Research by the Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates that the average person spends nearly 40 minutes each day cleaning their home. That is an average of 40 days per year spent dusting, sweeping and vacuuming. If you have decided to spend those 40 days doing things that are more fun by hiring house cleaning services, these tips can help you choose the right maid services for your family.

One of the best ways to hire the best house cleaning service is to talk to family and friends. A cleaning service suggested by family and friends will more than likely do a good job or they would not be recommended. You can also search for “house cleaning near me,” to find the names of cleaning services and then talk to family or friends to see if they have ever used them.

Reputable cleaning services will offer a free estimate but most will want to see the home before they provide you with a cost. When you call, have a list of questions ready to ask. You will want to know how many people will be on your cleaning team, the type of products they will use to clean as well as if they are licensed and insured. During the in-person interview, ask how long it will take them to clean your home and what they expect of you before they arrive. You can also ask about additional services, like baseboard or window cleaning.

Before the cleaning service comes to your house for the initial cleaning, do not clean your house first. Leave your house as it will be when they come for their regular weekly cleaning. You can pick up belongings and clear counters or tabletops, but don’t run the vacuum, clean the bathroom or scrub the kitchen floor. The best house cleaning companies need to see exactly what they will be dealing with when they show up to clean regularly in order to give you an accurate price. You also don’t want to get in the habit of having to clean before they arrive as this kind of defeats the purpose.

When you interview house cleaning services, if something doesn’t “feel” right, listen to your feelings. If you don’t feel comfortable for any reason, choose the best house cleaning companies that make you feel at ease. Make sure you are honest with what you expect and keep asking questions until you are satisfied. If they don’t answer the way you want, choose a different service.

Even though you may have a strict budget and need to find cheap house cleaning, you don’t want to base your choice of cleaning service only on how much they charge. The fact is, large companies who charge more may not provide you with all the services you need while a smaller, local company may charge less and provide you with many more services. If you want to include extras like window cleaning, you will need to discuss this with the service as well. Most cheap house cleaning companies do not include window cleaning services in the regular service but add an additional cost for windows, baseboards or other items that don’t need to be done every few months, not weekly or bi-weekly.

When you search for “house cleaning near me,” you may be looking for something other than regular maid services. There are companies that also specialize in moving house cleaning. If you sell your home, the cleaning company comes in and does a thorough cleaning of the entire house, including windows, baseboards, walls, cabinets and more. You may also seek a moving house cleaning company if you own a rental home. When tenants move, even if they clean after they have moved all their items, you may still need to have a professional come in to be sure the rental is clean enough for your new tenants.

If you are looking for house cleaning services, visit EmployeeandMemberDiscounts.com where you can find discounts on window cleaning services, maid services and more. There is no membership fee and you can begin accessing discounts as soon as you register. Not only can you find house cleaning discounts, you can also find discounts on entertainment, financial services, insurance, travel, pets and more. These are discounts that were previously only available to certain employees and members, such as alumni, seniors, veterans and students.

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No matter how hard we try, it seems we are always dealing with what seems like an endless battle with clutter. The kids come home and toss bookbags in a corner, shoes get kicked off near the sofa and stay there or your spouse leaves things lying around, making your house look messy. What you may not know is that clutter can have a negative affect on the brain, leading to stress and anxiety. Clearing away clutter can improve focus, increase productivity and makes it easier for your brain to process information. These five-minute home organization tips can help you start getting a handle on clutter and improve your mental state at the same time.

In most households, paper accounts for a large percentage of the clutter that accumulates. This is often because paperwork gets dropped in several different locations, whether it is on the dining room table, kitchen counter, a desk or in the car. Resolve this issue by purchasing a box or basket where all paper is placed and don’t put paper down anywhere but in that location. When your kids bring home school papers, drop them in the box. Put all incoming mail in the box as well as receipts, warranties and notices. Once each week, go through the box and sort what you need to keep and what can be tossed.

When you work outside the home, dealing with the clutter after working all day can be exhausting. Instead, look at your calendar and choose a free weekend to designate for decluttering. Sit down and schedule what you want to accomplish. Be sure to have boxes and trash bags available. If you don’t own a truck, borrow or rent one so you can take things to your local charity. If you are doing the decluttering alone, start in one room and don’t move to the next room until you are finished. If you have involved the entire family, assign each person a room to work on.

