Oct
2018

Artificial Field Turf – A Bright Future In Sports Industry

categories: Yard

In the past few decades, regular grass has been the main carpeting option for the sports industry. However, today the tide has changed dramatically as evidenced by the growing number of public and commercial institutions turning to field turf.

Indeed, the use of field turf has many advantages of regular grass. With synthetic grass, you no longer have to worry about drainage problems commonly associated with natural grass. In fact, artificial turf drains more quickly than regular grass thus boosting pitch playability. Furthermore, synthetic turf consumes significantly less water than natural grass pitches. Think about how many gallons of water you can save with field turf. Low maintenance costs coupled with a longer useful life make field turf a better long-term investment compared to natural turf.

A brief history of field turf

The first traces of field turf appeared in the 1965 and were manufactured by a firm known as AstroTurf. The first application of field turf was at a stadium in Houston, TX in the late 1960s. Back then, field managers discovered how difficult it was to maintain natural grass fields. To solve this problem, artificial field turf was introduced, and since then, it has become a mainstay in many sports stadiums around the world.

Due to the growing demand for more advanced field turf, the number of field turf companies has also shot up significantly. Apart from sports arenas, artificial turf is also widely used in residential lawns and public playing areas.

What to look for in a field turf company

Due to a large number of field turf companies, consumers now have more options than before. Today there is a variety of turf field options ideal for all sports events and lawn applications. From low-maintenance lawn options to dense, resilient synthetic turf for high traffic arenas, there’s something for everyone.

When shopping for field turf, look for companies that have a wealth of experience in the industry. Take the time to learn about the technology employed in turf production. The best field turf companies will even customize your artificial turf to your desired taste. It is common to have field turf tailor-made to include logos and brand names for an overall unique look.


Aug
2018

The Perks Of Artificial Grass Landscaping

categories: Home Improvement

Anyone in charge of yard work knows how much work caring for a lawn can be. There is the weekly cutting, watering, fertilizing, and weeding to consider. Not only are these things time consuming, they also cost money. From buying lawn care products like fertilizer and weed killers, to the cost of your water bill to keep that grass green during dry spells, artificial grass will pay for itself before you know it. Artificial grass landscaping reflects the current trend towards sustainable and eco-friendly home care as it reduces water usage and weed killer and fertilizer run-off into sewers and drainage systems.

Perks of Artificial Grass

The number-one perk of artificial grass landscaping is that there is a one-time cost up front but no maintenance costs after. Most synthetic grass options range from $2.00 to $3.00/square foot. While it can be a hefty price tag up front, especially for large areas, there are none of the maintenance costs associated with real grass, nor the stress or additional time demands of lawn care. If you’re going away on a holiday, there is no need to worry that lengthy grass would tip off would-be thieves that the house is empty. Your savings in water bills alone would eventually pay for that initial cost.

Ease and Accessibility

Many artificial grass stores offer free in-store pick up and nationwide delivery. Perfect for residential or commercial locations, there are a wide variety of grass types and styles to choose from. Many companies even offer free samples so you can try them out in the location. Synthetic grass isn’t just for homes; it is being used in public parks, playgrounds, golf greens, and athletic fields. It is a highly versatile product that maintains its looks for years to come. Most companies offer the service of installing the artificial grass landscaping so there is no worry or stress to the buyer. Just sit back and watch your landscaping dreams come true with a minimum of effort.

Join the trend of what has become an eco-friendly alternative to the hassles of real grass and lawn care. Artificial grass landscaping is not only practical and low maintenance, it is affordable and sustainable.


Oct
2017

Are Home Inspections Worth The Investment?

categories: Home Improvement

Home inspections are regularly performed to determine if a home requires additional repairs or maintenance prior to being purchased. Are home inspections worth it, is a common question that many buyers ask. This depends on whether the benefits of the inspection outweigh the costs.

Reasons To Get A Home Inspection

Home inspections provide the opportunity for a seller or buyer to identify existing problems with a home, prior to the close of sale. Realtors will commonly include a home inspection clause in their contracts. This clause mandates the seller to have an inspection completed before a sale can close.

New construction inspections differ from older home inspections. For new construction, the foundation, drywall, and a final inspection of the entire premises will be conducted. Buyers and sellers can choose to use a local inspector to take an in-depth look at the property.

