Organize-It Blog

When it comes to organizing a home, people usually focus on the interiors like closets, and storage containers, but a frequently overlooked aspect of home efficiency and organization is the roof.

A reliable roof plays an important role in keeping the whole house functional and organized.

Roof’s Role in Home Organization

Roofs are important; not many people will argue about that. However, if you take a step back and think about it, disregarding its more obvious aspects/benefits of having a roof (e.g., protection from the elements), you will be surprised how much more roofs are than simply ‘a hat on the house’.

If you have any roofing issues like holes, leaks, cracks, etc. (or you don’t have a roof), you could be inviting hazards into your home. Mold, water/humidity, pests, termites, insects, etc. It’s not just the elements. All those things will make living conditions poor, and it’ll cause clutter and unsanitary conditions, and additional (unexpected) repairs.

So, if you want a clean, organized, and safe home, you need to ensure that the roof is rock-solid.

Prevent Big Repairs and Chaos with Maintenance

Roofing maintenance can prevent common issues that lead to clutter and damage. Repairing small leaks before they become a larger problem can save you from extra costs and from having to reorganize your storage spaces due to water damage.

Also, roofing maintenance keeps pests away from your indoors. Intruders no one wants, like rodents and insects, are less likely to find entry points into a well-maintained roof. A pest-free environment is especially important for areas where you store food, seasonal items, or household supplies, which makes organizing your home a lot easier.

By scheduling regular roof inspections and repairs, you can prevent these problems and maintain a clean and well-organized home.

How to Improve Your House’s Efficiency/Value

A stable roof is more than just an additional structure within your home. It will (positively) affect cooling/heating costs, it’ll decrease your carbon footprint, and, ultimately your utility bills. A high-quality roof system is now fully designed to save energy as well as being eco-friendly.

As per the U.S. Department of Energy, the use of energy-efficient roofing materials may decrease the amount of heat transfer by around 50%, hence potentially reducing energy expenditure.

If you do not care about the efficiency of your house, then think of the value. A house with a perfectly maintained and functional roof will also add equity to the home. It is one of the main things that the buyers look out for before purchasing a house.

A roof is an investment, both in the value of a property, and the quality of life that its inhabitants will have.

If you’re looking for quality roof installation, use a search engine to find one that operates in your area/city. For example, if you live in Minneapolis, simply google “roofing contractor in Minneapolis,” and dozens of results will appear.

5 Steps to Take for Roof Maintenance

1. Schedule Regular Inspections

The roof of the house is required to be inspected a minimum of 2 times in a year in order to detect any problems in advance. More frequent check-ups are also welcome.

2. Fix Leaks Immediately

Even a minor leak can evolve into a massive one, translating into massive (and expensive) repairs. Make sure that any leak is sealed the moment it is discovered.

3. Look for Pests

Finding pests at an early stage helps to avert infestations (and damage to storage spaces).

4. Insulation and Ventilation

Roofing insulation and ventilation are not only essential for enhancing indoor air conditions and regulating dampness; they also help in prolonging the roof’s lifespan.

5. Quality Repairs and Materials

Hiring professional roofing services that use high-quality materials ensures that your roof will withstand the elements and protect the building for several years.

5 Simple and Effective Strategies For a Well-Organized Home

Here are a few effective tips for maintaining a well-organized home.

1. Decluttering

Every couple of months, eliminate belongings you no longer need. This will reduce clutter and make it easier to organize space.

2. Storage

Use a variety of storage options like shelves, bins, and organizers. Multi-functional furniture with built-in storage is a great way to save space as well.

3. Designated Spaces

Assign specific areas for different categories of items, such as a dedicated spot for mail, keys, and other daily essentials.

4. Daily Cleaning Routine

Small daily habits, like wiping dust or floor surfaces, and consistent daily tasks make deep cleaning easier.

5. Labels

Use labels on drawers, bins, and shelves for easier identification of where things belong.

5 U.S. Roofing Data-points/Statistics

• As per the National Roofing Contractors Association (NRCA), periodic roof maintenance can even increase the life of a roof by over 50%.
• As specified by the U.S. Department of Energy, energy-sustainable roofs can lower the costs of cooling down the houses by even 15% during the peak summer months, consequently lowering the overall energy use.
• Roof-related water damage restoration costs between $3,000 to $5,000 per incident in U.S. homes, based on the statistics given by HomeAdvisor.
• In the 2023 the ‘Cost vs. Value’ survey by Remodeling Magazine, it is stated that the appraised cost of a new roof is approximately $15,000 for any home’s resale value, which means that there is about 60% of the return on the investment (ROI) of the roof.
• The home organization market in the U.S. is forecasted to reach a worth of 11.8 billion (USD) in 2026, increasing at a compound annual growth rate of 3.8% (a Research and Markets report).

