QUANTUMRAREEARTH

9 Spring-Cleaning Tips for Your Garden and Deck

Once spring has arrived, it’s time to prepare the beds for the summer growing season. Spring is the best time to repair any damage from winter weather. It’s also wise to clean up your yard before the heavy growth cycle begins. Following are nine spring garden maintenance tips to help you get ready for the summer growing season.

1. Look for winter damage. Inspect your yard for damaged or broken tree limbs that will require removal. Pay especially close attention to broken limbs that overhang structures such as your decking or cedar fence panels. Inspect your fencing, decking and any stairs or pathways for disrepair.

2. Perform a deck safety inspection. Carefully examine your decking for signs of rot, loose boards or weakness in the ledger board. Test your decking’s stability by standing in the middle and moving your feet in a hula-hoop motion; if it wobbles, you’ve got a problem. Additionally, you should test the stain on your decking with a garden hose; if the water beads up, you’re in good shape. If the water soaks in, plan on applying a new stain when the weather warms up.

3. Design new garden beds or fences. Thinking of expanding or rearranging your garden? Spring is the time to lay out new planting beds or initiate a new fence installation. Vinyl pickets, cedar fence panels, and chain link fencing are all popular choices for marking garden boundaries and keeping out small animals. When choosing a fencing material, first decide on the primary purpose of the fence installation and consider whether you’re willing to put time into regular maintenance on cedar fence panels, or whether you’d prefer the low maintenance of chain link.

4. Examine your fencing. Examine your fence for any areas that need repair, such as broken or rotting boards, popped nails and knotholes. If you have cedar fence panels, assess whether it’s time to restain your fencing.

5. Enrich the Soil with Compost. Spring is a good time to harvest compost. Mix it into your planting beds. Afterwards, ensure that the soil is moist, but not dripping wet.

6. Trim trees, grasses, and shrubs. Remove dead plants, trim diseased branches, and cut back ornamental grasses. Thin and trim summer-blooming shrubs, and prune early-blooming shrubs after they’ve flowered.

7. Eliminate weeds. Pull up any weeds growing around the perimeter of your beds, as well as any near the landscaping around your fence or decking. It is much easier to pull weeds in the spring than in any other season, as their roots are still shallow.

8. Plant. Plant trees, shrubs, bulbs and cool-season vegetables. Re-seed any sparse patches in your lawn.

9. Begin a compost pile or bin. If you don’t have a compost pile or bin, beginning in the spring means you’ll have fresh compost ready to harvest by this time next year. If you don’t have room for a large bin or pile, consider a small compost tumbler that can fit on your decking.

Once spring growth kicks in, there will be plenty to do around the garden to keep you busy well into fall. By preparing your garden now, you can save yourself time and work later.…

Costs of Vinyl Fencing Vs Wood Fencing

When choosing between whether to install a wood fence or a vinyl fence there are several differences you need to consider. In our opinion from a cost standpoint, vinyl comes out far superior than a wood fence. When you consider long-term costs of installation, maintenance and replacement it seems a vinyl fence is the clear winner every time – despite allegations out there that indicate vinyl is more expensive.

Initial Cost

Vinyl fence materials are engineered which give them superior features over wood fence materials, and therefore they can initially be a bit more expensive then wood products. However as a result of recent economic times, good quality wood is getting more and more costly. As these price increases in wood continue to occur, and there is no doubt that they will, the initial cost of wood and vinyl fence are becoming virtually the same.

Cost of Installation

The installation process for both wood and vinyl is almost the same. They both require the same prep work for post holes and concrete, as well as proper attention to detail with measurements and utilizing clean, sharp tools. However, vinyl fence panels come with posts that are predrilled for proper hardware placement with pre-cut rails and pickets, or if you like the entire panel can even come totally preassembled. Vinyl saves you time, eliminates excess wasted material and the need to buy costly extra tools. Vinyl is by far the more cost (and time) effective choice here.