Areas Checked During A Home Inspection

During an inspection, all interior and exterior surfaces of the home will be checked. Bathrooms will be monitored for leaks. The electrical system will be checked, ensuring that the wiring, outlets, and GFCI connections are functioning correctly. The foundation will be analyzed to ensure that the home is not abnormally settling.

The garage, carport, heating and ventilation systems, are also inspected. In some cases when appliances are included in the sale, the appliances will also be inspected to ensure they are working correctly. The plumbing, roof, and walls are also included in the inspection. If anything is found during the review, it will be decided at that point who is required to fix the issue.

Do The Benefits Outweigh The Costs?

The costs for an inspector to come to your residence to inspect your property varies from state to state. An average inspection will last three hours. During the inspection, it is wise to accompany the inspector and ask any questions you may have during the process.

Sellers and buyers can benefit from having a home inspection conducted. Sellers will be advised of any problems that exist with the property. Buyers will also be made aware of the responsibilities they will be taking on if they choose to purchase the home. Are home inspections worth it? Yes, they are, for all parties involved.


Jun
2017

How Much Does A New Fence Cost?

categories: Home Improvement

If you are considering replacing the fence, or adding a new fence to your home, you may have wondered… “how much does a new fence cost“?  The majority of houses have some type of fencing. A fence can serve as a property line marker, a security feature, a decorative element or a combination of these things. On average, new fences cost from $2600 to $8000, based on the type and size you purchase. There are numerous options, with regards to contractors and fence designs, to pick from in various price brackets. Many professional fence installers bill their customers for each linear foot. This charge includes the cost of materials and labor.

Bear in mind that some fencing materials have specific associated costs, linked to the complexity of their structure. The cost of installing wooden fences varies, based on the wood type used. Chain link fences are particularly affordable. Materials like wrought iron and aluminum are the most expensive. Vinyl costs more than chain link or wood, but easily makes up for it due to low maintenance costs and longevity.

Prior to starting the installation, you need a reliable estimate for the project. You should get in touch with your local council and ask whether you require a permit. Typically, permits cost around $800. You can leave your fence contractor to supply the parts and pay for them later, or obtain some parts yourself. Although your contractor will markup his or her fee, they get price reductions that could still result in you making an overall saving.

If your property is built on sloping land, your fence installation costs might increase, because the installation will be harder. Also, you will need to telephone 811 to confirm that your fence does not obstruct utility services. Occasionally, newly installed fences can hit underground wires or pipes. If you fail to do this, you might be landed with expensive repair bills in future.

As you can see, there are a multitude of factors to take into account, when installing a fence, which can affect the total project cost. For this reason, before you proceed, it is always wise to speak to a few different installation firms to get quotes. This way, you will have a good idea of how much you will need to budget to build your dream fence.


Jun
2017

Building A Custom Home: 3 Of Our Favorite Builds To Inspire You

categories: Home Improvement

Building a custom home starts with a passion for a lifetime of creation… creating a space where your best memories can be made with your best people. A professional custom home builder understands that your house is so much more than a home and with the holidays quickly approaching, it got us to thinking about some of our favorite builds and why. From tea-on-the-rocking-chair porches to apple-pie-ala-mode kitchen memories, here are three of our favorites that will inspire you to dream up some of your own…

Gingerbread Memories

Some of our best memories came from our childhood kitchens. Whether that was baking gingerbread cookies with Grandma… or just eating them… this custom kitchen build is only missing your own personal touch. From cake stands filled with butter cream cupcakes to mom’s famous lasagna, this build felt very much like an add-your-own memories eatery where holiday moments (and everyday wonders) grew wild on the vine.

Backyard Exclusive

Your front yard is much like a book’s front cover in many ways. It is what the world sees first when they pass by it. However, your backyard is much like the exciting twists and turns that you only know if you know the story and the characters. Picture it… bare feet dripping wet from the pool, leaving puddles of chlorine and summer all the way back to the backyard door. Nobody else gets to take that path but you… make it special. We think this one is equal parts whimsical and functional.

Home Sweet Home Meets Vacation Home

This outdoor build has a sort of Mediterranean, communal vibe where friends gather after working all day in the hot sun for a cold tropical drink. Instead of taking that trip around the world, sometimes it makes more sense to bring the world to you. This way, you can enjoy the big, wide world anytime you want to without ever having to leave the comfort of your home sweet home.

