Diamond Certified Blog

To avoid falling for a magazine subscription scam, make sure you know the warning signs to look for. Read more

If you’re in the process of moving into a new house or apartment, getting your things packed and transported is important, but it’s really just the beginning. Read on to learn about three essential aspects of moving other than the move itself.

Wrap up loose ends
Everyone knows a major part of moving into a new place is cleaning out the old one, but many people forget about the various loose ends that need to be wrapped up when departing a former location. First, you’ll need to submit a “Change of Address” form to the post office to have your mail forwarded to your new residence. Read more

Do you know how to tell if your pet is overweight? Watch this video to learn how to spot early warning signs. Read more

Many people think of trees as entities that operate independent of human involvement, but there are many cases where intervention can foster significant improvements, both in the interest of economics and general health. One such method of intervention is called “thinning.” While on the small scale this term refers to the selective removal of branches to improve a tree’s overall health, on a larger scale it denotes a selective removal of whole trees from certain areas of a landscape.

Thinning is most often applied in areas where overcrowding intensifies competition between neighboring trees. This strenuous competition can be detrimental to particular “underdog” stands of trees, especially where environmental factors such as drought, insect infestations or extreme temperature come into play. Read more

Painting a room may seem simple enough, but there are actually many factors to consider besides color. To get the most out of your interior painting project, consider the following tips:

The complexities of color
The effects of paint color can vary significantly depending on how it’s used, so it’s important to consider the specific room or area to be painted beforehand. Color can be used to accentuate the good and mute the bad, and it can also be the difference between a room that feels inviting and one that feels inhospitable. A light color can be used to make a small room feel spacious, and a darker hue can be used to make a large room seem warmer and more intimate. Read more

Watch this video to learn how you can take advantage of the Bureau of Automotive Repair’s Auto Body Inspection Program. Read more

When shopping for solar panels, seeing the numerous products available on the market might get you thinking about quality. Is one panel really that much different than another? Is it really worth it to pay more for expensive panels? As with most products, where there’s a variance in price, there’s usually a variance in quality as well. Here are a couple of the major differences between high- and low-quality solar panels:

Panel degradation
One of the primary differences between expensive and inexpensive solar panels is the rate of panel degradation—that is, the amount of production efficiency the panels lose over time. Read more

When choosing a carpet, the average consumer tends to focus on the fibers while often neglecting to consider what’s beneath the surface. A carpet’s cushion (also known as the “backing” or “padding”) is an equally integral component, both prolonging the life of the carpet and providing additional benefits of insulation, noise reduction, and underfoot comfort. In the same way that many are unaware of the cushion’s vital role in a carpet’s performance, environmentally-conscious consumers tend to concentrate their scrutiny on the carpet’s face, even though such concerns apply just as much to the backing. Fortunately, there’s a wide variety of cushion options available for the discerning consumer. Read more

Watch this video to get some helpful tips for choosing a good password to protect your online information. Read more

Watch this video to find out how to get the most out of your painting project. Read more