Cost of Maintenance

Anyone who has owned a wood fence is well aware of the great lengths required to maintain aesthetics and preserve the longevity of the fence. Pressure washing, sealing, scraping, stripping, staining and painting – it’s exhausting just thinking about it. The costs to maintain a wood fence are quite substantial. Now compare that to a vinyl fence which simply needs to be hosed off and wiped down on occasion. Vinyl materials come in a variety of colors with no fade guarantees*; hence staying clean, vibrant and easy to maintain.

*Bufftech Vinyl is the only manufacturer we recommend, which is the industry leader in producing superior quality vinyl fence materials, including no fade colors.

Replacement Costs

The state-of-the-art vinyl fence technology is engineered to last! Quality vinyl products come with a minimum 20 years and sometimes lifetime warranties. Other than maybe a one-year installation warranty offered by a contractor, wood fence warranties do not really exist. Wood is a naturally decaying material, that rots and bows, and although treating the wood may delay this process, it still is an inevitable result with wood. Wood just cannot withstand the harsh outdoor environments and last a lifetime like vinyl can. So the costly expense of replacing wood fences makes a vinyl fence by far the more cost effective choice yet again.

Conclusion

While initially it may seem that a wood fence is less expensive, once taking a closer look it is quickly realized that any monies saved in the beginning with wood are quickly lost after just one or two years. Over the long run, the costs between vinyl and wood cannot even compete – a vinyl fence is undoubtedly less expensive than wood.…

Classification and Comparison of Wire Mesh Fence

Wire Mesh Fence is divided into: the railway fence, bridge fence, highway fence, sports fence, airport fence, etc. (use a very wide range).

Specifications

(1). Dip silk: 3.5mm-8mm;

(2). Mesh: 60mm x 120mm around the bilateral wire;

(3). Maximum size: 2300mm x 3000mm;

(4). Column: 48mm x 2mm steel dip treatment;

(5). Annex: rain hat connection card anti-theft bolts;

(6). Connection: Card received.

Advantage

1. Grid and concise structure make Bilateral Fence beautiful and practical;

2. Easy to transport, install the terrain without restriction;

3. Good adaptation to the mountain, slope, and more highly curved areas;

4. The price of Bilateral Fence was relatively low for large-scale use.

Application

Road, railway, airport, residence district, stadium fenc,e residential fence, mining schools can use Bilateral Wire Fence

Specifications

Wire: high quality steel wire.

Blades: galvanized steel.

Craft: hot dip galvanized – stamping.

Model: BTO-22 (other models can be ordered).

Volume diameter size: 25cm, 30cm, 40cm, 45cm, 55cm, 60cm, etc.

A?Advantage

Barbed wire fence is a new safety product which has a good ability of protection, and isolation. It uses steel plate punching bag attached to the wire forming (stringless) above, use the sharp angular galvanized steel or stainless steel blade, made of high tension steel wire combination. Sharp knife stabbed by a two-button type, after installation, barbed wire fence looks like a snake, it is beautiful and chilling. Played a very good deterrent.

Application

All countries around the world apply barbed wire fence to military, prisons, government offices, banks; living cell walls, private homes, villa’s walls, doors and windows, highway, rail fence and border security and other protection area.…

Theft of Electric Fencing Energisers

By the very nature that a battery driven electric fence energiser is left in remote rural areas invariably on the edge of fields means that they are easy targets and liable to be stolen by itinerant thieves. It is very hard to disguise their presence as the fence itself is highly visible and probably several miles long so a thief has to simply follow the fence to find the energiser and purloin it leaving valuable livestock to be free to roam or removing the necessary protection from predators. Visualise a herd of Elephants free to enter human habitation due to the lack of electric current in the restraining fence.

Reports of energiser theft has been growing over the years as more people realise how effective they are. Regrettably the energiser is the expensive component of an electric fence making it a plum target.

There are various methods of reducing theft. The first is the use of an energised metal box. This is simply a metal box that is insulated from the ground with the energiser and battery enclosed. It is then connected to the energiser so is live in itself. This metal box will have upwards of 6000v attached to it so is a pretty good deterrent in itself and has proved successful over the years. Access to the box is usually by an insulated key so is reasonably user friendly whilst being reasonably effective. There have however been reports that the whole box has been taken probably by using insulating gloves to prevent the electric shock being effective.

