The day has finally arrived! You leave the closing table with the keys to your new house and you’re officially a homeowner. You’re ready to take a few pictures in front of the sold sign, pop open a bottle of champagne to celebrate, prepare to unload a truck full of boxes, and eventually order a pizza to refuel from the busy day. It’s going to be an exciting time but before you get settled in for a Netflix binge, make a list and tackle these few things first!

TEST YOUR SMOKE & CARBON MONOXIDE DETECTORS: This should be one of the very first things you do to protect your home and your family. Pick up extra batteries to keep on hand or consider updating these to smart devices for extra safety. The smart smoke detectors such as the Nest will allow you to integrate the device to an app that will alert you when smoke is detected. They’re more expensive than your typical smoke detector but well worth the extra cost. While you’re at it, purchase fire extinguishes for your home and know how to use them in case of emergency.

CHANGE THE LOCKS: Changing the locks on a new home is a standard safety measure to take but can’t be done until after closing. Swing by your local hardware store to pick up new locks before the big moving day so that you are sure to get them taken care of right away. Sometimes the simplest things can get buried to the bottom of our to do lists when we don’t prepare in advance!

GET TO KNOW YOUR HOUSE: Before you move in, you’ll have had a Home Inspection which is a fantastic way to learn about your new home. You’ll want to know where major things are located such as the circuit breaker box and the main water shut off valve. Keep a copy of your Home Inspection report so you can refer back to it if you are just learning about how all of these mechanicals work.

FORWARD YOUR MAIL: I know this sounds like common sense but the US Postal Service will actually stop forwarding mail 6 months after you move. In order to be sure that you are receiving everything you need, go online and get this taken care of first thing on the day of closing to get it out of the way.

DO A DEEP CLEAN AND TACKLE LARGER PAINTING PROJECTS: This one can be done while watching your favorite Netflix show if you want! The best time to do a deep clean is when the house is empty and free from large furniture. If you’re moving in the day you close, you could wait to unpack boxes for rooms that are harder to clean such as the kitchen and bathrooms. You could even hire a professional cleaning service to do one big clean before you move in so you don’t have to worry about it and instead focus on unpacking!

Painting is one of the first projects new homeowners tackle when moving into a new house. Everyone has different taste so its unlikely that you’ll love all of the paint colors that the previous owner chose. Consider picking out the colors you like and painting before moving your furniture in. It makes the process a whole lot easier and you can even invite your friends to help. It’s called a painting party – all you have to do is provide them with pizza and beverages and people always seem more than happy to help!

Time to start tackling this list so you are ready to go when closing day arrives. You’ll be able to sleep safe and sound knowing you took care of these things before the sold sign goes up! If you’re not in the middle of a home buying purchase but want to learn more about the process, reach out to Sophia and Scott and they’ll be happy to set up a time to chat!

Thank you to our site sponsors, Sophia Leece and Scott Boudreaux with LAH Real Estate for sponsoring this guide. For more information on what’s happening in the Birmingham Housing Market, or to schedule a free home buyer/seller consultation, you can reach them:

Sophia Leece, 205.895.9120 | sleece@lahrealestate.com | Website
Scott Boudreaux, 205.835.9787 |sboudreaux@lahrealestate.com | Website

As Covid-19 continues to spread, many parents are wrestling with the decision of sending their kids back to school for in-person instruction or choosing the virtual option that most school systems are offering on some level. In addition to worrying about what germs they might pick up this year, we now have to be more diligent about the germs they bring home since children can bring viruses like COVID-19 home before they show any signs of illness. This can be dangerous should children come in contact with immune-compromised or elderly members of the family.

One way to protect your home from any form of the virus is to create a distinct set of barriers that make it harder for the virus to enter the home and spread, according to Dr. Brent Laartz, infectious disease expert and author of Protect Yourself: From Ebola to Zika.

Parents can create at-home checkpoints to keep diseases from getting into the house in the first place.

Consider collecting their screens before they enter the house, as well as backpacks, folders and lunch boxes. Take a cue from hospitals and point them to one entry into the home. Have your kids wash hands when they come in, or set up a little sanitizing station with some hand sanitizer and wipes to wipe down all of these items and their hands. Often times phones and ipads can carry more bacteria than the bottoms of their shoes. In this same space, have kids remove shoes and put all items aside that are often touched and travel between home and school. It will help keep viruses from sneaking in on overlooked items, and reinforces a household philosophy of cleanliness.

There will always be a chance that a virus can slip through any of the precautions you have in place, if that happens try quarantining the sick individuals to a single area as much as is feasible with kids as well as regularly wipe downs of all the shared objects that are commonly touched in the home, including remotes, devices, computers, and game controllers. There should also be extra attention paid to bathrooms.

In the end it’s best to be more mindful than ever how germs can enter your home. A good rule of thumb is to to pay close attention to all of the objects they handle regularly. We all know tiny humans struggle with their hygiene habits, but hopefully with some constant reminders and a little diligent, you can keep your house healthy this school year.

