Deciding to move an elderly parent or loved one into your home can mean major adjustments for you and your family. It may be that their spouse has recently passed away. With a $20 billion annual US funeral market, this is a frequent occurrence. In fact, there may be some adjustment time for everyone, including your loved one, to get back into a normal routine. There are several basic things to consider including your home’s safety, your loved one’s mobility, and planning the transition.

Preparing for Someone with Limited Mobility

The answer to the question of accommodations for limited mobility will be different for every individual. Not all people with mobility difficulties will be elderly. Returning service members, such as Silver Star members, will also need assistance. As the third-highest combat decoration in the US Armed Forces, Silver Star members have experienced trauma in the course of their duties. To assess the situation, critically look at your home and your loved one’s abilities for the adjustments that will need to be made. This can include things such as, if your home is two stories, is it possible to create a bedroom downstairs that is more easily accessible? Other considerations include:

• The distance between commonly used spaces
• The width of doorways and whether it will accommodate wheelchairs
• The shape of your doorknobs and whether they are accessible
• The potential of decreased mobility in the future

>Looking at each area of your home will give you a better idea of what needs to be taken care of prior to your parent or loved one moving in. Things such as deciding which bedroom they will sleep in may seem like a simple decision but when you factor in their mobility and their needs, your decision may change. Also, realize that as your parent ages, their needs may also change. This may require installing a stairlift or expanding existing doorways. Also, if your parent uses a walker or cane, you need to consider the type of flooring that you have in your home. Unsecured area rugs can be a safety hazard when they are bumped with a walker. This is an important consideration as 11.6 million people use mobility devices such as a walker or a cane.

Additional Home Adjustments

Every individual has differing levels of mobility and needs. So, after a cursory inventory, consider other items that need to be changed. This may include lighting or installing outdoor ramps for easier accessibility. Walk through your home to identify any items that might impede movement throughout the home. Probably one of the most important rooms to consider that your loved one will be using in the bathroom. Bathrooms tend to be damp, slick places when wet. However, installing grab bars and heightening the toilet seat are simple and economical home improvements that will improve safety and comfort.

Consider the Transition Period

Realize that everyone in your family will need to make some adjustments when your parent moves in. Your parent, however, will experience the most changes. Be sensitive to their needs for privacy. Where you can, help them fit their normal routine into your home’s activities. Personal items, such as artwork and treasured items, will help your parent feel more at home.

While it may seem challenging at first to bring an elderly parent or loved one into your home, it is possible to accommodate their needs. It only takes some careful thought and planning.

There is a lot you could do to raise the value of your home. Here are some ways to improve the quality of your exterior and interior living spaces.

Enhance Your Home’s Curb Appeal

Your curb speaks volumes about how well the whole property is kept. Firstly, make sure that you maintain a good balance when you place furniture on your patio. Adding two rocking chairs and a little side table in the middle is really good enough and makes it very inviting. Another important thing is to concentrate on the landscaping. To make sure that your lawn is always green, weeding, cutting, and watering it systematically will help to achieve that.

Also, add some hanging plants and flowers to the patio with a bit of color, making sure that you go for options that are easy to maintain, and preferably drought-resistant ones for easy maintenance. Planting trees and shrubs and maintaining existing ones is a great way to enhance your home’s exterior attractiveness. Research shows that well-kept shrubs and trees can potentially improve a home’s quality by approximately 14%. The trees are also very good for the environment and act as a great habitat for animals.

Paint the Exterior

In an effort to make your home more attractive, adding fresh paint to it is a good way to improve its overall appearance. Using contrasting colors is a great way to really make your home look appealing. Fortunately, you can paint your house yourself, which is more affordable, but it would probably take you a few days to finish. Others may opt to hire a professional painter, which may be considered to be less stressful but a bit more pricey.

Redo Your Driveway

Old driveways are less appealing because they develop cracks and patches after a while. This is why redoing it will enhance the appearance of the outside of your property. While tar and chip seal driveways may be more expensive compared to gravel driveways, an asphalt driveway would cost you approximately double the cost of your tar and chip driveway. This is because the asphalt material lasts longer than the other two types. Consider the tar and chip option, as it can save you between 10 and 50% compared to asphalt.

Install Energy-Efficient Gadgets

Homeowners are now very interested in finding ways to save money, hence the need to cut down on the amount of energy used in the home. An example would be to install solar panels, which would definitely cut energy bills, as well as a solar geyser. You could also seal cracks, gaps, and seals in your home, as it would add more insulation to the house.

Expand

Expanding your house has been noted to raise its value for the obvious reason that a spacious house can accommodate more people or even just give more living space to a small family. With statistics showing that around 4.6 million U. S. families were multi-generational in 2018, the need to expand homes is on the rise so as to accommodate a growing family.

You can make your house bigger by repurposing the attic and making it into another bedroom, revamping your basement and transforming it into an extra living room or bedroom, and even just building a whole other room. Tearing down a wall or two definitely does a lot to make the interior look more spacious.

Renovate the Kitchen and Bathrooms

This does not mean making these spaces very luxurious but just making them a bit more modern. You could do so by replacing the cupboards, taps, appliances, and floors in your kitchen. In the bathrooms, consider replacing the sinks and as well as redoing the floors.

These are some of the many ways you can make your home a nicer place to live while raising its value. Enjoy your time in your transformed space!

When it comes to home security, many of us tend to think of keeping burglars at bay with alarm systems and automatic porch lighting. But oftentimes when it comes to home security threats, the call is coming from inside the house. Things like water damage, carbon monoxide poisoning, and even cybercrime can have a major impact on your home’s security.

