter and can easily be mounted on walls in a number of different ways. There are lots of custom options for hiding your TV when you aren&#8217;t using it, but if you&#8217;re like most people then hiding the TV itself is not nearly as important as finding a way to hide those numerous unsightly television cords. Fortunately, you have lots of options when it comes to hiding TV wires and cables. The classic Wiremold TV wire cover hides cords pretty easily. Let&#8217;s begin by considering what sort of inputs and wires a TV has these days and then we&#8217;ll worry about how to hide them. First, you&#8217;ll have a power cord coming out of the back of your flat screen television. As far as I know there are no battery-powered flat screen TVs of note, so this is an absolute. The power cord is also the most [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/hiding-tv-wires-outside-your-walls/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>4</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Is Your Smoke Detector Beeping and Chirping with New Batteries?</title>
		<link>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/is-your-smoke-detector-beeping-and-chirping/</link>
		<comments>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/is-your-smoke-detector-beeping-and-chirping/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 30 Jan 2009 11:42:59 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Tom Coffee</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Home Improvement Tricks]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/?p=130</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[A constantly beeping smoke detector outside my bedroom recently taught me a little bit about battery-operated smoke detectors that I didn&#8217;t realize: In addition to replacing the smoke detector batteries every six months or so, you should also consider replacing the entire smoke detector every so often. This battery powered voice smoke detector is my smoke detector of choice because it detects smoke and carbon monoxide and it is reasonably priced. As usual, the chirping of my smoke detector started around 3AM on a weeknight so I groggily stumbled out of bed, reached up and pulled the smoke detector down and took out the batteries before it woke my toddler son. I stumbled back to bed to deal with the issue in the morning. My smoke detector of choice! When I woke up the next day I checked the batteries by trying them in a little flashlight and they all appeared to be good. No, this isn&#8217;t a scientific test and I wouldn&#8217;t rely it. I had just put new batteries into the detector around October of last year, so I figured they would still be okay. I shrugged and grabbed a new set of alkaline batteries and put those [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/is-your-smoke-detector-beeping-and-chirping/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>55</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>How To Get Free Lowes Hardware Store Coupons</title>
		<link>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/how-to-get-free-lowes-hardware-store-coupons/</link>
		<comments>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/how-to-get-free-lowes-hardware-store-coupons/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 18 Nov 2008 11:20:48 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Tom Coffee</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Home Improvement Tricks]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Products, Reviews and Resources]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/how-to-get-free-lowes-hardware-store-coupons/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[If you have a Lowe&#8217;s hardware store chain near you then you know the quality and wide selection of hardware, home improvement projects and general home merchandise they offer, but sometimes their prices are a little higher than some of the other big box hardware stores like The Home Depot or even 84 Lumber. I&#8217;m lucky enough to have both a Lowe&#8217;s hardware store and a Home Depot about five miles from my home (and about a half mile from each other) but I find myself going to Lowe&#8217;s a lot more. The latest Lowe&#8217;s Creative Ideas magazine has a square wreath on the front and $35 worth of coupons inside! Get Lowe&#8217;s hardware store coupons in the mail: One of the reasons I tend to go to Lowe&#8217;s for things like hardware and home improvement supplies is because I regularly get coupons in the mail from Lowe&#8217;s. The great thing is that anyone can get these coupons if they&#8217;re smart enough to do one thing: sign up for all the free Lowe&#8217;s Home Improvement Store Creative Ideas Newsletter that I&#8217;ve told you all about before! Today I just received the Lowe&#8217;s hardware store Winter 2008-2009 Creative Ideas Home and [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/how-to-get-free-lowes-hardware-store-coupons/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>50 Fall Home Improvement Projects You Can Do With Your Daylight Savings Hour</title>
		<link>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/50-things-to-do-around-the-house-with-your-extra-hour/</link>
