Here are six home improvement ideas you should consider finishing before the Fourth of July rolls around. These simple ideas will turn your home into a paradise perfect for entertaining.

• New coat of paint
• Lawn cares tips
• Clean your deck
• Check your outdoor faucets
• Renovate your living room/kitchen

Tip #1: A Fresh Coat of Paint

Are you getting tired of looking at the same boring colors on your walls? When done correctly, a fresh coat of paint is a simple and inexpensive way dramatically to change the appearance of your home from drab to downright gorgeous.

A special warning to homeowners: If you own a property inside a planned housing development (these are usually run by a Homeowner's Association or similar entity), you might want to check the CC&Rs (Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions) to make sure which colors are permitted, or if you can even paint your house at all.

If the Homeowner's Association learns you are using an unapproved color scheme or are painting your house when you're not supposed to, they can legally force you to repaint your house at your expense, adding additional cost. Avoid this mistake and follow the established CC&Rs for your particular housing development.

Tip #2: Lawn Care Tips

During the Summer months, most lawns turn brown due to either over-watering or watering at the inopportune time of day. Watering the lawn in the late afternoon is the worst thing you can do to your lawn due to evaporation and lack of rainfall. Your lawn may begin to lose its color due to the daily stresses from heat, foot traffic, insects, etc. Here are some other tips you might want to take into consideration:

Fertilizer is Bad for Some Grasses! - According to the experts at the Scotts Miracle-Gro Company, a company that makes lawn and garden products, you should avoid fertilizing cold-season grasses during the Summer months because cold-season grasses are not as resistant to high temperatures as warm-season grasses. Only warm-season grasses such as Bahia Grass, Bermuda Grass, and St. Augustine Grass should be fertilizer.

(By the way, dog waste is also a type of fertilizer, so when you walk your dog, make sure to bring a plastic bag and a "pooper-scooper" with you to clean up after your faithful friend.)

However, that doesn't mean you should fertilize your lawn in the 100-degree heat. Extremes in temperatures will affect warm-season grasses as well, so be wary of this.

Scotts also recommends putting down a fertilizer with some insect control agent to control lawn-killing weeds and insects. (We will go more into that in the next two sections.)

Start Your "Grass Roots" Campaign. - Your lawn is a veritable all-day buffet for insects and bugs. Mosquitoes, grubs, locusts, certain types of ants and much more would all love to make a meal out of your lawn and its roots if you let them. However, certain types of pesticide will only kill certain kinds of insects. Make sure the pesticide you select is formulated for use on the target pest and will not kill the lawn.

Call the Weed Patrol. - Along with insects, there are different types of weeds such as the Dandelion or Milkweed. Note that weeds are tough to kill, and can regrow if even a piece of root is left behind, and weeds spread by scattering seeds in all directions.

These seeds will create next year's crop, so if you see any weeds whatsoever, it is important to kill them as soon as possible. You can remove the weeds by hand (though it's exceedingly challenging and time-consuming) or by applying a pesticide. As with pesticides, make sure the type of herbicide you select will not kill the grass as well.

Tread Lightly, For This Ground, is Sacred! - You may think your next-door neighbors are mean and unfriendly when they ask you not to step on the grass, but they are trying to protect their lawn from damage. Stepping on the grass puts severe stress on a lawn, and can make your lawn go dormant in high-traffic areas. However, it's not entirely justified, as some types of grass are more tolerant to foot traffic than others. Your neighbors may not know that.

Those of you who have a problem with people walking on your grass might consider installing cement blocks designed for people to walk upon, choose a different type of grass that is more tolerant to foot traffic or even replacing the grass in the high-traffic area with mulch. All these steps will save you major headaches.

Tip #3: Clean the Deck

People love a backyard deck for relaxing and entertaining guests! Your deck should be cleaned at least once every six months. Thoroughly sweep and power-wash the deck to remove dirt and debris, then use a deck cleanser specifically designed for the type of material your floor is made from (typically, a floor is made of wood, composite materials or vinyl.)

Vinyl will be the easiest to clean since you don't need a particular type of cleanser for vinyl. Just plain soap and water should work. Refer to HouseLogic.com's deck care tips and the instructions on the back of the product label for specific cleaning instructions.

Tip #4: Check your Outdoor Faucets

Although most damage to outdoor faucets occurs during the Winter months, when pipes can freeze and burst, it can easily go unnoticed for a considerable time because we don't pay attention to the upkeep of our outdoor faucets, and don't even use them until late Spring or early Summer, when we want to wash our car or let the kids have a little fun getting wet with the hose.

Before breaking out the water hose, check your outdoor faucets for cracks or splits, and have them replaced if they show any signs of extreme damage, wear or rust.

Tip #5: Renovate Your Living Room/Kitchen

A beautiful living room and kitchen area provide an excellent place to sit and talk with your guests. Ideally, you should make sure you have an unobstructed view from the kitchen to the living room. (This is called an Open Concept Kitchen.)

An open concept kitchen gives a feeling of inclusion into what's going on around you and helps you and your guests feel more relaxed and less isolated from you.

Stainless steel appliances, natural stone countertops, wood floors, cabinets that match the overall color scheme, pendant-style and recessed light fixtures, a beautiful backsplash and an island will all add to the overall look and feel.

Enjoy your holiday, and if you need any plumbing services in the Reno, NV area, call Ira Hansen and Sons Plumbing today at (775) 624-8378.