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How to Landscape Your Yard on a Budget

When people drive past those amazing yards that looks as though a professional came through and sprinkled their magic, a touch of jealousy often reaches out and smacks them around. Maybe this is because they feel that they do not have the skill to do all of that on their own or maybe it is because they are on a very limited budget and feel as though they will never have a yard to be proud of.

The thing is though, there is a lot that can be done on a limited budget if you simply know where to look and what to do. When it comes to the design of your landscape, if you do not have many ideas of your own that you can confidentially come up with, simply look for ideas from completed projects. Look through magazines and books and take out or copy the pictures that you think are nice.

Maybe you love the whole look or maybe there are one or two things in that picture that you would love to recreate in your yard. Also, if there is a house in your neighborhood with landscape that is “picture perfect” feel free to snap a quick photo of their yard to use as a reference. If you feel uneasy about this, simply stop and ask permission. After explaining how much you love what they have done with the yard, they will most likely have no problem with you taking a quick picture.

Shopping Cheap

If you are thinking of getting a retaining wall put in or you would like to have some decorative stones throughout the yard then you need to look around before making your purchase. For those without a budget heading to the local stone supply company is no problem, but for the rest of us, that is something that just will not work. The first thing you want to do is to price the different types of stones, bricks, and even railroad ties that may work in your yard. Get an idea of what they would cost for you to purchase the “traditional way”.

Then start looking through the local wanted ads or online venues such as Craigslist. Many times there will be people posting extra landscape materials or supplies that they have leftover from their project or that they need to sell in order to pay some of their bills. Some people even are willing to deliver the landscape to you for some gas money. If that is not working out for you, start driving around the neighborhood. Can you think of any abandoned houses that have been vacant for a while or homes that have had a pile of rocks sitting in their yard for the past four years? If there is someone living there, try stopping by and asking if they would be willing to sell the landscape.

Look For Unused Landscape Around Town

With this economy being such a tough time for a lot of people, you never know when your knock at the door would be a blessing for them as you would be providing them with money to eat off of for a week or to pay their past due electric bill. Everyone could use some money and everything is for sale at a price. With your knowledge of how much the landscape would cost via the “traditional route” you will be able to make sure that you are also getting a deal.

If the house is vacant, a simply trip to the local courthouse with the address in hand will give you the name and contact information for the owner. Most likely, if the home has been vacant for years, they do not care about the landscape rocks. A quick call to see if they would be willing to give the landscape away could land you some free stuff. Otherwise, you could offer to pay a small amount of money. Since none of the landscape is being used, you will probably luck out.

Source: Moreno Landscaping

Avoid Fireplace Remodeling Mistakes

Fireplaces shouldn’t really have to be remodeled, if indeed people had never thought of that in the first place. But because of some brainchildren, we have to rework fireplaces that should have never been changed. If you find yourself in a situation like that, let’s take a look at a few things you should avoid.

Dating Yourself

Home remodeling and quartz countertops are all about trends for the most part. People design a home around the style of the 70s and then the 80s hit. So, they design their home around the 80s and then the 90s come through. Here we are already past the first decade of the 21^st century and some people are still back in the 90s, or even the 80s.

I can agree that there are some styles we just want to keep. But, others have to go. If you completely immerse yourself into an era, you might find yourself having to make changes a decade later. That might be fine with you, but I know there are people who don’t want to have to remodel every few years or so.

Lack of Planning

When you have a major renovation in mind, but you don’t have the funds for everything right now, make sure you plan it through to the end. Sometimes, people step on their own toes when they do a small project with other projects in mind. They find that they have to undo certain work or redo certain work.

It can become a mess if you haven’t thoroughly planned an entire project. Ventless fireplaces can be the easiest to plan when it comes to major renovations. Just make sure that everything else that goes along with it has been considered and made a part of the plan before you started.

Inaccurate Value to Cost Ratio

It’s true that the ventless fireplace or several of them around your home will increase its value. But, the actual cost to value should be calculated. A fireplace can probably add about 5 ‘” 10% to the value of the home. So, make sure that you keep your cost well below that value.

A traditional fireplace can cost upwards of $10,000. If your home is worth more than $100,000 then by all means add a traditional fireplace. But when you can build your own ventless fireplace for less than $1,000, you might want to look into that solution.

When you have the fun task of remodeling your fireplace or simply installing new ones all around your home, it should be seemingly painless. There is no need to curse at the ghosts who lived in your home before you. If you built your own home from ground up, then that’s a different story.