		<comments>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/50-things-to-do-around-the-house-with-your-extra-hour/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 31 Oct 2008 18:14:18 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Tom Coffee</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Home Improvement Tricks]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Lawn and Garden]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[lighting]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/50-things-to-do-around-the-house-with-your-extra-hour/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[On Sunday most of the United States will set its clock back one hour, effectively &#8220;gaining&#8221; 60 minutes this fall just in time to get some last minute home improvement projects done around the house before the cold weather of winter sets in. You surely can&#8217;t do all these things in an hour, but you can definitely get a couple of them done and rest a little easier knowing that your house is that much more ready for winter. So here are some short one-hour or less home improvement projects you can accomplish with your extra hour. Interior Home Projects 1. Change smoke detector batteries &#8211; This is the classic daylight savings time activity and many fire departments and other organizations around the country actually give away batteries this weekend just so people remember to do it. A simple smoke detector is one of the best ways you can keep your family safe in the event of a fire. 2. Change the batteries in your carbon monoxide detector &#8211; Many smoke detectors can also detect carbon monoxide, a deadly but odorless gas. My home actually has both right next to each other in one of my stairwells. And, yes, they [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/50-things-to-do-around-the-house-with-your-extra-hour/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Central Air Conditioner Not Working?  Simple Troubleshooting Steps</title>
		<link>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/central-air-conditioner-not-working-try-these-simple-troubleshooting-steps/</link>
		<comments>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/central-air-conditioner-not-working-try-these-simple-troubleshooting-steps/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 06 Jun 2008 10:25:17 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Tom Coffee</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Home Improvement Tricks]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/central-air-conditioner-not-working-try-these-simple-troubleshooting-steps/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Our central air conditioner unit is over 15 years old and recently it hasn&#8217;t been working quite as reliably as we&#8217;d like. Even though I&#8217;ve been doing my best to care for my central air conditioner is appears that mine might on its way out. About once every couple of days now it simply &#8220;stops&#8221; coming on and I have to try a bunch of different things to get my air conditioner working again. I was planning on getting a new central air conditioner in the next year or two anyway, but it looks like I may be doing it a little earlier than I had anticipated. Without getting too technical I thought I&#8217;d share with you a couple steps you can try before calling in the air conditional repair (or sales) guys: 1. Make sure you&#8217;re setting the AC thermostat properly: Some thermostats don&#8217;t immediately turn on the unit and some have a 2 or 3 degree temperature &#8220;window&#8221; they use to gauge whether the air conditioner should switch on or not. If you&#8217;re new to using a digital thermostat or you&#8217;re unfamiliar with how they work, read my guide to using a programmable thermostat. 2. Make sure your [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/central-air-conditioner-not-working-try-these-simple-troubleshooting-steps/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>101</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Ceiling Fan Direction Makes A Room Cooler or Warmer</title>
		<link>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/ceiling-fan-direction-makes-it-cooler-or-warmer/</link>
		<comments>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/ceiling-fan-direction-makes-it-cooler-or-warmer/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 08 May 2008 10:47:19 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Tom Coffee</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Green Home improvements]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Home Improvement Tricks]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Interior Projects]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/ceiling-fan-direction-makes-it-cooler-or-warmer/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[We&#8217;ve had a few days of warm weather here on the East Coast lately and my wife and I have been running the ceiling fans in most of our rooms to keep the rooms cool without having to turn on our central air conditioner quite yet. Even though its been relatively mild outside we have a few rooms that get a lot of sun and warm up rather quickly. I was sitting in my office last night and commented that even though the fan above me was on medium speed that it didn&#8217;t feel as though it was cooling the room very well. It was at that moment that I realized I had forgotten to switch the fan direction from &#8220;warming&#8221; to &#8220;cooling.&#8221; You see, most ceiling fans will go in two directions: clockwise and counter-clockwise. Most ceiling fans sold these days have a small switch right &#8220;above&#8221; the blades (between the fan blades and the ceiling, on the &#8220;stem&#8221; of the fan) that control the fan blade blowing direction: right or left. Some fan manuals call these directions &#8220;forward&#8221; and &#8220;reverse&#8221; but I can never remember which direction is which. This fan direction switch is a pretty important feature [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/ceiling-fan-direction-makes-it-cooler-or-warmer/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
		</item>
	</channel>
</rss>