If your home is not really cluttered but your basement is a minefield of unused exercise equipment, ancient garden tools and bags of old clothes, it is time to begin Operation Basement Organization. The first step is to determine what you want to keep, what you want to donate and what you want to toss. If there is something in the basement you have not used in over a year, donate it or toss it. If you cannot rent or borrow a truck, contact local charities about picking up the items you wish to donate. Once you have sorted everything, go back through the keep pile and separate them into categories. As you identify each item, put it where you want it to be. For example, books on a shelf, sporting equipment in a closet or sentimental items stored in plastic bins. Label any boxes so you know what is in them. Choose basement organization shelving and boxes that will not be damaged should the basement flood. Hang hooks or pegs for things like tools, coats and other items.

Attic organization is not much different than organizing your basement. Attics are often very warm in the summer and very cold in the winter, unlike a basement that may stay cool all year. It may be best to empty the entire attic, carrying everything downstairs so you can go through it. Just like your basement, separate items into piles of keep, donate or discard. Once you are ready to return anything you want to keep, create an attic floor plan so you know where you plan to put each item. One attic organization tip is to use different color bins for each type of item. For example, winter clothes can be stored in red bins while holiday decorations go in green bins. Another option is to use labels to identify what is in each box.

Another area that could become the victim of clutter is the garage. It is easy to just pile things up around the garage with no system of organization. Wire shelving is a great way to create garage organization as it is easy to install and available in a wide range of configurations. It is also possible to install floor shelving units designed specifically for garage storage as well. Take advantage of the high ceilings in your garage by placing raised shelving that can be easily accessed using a ladder.

There are many different options for junk removal help. One method for junk removal is to hire junk removal companies. These businesses will come to your home and remove any items you no longer want. Junk removal companies will remove anything that is non-hazardous, including appliances, carpeting, tires, household trash and more. Another option for cheap junk removal is to contact local charities who often will come take any unwanted items that can be reused or sold. The Salvation Army and Goodwill both offer cheap junk removal services, allowing you to eliminate clutter.

If you are planning to declutter your home and need cheap junk removal, sign up for EmloyeeandMemberDiscounts.com. You can find discounts on junk removal help, home organization and other items designed to get our home more organized. You can also find discounts on travel, tax services, house cleaning and more. There is never a membership fee and you can begin accessing the discounts immediately.

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If you have halways dreamed of a beautiful lawn that is the envy of your neighbors, you can achieve that goal without spending a lot of money or a lot of time working in the yard. These lawn care tips can help you get a picture-perfect lawn on a budget.

The best lawn care service might create a beautiful lawn but you could spend as much as $1,000 over one season. If you don’t mind getting dirty, you can do most of your yardwork yourself. Not only will this save you money, it can actually be fun to put your own hard work into your lawn.

If your lawn is fairly small, consider purchasing an old-fashioned push reel mower. Rotary mowers shred your grass and can leave your yard vulnerable to insects and disease while reel mowers cut cleanly. Because this type of mower runs on human power, there is no need to buy gas or oil when it is time for lawn mowing. Gas-powered push mowers can cost hundreds while a push reel mower can often be found for less than $80. They are also easier on the environment as a gas mower can produce the same amount of pollution as a car. Push reel mowers also require less maintenance as there are few mechanical parts. Just keep the blades sharpened and your lawn will look beautiful all season.

Your lawn needs nourishment and, although the soil can provide much of what your lawn needs, it cannot sustain your grass all season. The best lawn care service companies recommend lawn fertilization in the spring and the fall to heal damage and control weeds. Do not fertilize more than twice each year as too much fertilization can weaken your lawn. Save money by making your own fertilizer as well. A bag of fertilizer can cost up to $25. One recipe for homemade fertilizer includes a bottle of beer mixed with one can of soda, a half cup of dish soap, a half-cup of mouthwash and a half-cup of ammonia. Others include composted kitchen scraps and yard debris. A quick search online should help you find the right homemade lawn fertilization recipe. Also, leave the clippings alone. Lawn clippings can serve as a source of fertilizer and natural mulch.

You don’t need toxic chemicals to eliminate weeds from your yard. Spray your lawn with a mixture of white vinegar, table salt and a tiny bit of liquid dish detergent. The same is true of insecticides. One way for discounted lawn service is to make your own. Store-bought insecticides can be dangerous to pets and humans. Mites, white flies, aphids and other insects can be kept away by spraying a mixture of soap and water. Fresh garlic and cayenne pepper mixed with water will deter cabbage loopers and beetles. Add the mixtures to spray bottles to spread them as part of your lawn care program. When spreading fertilizer as part of your lawn care program, do it by the handful. Dumping by the bag can concentrate the fertilizer in one area which can damage the grass.

Lawn aeration allows air to get to the roots of your grass so that water penetrates better and the plants can absorb nutrients. You should aerate your lawn each spring and fall. Consider joining up with your neighbors to share the cost of renting a lawn aeration machine. If you own shoes with spikes, such as golf or baseball shoes, put them on and walk around your yard to add more aeration. There are sandals with metal spikes that are specifically designed to use for aeration as well.