Chances are you love your home. However, with some of the homes being quite old in your local downtown area, remodeling is quite abundant. After all, most citizens would rather remodel their existing home than buy a new one. This is partly due to the increasing value of the downtown area and the charm older homes possess in the area. Whether you are remodeling the kitchen, adding rooms, expanding closets, installing windows or adding a pool, avoiding headaches with remodeling contractors is indeed possible. Remodels can not only add value to your home but also make you enjoy your home more.

What to look for:

There are quite a few well qualified contractors in the Bend area. However, finding one who specializes in your specific project is important. Thus, to avoid headaches you need to do a few things before committing to work with a contractor on your ideal home remodeling project.

1. Find someone with proper certification. Mistakes made by contractors could indeed damage your home. In addition, any mistakes could ultimately be dangerous to your family. So, finding a contractor who is well certified will allow you to avoid headaches with remodeling contractors. Before you commit to working with a contractor, be sure you can confirm the remodeler has liability insurance and is licensed by the state. You should check out each potential contractor’s license with the State Construction Contractor Board (CCB) to be sure they are certified and qualified to do the work.

2. Figure it all out before work begins by asking potential contractors many questions. A sure-fire way to avoid headaches from working with contractors on your remodel is to get all information ahead of time. By sitting down with the potentially hired contractor, you can be sure you’ll not be shocked with anything along the way. You can together create a plan of action which will allow you to know exactly what will happen along the way. Thus, whatever happens in any circumstance or situation, you’ll be prepared for it. A contractor who is unwilling or annoyed by answering questions should be fired immediately.

If you come home one afternoon to find a part of your fence down or the railing on you front stairs completely off, you don’t have a lot of choice as far as whom to hire or how much to pay. And handymen know this. They don’t necessarily take advantage of your situation, but let’s face it – we have learned that we need to pay for convenience and anything we need done in a hurry whether it’s putting the fence back up so Fido can’t escape, again, or even sending an overnight package – you pay for convenience and speed. So, when it comes to hiring a handyman, how much should you really expect to pay if you need something done quickly – or not?

Because some jobs are more difficult than others, and rife with “surprises”, there’s not much flexibility when discussing some basic charges. Even though many handymen will gladly come out and give you an estimate – for the ones you can prepare for in advance – pricing won’t really change much from city to city. Of course, a job in Boston will be priced higher than the exact same job in Burlington, VT, but other than this type of fluctuation, you can expect pretty static estimates.

When you do get some bids, you should be looking at things start dates, project length, overages (what if it’s not done on time?), and what kind of options do you have if he don’t show up on schedule.

Even though the fees are fairly standard, there is plenty of room to negotiate the extras or add-ons, or default strategies. For instance, anyone who has ever watched or heard about large “house repair” or even “house flipping” projects, even on reality TV, knows that nothing happens according to plan. You need to be able to work into the contract that if the project falls behind schedule or over budget, through no fault of yours (for example, you may need to go away on business or perhaps your child comes down with the flu and you feel more comfortable not exposing any outsiders to possible exposure), then the handyman will start paying a penalty, for instance, every day that the project runs late they need to deduct a specific amount, usually a percentage, off the project total.

If, on the other hand, your project isn’t quite so involved and can probably be done in a few hours one afternoon, at everyone’s convenience – perhaps he just needs to hang a few new closet doors – there could be room for some negotiating the price here.

Top 10 Fast Cleaning Tips for Cleaning Service Businesses

• Always work clockwise around room cleaning from top to bottom and don’t retrace your steps. 
• Use caddies to carry cleaning supplies throughout the home or office.
• Purchase an extra-long vacuum cord or heavy duty extension cord so that you don’t have to repeatedly plug in.
• Use both hands to clean, one for scrubbing and one for wiping.
• Let cleaning supplies do their job and don’t rinse until the cleaner has cleaned.

• Don’t keep scrubbing if stain won’t come out, move on to the next task and return with a different tool or stain remover.
• Wear headphones with upbeat and motivational music.
• Eat something first so that you have enough fuel to clean, also bring a granola bar or energy bar for a pick me up.
• Wear comfortable clothes that allow freedom of movement. You’d be amazed at how much time you can waste adjusting an ill-fitting bra strap.
• Carry a garbage bag with you to empty trash as you go along.