Building a custom home is an intimate experience that allows you to create the life that you want without the need to conform to the ordinary. Ask your home builder to work with you to create a home that is truly your own and, in every way, just as unique as the people inside it.


Jun
2017

Why Consider Using Led Lighting In Your Next Home Decor Project?

categories: Home Improvement, Lighting

Home LED lighting

The traditional incandescent light bulb has been around, largely unchanged in design, for nearly 150 years. This is despite its drawbacks. High fragility and energy-inefficiency are just two of many good reasons for leaving traditional bulbs behind. Although replacement technologies such as halogen have failed to gain widespread popularity, it looks as though LED lighting might finally be the lighting solution to challenge the old-fashioned incandescent bulb’s dominance. What has changed to make this so?

Energy Efficiency
Traditional light bulbs are incredibly wasteful of energy, with up to go percent of the electricity used transformed into heat rather than light. LED Lighting Systems use only about one-sixth of the energy to produce the same amount of illumination, with obvious savings in electricity bills as well as benefits for the environment.

Long Life
Incandescent bulbs are extremely fragile. Not only are they easy to damage through rough handling but they also fail relatively quickly under normal use. An old-fashioned bulb will typically last about 1,200 hours before burning out, while a LED lamp will last for at least 25,000 hours. In fact, LEDs rarely fail completely; they simply become less effective as they near the end of their useful life.

Color Range and Warmth
One reason for traditional bulbs’ long-standing popularity is the quality of the light they provide. Most people find incandescent light gives a warm and comfortable glow, while alternatives are often seen as harsh, cold, and clinical. Advances in LED technology have largely solved this problem, and modern lamps closely mimic the color temperature of ordinary bulbs. Some of the best fittings can even vary the color output to suit your mood, with illumination ranging from a candle-like warmth to that of a bright summer’s day.

Flexibility of Installation
Early LED models required large heat sinks to cope with the excess energy produced by the electronics behind the lamp. Unlike traditional bulbs, little of the LED’s energy is radiated away as heat; this limited the spaces in which the older LEDs could be installed. Thanks to clever design advancements, this previously major obstacle have been overcome, and bulbs are now available that can be dropped straight into traditional fittings.


Jan
2017

Oranges

categories: Uncategorized

We are lucky to have 3 citrus trees on our property, and despite the neglect they received over the first 5 years we lived here, they continue to produce fruit. I try to prune, and shape, remove suckers and water sprouts. Last year the Navel orange tree got a severe pruning that shocked it a little but water sprouts and suckers were taking  over so I had to fight back. It’s still a battle but I like to think I’m winning. They say to snap off the water sprouts as they appear and I’m trying! Making a mental note to check the trees weekly. Just seems to be the one tree that we’re having an issue with, not sure why that is?


Right now all the trees are laden with fruit but also blossoming. I love the citrus blossom, the smell is divine and the hummingbirds love it so we get to them zipping about from flower to flower, aiding in the pollination and providing me with entertainment!  The blossoming seems a little early this year though, but that’s probably the weird weather we’ve been having here in Southern California. Really warm January with little to no rain, and temperatures touching 80 degrees!  The start of February as I mentioned has been wet so I think the poor trees are pretty confused!


I’m harvesting oranges every few days right now. This means that smaller oranges on the tree will grow bigger, and the tree will put more energy into producing more oranges. Oh and the oranges taste great! I have one every morning with my breakfast and Bob takes some to work for lunch.

Can’t wait till the grapefruit get big enough to eat.

Continue reading Oranges.

Jan
2017

Reasons for my vegetable garden

categories: Uncategorized

Opening this gardening only blog was a real incentive to get the garden going, increase the growing space, take more pics but I thought today I’d share my incentive to start the edible garden in the first place.

Back around Spring last year I had started to get interested in the green movement, going back to basics and living more simply. I subscribed to a couple of blogs and one led me to Path to Freedom. If you’ve never seen the Dervaes video below I suggest you take the 10 minutes to view it. Totally inspiring and because they live just 45 miles away I figured if they could do it, then so could I!

The main differences is the Dervaes have 4 people to tend to their garden and there is just me, but with small steps anything is possible! The hardest part is the initial change, digging over, weeding and in our case removing plastic, nails, screws, glass, rebar, and stones! After the initial part the upkeep comes in, the sowing of seeds, maintenance, watering and harvesting.