Stanley Steemer of North Central Alabama services the greater Birmingham Metro Area and surrounding counties, spanning from Cullman to Clanton and from the Mississippi state line to the Georgia state line.

All Stanley Steemer water restoration specialists have Institute of Inspection Cleaning and Restoration Certification (IICRC), the most widely recognized and accepted certification program in the industry. These individuals are highly trained and prepared for any emergency water removal task they encounter. In addition to certification, our technicians attend IICRC-accredited continuing education and training programs throughout the year. We provide the time and money to train our people, and we supply them with the best equipment available.
For more information on their 24/7 Emergency Water Resmoval visit their site

Stanley Steemer provides trained technicians and state-of-the-art equipment you can’t get anywhere else. When flooding occurs, why muddy the waters? Call Stanley Steemer.

Use Code: Mom30 for $30 off any service. (Minimum charges apply)

Summer is officially upon us and the temps are rising.  Most kids just don’t care how hot, cold or rainy it is outside and after a few days stuck inside with them fighting and bickering, you probably won’t care either. In fact, you might even pull a trick that my Mom used to pull on us and lock the screen door behind us, with a cheery “Don’t come back until the street lights come on..”

When the temps rise, so do the precautions we have to take when allowing the tiny humans to play outside or participate in sports.

Hot, dry weather can be extremely dangerous. Because sweat evaporates very quickly in such conditions, your child won’t feel sweaty, and neither you nor your child may recognize how much water he or she has lost.

As the relative humidity increases, the effectiveness of sweating in cooling the body decreases.

When the relative humidity is high, sweat drips off the skin so that the cooling benefit of evaporation is lost even at cooler temperatures, resulting in a build-up of body heat.

How do you know when hot is too hot?

According to Athletic Trainer Brendon McDermott, PhD. at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, ” A kid’s tolerance depends on what they are used to” and advises that you take extra caution during heat waves.

Your child will need to drink lots of extra water, eat balanced meals and go to bed early. If your child isn’t feeling well, keep them out of the heat – it’s harder for the body to stay cool when fighting an infection.

Keep in mind the following tips to keep your kids cool during these hot summer days!

1. Kids won’t stop playing on their own. You must remind them to take a break and drink some water.

2. Avoid sugary beverages. Water is always best!

3. Familiarize yourself with current sunscreen guidelines. Apply and re-apply (and reapply) sunscreen. If a shady option is available for play, try to encourage your kids to play out of the direct sunlight.

4. Try to get out earlier in the morning or later in the afternoon, avoiding the hottest part of the day.

5. Make sure they are wearing the appropriate clothing. We all know how kids like to dress themselves and during a heat wave, layers of winter clothing just won’t cut it.

When playing outside in the heat watch for signs of fatigue, becoming uncomfortable, and limit your outdoor play to just a few minutes at a time. If we are fighting red ozone levels, it’s probably best to change your plans and switch to some fun indoor activities, like these!

The Birmingham Zoo will be reducing daily operating hours from seven days a week to five days a week. Beginning July 13, the Zoo will close on Mondays and Tuesdays until further notice. Guests and Members can visit the Zoo from Wednesday through Sunday during the hours of 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The Zoo closed to the public on March 19 to help reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus in our community. On June 8, the Zoo reopened with significant changes to their operating procedures that included strict health and safety guidelines for visitors. Social distancing and other enhanced protocols have been successful, and visitors to the Zoo continue to follow measures set in place.

Despite the engaging visitor experience, daily attendance has been lower than anticipated, and revenues continue to decline as a result. As a non-profit organization, the Zoo relies on its 600,000 annual visitors for the revenue critical to maintaining daily operations and infrastructure. This year’s significantly lower levels of attendance have a tremendous impact on zoo operations.

In the early stages of the pandemic, the Zoo established an Emergency Animal Fund to aid with the $1,000 a day it costs to feed over 550 animal residents, which include many endangered and sensitive species. In addition to nutrition, it costs the Zoo an average of $30,000 per day to operate and provide vital animal care. Administrators have now made the decision to close two days out of the week to further control costs and allow for a reduction in expenses.

All guests and Members of the Zoo will still be required to follow our health and safety guidelines, including face coverings for individuals over the age of two years old. Limits on attendance and one-way traffic patterns remain in place to provide for better physical distancing. The Zoo will continue to operate as a pleasant outdoor experience in a park environment with buildings remaining closed.

Timed admission tickets are no longer required but visitors are encouraged to pre-purchase tickets to help minimize physical contact with Zoo staff. The Red Diamond Express train and Protective Life carousel will open daily starting on Friday, July 10 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., and tickets will be available for purchase onsite and online at birminghamzoo.com. For the health and safety of staff, guests, and animals, the Zoo will continue to monitor and evaluate operations and modify procedures as needed.

More updates on our operations and visitor guidelines will be announced via press releases and on their social media platforms at Facebook.com/BirminghamZoo, Twitter.com/BirminghamZoo, and Instagram.com/bhamzoo.

LINKS

Emergency Animal Fund – www.birminghamzoo.com/donate

Visitor Guidelines – www.birminghamzoo.com/visitor-info