One of the biggest mistakes homeowners make in their lawn service is to water their lawns too frequently. Daily watering can actually suffocate your grass and kill the roots. This leads to grass that is stressed and susceptible to damage. Grass needs about one-inch of water per week. Place a bucket under your sprinkler and turn the water off once the bucket reaches the one-inch mark. You also need to be careful not to flood your lawn as that can add hundreds of dollars to your water bill or put too much stress on a water pump.

If you cut your grass too short, it will be vulnerable to weeds and heat. Instead, cut your lawn to around two-inches tall so that it holds moisture better and resists weed growth. The species of grass you have will determine the best height as some do better when they are slightly taller while others may need to be slightly shorter. Lawn service experts also recommend varying your mowing pattern to help reduce wear and tear after lawn mowing.

If you have an area of your yard with dead grass, use a rake to pull the dead plants from the ground so that you can reseed. If the area is too large to remove with a rake, dig out the dead turf with a shovel and backfill with organic compost. If you have holes where dirt and grass are pushed up, it is possible you have a mole problem. Invest in a mole chaser which looks similar to a small windmill. The device creates a vibration that impacts the sensitive hearing of moles, leading them to move elsewhere.

If you just don’t have the time or the knowledge to manage your lawn care on your own, consider hiring a lawn care company. You will want to start searching for one during the winter when they are not as busy. Ask family and friends or read reviews online to choose several companies that offer the services you need. Obtain estimates from all of them but be sure the estimates offer the same services. Most companies will work with you, offering lawn care discounts if you agree to a certain contract or services.

At EmployeeandMemberDiscounts.com, we offer many discounted lawn service options that were previously only available to employees in certain industries or members of specific organizations. We have searched and compiled all of these discounts in one place and made them available for anyone. You can find lawn service discounts you can actually use and there is never a membership fee.

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Water doesn’t seem to be destructive when it comes from your faucet, runs through your dishwasher or fills your washing machine to do laundry. The fact is that water can be extremely damaging should something go wrong. Clean water that floods your home from a broken hose, frozen pipe or malfunctioning dishwasher can ruin furniture, flooring and drywall. If the water is from a backed up sewer line, the results can be devastating. Water damage of any type needs professional help to get your home back in order and to protect your family from the microbes and bacteria that can build up from standing water.

It is possible that you clean up the water, dry out the carpets and repair the drywall on your own. You need to deal with the water damage carpets and furnishings immediately, however, in order to avoid the build up of bacteria, mold and mildew which can be dangerous to your family. The longer you delay repairing the damage, the more risk your family is in. If there is a significant amount of water, the more likely it is that you will need a water damage specialist to deal with the problem.

Water restoration specialists have equipment that is designed to remove water quickly and dry out the affected areas to avoid further damage. You may have a humidifier and fans to dry the area but it is unlikely what you have will dry the water damage carpets, furnishings and other areas quickly enough to avoid microbe and bacteria from building up. Water damage restoration companies also have specialized testing gear such as moisture sensors and hydro sensors to determine if water has penetrated deeply into the materials. This gives them a better understanding of what must be done to repair the damage.

Water extraction and restoration takes specific knowledge that the average homeowner does not have. A water damage restoration company brings the experience you need to get your home back to normal again. A water damage specialist have been working in the field for many years and they can assess damage, determine what needs to be done and take the steps to repair the damage quickly. The sooner the company starts working, the more likely carpet, drywall, furnishings and other items can be saved.

One of the most common errors homeowners make is to underestimate just how much damage water has done to their home or business. Water can flow through cracks and crevices while also finding its way through solid materials including drywall, wood and flooring. A tiny leak in a sink drain could lead to significant damage under your cabinets, through the subflooring and even damage the walls or ceilings if the sink is on an upper floor.

If you have suffered water damage and need to hire water damage restoration companies, visit EmployeeandMemberDiscounts.com. We have many discounts for water damage restoration that will save you money while getting your water damage carpets back to their original condition. These are discounts that were previously only available to employees and members of certain groups or industries, but we have made them available to anyone.

We can also create a customized discount program designed specifically for your business or organization. Fill out the easy online form or give us a call to learn how we can create a discount program your employees or members will actually use. There is never a membership fee and they can sign up at any time.

No one likes to deal with pests in their home but it is almost impossible to avoid them completely. Flies, ants, mosquitoes, wasps, even cockroaches, termites and bed bugs can become unwelcome visitors in your home. Learn more about common household pests as well as the best pest control options to use to rid your home of them.