Another method is to cover the energiser in a camouflaged cover in an effort to make it less visible. This has been ineffective as the fence itself is still highly visible and very simple to track back to find the energiser.

Recently a new system has been introduced on the market based on a GPS locating device and electronics that are able to register that the energiser has been tampered with. As the energiser is moved or removed from the input power source the electronics register this change and stimulate a text message to be sent to a pre set mobile number. It will then transmit a GPS tracking signal for 48 hours to a mobile App allowing you to track it and locate it.

The GPS Electric Fence energisers themselves have a warning that they may be tracked by GPS as a pro active theft reduction plan. The principle here that a thief will read it, change his mind about this particular energiser and decide to look for another target. The system is not only expected to reduce theft but also increase the recovery rate of stolen energiser. This is currently very low.…

Disadvantages of Electric Dog Fence

Everything in the world has its pros and cons. Even in the case of a good containment system like an electric dog fence, there are several advantages and disadvantages. The best that the dog owner can do is to have proper knowledge regarding the dog fence and ensure that the cons don’t impact the safety and health of the dog. Some of the disadvantages are mentioned below:

• The main disadvantage is that electric dog fence isn’t an install-and-sit system. The dog has to be trained so that it can recognize the proximity of the transmitter and the sound/shock. This training can take a lot of time.

• Another con is that the electric dog fence is just a one way containment system. The dogs (or any other pet) which are wearing the collar cannot go out. However, any intruder, kids or a stray animal can get inside the barrier.

• It is seen that a startled or very stubborn dog might run past the barrier ignoring the shock. If this happens, then the fear of shock might discourage the pet from trying to come back in the house. Therefore, it is important to train the dog perfectly to respect the sound and the shock so that it ‘curiously’ doesn’t try to run through the barrier. Moreover, if the dog is very keen in trying the barrier then the severity of the shock can be increased a little bit.

• Another disadvantage is that the collar operates on battery. This means that it is crucial that the owner regularly checks whether the collar is working appropriately or not.…

What to Know About Installing a Fence

When you understand what you want in a particular installation process, it is a very good step to experiencing a great experience. Installing a fence, be it in the form of wood or wire is a perfect way to give your home an elegant look and also ensuring your safety. Depending on the kind of fence you will like to install in your home, you must consider some very important factors. Installing a fence can be very difficult and easy at the same time depending on what you want to do or achieve.

First of all, you have to decide what you really want depending on what you are going to use it on and why you want to use it. Considering the decision you make, you then have to visit various shops to find out more about the size, length and width of the particular fence you want be it wire, wood or vinyl. Vinyl, it is one very excellent material that can be used when installing a fence. It is said that, vinyl is very expensive but when you calculate the cost of using wood and wire and all the disadvantages that came with them you will love to use vinyl. One other important factor to consider when you want to install a fence especially wood fences, you will have to ensure that; the wood is light and also of great quality.

Also when installing a fence, make sure that you have a warranty from the company or shop you bought the wood or wire from. You can hire the services of an expert or professional to help you in installing a fence to prevent you from making any mistakes that will damage every sense of importance in the installation. When using cement for installation remember to use very little water in order to make it thick but not very thick and your fencing can be cut off if you need to trim your fencing and make it more beautiful and leveled.

Measurements for installations should be very accurate because if they are not, you will end up installing a fence but your work will leave nothing to be desired of and will be damaged in little time. Know that, all you want can be done in the installation process so I advice you watch the expert during the installation process to learn about how to maintain the fence.…

How to Choose a Professional Fence Installation Company

Your home is an expression of who you are. You choose your home because of how it makes you feel. This gives people an impression of you whether they know you or not. This is why you take a lot of time to choose all of the different elements you put inside your home. The exterior of the home is your first chance to make a good impression on all guests. This is why it is very important to choose from among the best Fence companies in Atlanta.

