Rosie's Centennial Reading List

• The Lazy B by Sandra Day O’Connor
• Hashknife Cowboy by Mack Hughes
• Pioneer Hunters of the Rim by Myrtle Bransetter
• Cavalcade of Arizona History by Marshall Trimble
• On the Border with General Crook by John Bourke
• Crossing Arizona by Leland Hanchett Jr.
• Majestic Journey by Stewart Udall
• Arizona Sheriffs by Jane Eppinga
• These is My Words by Sarah Agnes Prine
• Sharlot Hall by Margaret Maxwell
• Scottsdale by Joan Fudala
• Sedona by Lisa Schnebly
• Filaree by Marguerite Noble
• Arizona Rangers by Bill O’Neill
• History of Gisela by Jayne Peace
• Catch the Stage to Phoenix by Leland Hatchet Jr
• Roll Away Saloon by Rider and Paulsen

Read more...

For more information and for answers to all YOUR Home Improvement, Landscape and Garden questions,  visit our website, Rosieonthehouse.com

Pest Guide

How can I get rid of crickets in and around my home?

If you’re seeing crickets inside your home, the more serious predators are sure to follow. So get rid of those crickets—fast.

Here’s what not to do: Don’t empty a can of Raid on those creepy crawlers. Sure, you’ll drown the ones you can see, but their friends will simply sidestep the chemicals when they come out of their hiding places.         

A better strategy is to find out where they’re hiding and lure them out with a granular food bait that will trap them. You also can use sticky traps or concoct your own traps using a jar containing some water and molasses.  Read  more...

How can I get rid of ants around my house and yard?

We are always amazed at the topics that generate a significant response from our listeners; in this case ants!

If you'd like to catch up or follow along on our ant journey in search of an eradication method that is effective, yet acceptable to all, below are the links to the segments covered on air, in chronological order. If you are just looking for the quick answers and all the recourses and methods you've heard us laughing about with our callers simply scroll to suggestions from listeners. Read more...

How can I prevent bugs from getting in my house?

Here are some tips from my exterminator friends:

• Expect unwelcome houseguests like spiders and scorpions from March until the end of November.  In the winter, they’re content to live outside because the weather is pleasant.

• Scout around your yard to find their hiding places. Favorite hangouts are under decorative boulders because there’s usually a space of an inch or so between the rock and the soil—plenty of room for them to live without being noticed. Roll the rock away, kill the pests you can see, and then fill that space in with gravel or expansion foam.

Read more...

Is termite control a do-it-yourself job?
No way!

Termites congregate in the thousands. It takes full-strength pest-control products and a trained professional to locate them and destroy them.

You can try baits and pesticides, but it’s unlikely that you will eradicate a significant number of the bugs—or that you’ll have the time or discipline to shoo them away for good.

The Pros have special equipment that the average homeowner is unlikely to have, like hammer drills, sub-slab injectors, rodding devices, engines equipped with pumps and protective gear.

Read more...

How can I keep scorpions away from my home?

You live in the desert - and so do scorpions. It is estimated that the Arizona desert is home to three scorpions for every 10 square feet. Fewer live in busy neighborhoods.

If you have any kind of insects in and around your home, you’ve got scorpions.

You can drag them into your house when you pick up a blanket, a box or your shoes that have been left on the ground outside. Look for them when you pick up those items.

Scorpions have poor eyesight, so they hide during the day and come out at night. They like to hide under rocks, your patio and your foundation.

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How can I keep spiders out of my house?

The best way to keep spiders and scorpions out of your house is to keep crickets out of your house. To spiders and scorpions, crickets are gourmet food!

Here are some ways to keep spiders out and how to get rid of them once they get in:

•     Destroy spider webs as soon as you see them.

•     Regularly dust the corners of your ceilings and behind always-open doors.

•     Turn off your outdoor lights. They attract the flying insects that spiders like to eat.

•     If you have scorpions or black widows, which can be dangerous, call a pest-control professional to get rid of them.

Read more... 

How can I get rid of common insects like cockroaches?
Cockroaches and ants are probably the most common pests.

Arizona ants can get out of control. You can douse them with Raid, but that will only kill the ones you can see. Their friends are on their way, and will sidestep the poison.

• Your best prevention is a clean house. Ants love food, so don’t leave any around. Sweep and mop your floors often.

• Keep debris and wood away from your house.

• Cockroaches don’t cause any structural damage to your home, but they can spread germs and even trigger your children’s asthma.

Read more... 

For more information and for answers to all your Summer Pest, Home Improvement, Landscape and Gardening questions, please visit our website, Rosieonthehouse.com

How can I prevent monsoon storms from damaging my flat roof and causing my ceiling to leak?

Monsoon Tips from Lyon's Roofing

The best way to prevent a leak is to know if your roof has a problem before the wind and rain begin. Don’t wait for water marks to appear on your ceiling before inspecting your roof to see if it can hold up during a storm.

