Keep your headlights clear with car wax! Just wipe ordinary car wax on your headlights. It contains special water repellents that will prevent that messy mixture from accumulating on your lights – lasts 6 weeks.

Squeak-proof your wipers with rubbing alcohol! Wipe the wipers with a cloth saturated with rubbing alcohol or ammonia. This one trick can make badly streaking & squeaking wipers change to near perfect silence & clarity

Ice-proof your windows with vinegar! Frost on it’s way? Just fill a spray bottle with three parts vinegar to one part water & spritz it on all your windows at night. In the morning, they’ll be clear of icy mess. Vinegar contains acetic acid, which raises the melting point of water—preventing water from freezing!

Prevent car doors from freezing shut with cooking spray! Spritz cooking oil on the rubber seals around car doors & rub it in with a paper towel  The cooking spray prevents water from melting into the rubber.

Fog-proof your windshield with shaving cream! Spray some shaving cream on the inside of your windshield & wipe if off with paper towels. Shaving cream has many of the same ingredients found in commercial defoggers.

De-ice your lock in seconds with hand sanitizer! Just put some hand sanitizer gel on the key & the lock & the problems solved! 

With the football season in full swing and the cooler temps luring us to the cozy indoors, we can’t help but consider the comfort zones we spend so much of our time hibernating in during the season that is upon us. The answer my “Man Cave” is common and either a highly coveted place that is proudly owned by said man, or a dreamy place that every other man strives to have.

Whether it’s a garage, a shed, a loft, or the ever-popular basement, this sanctuary for the male gender is one that typically has its own set of design rules. From sports themed paraphernalia, shot glass collections, and musical instruments to vending machines, overstuffed furniture, and bar-inspired pieces, every man proudly displays his “Man Cave” in a variety of “manly” ways. As you look at your “Man Cave,” or your significant other’s “Man Cave,” could it be even better? We are Williams Professional Painting, so clearly we are talking paint here. What better way to take what is arguably the best room in the house and give it an upgrade? Whether you add some class with a tasteful masculine tan that works as the perfect neutral backdrop for any sports team colors or you go with the actual teams colors (stripes, anyone!?), no doubt some added color will take your “Man Cave” to the next level. Give us a call and we’ll not only schedule a free estimate for your coveted “Mantuary,” we’ll also give you some complimentary ideas for paint options that would best compliment your space.

Check out the Man Cave video here.

If you experienced flooding related to the recent storms, the Fairfax County Health Department recommends taking precautions to avoid indoor air quality problems associated with mold.  Moisture that enters buildings from leaks or flooding accelerates mold growth.

Molds can cause disease, trigger allergic reactions and continue to damage materials long after the storm. Failure to control moisture and mold can present short- and long-term health risks.

To protect against health risks associated with mold:

• Remove standing water from your home or office.
• Remove wet materials.
• If mold growth has already occurred, carefully remove or clean the moldy material.
• Consider using personal protective equipment when cleaning or removing mold including gloves, goggles and an N-95 particle respirator (found at most local hardware stores).  Check with a health care provider before wearing a respirator.  Do not use a respirator if you have heart disease or chronic lung disease such as asthma or emphysema.
• Individuals with known mold allergies or asthma should not clean or remove moldy materials.

Do not mix cleaners and disinfectants, as hazardous gases may produce hazardous chemical reactions.  Read and follow label instructions carefully. Open windows and doors to provide plenty of fresh air.

A guest blog from interior designer & color consultant, C. Schuster

I am often asked what colors are “in.”  What colors are “dated” and where do the trends seem to be going?  No doubt it is easy to get bogged down in the color forecasts, trend guides, endless lists of what’s in style right now and what’s not.  But, I just can’t bring myself to guide a client based on what is typically an overwhelming range on the color spectrum that can be quite gorgeous on paper and in staged installation shots, but may not be entirely practical or applicable to most everyday family homes.

Therefore, when approaching a client’s home, I do not take with me the many marketing pamphlets mass produced by painting companies nor the latest issue of Elle Décor.  While awareness of the latest and greatest is always important, when I walk through the doorway into someone’s home, the color scheme and selections are focused and influenced entirely on one thing – the family who lives there.  Their lives, interests, decorations, future plans, desires for change, and lifestyle are all considered.  Whether bold pops of color or earth tones, understanding and capitalizing on the character of who lives in the home and what they bring to it is often the inspiration for the types of colors that would best suit.  Listening to their ideas and taking into account their decor and the things they’ve chosen to surround themselves by helps steer the process toward specific colors.  Once we narrow down a color or two that makes most sense per room, then the artificial and natural lighting and the overall flow with the rest of the house are considered, which leads to the presentation of particular shades by putting samples up to view.  After standing back and reading the client’s reaction, getting feedback and viewing samples in various positions in the room, the perfect color always seems to present itself quite apparently.

In the end, the colors that are selected are not chosen because they are the most popular in a magazine nor are they always what the client had initially thought they would end up with.  The colors, on the other hand, are chosen specifically for the space and the people who inhabit it.  And for that reason the colors will stand the test of time, as they have appropriateness and meaning to the clients, and that will never go out of style.

Why we discontinued our membership with the Better Business Bureau.
By Dave Williams

We belonged to the Washington Metropolitan Area BBB for a number of years. Faithfully paying our dues each year. We have always had a complaint free record with the bureau and an A+ rating.

One year with us doing nothing on our part other than continuing to pay the yearly fees (Which kept increasing) all of a sudden the BBB Gods smiled upon us and awarded us an accreditation with the bureau. Where did this come from? What did it mean? What did we all of a sudden do that made us so worthy? We could never seem to really find out what earned us this new and improved listing.

Well low and behold this year as we were looking at some of our costs and using the cost / benefit analysis system we decided to not renew our membership with them, and in no time at all BANG! We were no longer accredited.

We still have an A+ rating because there have never been complaints filed against us. But you really have to read down on our page to learn this. When a perspective client goes to read our report now one of the first things they see is that “This Business Is Not Accredited by the BBB”.

My question is “What’s changed”, only the fact that we decided not to be a member and pay the ransom.

The BBB certainly has its place in dealing with improper business practices. But I do not believe that the average consumer truly understands the hand in hand relationship between the bureau and its members that receive special ranking because they pay up. 

Now it is true that you will not get the accredited rating if you have a poor record even if you pay the membership fees. But when you have 2 companies with A+ rating’s why is it that the company that pays becomes accredited and the company that does not pay does not get accreditation?

The consumer thinks there is something special about the accredited business when there really is not.

The BBB should not operate in a way that it scrutinizes other businesses for doing.

Does something seem a little off key here? Or is it just me?

 Just a thought.