Hard water. Soft water. If you’re not sure what the difference is, or what that difference means for your home, you’ve come to the right place. 

Is Hard Water Safe?
Yes, hard water is completely safe to drink, cook with, wash clothes in, and anything else you’d use water for in your home. Hard water is simply tap water that has a higher-than-ideal content of minerals, namely calcium and magnesium.

Sure Signs of Hard Water
It can be hard to tell whether your water is hard—since you can’t determine the mineral content of your water by sight, you have to rely on the signs hard water leaves behind. Here are some of the ways to tell:

1. You notice odd stains. Whether it’s on the porcelain kitchen sink or the inside of the toilet bowl, reddish brown or gray stains mean hard water. These can be caused by excessive iron or other minerals deposited on these surfaces over time.

2. You wrangle with soap scum. Some soap scum is normal, but if you find it collecting on your shower doors in thick deposits that are difficult to get rid of, it’s a good sign you have hard water. 

3. Your dishes are always spotty. Whitish spots on your dishes after they’ve gone through the washer are calcium deposits. Over time these will get tougher and tougher to get rid of if the root problem isn’t addressed.

4. Your clothes aren’t getting clean.  Minerals and detergents don’t mix well—in fact, elevated mineral content in your water can keep detergent from rinsing clean. This residue trapped in clothing fibers causes clothes to re-soil faster and can even lead to other problems like increased skin allergies. 

5. Your soap and shampoo don’t lather. If you feel like you don’t really get clean in the shower, you probably have hard water. Excess calcium and magnesium in your water lead to problems like weak or non-existent lather and can make it nearly impossible to rinse products completely

6. Your appliances wear out faster than they should. Hard water is notoriously rough on washing machines, refrigerator icemakers and more, leaving scaly buildup over time that significantly shortens the life of your appliances.

What to Do About Hard Water
The simple answer is investing in a water-softening system. Water softeners treat your hard water with certain types of salt through a process called ion exchange. This process swaps the calcium and magnesium in hard water with another element, usually sodium, so you can avoid all the downsides of hard water listed above. Water softening systems can cost anywhere from $400 for a bare-bones model to $3,000 for a metered or timed system.

Our inspectors are always finding interesting maintenance issues in the field. What’s going on in this picture?

It’s easy to notice the cracks in these cement bricks that form the retaining wall pictured. What could have caused them?

Cracks this prevalent and severe are typically caused by an issue with the bricks themselves. While it’s normal for some cracks to appear over time due to thawing and freezing cycles, these bricks appear to have an underlying defect, potentially caused by improper mix ratios, insufficient curing time, or simply substandard materials. This new homeowner will want to plan for a retaining wall replacement in the near future, as this many cracks could prevent the wall from effectively holding back soil.

Sometimes, those home maintenance “shortcuts” you learned from your parents are anything but. Here’s a rundown of the worst offenders that can end up costing you in the long run.

1. Turn off your AC when you leave the house to save energy.
This one seems to make sense—why pay to cool an empty house, right? Well, turning off your AC isn’t the way to save money. The problem here is that when you come back home and turn your system back on, your AC unit will have to work overtime to cool your house back down, negating any energy savings you’ve accrued. To really save energy, just adjust your thermostat 5 or 10 degrees when you leave the house.

2. More insulation is always better.
Lots of attic insulation is the key to regulating your home’s temperature in summer and winter, isn’t it? Not quite. While you want enough insulation to prevent heat from escaping into the attic, going overboard can actually cause problems. For instance, overloading your attic with insulation can cause the lower layers to compress, which diminishes its effectiveness. You can also end up blocking your eave or soffit ventilation, leading to heat or moisture buildup and mold problems.

3. You only need to test the smoke detector with the “test” button.
Did you know that the “test” button on your smoke detector doesn’t actually test it? Yep, that button only tests whether the alarm sound is functioning. To test the sensor that actually detects smoke, the best tool to use is smoke. Start with a couple of kitchen matches—light them, blow them out, and let the smoke pass over the sensor. If this doesn’t trigger the detector, you may need to change the batteries or get a new smoke detector.

4. Furnace filters need replacement once a season.
Your furnace filters actually need to be replaced more often than that, depending on a number of factors. If you live in a dry, dusty environment, chances are you’ll need to replace them more often (about once a month). If you live in an area that’s more humid and features lush landscaping, you’ll be able to get away with replacement every three months or so. If someone in your family suffers from allergies, swapping out your furnace filter more often is one of the best ways to improve your home’s air quality and relieve allergy symptoms.

5. Cutting your grass really short helps you mow less often.
We get it—you don’t like mowing and want to do it as little as possible. Cut the grass really short, and you’ll only have to mow every two weeks instead of weekly. This is true . . . to a point. Cutting grass too short is actually a good way to make sure you don’t have to mow ever again, because there’s a good chance it’ll kill your grass. Think of it this way: the grass blade is like the leaf of a plant. Grass uses the blade to convert sunlight into food, and if too much of the blade is chopped off, the plant can’t efficiently process what it needs to survive. Together, the individual blades form a carpet that regulates moisture levels and keeps the ground from drying out. For optimal lawn health, you’ll want to keep your grass trimmed to between 1 and 3 inches.