Climb up onto your roof (or ask a roofer to do it) and do a visual inspection of your roof a couple of times each year and after every big storm. If you don’t feel safe on the roof, there’s no shame in hiring a professional, who will know how to navigate the dew and frost that can collect up there on cold Arizona mornings and any moisture that can make a roof slippery.

Here is what to look for during an inspection of a foam roof or a built-up/asphalt roof, which are the two most common types of flat roofs in Arizona.
1.Locate every roof penetration. Look around the chimney, vents, skylights, walls, flashing, air conditioning elbows and stands, antennas and support wires, and satellite dishes.

2.Remove any build-up of dirt, leaves or pine needles around drains, scuppers or crickets that would cause pooling and keep water from draining off the roof.

3.Trim tree branches away from your roof.

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For more information and for answers to all YOUR Home Improvement questions, visit our website, Rosieonthehouse.com

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What kind of maintenance should I do on my plumbing?

Like many problems in life, plumbing disasters usually happen because of neglect.

Most homeowners don’t think about their pipes until they’ve got a clogged drain or a chronic leak. Here are five easy, inexpensive ways to prevent your home’s plumbing from causing a predicament.

1.  Treat your drains once a month to prevent clogs, whether they seem to need it or not. But stay away from harsh, chemical drain cleaners. I like a natural, non-poisonous product called Bio-Clean, which uses a blend of bacteria and enzymes to attack organic wastes like grease, hair, food particles and sewage. You can use it on drains, grease traps, sump pumps and garbage disposals. Regular use will prevent buildup throughout your plumbing and septic system. Dilute the product with warm water according to package directions.
2. Be kind to your kitchen sink. Its drain is the busiest one in the house, so it can cause the most problems. If you don’t have a garbage disposal, be fastidious about keeping out food scraps and grease, which can emulsify once you turn on the cold water, and build up in layers in your pipes until they’re blocked. If you have a garbage disposal, run plenty of cold water every time you turn it on. If it chops up waste without water, particles will not flush through and you can wind up with a clogged drain.

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For more information and for answers to all YOUR Landscape, Garden and Home Improvement questions, visit our website, Rosieonthehouse.com

What’s the benefit of working with a landscape designer vs. designing my yard myself?

The smartest investment you can make in your backyard might be to hire a designer.

Sound expensive? Consider what a landscape designer or contractor can do for you:

Save you money.  A pro will steer you clear of fads and safety hazards that a homeowner might regret paying for, and point you toward money-saving trends that might help them get a high-end look for a little less cash. An example: When a homeowner requests flagstone for the patio floor, a landscape pro might show you a sample of travertine, a natural stone in the limestone family, whose price has dropped so much recently that it has become affordable for many who once considered it out of reach.

Help coordinate all of the pieces of your landscape and patio design so the outdoor lights don’t shine in your eyes, the sprinklers don’t “water” the patio floor, the trees don’t cast all-day shade over a grassy patch that needs sun and the fireplace chimney complies with the city’s height restrictions.

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For more information and for answers to all YOUR Landscape, Garden and Home Improvement questions, visit our website, Rosieonthehouse.com

20 ways to trim your energy bills!

You can turn your home into a more comfortable place to live—and turn your energy bills more manageable—by doing the simplest maintenance on your appliances, air conditioning system and even your faucets and windows.

     Here are 20 routine chores that can make a big difference. For some, you’ll need professional help. But you can do others yourself in a matter of minutes.

1. Turn twice-a-year maintenance on your air conditioning and heating system into a habit. A qualified air conditioner technician (or a plumber, if the furnace is gas-powered) will inspect cabinets, motors, fan blades, the control box, wiring, the blower assembly and other parts as needed, and alert you to any problems-in-the-making that you can take care of before they become disasters.
   
2. Turn off your air conditioner when you run your evaporative cooler—and vice versa. When you run them at the same time, you’ll actually waste energy because the two systems will compete with each other. The evap cooler works by adding moisture to the air, and the a/c works by removing it.
   
3. Turn the evap cooler off altogether when it’s wet outside. Once the dew point reaches 50 degrees or more, an evaporative cooler is not very effective. Tip: Remember the Rule of 140. If the temperature plus the dew point equals 140 or more, then don’t expect much out of your evap. If you have an a/c with a SEER rating of 12 or higher, then go ahead and turn it on.
   
4. Turn on your ceiling fans. Ceiling fans don’t cool the air; they move it around so the air in that room feels cooler. That means you can inch the thermostat up by three to four degrees without noticing a difference in your comfort.
   
5. Turn off your standard light bulbs. As they burn out, replace those energy-inefficient incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs. They use 75 percent less energy, so you can save $30 by replacing just one incandescent with a CFL.

Read more...

For answers to this and all of YOUR Landscape, Garden and Home Improvement questions, visit our website, Rosieonthehouse.com