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Keeping Your Home Rodent-Free This Holiday Season

Keeping rats away

The holidays are a time filled with family, food, and cheerful celebrations—it’s the most wonderful time of the year! And while colorful decorations and freshly baked cookies are wintertime staples, colder months can also mean higher chances of a rodent infestation. If you are hosting a potluck or outdoor party, you’ll want to learn how to keep rats away from your yard, and you will want to make sure any rats outdoors don’t make their way inside. Fortunately, though, there are steps you can take before your guests arrive to help keep rats away during the holiday season.

Gather around the fireplace and read our tips on how to keep unwanted rats and mice away.

Fill in the gap

The first step to keeping unwanted rats and other rodents out of your home is to seal off any possible entryways. Cracks and holes in walls, around windows and doors, and in your roof … Read Full Post »

What We Love About Houston

Things to do in Houston

Everyone knows that Austin has live music, San Antonio has the world-famous Riverwalk, and Dallas is all about luxury shopping. Meanwhile, Houston residents know that while maybe not as flashy as the other cities in Texas, their city has quietly become one of the best cities in which to live in the entire country.

Let’s take a look why we are glad to call Houston home. With a vibrant economy, beautiful open spaces, world-class museums, star-studded sports teams, and a long list of fantastic things to do in Houston, we at ABC Home & Commercial Services are thankful to live and work in such a great city.

Big City, Big Money

As Texas’ largest city, Houston has a thriving economy, with the tech, energy and construction sectors remaining healthy and driving growth. In fact, Houston is second only to New York in headquartering Fortune 500 businesses.

With the healthy economic outlook, as well … Read Full Post »

How To Make This Holiday Season Less Stressful

Holiday hacks

Helpful Hacks For A Stress-Free Holiday Season

It’s hard to believe, but the holidays are upon us once again. Soon enough, we’ll be picking apples for cider, hanging garland over the fireplace and welcoming family into our homes for a celebration.

And while the holidays can bring great cheer and joy, the impending arrival of family and friends can leave you feeling a bit overwhelmed. To avoid any unwanted stress, we suggest taking necessary steps to ensure your home is in tip-top shape before the festivities begin.

Read our tips below to make getting ready for this holiday season a little bit easier.

Make a Checklist

Before your guests arrive, assess your home to see what areas need attention. During this time you can also take inventory of what you can reuse from prior years’ festivities and what you’ll need to purchase.

Remember, though, taking on too many tasks can set you up for a stressful situation. … Read Full Post »

5 Reasons Your Lawn Benefits From The Best Organic Fertilizer

best organic fertilizer

When homeowners are trying to approve their curb appeal, an obvious place to start is with your property’s lawn.

Here in Texas, however, plants face an uphill battle to get established and to stay healthy. Although soil types and quality vary across the state, our warm climate and lack of rainfall present many challenges for homeowners who want to keep their lawns looking green.

One way to provide the nutrients plants need to survive and thrive is to apply fertilizer.

ABC Home & Commercial Services, our lawn care experts know a lot about lawn care. We also care about the impact of our products on the environment. That’s why we only use the best natural and organic lawn fertilizers currently on the market.

In this article, we would like to educate homeowners about the best types of organic fertilizer by exploring the following topics:

  • The importance of fertilizer

Our Favorite Things To Do In Orlando

Things to do in Orlando

There’s no doubt about it: Orlando is known for its theme parks. From Walt Disney World and Islands of Adventure to Epcot and the Wizarding World of Harry Potter—people gather from all over the world to witness the fun and excitement of these parks. A trip to either of these is a guaranteed memorable experience. As all of us who call Orlando home know well, there are plenty of things to do in Orlando besides theme parks.

Our Favorite Things To Do In Orlando

From indoor activities to exploring the great outdoors to things to do in Orlando for free, there’s something for everyone in the family. There’s no reason to stay home or in a hotel room in a city like Orlando. Read along as we tour our city’s lesser-known but not-less-fun activities.

