Home Security Tips – Dummy Security Camera

Home Security Tips

It’s Friday evening, the working week is drawing to a close and we’re all looking forward to a nice chilled weekend.

We hope you’ve all taken something from our home security tips over the last few days and your more security conscious.

With break-ins an unfortunately regular occurrence as of late here at HomeWise.ie we’ve been brainstorming different ways of guarding your “gaff”.

Naturally the most obvious and most effective method is a home alarm system but these can be costly to install from scratch.

Why not invest in a motion sensor to scare off potential thief’s or If you have the room a dog can be a great way of keeping your house safe and you’ll save a fortune on gym memberships.

If that doesn’t do it for you why not get one of our “dummy” replica CCTV cameras to keep the burglars at bay? Check them out here for just 33 euro.

Have a great weekend

Home Security Tips – Being Security Conscious

Home Security Tips

Today’s post is all about being security conscious and while many of these security tips may seem quite obvious many people don’t use them.

Thieves look for an easy target and will avoid any premises that may involve alerting the owner or people in surrounding homes.

The following are our 7 tips for being security conscious;

• This should go without saying but never leave a spare key under a flower pot.
• Always lock windows and doors if you’re leaving the house.
• Never leave car keys within view of the front/back door or windows.
• If a salesperson calls ask to see ID never let one in your home without it!
• Keep trees and plants near windows pruned as these will allow a thief to have cover while breaking in
• Be careful about what you post on social media sites as you never know who’s watching to see when you’l be away
• When you move into a new home have all the locks changed. It’s better to be safe than sorry

Home Security Tips – Day 2

Hey guys,

We hope you found yesterday’s post useful. Today we’re going to focus on home security systems that you can use to protect your home.

While these can be costly they can can scare off a lot of potential thieves who won’t risk getting caught in the act.

Here are some alarming figures for crime in Ireland;

• 4.12% increase taking place between July 2010 and June 2011.
• Dublin ranks highest for break-ins accounting for 42% of the overall figure.

Home Security Tips

The following are three ways in which you can scare off a burglar from coming near your home.

Motion Sensors – Motion sensors are a great way of scaring off potential thieves and can be purchased and installed cheaply. You can have these put up at your front/back door or both and are highly effective.

Guard Dog – A dog can be a brilliant way of scaring off thieves but make sure you have the time to take care of it. Stick up a “beware of dog” sign on a side gate to give prior warning to anyone looking to break in.

Alarm System – A good alarm system can be dear to have fitted but it’s probably the second most effective method of home security. Ring a number of different providers to avail of the best quote.

The most effective method of home security is being security conscious which is what we’ll focus on in tomorrow’s post

Home Security Tips – Neighbourhood Watch

Home Security Tips

Hey guys,

We hope you all had a great weekend and are easing back into things today. This week we’re focusing on home security and how you can protect you’re home from attack.

We have five days worth of the top home security tips to help protect your home. Check back each day and try and incorporate some of the advice we’re offering.

Today’s home security tips can be done with the assistance of your neighbours who are one of your most powerful home protection tools.

Home Security Tips – Neighbourhood Watch

• Going on holiday? Have someone take in your mail so it looks like there are people in the house
• Don’t ignore alarms! If you hear a neighbours alarm check it out and don’t assume someone else will
• Pool together with your neighbours and invest in some CCTV cameras
• Have a holiday schedule – Let your neighbours know when your heading away. Keep an eye on each others properties when there vacant
• When away have a neighbour park inside your driveway each night

How To Build A Garden Pond

A pond can give great life to a garden but can be costly to have installed. Today we’re going to show you how to make a garden pond with visual aids courtsy of the guys at instructables.

The steps are easy to follow but to begin you’ll need the following items;

• shovel
• trowel
• hose
• plank of wood
• spirit level
• pond liner
• sand/liner underlay/newspaper
• bricks

Step 1:

How To Build A Garden Pond

Get digging! Base the size of the hole on the amount of space you have available to you. Leave extra room at the sides so rocks can be put in.

Use the plank of wood and spirit level to determine how even the sides are and adjust if necessary. It’ll be near impossible to get it spot on the first time.

 

Step 2:

Building A Garden Pond

Take your liner, which you can get from any garden centre, and use it to cover the hole. Use bricks to hold down the liner and your hand or feet to press the liner snugly into the walls of the hole.

 

Step 3:

Building A Pond

When you’re happy with where the liner is placed fill the pond up half way with water and place bricks around the edges. Use this time to ensure you’re happy with the shape and size of the pond.

 

Step 4:

Making A Garden Pond

Once your completely happy with the overall look begin to fill in the dirt you gathered when digging the hole. If you want to put in a small pump or fountain then make sure you do this before you fill in the dirt.

Use cement to fill in any gaps between the bricks and leave to dry for 3-4 hours.

Step 5:

How To Build A Fish Pond

Find or buy some slate style rocks like the ones in the above image and you can give your pond a really nice finish.

What else? Sit back and enjoy. Hope you found this post useful.

