2016 in Review: What Homeowners Wanted to Know

This past year on our “Rosie on the House” radio program and our website RosieontheHouse.com, we answered hundreds of questions from homeowners with problems.

How do I get the hardwater scale off my shower door and bathroom fixtures? Why is the back bedroom always the hottest room in the house in the summer? Why is my tankless water heater breaking down? Should I buy a house that someone has “flipped”?

And as usual, many, many, many calls in our garden hour focused on how to maintain citrus trees.

This year, more and more of you out there wanted to know how to fill in a sunken living room or how to turn a carport into a garage. Lots of you want to add insulation in your attic and you want to do it yourself.

We also had a steady stream of questions about our system for super-cooling Arizona houses in summer to save money on our air conditioning bills. We’ve been talking about the concept for over a year now, and it seems as if more and more homeowners are succeeding with it. Their friends are now calling to get the details on how they can do it, too.

Recently, we also made it possible for you to contact our show via texting us – for those who can’t get through on the phone or are nervous about calling in and talking on air.

But this year, we also launched a new feature on our Web site with even more information for Arizona homeowners. We run an article every week – just like this one – and we keep track of which articles are the most popular. These articles also get discussed on the radio program that week as well.

So, what topics are most popular on the site? Let’s start with the 10th ranked blog and work our way up to No. 1.:

No. 10 on the list was “8 Things You Need to Know About a Remodeling Contract.” Among our recommendations: Don’t pay your contractor in full until you have full use of the remodeled area.

No. 9 was “10 Questions to Ask Before You Buy a Little Cabin in the Big Woods.”

No. 8 was “Six Steps to Big Savings on Your Electric Bill” that outlined exactly what you need to know about doing super-cooling at your house next summer.

No. 7 was “Are Open Kitchens About to Close Up Again?” Are Americans tired of open kitchens and ready to close them off from the rest of the house?

No. 6, “HGTV: What’s Real and What’s Unreal?” talks about how much you should believe about programs on America’s wildly popular Home & Garden TV network.

No. 5, “Plants Out of Control!,” describes greenery you to avoid planting because it can eat the yard forever. One of those plants is a tree that disgruntled homeowners call in about all the time. Before buying a tree at a nursery, read this.

No. 4, “What Is a Mini-Split?” is all about a new air conditioning method that has a lot of fans.

No. 3, “5 Must-Do Fixes in Your Aging House,” is all about dated looking fixtures you need to change, especially if you’re hoping to sell your house soon.

No. 2, “20 Ideas to Catch a Buyer’s Eye for Less than $500,” is loaded with improvements in curb appeal. And finally,

No. 1, “The Toughest Stuff to Grow in Arizona,” is all about the plants that ‘zoners are always trying to plant but that are fated to fail 99 percent of the time.

If you’ve missed one of these articles, check out our Web site. And be sure to give us a call or text us once in a while.  Lastly, if you're not subscribed to our weekly newsletter, be sure to enter your email address at the bottom of this page to get your helpful homeowner tips and topics.

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