Home Maintenance Tips & Reminders

At the original sale of each home in Bay Pines, Adams Homes provided the purchaser with a comprehensive homeowner's maintenance manual.  If you have possession of it, you may want to at least familiarize yourself with its contents because it does contain a substantial amount of useful information which we are not going to replicate here.  If you do not have a copy and would like one, please contact the admin@baypineshoa.org. 

However, there are a few common items that are important and people tend to forget ... or in some cases were never made aware of ... when they purchased their homes:

Air Filters: The air filter on your furnace/air conditioning unit should be replaced regularly to keep the unit running efficiently.  Although the labeling on the filters usually says they are good for "up to 90 days," when your air conditioner is running frequently during the hottest part of the summer, they can become very dirty in only about four to six weeks, particularly if you have pets. Filtrete (3M) is the most popular brand and prices vary from about $4 - $15 depending on the level of protection you desire.  Most of our units take size 18"x24x1".  Lowe's carries a Filtrete "two pack" of micro allergen (1085 MPR rated) in this size for under $20.  Walmart carries the Filtrete brand but not in that size.  It does carry a satisfactory "off brand" for about $7 each.

[The old style flat fiberglass filters that are essentially obsolete are still manufactured but difficult to find in size 18x24x1.  They are cheap and may take longer to clog than pleated paper filters but they trap only the largest of dirt particles to protect the blower motor.  The downside is that they offer inadequate protection for dirt buildup on your indoor condenser coils and ductwork and offer no relief relative to the level of dust particles in your home.]   

Cleaning the air conditioner drain line: The drain tube that carries condensate collected from the evaporator (air conditioner) coils inside your house to your yard (near the heat pump) can become algae coated and clogged resulting in a "back up" of water that pours onto your floor and may cause damage to the unit.  To prevent this, the drain tube inside your "HVAC closet" has a cap on it and it is generally recommended that you pour a 50/50 solution of bleach and water down the tube every month or two during the air conditioning season.  Here is a "how to" youtube video.  Note, the professional in the video recommends using vinegar rather than bleach.

Regular HVAC Inspections:  Annual preventative inspections of your heating and air conditioning system are generally recommended but as a practical matter that interval can be stretched, particularly with newer units.  Inspection and cleaning of the cooling coils on the condenser outside your home is simple enough as explained in this youtube video.  The condition of the rest of your system is generally best left to a professional who will check such things as the freon charge and the condition of the indoor evaporator coils.  A typical "pre-season" inspection costs around $50 plus the cost of any added freon and can pay for itself with energy savings and by preventing future costly and/or inconvenient breakdowns. 

Refrigerator Coils: Depending on your refrigerator design, the condenser coils essentially act as dust magnets that make heat exchange more difficult, causing the compressor to run more frequently and in extreme cases, restrict the unit's ability to keep the temperature cold enough to store food.  The coils should be cleaned annually, generally with a vacuum cleaner with a brush attachment

Termite Protection: Termitess are a destructive pest and unfortunately very common to the region.  Formosan termites are the most aggressive and destructive timber pests in the United States and are established in Florida including the Gulf Breeze area.  As a result, at a minimum, your house should be inspected for termites annually. When our homes were built, the wood was "termite" treated by Anchor Pest Control and guaranteed against termite damage for five years ..... provided the $200 annual "termite insurance" bill was paid and the home was inspected annually by Anchor.  Unfortunately, an explanation of this was often "overlooked" at many closings and people did not understand the "termite insurance" concept and why it was so important.    

As our homes are approaching or passing the "five year" mark and the Anchor guarantee has or is getting ready to expire, it is important to have regular termite inspections and it is highly recommended that you go ahead and have your house treated for termites as a preventative measure.   A good treatment (which involves drilling into the ground to inject the insecticide into the soil) will last for about seven years and you will have to pay $200 to $300 per year for "termite" insurance.   The prices vary significantly amongst the vendors and there are even cases where the same vendor charges different prices for the same treatment on a house with the same design.  So, the word to the wise is to talk to your neighbors for comparison of vendors and/or thoroughly shop around.

Lawn Care

Lawns in the Bay Pines were originally sodded with Centipede grass, the most common home lawn grass in the Florida Panhandle.   It is a slow-growing relatively drought resistant grass with low fertilization requirements that tends to do well in our sandy, low nutrient soil.  It is naturally lighter in color than other lawn grasses such as St. Augustine (found in the Melissa Oaks subdivision to our west) and it lacks the “golf course” look of Zoysia. 