 

 

How to Build a Garden Bench

How to Build a Garden Bench

Hey Guys,

For the next week we’re going to run posts on how to build different things for use in the garden or around the home. Today’s post will look at how to build a garden bench.

Garden benches can be dear to buy and while they look great a handmade bench will look one hundred times better. So, how to build a garden bench? Here’s our top tips on how to do the job from start to finish;

1. Pick where you want to put the bench and measure the space
2. Buy a plank of wood from a local timber provider and ask them to trim it to the desired size. It should be at least 2.5 inches thick
3. Go to your local tree trimming company or firewood supplier and get them to cut two sections from a log roughly 2.5 foot long
4. When getting the logs cut ensure they are cut so the angle at the top is straight to allow the plank to rest securely
5. Place the two stumps in your garden and the plank on top. For extra security you can drill some screws from the plank into the stumps.

It’s not going to look smooth and slick like one you’d buy in a shop but it’ll have a lot of character and look great in your garden.

How to Sand a Wooden Floor

Wooden Floor

Wooden floors are great! They look great, hold less germs than a carpet and are easy to clean. What’s not to like? Many of us have wooden floors in our homes and encounter the same problem – dullness.

To get rid of this dullness you can sand it down and re-varnish to finish it off. Sounds pretty easy right? Well it is. Obviously we’re not going to recommend you get down on your hands and knees with a handfull of sandpaper.

I mean you could but that’d take an awuful lot of time an effort to say the least. Rent an electrical floor sander or hire a specialist to come in and do it for you it won’t cost an arm and a leg and the return on investment will be well worth it.

Here’s our top tips for sanding a wooden floor for great results;

1. Close the door! when sanding dust will naturally travel and if your not careful will end up everywhere.
2. Keep an eye out for any stray nails in the flooring as this will damage the sander
3. Once the sander is on and ready to go start at the entrance to the room and gently sand the floor about 2-3 foot around you
4. For areas around walls and fireplaces use sandpaper and some elbow grease in order to avoid any damage
5. Once you’re finished use a hoover to thouroughly get rid of any dust from the sanding process
6. Carfully use white spirit to wipe the floor and leave to dry off
7. Once it’s dry use a varnish brush to apply varnish. This will seal the wood

And that’s it. Sanding can take some time depending on the age of the floor or the dullness that has set in so play it by eye. Happy sanding!

Gardening in April

Gardening in April

It’s been a few days since we’ve covered anything other than the household tax Ireland but we hope those of you who read the posts found them helpful and informative.

Today we’re looking at gardening in April and what needs get done this week in order to help you on your way to a great garden for summer. If you weren’t out in the garden last week with the great weather we had then you missed out big time.

You should have already done some of the below but if your haven’t yet then it’s not too late to begin.

Tasks for gardening in April;

• Ensure you are mowing regularly – not every day or even week but every ten days at least
• Rake the lawn – try get rid of all the moss thats built up over the last few months
• Sow lawn seed if it’s required – it’ll need 2-3.5 months to grow depending on weather
• Trim the edges of the lawn and make borders where you see fit
• Prune rose bushes as soon as possible if you haven’t done so already

Gardening in April is highly enjoyable with the evenings getting longer and the weather that little bit better.

The Household Tax Ireland – Updated 29/03/2012

Irish Property Tax

Hey guys,

Updating for the day on the Irish Household Tax and new developments in the ever changing media coverage. As of 12 today a total of 453,796 households out of 1.6 million have registered for the Irish Household Tax.

For those who are unaware D-Day for payment is March the 31st which is in two days time. The Department of the Environment has stated that it has received €45,379,600 out of the estimated €160 million overall revenue generated by the Household Tax Ireland.

The fines to be put in place for people who don’t register by March 31st are as follows;

• Tax payments made between April 1st and June 30th – 10% i.e. ten euro.
• Tax payments made between Juy 1st and December 31st 20% i.e. twenty euro.
• Tax payments made after January 1st 2013 will receive a 30% fine i.e. thirty euro 
• Late payment of 1% per month i.e. one euro per month

 

The Household Tax legislation states that anyone who doesn’t register their liability or pay the charge by 31st March 2012 will be guilty of an offence. If convicted – they will be liable to a maximum fine of €2500.

How to Pay the Irish Household Tax

Hey guys,

We decided it may be beneficial for many people if we gave a step by step guide to how you pay the Irish household tax.

Step 1: Go to

How to Pay the Irish Household Tax

 

Step 2: Click on whichever of the two boxes applies. Left if you have ALREADY registered and right if you HAVEN’T

Irish Household Tax

 

Step 3: If you are registering which many of you will be click into create account and click which ever option is applicable

Household Tax 2012

 

Step 4: Enter a valid email address that will be used to send a conformation email to

Household Tax Ireland Registering

 

Step 4: Enter a secure password that you’ll remember as this will be required for future log ins 

 

Household Tax 2012

 

Step 5: This is the last step before payment and involves entering your details such as name, address and PPS number

 

Irish Home Tax