Fortunately, smart devices give us the ability to help keep our homes safe even while we’re away. Here are some cool gadgets to set up in your own home to make yourself and your family feel safer.

Water sensors

When it comes to home protection, water damage might not be the first thing that comes to mind. But approximately 20% of all insurance claims are related to water damage of some kind. What’s more, water damage can be seriously nasty when it comes to the aftermath. Unless you have professionals come and remediate the problem, a flooded basement or even a broken pipe could leave you with foundation issues and mold problems.

Cue water sensors.

Water sensors act as a kind of smoke alarm for your home, but instead of detecting smoke, they detect the presence of water or a leak. They hook up to your WiFi and can be monitored through your smartphone. You can access your water sensor even while you’re away, and some water sensor systems can even be programmed to let you shut off the water if a leak is detected.

Heavy-duty WiFi routers

With smart home devices and IoT devices becoming more affordable, a greater number of people are choosing to invest in appliances like smart refrigerators, thermostats, and more. Just like your computer, these devices need to be protected to help keep hackers and other cybercriminals from accessing your information. According to a survey, up to 87% of small businesses experienced a security breach in 2012, and cybercrime has increased by 400% since the COVID-19 pandemic. So how do you protect your smart home devices from someone keen on stealing your credit card number and other information?

The answer is a secure WiFi router. The last time you thought of your router may have been when your cable company installed it for you. However, your WiFi router is considered the front door for cybercriminals and it needs to be locked and secured at all times. It’s recommended not only to keep your cybersecurity software up-to-date but also to make sure your router itself isn’t to be trifled with.

Smart carbon monoxide detectors

When is the last time you checked your home’s smoke detectors? What about your carbon monoxide detectors? According to a survey, up to 16% of Americans have never tested their smoke alarms and another 20% admit to disconnecting their smoke alarms completely. If that weren’t scary enough, approximately one in every 10 Americans don’t have a smoke detector at all in their home.

This is a problem for several reasons. Up to 50,000 people in the U.S. visit the ER every year because of carbon monoxide poisoning in their homes and up to 430 people die from CO poisoning annually. Many homeowners use natural gas appliances in their homes because they can be used even when the power goes out. However, advanced training is necessary to service these appliances because they can release (you guessed it) carbon monoxide.

Smart smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors are a great way to help keep yourself and your family safe. Carbon monoxide is an odorless and colorless gas, and many people aren’t always aware of a leak until they’ve already experienced CO poisoning. Smart carbon monoxide detectors can be easily installed and hooked up to the rest of your home’s smart home devices, and they can easily blend in with the rest of your home’s decor.

Smart devices aren’t just fun to play with. They can also help to protect your home in more ways than one. To help strengthen the security in your home, try out some of the gadgets above and give yourself greater peace of mind.

Teaching your teen to drive might be a terrifying experience as a parent, but nothing is as scary as sending your teen driver off without any knowledge of how to actually take care of their car. Considering that almost $60 billion worth of car maintenance goes unperformed annually, there’s no better time to teach your teen the basics. Here are a few simple maintenance tasks to start with.

Checking the Oil

Checking the oil levels in a car’s engine is one of the most important maintenance tasks a car owner can perform before they hit the road. In addition, knowing how to add oil if the level is too low can seriously save a vehicle. This is an especially important task to perform if your teen is driving an older car, which may eat through oil more quickly than a newer model. If you need a refresher before you teach your teen, here are a few basic steps to cover.

• Make sure the engine is turned off and still warm.
• Have a rag or spare scrap of fabric at the ready.
• Pop the hood and locate the dipstick — it usually has a brightly colored handle that is clearly visible.
• Pull the dipstick out and wipe it clean with your rag.
• Reinsert the dipstick and pull it out again to read the oil level.
• Use the indicator on your dipstick to ensure the oil is at an acceptable level. The oil should be amber in color.
• Add oil if the level is below the indicated point on your dipstick and there are no signs of gritty or dirty oil.

You don’t have to be one of the 12.5 million manufacturing workers to understand that oil is what lubricates every moving part in your car’s engine. Making sure your teen knows how to check and add oil when necessary can help them keep their car running for much longer than it would otherwise.

Measuring Tire Health

Tires are arguably one of the most important parts of a car. They are, after all, what keeps it rolling! As such, it’s important to teach your teen to check up on them on a regular basis. Two of the most important checks your teen needs to know how to make are air pressure and tire tread. Together, these checks can help determine the health of a car’s tires. When it comes to air pressure, investing in a tire pressure gauge can help make this a simple task. Simply insert the pressure gauge into the valve stem on each tire and compare the psi reading to the psi number listed in the owner’s manual or on the sticker inside the driver’s side door. Checking tire treads is even easier. Simply stick a penny into each tire’s tread and determine whether or not you can see all of Lincoln’s head. If you can see his entire head, then it’s time to rotate or replace the tires.

Listening to the Car

Listening to a vehicle might not seem like an essential maintenance task, but it can certainly help your teen understand when something is wrong with their vehicle. Teach your teen what different problems sound like. For instance, a high-pitched squeaking or squealing noise upon braking might mean that it’s time to get the brake pads replaced. If your teen doesn’t know to listen for this sound and that it means something is wrong, they could be putting their safety at risk. This is one of many reasons why it’s so important to teach your teen to listen to their car. Even electric vehicles, which are predicted to make up almost 54% of new car sales by 2040, will have aural indicators that something needs to be serviced. Understanding abnormal car noises can make all the difference in your teen’s car care!

It’s hard to confidently send your teen off to drive without being at least a little bit worried. Fortunately, teaching them these vital car maintenance tips and how to find the best roadside assistance can provide peace of mind for you and a safety net for them to work with.