redneck-home-improvement

Time:  A Critical Home Improvement Consideration

You want to improve on your home.  Congratulations, that’s a wonderful decision.  You can improve the quality of your life while increasing your home’s value.  Obviously, though, there a few things to think about before you embark on a major home improvement project.

If you’re doing things yourself, you’ll need a plan.  You’ll need resources.  You’ll need to have the skills required to complete the job and the right tools.  Then you’ll be ready to go, right?  Not quite.  There’s another factor you must consider:  Time.

Most of us live pretty busy lives.  It might seem easy to slide a home improvement project into the mix, but you’d be surprised how tough it can be to get things done along with the rest of your agenda items.  That’s why you need to think about your time and availability when contemplating a do it yourself home improvement project.

If you don’t have enough time, you can always make it.  Consider trimming it from other “optional” activities, for instance.  The important thing is that you understand how long your project will take and that you are capable of getting the job done.  There’s nothing worse than a lingering, incomplete home improvement project.  When things are half-done it makes your home less livable.

Think about time.  You’ll be glad you did.

For more ideas:

          

• It Might Be Time to Consider DIY for Home Improvement When insurance deductibles become so high that it becomes impossible to make claims to repair blown down fences and make routine home improvements, or when the waiting list for contractor help becomes impossibly long, it might be time to consider getting things done yourself. In the age of big box......
• Home Improvement Jobs: Frequently Made Mistakes Many home improvement projects could make your house a better place for living. However, if something goes wrong, they could turn your life into a complete disaster. If you do not want to fail with your home improvement project, you should learn about common mistakes people make while trying to......
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• Using a Home Improvement Guide for Best Results Using a home improvement guide for best results is actually a somewhat explanatory title on its own. However, there are many people that for one reason or another have a mental block when it comes to using help of any kind. It is for these people that this guide has......
• How Home Improvement Software Can Help You Out If you are interested in home improvement these days, you also need to be interested in what the modern world can do for you as far as home improvement is concerned.  There is no type of handyman in today’s world that does not use the conveniences of modern technology to......

My Dog Called the Cops?

One of the best home improvement projects out there involves the installation of an alarm system. Obviously, a good alarm has some direct value to the homeowner, who can feel more secure in his or her well-being. It can also reduce insurance premiums for some people while simultaneously increasing the resell value of the property.

Many alarm systems offer more than “triggers” on the windows and doors. Some combine that technology with video monitoring. Others use motion detection tools. If someone is skulking around your house, the alarm goes off.

Those options, particularly motion detection, aren’t for everybody. If you tend to get up late at night for one of those midnight snacks, you could set off the sirens if, in your sleepy haze, you neglect to turn off the motion detection.

Another common problem? Pets. If you have a dog, for instance, his late night pacing could result in a series of false alarms. Who wants to explain that “my dog called the cops” when a patrol officer responds to your alarm?

The bottom line: Choose a system that matches both your security needs and your lifestyle.

          

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Many of you have probably steered clear of planting American elm trees in your yards, due to their susceptibility to Dutch elm disease. But did you know that alternatives do exist? Steve Nix, About’s Forestry Guide, gives you a couple of alternatives to ponder in this article, including Chinese elm trees.

If you have your heart set on recapturing a piece of early 20th-century America, when American elm trees lined city streets, Chinese elm trees may not cut it for you. But thanks to the plant cloning work of tree geneticist Alden Townsend, the prognosis for American elms is now good. In the late 1990s approximately twenty-five years of plant cloning work on American elms came to fruition when the announcement was made: Townsend had finished cloning two new strains of American elms.

These plant clones are resistant to Dutch elm disease. Named Ulmus americana “Valley Forge” and Ulmus americana “New Harmony,” Townsend’s plant clones are now on the market. And the plant cloning work of tree geneticists continues, in hopes of developing new American elms that will be even more resistant to Dutch elm disease, thereby providing an alternative to Chinese elm trees.

Related resource: American Elm Trees

          

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• Landscaping 101 Landscaping can be done by anyone, but the results will depend on the amount of time, planning and your ability to carry out your goals. If you feel more comfortable paying for professional landscaping services, by all means use that route. However, there is nothing like the feeling that comes......
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• Have A Tree Planted For Just One Dollar. Yes, it is possible to help the environment for only a buck. American Forests will plant a tree for only a $1.00 donation to their organization. There is a catch though, the minimum donation is $15...but still, that's 15 trees! From the site: American Forests works to protect, restore and......

Mimosas (also called, “silk trees”) can be real pests in the landscape. A frustrated reader recently asked About’s Forestry Guide, Steve Nix a question on getting rid of mimosas. Steve, in turn, posted the question in his forum, where a very detailed method for getting rid of mimosas was provided. It’s worth having a look at, even if your problem is not getting rid of mimosas, specifically, but some other invasive plant.

While I sympathize with the reader’s plight, I can’t help but think that mimosas at least have one major redeeming quality: namely, that the mature trees are quite attractive. It’s far worse to have to lock horns against a stubborn invasive plant that has little to recommend it, such as Japanese knotweed (see photo). This tall perennial weed leaves behind ugly dead canes that litter the landscape every autumn!

_{Photo ©2005 David Beaulieu (licensed to About, Inc.)}

          

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You feel fine, but you’re not sure if you’re really healthy. What do you do? You go in for a physical, of course. It’s the same with tree health, only a house call will be necessary, since trees can’t go in to the doctor. And guess who gets to play doctor?

Don’t worry: checking on tree health is a heck of a lot more fun than going in to the doctor for a physical. Vanessa Richins tells us all the signs we need to look for to gauge tree health in this article. And you can concentrate fully on getting to the root of any problem, since bedside manner counts for little with tree patients.

Along the way, About’s Guide to Trees and Shrubs also offers some maintenance tips to promote tree health, such as the desirability of pruning a tree so as to have only one central leader. “This will add strength and to stability to the tree structure,” notes Vanessa.

Related resource: How to Prune Trees

          

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