Conclusion

For a well-organized home, the roof serves as the central pillar. By using good quality roofing materials and upkeep, you not only cover your home’s outside but everything within it, as well.

So, next time you’re planning home enhancements, make sure you begin from the top side down.

There’s no PrtSc button on the Mac keyboard, but simple key combinations instantly capture the desired screenshots and automatically save them on the desktop. So, you needn’t worry about where to see screenshot in MacBook. But if you have changed the save location, that’s a different story.

Shift + Command + 3 captures the entire screen, Shift + Command + 4 captures a specific part, and Shift + Command + 4 + Spacebar captures the menu bar or a window. Do you want more options? Press Shift + Command + 5.

If you are not satisfied with simple screenshots and want to do more with them, there are terrific screenshot tools for Mac. These tools, both paid and free, offer additional features that may benefit you. Let’s check them out.

Shottr

Shottr is a lightweight application that quietly sits in the menu bar. Open the app to discover a wide range of features, which includes paid features offered for free. The app’s standout features include on-screen zoom in and out, scrolling screenshot annotations, and OCR. Typically, these features are available in paid versions of most screenshot apps.

Shottr is user-friendly and can be used with shortcuts like Shift + Command + 1 or 2.

After you’ve captured the screen, you can edit the screenshot using the app’s image manipulation mode.

Skitch by Evernote

Skitch is similar to Mac’s screenshot tool. It offers the ability to take screenshots from a specific area, window, or full screen. The app’s camera mode lets you take selfies using your computer’s camera.

The biggest strength of the app lies in post-capturing. The app is packed with unique features like adding lines, arrows, callouts, shapes, highlights to the screen, and pixelation.

While you won’t find an eraser to edit the errors, the undo function works.

The final documents can be saved in eight different formats and shared via Notes, AirDrop, etc.

Evernote users can save snaps on its servers and access them across platforms.

Snagit

Snagit is a snipping tool and different from most screenshot applications. The tool is used for taking screenshots and recording contents on the screen.

The app comes in handy for capturing the entire desktop, a single window, or a specific region on the desktop. You can even screenshot content scrolling vertically and horizontally. Extracting content from a screen and pasting it into another application is also possible with Snagit.

The tool can record the webcam feed along with screen recording so you can record yourself when creating tutorials or troubleshooting videos. Once recorded, the app has in-built tools to convert screenshots into GIFs, annotate them or share them on social media. You can trim the unwanted parts before sharing them.

The screenshots or video clips can be effortlessly shared and uploaded to Word, YouTube, Excel, Google Drive, PowerPoint, etc.

Monosnap

Monosnap is a popular screenshot tool for Mac, and its strengths lie in the variety of editing tools.

The app features an 8X magnifier that makes cropped images appear more accurate. The blur tool is used to hide private information, and snapshots can be shared with just a click. Recorded videos can be directly uploaded to YouTube or other platforms. While recording a video, it is possible to highlight specific details. Use the app to take time screenshots.

The free Monosnap version comes with 2GB of free cloud storage and is available for non-commercial use. The paid offers come with more storage, third-party integrations, and team management. You can try the premium version free for thirty days.

Scribe

Scribe takes a series of screenshots without a fuss. Start the process by turning on the desktop app or the extension. Scribe will follow you along as you work and turn every keystroke and click into written instructions and annotated screenshots.

The tool lets you redact, annotate, improvise, and edit screenshots so they are all descriptive and serve your purpose. Once editing is done, the guide is created automatically, and this can be shared with your team.

Scribe can be shared as PDF, embedded into existing tools, or copied into an XML document. The tool is intuitive and easy to use. It saves time and comes with a host of unique features that make the documentation process a breeze.

Thanks to the new feature, Pages, Scribe can be combined with images, video, and more. You can create visual documentation using screenshots in an instant.

Take Screenshots Effortlessly!

Screenshots are more than mere images. They convey information via self-explanatory visuals. To make the most of screenshots, you need tools that let you annotate, crop, edit, etc. after all, the more detailed a screenshot, the better for your audience to comprehend.

Refer to the tools mentioned above, but please note that these tools barely scratch the surface.