If you opt for that “richer, thicker look” of some of the other grasses, you are probably looking at re-sodding or “plugging” your yard as a few of our Members have done.  Trying to give your Centipede yard the “dark green” look by using “lots” of fertilizer will probably cause it to burn out.  That being said, a well maintained Centipede lawn can be very attractive with proper maintenance which includes the following:

Fertilizer and Weed Control

Fertilizer should be applied at least once but no more than twice a year (generally April & August).  Over-fertilizing with nitrogen to obtain an unnaturally dark green color reduces its cold tolerance, increases long-term maintenance problems, and contributes to centipede grass decline, a disease complex that produces patches of dead turf in the spring.  Significant over-feeding can cause the grass to die almost immediately. 

Our area is plagued with a variety of weeds, the most troublesome and hardest to remove being the dollar weed that can rapidly overtake a yard if left untreated.  Effective “dollar weed” products were not available at most retail outlets until recently (although professional lawn services have had them for years).  Whether you apply fertilizer and weed control with one product or separately is a matter of personal preference.   Just be careful to only use fertilizer and weed products that say on the label that they are tailored to both Centipede grass and our region such as Scotts Bonus S Southern Weed & Feed (available at Lowe’s) and ferti-lome Centipede Fertilizer or ferti-lome Centipede Weed & Feed (available at Mike’s Garden located across from Wal-Mart on the north side of Highway 98 and ACE Hardware in downtown Gulf Breeze).

Another common problem we see in our subdivision is the yellowing of the leaf blades (chlorosis). This is generally caused by lack of iron which can typically be cured by applying an iron supplement such as Ironite.

Insect Control

Our region has significant numbers of pests such as Mole Crickets and others that can make the grass in a yard “disappear” almost overnight.  Lowe’s has a variety of products that claim to kill many insects, just make certain you select one that will catch mole crickets and chinch bugs as well as the usual grub worms and so forth. Products that contain Talstar or Acephate are the most effective against Mole Crickets. You may want to review this site before selecting and applying an insecticide:

http://www.molecrickets.com/molecrickettreatment.htm

For more on the care of your Centipede yard, please visit the following:

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/lh009

Also, the Father and Son Lawn Care website is chock full of good information about caring for yards in the greater Pensacola area, especially the “lawn tips” section.

Landscaping

When selecting trees, bushes and plants for your yard, remember that we are in USDA Plant Zone 9a which means that your plants should be able to withstand a hard freeze in the 20 to 25 degree range.  We may live in the State of Florida, but some varieties of Palm & Citrus trees and other plants that do well elsewhere in the state may not survive our coldest days of winter. Fortunately there a sufficient number of tree and plant varieties available that are suitable for our climate that will give you the "tropical look" should you so desire but you should probably consult an expert in this area before making a large investment.

If you are not an experienced gardener and you plan to do your own plant selection and planting, be certain to thoroughly research the soil requirements, disease resistance, and other aspects on your choices of plants.  The University of Florida and Santa Rosa County have teamed up to help you with requisite diagnostic testing for soil pH, soil nutrients, diseases, insects, and other concerns as explained at http://santarosa.ifas.ufl.edu/lawn_garden_diagnostic.shtml.

Several residents have thus far added little or no landscaping to their properties, presumably because they think it's too much trouble, too expensive, and/or it would take too much time from their already busy schedule.  Fortunately there is are a couple of easy solutions, and they don't have to be too expensive or time consuming.  We have two nurseries within ten minutes of our homes with the following offerings at reasonable prices:

Hiawatha Nursery: Located about 6 miles east at 7374 East Bay Blvd. [850-939-2879], they have an outstanding selection (including several low maintenance varieties suited to our area) at very reasonable prices.  They are a family operation and going there to shop for your landscapng needs is "quick and painless."  Bring them a picture of your house, tell them the "look" you want and what you want to spend and they'll drive you around in a golf cart and let you pick out the exact plants that will go in your yard.  To deliver and plant, they charge $2.50 per gallon which refers to the gallon sized container the item is potted in.  The cost of planting usually works out to about 50% of the cost of the plant, which includes necessary fertilizer and so forth and is extremely reasonable.  As an example, depending on how "mature" the items you select are, you could choose two ornamental trees (i.e. Bald Cypress or Crape Myrtle) and six shrubs (i.e. Azaleas or Camellias) installed for anywhere from about $300 to $750.      

Mikes Garden: Located across from Walmart at 3774 Gulf Breeze Pkwy [850-934-1043], they too have an excellent selection at reasonable prices.  Owner Mike Robertson is a landscape architect that will come to your house to assess your needs and wants and generally can work within a reasonable budget.  Mike's labor charge for planting is a bit higher than Hiawatha but in the end you might get something that might look a little more "upscale."   His installation prices include custom bedding and "special effects" that significantly add to the aesthetics of your landscape. His book entitled The Gulf Coast Landscape is for sale at his store and makes a good read for the average "newbie."

The Board and the Architectural Review Committee would like to thank the many residents who have put forth a special effort and investment to make their yards an asset to the community with very nice landscaping including (and certainly not limited to) the following:   

 1745 

1911

 1753

 1936 

1992

 1952