Useful Home Owner Tips

Useful Home Owner Tips

This information is provided by your SCHOA team to help keep all of our home owners/residents apprised of various information that will make your life a little bit easier.  We provide Tips for Practical Watering, a Vacation Checklist and a link to the latest Arizona Scams as a means for helping you stay as informed as possible.  If there are any additional areas to which you would like to contribute information, please contact us at 623-974-4718 or at Businessadministrator@suncityhoa.org to share your insights.

Thank you for your thoughts and input.

Your SCHOA Management Team

Practical Watering

Of the many resources available to us in the Valley of the Sun, perhaps the most precious is water.  And with the cost of water consistently rising, water conservation is not only smart but it saves Sun City home owners and residents money. The following tips for watering are paraphrased and expanded upon from an article by Mitchell Vantrease of the Sun City Daily News-Sun to help you get the most from this life sustaining resource.

1.  Water where it counts

While this is generally obvious, don’t water the side of your house or fence, your sidewalks, driveway or gutter.  Adjust your sprinklers so that water lands only on your lawn or garden where it belongs, a possible savings each month of up to 500 gallons of water!

2.  Water when it’s coolest 

Water at night or early in the morning.  Not surprisingly, water evaporates less when the sun is down, and early morning is generally the best time to water.  The peak water consumptions hours of 9:00 am to 4:00 pm should be avoided.

3.  Avoid windy days

Don’t water on windy days.  Evaporation increases when the wind is blowing potentially wasting up to 300 gallons of water in one watering.

4. Use automatic timers

Let’s face it, we are only human and can become distracted.  How many times have you started to water plants or grass manually and become sidetracked?  Install an automatic timer and let the control panel remember when to start and stop watering.  However, it’s always a good idea to periodically check the control panel, your sprinkler heads and bubblers, and actual watering start and run times to ensure that the control panel is still functioning correctly; they are not completely infallible.

5.  Use desert plants when you can

Many desert plants provide lots of color and foliage but don’t need tons of water.  When first establishing your desert plants, you’ll likely need to water them every three or four days, potentially more in the summer months.  Once they are established, typically they will only need to be watered once a week.  Of course the best time to establish these plants is in the early spring months but it’s never too late to make the change to start conserving water.

6. Water your lawn only when it needs it

Step on your grass, if it springs back when you lift your foot, it doesn’t need water.  However, if your grass is just getting established especially during the summer months, it may require more frequent watering while the root system takes hold.  Consult the weather page; many include a lawn watering guide to give you an idea as to how much water your lawn needs that day. 

7. Longer grass is better

Longer grass, 2 ½ to 3 inches, means less evaporation.  Water savings can range from 500 to 1,500 gallons each month depending on the size of the lawn and the time of the year.

8. Repair/replace broken irrigation

Repairing broken irrigation lines and replacing broken and/or missing sprinkler and bubbler heads can save you a lot of money.  One missing sprinkler head can lose over 12 gallons of water a  minute.

9. Split your watering times

If excess water is running off your lawn or garden each time you water, then you are watering too long.  In this case, it is best to split your watering times so that the ground has the opportunity to absorb all of the water while still allowing your grass and plants to thrive.

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Vacation Checklist

Every year, many permanent residents of Sun City take a vacation and are gone from their homes for a week, two weeks or more. In addition, a large percentage of our residents leave Sun City for the summer months to spend time in their former home towns or other getaway destinations. While many of these residents alert the Sun City Posse to periodically monitor their homes for security, there are many other vacation preparations of which we would like to make sure you are aware.  These tips for preparing your home for your departure are outlined below.

In addition, if you would like professional assistance in helping you prepare your home if you are going to be away, please call the SCHOA offices at 623-974-4718 for the names of companies and/or other individuals listed in our Vendors & Service Providers Referral Program or go to the Vendor & Service Providers tab on this website.  This is a free service to our members.  If you are not currently a member or your membership has lapsed, our annual dues are $20per household.  Please contact us today to initiate membership or to renew your prior membership.

Checklist

Arrange

  • For a neighbor/friend to pick up fliers, handbills, papers, etc.
  • For a house sitter or neighbor to check periodically.
  • Contract with a yard care person to maintain the grounds, pick up fruit, etc, on a routine basis.  A front yard, patio, porch or carport that has debris, dead leaves and/or newspapers is an open invitation to burglars!
Disconnect

  • Disconnect the TV (s) and other appliances.
Fill-out

  • Posse vacation watch (blue) card and deliver it to them.  The Posse will check the outside of your home periodically.  Blue cards are available at the SCHOA, COA, libraries and Posse headquarters.
Inform

  • Your condo chairperson (if a condominium) or your neighbors of your departure date, address, and contact information.
Set

  • Thermostat properly for the period of your absence.
Turn Off

  • Water faucets firmly. 
  • All kitchen range burners and oven switches/knobs off.  Refrigerator/freezer/ice maker to “vacation” position.
  • Freezers are more efficient when almost full.  Extended periods of absence may require turning refrigerator off, emptying it and leaving door open.
  • Gas and hot water heater off.
  • All electrical switches to the off position (hot water heater, etc)  If your water heater is gas, turn the thermostat down to Vacation Mode.
  • Main water cut-off.  If you are unable to turn all of your water off such as Irrigation, contact Sun City Mechanical for alternatives to keep your home safe while you are gone.
  • Unplug the automatic garage door opener (usually in ceiling).
 

Stop all regular deliveries of newspapers.  Call the circulation department  with stop/start dates. (Daily-News Sun  977-8351; Independent 972-6101; Arizona Republic  602-444-1000)

For assistance in seeking other vendors to assist you, call  SCHOA for names of companies and/or individuals who are listed in our Vendor Referral Program.  This is a free service for our members.  If you are not a member, our annual dues are $20 for a household.   Some of these vendors are “Gold Plus”, which indicates that they have agreed to give SCHOA members a minimum of 5% discount on labor.  For details on membership or for a referral, call our office at 623-974-4718.

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Arizona Scams

Arizonans of all ages need to be aware of scams and con artists.  Frequently, seniors are targeted with schemes that can rob them of their life savings.  To keep you abreast of such unsavory acts in Sun City and throughout Arizona, the State Attorney General has a portion of its website devoted to detailing the most current scams on-going statewide.  Periodically, we suggest that you visit the site so that you are aware of the unscrupulous practices to which you could become an unwitting target; simply click here.  You can also sign up for an e-mail alert from the State Attorney General’s office to the latest scams in Arizona

http://lists.azag.gov/lists/?p=subscribe&id=1. 

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