Give Your House A Lift

Wednesday, January 25, 2012


Elevating your home is no big joke. There are many factors that you have to keep in mind while messing with the foundation of your home. You have to make sure that it is done in the hands of experts who use specialized equipment to lift your home. You should not even try doing this on your own. This is again a very slim possibility because there is a lot of specialized equipment and training required and this is not something that can be done by reading things off a manual or a guidebook. In any case, if you somehow have come across a book that will show you how to life your house up, the wisest choice would be to not attempt it all.

This is because lifting your home is not as simple as just operating some hydraulic equipment which is complex in itself. There is a lot of wiring and re enforcing work to be done that needs to be carefully attended to. Therefore this is best left in the hands of the experts that have experience in such matters. You can get in touch with such experts with a quick search of the internet.

Most of the times lifting your house is done to protect it against floods. If your house is in a low lying area that is prone to floods, your house becomes very susceptible to damage. Therefore in such cases, lifting your house becomes mandatory. However, doing this to your house would cost you a lot of money. The good news is the government realizes the need of the people and it has allocated fixed grant money for you to be able to lift your house.

With the help of this, you dont have to spend anything from your pocket in order to lift your house. You can make sure that all the expenses are taken care of by the government. You have to fill in some paper work for this of course. 

Most of the times, the lifting company that you call will help to fill and clear up your paper work. Also these companies would offer insurance against lifting so that any damage that may occur while lifting your house would be covered by the policy. Therefore you can raise your house with total confidence that all your expenses are taken care of.

Most of these professional companies have certified people working on the lifting process. They also have specialized hydraulic lifts that are placed in strategic locations to be able to life your house. After your house is lifted, the foundation is re enforced for the stability of your home. This will make sure that your house is steady even after the entire process and will last this way for years to come.

How To Landscape On A Budget With A Landscape Contractor

Monday, January 23, 2012


It really doesn't matter if you are extremely wealthy or middle class. When you have a landscape contractor install your landscaping, a budget must be considered. We all have our dream list of things we desire and feel we need in our landscape, but can we afford them? Landscaping can be expensive, especially if you are considering adding any hardscape elements. Hardscapes include retaining walls, flagstone or paver patios, seat walls, water features, brick work, boulders or simply put, anything hard and permanent.

Hardscaping can cost many dollars a square foot. So, the landscape budget is a must.
Much of the time, my clients want the whole dream list, but when they get the estimate, they are quite discouraged. I try to ask for a budget, but usually they hesitate.They don't realize landscaping costs that much and they don't have any idea of what they are getting into.. I've done many estimates for my clients in which landscape designers, have designed the landscape. Many landscape designers neglect the budget process with their clients. The plans were exceptional. Paver patios, walls, and water features, beautiful plantings and the list goes on and on. The budget however wasn't ever considered. The design, the bidding process was a waste of time. The potential client just couldn't afford the package as designed. If only a budget was considered from the beginning, the design could of been scaled down, to a landscape they could afford and attain.

Don't be afraid to talk budget with your designer or landscaper. Once you develop a good relationship with them, please talk about what you can afford as well as what you want. The shock will go out from the estimating process.


The landscape budget process also makes the estimating easier for all. Howver you nust make sure all bids are apples to apples. Make sure quanities and sizes for each landscape proposal are the same. If one landscape contractor is installing a 200′ sq. foot patio and the other a 180 sq. foot patio there may be a difference of $300.00 in costs. Keep it apples to apples. The quanities and sizes should compare all through the landscape estimate. A smaller lawn is less money. Less soil mix is less money. Smaller sizes in plant material means less money. However, as you lmay of noticed each bid item is getting less product. It is up to you the homeowner to make sure you are in fact getting the best price, product and service.

Woody's Custom Landscaping, Inc. has been serving the Pacific Northwest with exceptional landscape services for over twenty years, we are here to help our clients realize your landscape dreams.

Landscape Architect and Garden Designs, Princeton NJ

Source:  http://www.articlesbase.com/landscaping-articles/how-to-landscape-on-a-budget-with-a-landscape-contractor-5415298.html


Rose Garden Design

Thursday, January 5, 2012

What is the best way to design a rose garden?

The variety of roses you select are dependent on the space you have available, if you only have small area then perhaps miniature roses are the best bet. Standard roses require more space and climbing roses also need space so that they can stay healthy, so they need to be planted at least 8 feet apart.