We’re vegetarian so we eat lots of vegetables, I’ve grown veggies before, albeit in a different country, so why not now? So last May I got some veggie starters and began my own Homegrown Revolution. I’ll share some pics of my first growing season last year, the changes I made in the back garden lessons learned, and plans for the future.

The great part was when others were worried about ecoli in spinach and salmonella in tomatoes I had my own growing fresh in the garden! THAT alone was more than worth all the work! It hasn’t been easy, it has been a lot of work, along with some initial expense, but I am trying to do everything as frugal and green as possible along the way. Some of those tips I will also be sharing.

It has definitely changed my outlook on fresh fruits and vegetables just in one year. Store bought tomatoes are just not the same as homegrown fresh off the vine. Lettuce tastes better homegrown, and carrots are super sweet fresh out the ground!

I think the message that rung loud and clear on the Dervaes site is that with just a trowel and seeds you CAN grow food. Anyone, anywhere can do it. Why not you? Why not now?


Jan
2017

February Quest Update

categories: Uncategorized

Work on East facing strip of front garden: This project is on hold right now. After working on the area for a few hours it occurred to me that ‘if’ we do get an RV or similar vehicle that we’ve discussed previously this is the area that it would be parked! I’d been told by a friend that it was against city ordinance to park the RV on the driveway so I called the city (and checked the site online) and nope it’s perfectly fine. We just have to pave the area and we’re golden. Needless to say that area is on hold till we decide what we’re doing. I’ll still work on the plot as we need to clear the area either way no matter what we do on it, but it’s not a priority right now (not like the rest of the yard!) so I’m changing the goals to reflect this change of focus.

  • Work on sidewalk strip: This was the area I started first but it was disheartening as there are palm trees that needed removing, juniper roots and a whole lot of stones and debris. I was lucky on Thursday that a neighbor saw me out and asked if I wanted help removing the palm trees! Naturally I accepted the offer and we made good headway in the 3 hours I was out there! Pretty much since then it’s either been raining or soggy wet. The picture above is an old one from last year but you can see the highlighted area I’m talking about, and the arrows point to palms/trees we took out last week! I just need to dig over, remove weeds/grass and work my way down. Right now I have dug over from the driveway to about a foot past the mailbox. As you can see LOTS of work to do!!! I need to get out there and take some new pics really! Will do that this month for the month end round up!
  • Plant seeds for Summer crops: Planted lots of seeds, but then we had a frost so hopefully they will be ok! Planted: tomato, eggplant, herbs, pumpkin, peppers and more. I need to get a better system for keeping track! I also need to find a good seed starter trays. The ones we saw at walmart looked ok but I prefer individual cells and theirs were ones that you had to buy the coir/peat pots each time which is not me at all. But then maybe I should try them? They did smaller ones so perhaps I will give them a go? Be nice to have something that lasts season after season.
  • Get ground cover between raised beds: Not done yet. Honestly the weather has hindered this. Basically I need the ground cover cos when it rains it’s muddy (plus it’ll stop weeds) but it’s too wet most days to get out there, or I can’t rely on good weather for drop off and me hauling it round the back! *sigh* Someone tell mother nature to cooperate with my gardening schedule please!!!

As you can see the weather is hindering plans and gardening activities. What I am trying to do is get ahead with other tasks in the house/work so that once the weather dries up a little I can attack the garden with full force! At least that’s the plan! The forecast so far is 2 days sun, 2 days rain followed by 3 days sun, 3 days rain, and temperatures between 55 – 70 degrees.


Jan
2017

These boots are made for walking…

categories: Uncategorized

All the rain we’ve had recently has made me go out and buy a pair of Wellies, gum boots, rain boots whatever you want to call ’em! To us they’re Wellies – Wellington Boots. I bought them at Target for $19.99 and I’ve had lots of opportunities to try them out and I love them.

They come to about mid calf level which isn’t really a good look for anyone but sooo comfortable! Plus with my chunky calves probably a good thing they don’t go any higher! Another good reason for buying them is I can use them for walking the dogs in the rain. So they pretty much have lots of uses. Good job I got them too as we have MORE rain on the way this weekend and later in the week. After a really dry and warm January this February downpour is really drowning us. At least it’s one less job as I don’t have to water the plants…

Also for some reason, now I have wellies I feel like a proper gardener, lol!