Rosie On The House

Our 'How To' on holiday lights!  So many styles, colors and themes for any budget.  It just take your imagination.  How you get a permit to cut your own Christmas tree in the Tonto National Forest.  Arizona Representative John Kavanagh discusses the new laws regarding short term rental owners, renters, municipalities and homeowners in the neighborhoods.  Homeowner questions and proper pronunciations of Arizona cities and sites answered!

We get a lot of different homeowner questions.  But we feature five questions that should be asked more often than others.  Is it safe to power wash a wood deck?  Proper way to apply caulk?  Should you replace or refinish cabinets?  How to protect yourself from 'gypsy' or traveling contractors who show up at your door?  And yes...Rosie makes a killer steak!  We tell you the secret.  Plus other homeowner questions answered. 

Farmer Greg's decades of experience growing in the low desert is vast leading to nearly year round gardening in Arizona.  From fall to early spring, he details what you can plant for a great harvest from brassicas to tomatoes, peppers and vining crops like melons.  Garden placement, hydroponics, water sources, building healthy soil and more keys to good eatin'!

Our 'How To' may be able to “see just fine” when working on projects or studying.  But you don’t know what you’re missing until you have proper workspace lighting.  We give you some ideas to brighten your space!  APS customers need to know about 'Super Off Peak' Time Of Use rates with the Director of Customer To Grid Solutions Kerri Carnes.  Plus Thanksgiving traditions over the century and can you paint roof flat shingles?

Nothing spoils home gatherings during the holidays like backed up drains.  In the kitchen and bathroom, what you throw down the drain matters and lead to an embarrassing mess.  With some simple preventative maintenance, you can avoid that as best as you can.  From sinks to garbage disposals and rubber gaskets, we have some tips to keep your holidays merry!

From ground planting to containers, Jay Harper says its the 'most wonderful time of the year' in the low desert to plant citrus, stone fruit and shade trees to establish roots while the ground is still warm.  Annuals for beautiful landscape colors.  Your choice and care of winter rye lawns, summer bermuda or convert to artificial turf.  Even plant or prune roses for that spring push of new blooms.

The Weekly To Do on fireplace maintenance.  Whether wood or gas, a good cleaning and maintenance check is in order.  We explain why we prefer one over the other.  How to pronounce some of Arizona's desert names and cities.  Helping homeowners with the right interior door, expansion joint issue and all the things that make us the NUMBER ONE Arizona Homeowner Resource in the state!

Construction materials can be hard to come by or take too long to deliver.  Consider your next remodel project recycling or reusing materials.  Gino Ochoa of Habitat For Humanity ReStores says you can find some great buys at a fraction of the cost while helping build homes for families in need and reducing items in the landfill.  Plus other ways and stories on recycling and 'thinking green'.

From a previous broadcast, John Eisenhower discusses the advantages of the Tree Of The Month the Arizona Rosewood.  A pretty much bulletproof evergreen tree that makes a good alternative to oleanders for a privacy fence.  Fall fertilization for spring push growth, pruning for winter and listener tree questions on sissoo and pecan trees, shade trees, and solutions for a damaged lemon tree.

We discuss an real accurate trend in kitchen remodeling.  Todd Russo of Rosie Certified Reeis Air Conditioning updates the tax credits and rebates for new systems.  Deciding if its worth buying this year or next year?  Homeowner questions on a DIY project gone wrong, water supply line leak and Rosie explains the reasons why some companies are charging for an initial inspection service call.  

From mining camps to military posts, Arizona’s frontier past is featured in Arizona Highways Managing Editor Noah Austin's book Arizona Ghost Towns. Featuring 50 sites with fascinating history, detailed driving directions, GPS coordinates and more for each featured ghost town.  Rosie, Romey and Noah have a 'spirited' discussion of their favorite places and how to prepare for your adventure to see these ghost towns.

Arizona is known for The Five C's.  One of them is cotton.  The Arizona Farm Bureau's Julie Murphree's guest is Cassy England of Sierra Farming.  A generational family cotton farmer producing the 6th leading crop in the state.  Cassy explains the challenges growing this 'fruit', the lifecycle from planting, bolls to harvest and the farming operations that export delta pine cotton around the country.

A DIY project boils down to three things:  Time, Desire and Skill Level.  We help you give it some thought before you get started.  Plus we answer homeowner questions.

The vacation rental market has exploded on the real estate scene over the last several years.  If you're thinking about making your property a short term rental, you must know the steps to follow to avoid problems and violations.  What's expected from you as a landlord, the jurisdictions in your city, avoiding complaints from neighbors and the HOA rules on short term rentals.  

Donna DiFrancesco of Rosie Certified 'Water Use It Wisely' features some of her favorite books on plants, flowers and more on landscaping in dry climate deserts that can yield beautiful colors and blooms.  Greg Starr of Starr Nursery in Tucson discusses his book 'Cool Plants For Hot Gardens'.

Adding a soothing, relaxing feature of a fountain or living pond to your home?  Know the difference between them.  Plus learn about the latest homeowner scams.  A follow up on adding antifreeze to concrete or mortar in colder climates.  Homeowner questions on earthship homes (we explain what they are), insulation, recaulking shower corners and more!

The secret to a long lasting roof is maintenance. It's the primary barrier to the elements and one of the homeowner’s largest investments.  Tyler Johnson of Johnson Roofing explains in detail the importance of maintenance to ensure that small items don’t become big and expensive issues.  With a focus on flat roofs, Tyler answers other homeowner's roofing questions.

No space to plant gardens and flowers?  No problem!  Farmer Greg and Master Gardener and Farmer Kari Spencer discuss container gardening.  The things you'll need from the proper size containers to avoid root bounding, soil mix to materials for proper watering and drainage.  Plus learn about 'hardening off', 'hydrophobic' and many more tips for success in containers.

Our Weekly To Do on stud finders.  A must have tool in your toolbox.  Plus what to do if you bought a home without a home inspection, leaf filter gutters, recourse for an unfinished bathroom remodel, woodpeckers, 'screaming' toilet, crumbling section of a block home, timber strand studs over traditional studs and fixing a home with copper and aluminum wiring.

Its important to know your limits on do-it-yourself projects.  We discuss a few from this week's blog.  Plus homeowner questions on caulking after window installation, chimney damage from high winds, winter lawns and a contractor job left unfinished and frustrated.