Once you have determined the varieties, you can then decide on the colors. Roses are available in a host of colors, yet the old breeds provide roses that are easier to care for as they are sturdier. You could design our rose garden in patterns too by planting different varieties including different sized roses with miniature roses in between. You could use a variety of colors and alternate them to create a pattern or you could stick to one color and choose different varieties so that the pattern created is not so much in the color but in the different textures. Many people choose roses that will compliment their house color, or they use their home as a backdrop in order to make their rose Garden design stand out.

First Thoughts
When you plant your roses you need to make sure each species is spaced according to its specific needs, that your planting is symmetric, and will eventually offer an aesthetically pleasing picture. Try not to plant haphazardly as a rose garden is best when it is kept simple and in geometric patterns or in an ever decreasing or increasing circle.

Rose Flower Garden
Roses can be difficult to grow yet they are some of the most beautiful flowering plants to have in a garden. Being able to segregate a section of your garden for the intent purpose of planting roses will offer a wonderful focal point to your home.

It may be hard to envision your future rose garden design just by looking at your layout and you may decide to make use of home garden design software which offers not only suggestions on layout, design and plant use but will also offer you finished 3D pictures of what your rose garden will look like. If you aren't quite happy with that design you can play around, move items and make changes until you are satisfied. Most landscape design software will allow you to track your future garden as it matures and will offer you scenes of it in yearly increments so that you will get an idea of what your garden will look like say 10 years from now.

There are a host of rose gardens around the world that are decades old. One in particular can be found in the gardens of the White house. Planted in 1913 in colonial style, this rose garden continues to impress visitors.

Tips for designing a rose garden
Without doubt making use of roses in a garden landscape will lift any garden to another level, it will soften the exterior of a home and make it appear more graceful. A rose garden will accent a home and garden and it will welcome you and invite you to spend time outdoors amongst the unique heady scents that only a rose can produce.

Finding the perfect rose for your rose garden boils down to finding the right rose bush for the terrain and for the climate. Roses come in a variety of classes and each class offers its own characteristics that serve as ornamental or architectural features. Tea roses for instance can be trained to cascade over walls and arches and are famous for their profusion of blooms. Walls find a perfect architectural accompaniment with climbing roses while the Floribunda rose produces a vibrant splash of color with its large sprays of blooms. Or perhaps the iceberg roses with their delicate fairy like petals are what appeals to you.

Roses also offer themselves as hardy and versatile ground covers which brighten with wonderful colors and give off strong scents. These types of roses are ideal for planting between taller roses or even in trees.

The object of a rose Garden is to provide texture, color, shape and scent. There are so many different types of roses that they can be mixed with a variety of other roses and still look like they were meant to be together.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/2658610

What The House Movers Don't Tell You

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

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House movers have a lot of knowledge about moving house. But they dont know everything such as how many times you will have to bend and stoop when you pack a box. Nor can they tell you how many steps you will have to take each time you bring boxes into the house so you can make them up and pack them. The house movers will show up on time, pack what they have to pack then load it into the truck or van and get it started in its journey to your new home. Then at your new home they will unload the van or truck and take the items and boxes into your new home.

When you move house and are doing the packing yourself or with family helping you, it helps to be fairly organized because it takes probably more time than you expect and it requires a lot more steps then you ever imagined. It may be a very good way to lose weight and firm up some muscles also.

Because when you begin to pack boxes you will have to lift the items off of the shelves or out of the closets and then pack them or wrap them and pack them then tape up the box and put it aside so you have room to work in. You cant just pack boxes and leave them lay just anywhere because you, your family and the house movers will have to maneuver around them.

What you will need to do is organize your packing time so you have few disruptions. It will take you some time and if you are constantly interrupted by children who are not assisting or by the telephone it is cutting into your packing time and come moving day you will not be competed. If you delay the movers as you continue to pack you will also incur more cost as the hours pass before they can pack you up.

If you are going to pack books then line up some book boxes that are already made up.Make sure you tape the box bottoms and not interlock them because the tape is stronger and helps reinforce the boxes. Once you have the boxes lined up begin to pack them but dont over pack them so that a mover cannot pick them up. They do have to be a reasonable weight and if you cant pick up the box and move it to another pile then chances are the mover wont be able to either.

Go room by room keeping like items together. You dont want to pack fragile items amongst the books but you can slip sturdy wrapped nick knacks in amongst the places where you have openings between the books. When you pack fragile items use towels or bedding to protect the items beside the packing paper that you get to wrap things in. If you coordinate and carve out time to pack correctly then you will be successful during the move.