Of course if you are to choose from among the best fence companies in Atlanta you will need to know what makes a great fence company. Installing a fence is more than just constructing a barrier around your home. Only the right fence company will help you to choose the fence which will match your home and the surroundings. The right fence company should also provide guarantees on their work. Of course, the right fence company should not cost you more than your house is worth to install. If you keep these things in mind you are sure to find the right fence company for you.

Finding the Right Fence

Because there are so many fence styles to choose from, it is not always easy to settle on one design. This is when you should defer to the opinions of an expert. Of course, you do not want to find out the only reason why you were sold a fence is because it is the one design the installation company carries. The best fence companies in Atlanta will have a wide variety for you to choose from and will steer you into buying the fence which perfectly suits your home.

Guaranteeing Work

Your fence is not temporary and as such those who install the fence should guarantee their work. Fence companies in Atlanta should give you more than just what the manufacturer’s warranty is. This is because picket fences may begin to wear and deteriorate after time. Gates may fail beyond the warranty period. Only a responsible installation company will provide you with the peace of mind that your new fence is backed by a promise of great service long after the fence has been erected and the contractor is on to the next project.

Providing You the Right Price

Price should never be the one, single determining factor, but it is always a factor when purchasing anything. The important thing is to find the best fence companies in Atlanta for all other factors and then choose the one which has the best price. This will help you to have a great fence which will not break the bank.

If you have followed all of the above instructions you will most likely find you have chosen Fence Works of Georgia. This is because they offer unparalleled service, the widest selections and the absolute best prices. If you are considering installing a fence in Atlanta, consider giving Fence Works of Georgia first.…

The electrical system in our homes is often obscured, behind the walls, so it gets ignored most of the time unless you face any issues. An electric outage could be very dangerous, especially in places where air conditioners and other high voltage appliances are in use. We often forget about the necessary electrical inspection before buying a property, but by doing so we can avoid major future issues.

Daytona Beach electrician can help you with a routine follow-up or an inspection to locate any fault in the wiring or other appliances before they cause humongous issues at your newly bought home.

What do you need to ensure before buying a property in Daytona?

Before buying a property, you need to ensure that either a professional electrician goes through all the electrical components and installations available in that place. You need to make sure that the house is updated with the safety standards, as mentioned under the National Electrical Code. You need to have a large electric service that can suffice the supply of the home and can also be expanded in the future if the need arises.

All the wiring must be grounded and should be in a properly working state along with all the switches. You can also contact a Daytona Beach electrician who can inspect your property on your behalf if it is in Daytona. They are a licensed team of experts who can provide you with the best of service.

Let us find out the details of these specific components that need to be double-checked before buying a property in Daytona. Some of the must-check components are:

When you are purchasing an old decade home

While purchasing an old decade home in Daytona, you need to ensure that the wiring is in place. The old wiring cannot withstand modern-day living. The older the house, the higher is the risk. So if you plan for any renovation or any changes in that house, then it should be able to support it; otherwise, it is a complete waste to buy that property. It is always advisable to have a breathing room.

Inspecting the service panels

Just like one would never buy a sinking ship that has holes in it, no one would ever buy a defective house as well. So you need to properly examine the entire electrical system or get it inspected by a professional electrician. They can help you in finding the fault that, in turn, could be useful while negotiating the price.

The lifespan of the wiring

All the electric wiring available in Daytona has a certain lifespan and needs to be updated from time to time. There was a time when knobs and tubes were supposed to be state of the art, but with time, everything has changed. It is now obsolete. Similar to electrical switches and outlets, one also needs to change the wiring.

Final thoughts

Most of the time, house fires or the short circuits that occur in the house can be easily prevented with proper electrical maintenance. Most of the electric issues go unnoticed. It comes to one’s observation only when there is a frequent power surge or other humongous issues. So the best available option is to contact the Daytona Beach electrician before buying a property and also for regular maintenance. They can professionally guide you in a better manner as they are the best in Daytona.…

Is a Wireless Dog Fence Right For Your Dog?