Flies belong to the insect order of diptera and play an important ecological role in nature. They pollinate and provide food sources for other animals. Flies can also carry diseases such as those associated with food poisoning. They have been connected to the spread of typhoid fever, cholera, dysentery and rotavirus as well. Businesses can suffer significant losses if flies contaminate food sources. The best way to keep flies from infesting your home is to keep doors and windows shut. If your windows or doors are open, be sure that fly screens are in place. Cover food that is out for consumption and clear away any food debris quickly. Be sure your trash cans have tightly sealed lids and clean up after pets as flies are attracted to feces. In most cases, a fly infestation requires professional attention and many offer pest control discounts that can help you rid your home of the pests. You can try a homemade fly repellant made up of apple cider vinegar combined with rosemary, basil and peppermint essential oils plus a small amount of olive oil.

There are more than 1,000 species of ants in North America alone and more than 15,000 species worldwide. The most common infestation found inside a home is black house ants, sometimes known as sugar ants. Although ants are not known to carry disease, they do walk around outside. Since they can infest food in your kitchen, they could be bringing in unwanted bacteria or microbes. One way to accomplish pest control for ants is to find where they are coming into your home and seal off the entrance point. You can often find where they are coming in by looking for small piles of earth around holes in soil at the base of exterior walls. Ants are attracted to sweet things so be sure to wipe up any spills and cover any edible items that could be food for ants. There are over-the-counter products that contain poisons that the ant carries back to the nest that are a good form of pest control for ants. If the infestation is significant, however, you may need to seek professional pest control for ants.

Bed bugs can be found around the world, from Antarctica to New York and beyond. They are of the cimcid family and they feast on the blood of warm blooded mammals, including humans. After World War II, bed bugs were almost completely eradicated from the United States but they have been making a comeback in recent years. A bed bug infestation requires the assistance of a professional. If you need pest control for bedbugs, you need to contact companies that specialize in eliminating bed bugs. Often, pest control for bedbugs requires a heat treatment that is environmentally friendly but rids the home of the pests completely

Every fall, a newly-mated queen wasp seeks shelter in protective structures to build a nest. She may choose a location in the interior or the exterior of your home. In the spring, the nest grows, becoming a serious danger to people. Vespid wasps, also known as yellow jackets, hornets or paper wasps, are the most dangerous of all stinging insects as they will attack in large numbers if they feel threatened. Their sting is very painful and can be fatal. If you discover a wasp’s nest in your home, you need to leave its removal to a professional pest control company. One nest can contain thousands of wasps and as the numbers increase, the wasps become more aggressive.

According to termite treatment companies, termites have been designated as one of the most destructive pests you can have in your home which is why termites exterminate services are in high demand. A termite will feed on wood 24 hours per day which means a termite infestation can cause significant damage. Termites cause more than $5 billion in damage annually and almost every property in the country is at risk of getting a termite infestation. If you have noticed what look like flying ants around your windows and then only see the wings left behind, you probably need termites exterminate services. If you have noticed unexplained cracks, soft spots in your floors or doors that are difficult to open, a termites home may have become your home. You cannot eliminate termites on your own as total elimination will require the expertise of termite services. If you suspect you have termites home damage, you need to contact termite treatment companies to have them eliminated. Termite elimination can be expensive, especially if the infestation is significant. You could not only be facing expensive termite elimination fees but also expensive damage to your home that will have to be repaired.

A common misconception is that cockroaches only infest homes that are dirty. Cockroaches are attracted to food, much like ants. They will eat anything that has come in contact with food including paper, packaging, plastics and fabric. By the time you notice there is an infestation, there are probably thousands of cockroaches in your home as they are nocturnal creatures who forage for food at night and remain hidden during the day. If you have noticed an odd black dust or smear marks near areas of water, it is possible you have cockroaches. The pests also shed their skin so you may see “skins” in the area of the infestation. Cockroaches are normally found in bathrooms, kitchens, laundry rooms and basements. Cockroaches are stowaways and will crawl into boxes, bags, suitcases and clothing. Anyone can carry a cockroach into a business or home without realizing the cockroach is there. If the cockroach sets up house in the new location, the infestation will begin. Cockroaches are very difficult to kill. Sprays, home remedies and other tricks usually do not work to end an infestation. You need to speak to a pest control company to rid your home of these pests.

If you are in need of termite services or any other type of pest elimination, you can find pest control discounts by joining EmployeeandMemberDiscounts.com. These were savings that were previously only available to students, alumni, seniors, employees of certain industries and more. Whether you need pest control for bedbugs, wasp elimination or termite elimination, you can find discounts on EmployeeandMemberDiscounts.com.

Our perk experts can also help you create your own discount program for employees or members of your organization. Give us a call today or fill out the easy online form to learn more.