Visit a Museum

Museums are often associated with a trip to New York City or the Smithsonian Museums in Washington, … Read Full Post »

May The Force Be With You This Holiday Season

Star Wars holidays

The holiday season is closing in on us – although it may not feel like it here in Texas.  With the holidays comes the release of the newest Star Wars movie.  Rogue One hits theaters on December 16, 2016.  What better way to celebrate the launch of a new Star Wars movie than combining it with the holidays?  Here are a handful of ideas to get your creativity flowing.

Star Wars Holidays

Christmas offers myriad opportunities to combine holiday festivities with Star Wars.  You can create all sorts of Christmas decorations that are Star Wars-themed.  Popular ideas are Christmas ornaments, stockings and nativity scenes using Star Wars LEGO bricks.  And don’t feel like you have to limit yourself – there are many folks out there who have a Christmas tree entirely dedicated to Star Wars.  Check out this Darth Vader Christmas tree!  If you are an Elf on the Shelf fan, you … Read Full Post »

How to host a cookie exchange

How to host a cookie exchange

Have you ever been to a cookie exchange? It’s a gathering organized to exchange cookies, primarily around the holidays.  For those of us who love to bake and have a sweet tooth, these parties are heaven. Hosting a cookie exchange seems like a great idea in theory, but planning it might be overwhelming. These tips will help you plan a successful cookie exchange without losing too much of your most precious resource: time.

Planning is Key

Create a plan for your cookie exchange well ahead of the date. You’ll need to consider a number of things before settling all the details. First, the guest list – which of your friends like to bake? Inviting friends who have no interest in baking probably won’t result in a successful cookie exchange. Choose the majority of friends who are seasoned bakers, and consider adding a few newbies who are developing an interest. 

Give your guests at least … Read Full Post »

Deer Proof Plants For Your Yard And Garden

Deer proof plants

Is your yard a deer buffet? Do you plant a garden, only to wake up and discover your strawberries are trampled, your tomatoes have mysteriously vanished, and your greens are now sad little stubs? Thanks to deer, are your peach trees anything but peachy?

In many parts of San Antonio, deer face dwindling habitats and increased populations. In their search for their next meal, deer often find our yards a suitable substitute. As anyone with deer will tell you, they seem to eat almost everything.

Below we’ll look at ways you can make your yard and gardens less appetizing to deer and what deer proof plants you can add to your landscape.

Discourage Deer Visitors

When it comes to deer, you have a few lines of defense. You can make it difficult to get into your garden, you can try repelling the deer with chemical and physical tactics, and you can choose deer-resistant plants … Read Full Post »

How To Decorate Your Home For Christmas [INFOGRAPHIC]

How to decorate your home for Christmas

The holidays are a truly magical time of year.

That said, a lot of work goes on behind the scenes to make Christmas special. Before the stockings can be hung by the chimney with care, the box with the Christmas ornaments needs to come down from the attic, the Halloween and Thanksgiving decorations need to be put away, and the house needs to be ready for all your holiday gatherings and guests.

We here at ABC Home & Commercial Services want to help you get ready for the holiday season. We’ve compiled a list of Smart Christmas Decorating Tips so you can spend your precious time doing the things that matter most.

If you need a helping hand this holiday season, know that you can count on us.

From all of us here at ABC, we wish you a Christmas full of special memories.

 

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What Are German Roaches?

What is a German roach

What is a German Roach?  

There’s no good time to find a cockroach running across your kitchen floor. Unfortunately, most homeowners have encountered such a sight more than once. And with more than 3,500 species worldwide and 55 species in the United States, a scurrying cockroach is a common household occurrence.

Cockroaches are incredibly adaptable and have adjusted to the earth’s changes for more than 300 million years; their diet, size, and ability to reproduce quickly and in large numbers enable the species to endure the test of time.

The two most common species found in homes throughout the United States are the German cockroach and the American cockroach. What are German roaches, exactly? Where do German roaches come from? How can you tell which kind of roach may be inside your home?

What They Look Like  

Appearance is one of the easiest ways to identify the type of cockroach living in your home. … Read Full Post »