They can be both a blessing and a curse. We’re talking about Homeowner’s Associations or HOAs as they’re known in the U.S. Whether you purchase a condo, apartment or home, more often than not you must pay a regular monthly or annual fee to your HOA. With this money, they maintain the common areas in your neighborhood or building such as the swimming pool, tennis courts, recreation, or game rooms. Depending on where you live sometimes the HOA also cuts your lawn, trims your hedges and dictates what you can and cannot do to your home. Many of us at Workman’s Friend are members of our local HOAs. We appreciate the work they do around the neighborhood. But we also can get frustrated when trying to undertake an exterior home improvement project such as painting or construction. That’s when HOAs can become less of a blessing and more of a curse.
Now you’re probably wondering what HOAs have to do with Workman’s Friend Barrier Skin Cream? No, our product will not improve your relationship with your HOA. Nor will it make any exterior home improvement project go more easily. But what it will do is make the clean-up from your home improvement projects that much easier. Read on to learn how.
Painting Your Home Yourself
If you live in a subdivision with individual detached homes, chances are your HOA regulations indicate what color you can paint your house. In fact some HOAs will limit your exterior paint choice to maybe only a few colors and if you desire a color that isn’t on their approved list, you must work through the proper approval channels to be granted a variance. That might include submitting paint chips, listing manufacturer guarantees and attending board meetings all to get the paint color of your choosing on the exterior of your home. There are some HOAs that will limit you even further by specifying your choices of trim, garage and front door color. So if you decide to change any of the colors on the exterior home by yourself, make sure that you read the fine print in your HOA agreement.
Additionally, don’t forget to apply a dime-size dollop of Workman’s Friend Barrier Skin Cream. It will not only protect your hands from the irritants found in most paint products, but it will make cleaning up a snap, a simple wipe and you’re done!
Letting a Professional to Paint Your Home
Maybe you’ve decided to hire a professional to paint the outside of your home. The job is just too big for you to do on the weekends. Make sure your HOA doesn’t require you to hire an approved HOA-contracted painting company. It’s also important to ask the professional painters if they’ve ever dealt with an HOA. Are they aware of some of the regulations that usually accompany a paint job in a community controlled by an association? Remember, if you choose a painting company that is not pre-approved by your HOA you could be fined upwards of hundreds of dollars for failing to be compliant.
Other Home Improvements
Maybe you want to plant a few extra flowers in your front garden? Or you’re hoping to cut back the hedge so that it doesn’t obstruct your view across the street? Before you go to your local garden store or pick up those hedge shears, educate yourself. Most HOAs’ have very clear rules about how and what you can change about the exterior appearance of your home. This includes landscaping or any kind of gardening. If they learn that you’ve violated one of their rules, you will be fined and asked to remove the plants or regrow the hedge.
For the Homeowner
Despite the information provided above not all Homeowner Associations are bad. They were originally created to protect property values by enforcing a set of consistent home maintenance and minimal architectural rules. In most situations they can be an ally when you’re neighbor decides to paint their house bright pink or their dogs are barking incessantly throughout the night. The best thing that you can do is become familiar with your current HOA rules or learn about them before you make your next big home purchase.
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Workman’s Friend Barrier Skin Cream is light-weight and odorless product. Apply a dime-sized portion of our non-greasy, formula on each hand. Then rub them together to ensure the cream has been properly absorbed.