Building Garden Paths and Flower Beds On the Cheap
We recently added a large back yard. Toward the back of the yard is our perennial bed and gold fish pond. Theres just an empty space between the house and the garden with freshly sprouted grass.
I stood at the house and looked toward the pond and imagined the path I walk to get there. If I made that path a real path it seemed like it would add a lot to the yard. I took a rope and laid it out where I thought the path should go.
I like to work with materials I already have or with free materials. So I always question what I already have. A large pile of oak chips that came from the tree that fell on the neighbors house last year comes to mind. The neighbor asked if they could dump the chips over our bank in the back. The wood was in good condition when it got chopped up. So if I laid the oak chips down for a path, they would need something to contain them so they dont end up in the grass.
Our pondless waterfall weve been building has had us carrying rocks back from the river so my next thought is of some small flat rocks. The next trip to the river I filled 3 five gallon buckets with small flat rocks.
First I sorted my rocks by size and started with the smallest ones at one end of the newly envisioned path. I made two rows with the rocks about 40 apart and put the wood chips in between the rows of rocks. Later that afternoon I had a beautiful looking path and what a change it made to the yard.
You could also consider using short fencing, bricks, pavers, small tree trunks, crushed stones, or bark chips for materials. Use your imagination to come up with materials for your path.
Last week a visitor mentioned how beautiful the yard looked and how great the path was. He said to his wife Look at what her husband did. (why do the men always get the credit?) He built that path for free. We just spent $6000 for pavers to do the same thing!
Copyright 2006 Alice Scott
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Replacement Windows Horror Story With Fairytale Ending
I cannot think of a home improvement project I hate more than buying replacement windows. If I can take care of a home repair project with my hammer and cordless drill, so much the better. But window installation is a difficult task that requires the intercession of professionals. The professionals, though, often make the work harder than it should be. Here is a replacement windows horror story, and how I turned it into a fairytale.
It began in 2000, when my wife and I were renovating a 100 year-old house near Washington D.C. The house was in bad disrepair and almost every of its 25-30 windows needed to be replaced. Because of the high costs that we faced, my wife and I called at least 5 windows companies to come over and give us an estimate. Remember, we were pretty much home improvement naifs at that point.
One salesman for a large, local window company visited, along with the protege he was training. It took several trips for him to move all of his sales aids into our house: a sample window, lightbulbs, light meters, literature, etc.
After one hour, he was still demonstrating how window coatings could help reduce our energy consumption. We did not need to be convinced of this. We knew the basics of replacement windows. All we wanted was an estimate on our windows. Despite our polite throat-clearings, the salesman plowed on ahead into the second hour.
By the third hour, he finally gave us an estimate. It was outrageous. We began to shoo him out. "Wait," he said, "let me check with my sales manager and see if I can give you a special deal." The window salesman got on the cell phone and called his manager, who graciously agreed to cut a special deal. Miraculously, the price dripped 30 percent. However, we would have to sign on the dotted line by 5pm today.
Hour three turned into hour four, and we were hungry and anxious to get back to the floor sander that we were renting by the hour. The salesman would not take the hint. Finally, we said, "Okay, we don't want your windows. Go away. Leave. Now." It took several statements like that for the guy to finally leave. We had just wasted four hours of our lives, $45 worth of floor sander rental time, and our patience on this window company guy.
What did we learn from this? Plenty. First, the customer is in control. Especially when you are hosting the sales call in your house. You can control the length, nature, and tone of every single aspect of the replacement window salescall--but gather up your strength and do it, and certainly don't ask the saleman for permission. Second, since you are gathering estimates from many window companies, you do not have time for these 4 hour salescalls. One hour is the max. Third, because much of this terrible salescall was devoted to cross-selling us on other products such as gutters and siding, make it clear from the start that you are interested only in windows. Not only will that reduce the salescall's time, you are asserting your rights to the saleman and taking the reins. It is important to show early on that you are in charge, not the salesman.
For more great advice on dealing with window companies, visit
http://www.replacementwindows123.comReynold Washburn has 7 years of experience in DIY home renovation, much of it centered on the trials and tribulations of window installation. Read other articles by Reynold Washburn at
http://www.replacementwindows123.com.
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