Experts In Your Home Blog

By now, we've all heard the joke: “How many (fill in with your favorite demographic group) does it take to change a light bulb?”

As you know, the answer is invariably “one,” but as you also may know, there's sometimes more to safely changing a light bulb than meets the eye. And it's no laughing matter when you receive an electrical shock or the bulb has become broken in the base and you have to remove it before changing it.

Kitchens are a popular place to be. It’s where we cook all our meals and inevitably where people end up gathering when you have guests over. The last thing you want is for it to smell funky – it’s embarrassing and causes you to have to take precious time away from visiting with your friends or family because you have to find the source and clean.

We’ve all been in the predicament of trying to find out where that icky smell is coming from. You clean out the refrigerator, take out the trash, and toss the well-used sponge, but the smell still lingers. The stinky culprit could be your garbage disposal.

Are you tired of seeing those cloudy, crusty white spots on your faucets, in your bathtub or even on your dishes? Hard water stains can show up just about anywhere in your home – whether you’re pouring your coffee from a cloudy carafe, washing dishes from a spotted faucet, or scrubbing a toilet that just doesn’t seem to come clean. Hard water stains can make parts of your home look less than ideal, but you can get it gleaming again.

Ever wondered if you could fix your slow drain all by yourself without having to pour chemicals down the drain? Sometimes the reason behind the slowness is just a little bit of build up or a big old ball of hair that just never went down. In either of these cases, you should absolutely try fixing your slow drain yourself before calling a plumber to take care of it for you.

Imagine this: it’s a chilly morning and you really don’t want to get out of your warm bed to get ready for work, but let’s face it you have to. The only thing you’re looking forward to is stepping into that nice warm shower and standing under it for a few extra minutes to get your mind to wake up.

The holiday season is upon us, and at Experts In Your Home we know that you have many things to prepare for and not quite enough time for it all. In light of that we have compiled this list of things to get you thinking about whether or not your home is ready for holiday guests.  

If you’re a new, current or seasoned homeowner you’ve probably heard about water softeners. But what are they, do they really work, and do you actually need them? Here’s what the Experts say:

Many Chico area residents have heard of the Grinch who stole Christmas. What they don't know is the identity of the Grinch who “stole” the tax credits on insulation, windows, doors, skylights and roofs.

Experts in Your Home doesn't know, either, though it's obviously someone affiliated with a high-level federal agency. We do know that this is one of those times where looking at the proverbial glass as half-full helps since 2017 tax credits are still available on some solar projects.

It's difficult to argue that saving some money is better than saving none at all. So allow the Experts to explain how the IRS-U.S. Department of Energy program works.

Many people hit the roof, go through the roof or act like a cat on a hot tin roof when they’re dealing with a roof leak.

And Experts in Your Home should know, because this is when we field the greatest number of calls for roof inspections. But a roof shouldn’t cave in – literally or figuratively – for you to schedule a roof inspection.

Instead of watching their favorite reality show on TV, many Chico area homeowners have witnessed a different reality: that of water streaming through the ceiling and splashing into their kitchen, family room or living room.

Water leaks are the most obvious sign that the recent rains have permeated the most important part of their home's outer “envelope”: the roof. (The other components include the attic, doors, windows, exterior walls and subfloor.) But water leaks are not the only sign.