The newest technology in pet containment systems is the wireless fence for dogs. A wireless fence for dogs is one of the most effective and humane pet containment systems on the market today. A wireless fence is the most widely used dog confinement system used. Wireless dog fences are more efficient than traditional fences because of its ease in installation and also cost efficient, saving you hundreds by not having to have a traditional fence installed. Also there are no underground wires that need to be buried in the ground.

Simple to use transmitters and receiver collars make this system a no brainer for a lot of dog owners. The system can be set up using one or several transmitters depending on how large the containment area is needed. The wireless fence for dogs is installed easily by plugging in the transmitter. The transmitter can be placed out of the way and even out of sight. The transmitter then emits a signal to the receiver collar, which the dog is wearing. The signal is strong enough to penetrate doors and walls without interference. When the dog wears the receiver collar the transmitter makes a signal to warn the dog that he is near the border. If the dog continues to go near the parameter, then the collar will give off a mild shock. The shock is kind of like a static shock that you would get from clothing or new carpet. The shock does not continue, but it is rather a short shock in order to train. Some buyers are mislead into thinking that the collar keeps shocking the dog. When in reality, the system is to remind the dog to remain in the boundary, not to harm the dog.

Two of the more common types of wireless fence for dogs are the outdoor wireless which is also known as instant fence, and the indoor wireless fence for dogs. There are also fences that are made especially for small dogs 5 lbs. and under, as well as fences for larger containment areas. The instant fence includes a waterproof receiver and also has six levels of adjustability to adjust the level of correction desired. The instant fence for dogs is also portable, making it a popular choice for travel. For portability, a disk shaped transmitter can be positioned in the area of containment.

Wireless fences for dogs are easily available online and can be compared and reviewed among dog owners. Discounted pricing and shipping specials also make online purchases a convenient choice. The manufacturer’s warranty covers purchases made by authorized sellers if the item is defective.

The decision to select a wireless fence for dogs can give your pet a whole new sense of freedom, but can offer you a beautiful yard free from obstruction.…

Hiring the Right Home Remodeling Contractor

Are You Hiring the Right Contractor?

There are lots of things to think about when hiring a contractor for a home project so take a quick second and review these best practices!

There are a few things that can help you determine if a new contractor is the right man/woman for the job. First, in most states anyone who is hired to work on a job estimated at $500 and above (for work and materials) must hold a valid state license. You can verify the license on your state’s Consumer Affairs website.

The problem with hiring unlicensed contractors is the risk it involves. When they aren’t licensed, you are vulnerable to their poor workmanship or unsafe work practices. If the worker is injured, if the property is damaged or if the work is incomplete you could be left holding the bag.

There are around 40 classifications of licenses as well. From general contractors to landscapers – make sure the license fits the project. You don’t want a licensed plumber rewiring your chandelier.

The more detailed your plan, the better idea of what kind of contractor you need for your project. General contractors oversee the project and coordinate specific licensed subcontractors for the job. So if your job needs two or more specialty contractors it might be easier to hire a general contractor.

Dealing with a contractor also means that you will want to receive other bids to make sure you are getting a fair deal. But that doesn’t mean go with the cheapest option every time. There are fixed costs associated with nearly every job, so if someone is charging 75% off, that might mean they will use very poor quality materials or not put the right amount of effort into the craftsmanship.

All contractors should do their very best to make you happy, you are the customer after all. You don’t want a yes man, but you should require that the person is responsible and responsive to your requests. Part of that responsiveness should be negotiated in the initial contract. (Always get a contract!) And define the scope of the work well before they hammer the first nail. More than one project has failed because of simple misunderstandings.

The contractors should provide their own tools or be insured if they damage any of the tools you allow them to use. Also verifying that they have all of the right tools available for the job can save you the headache of watching an electrician stand on your newly installed counter-tops while he replaces your light fixture.

Just because they came to your house and gave you an estimate doesn’t mean you should pick a particular company, a good rule of thumb is to always have at least 3 estimates made before you begin work. And if they want to charge you for the estimate, explain to them that there are plenty other companies out there willing to make an estimate for free.

Don’t ever feel pressured to go with one particular contractor, if you feel awkward then they probably aren’t the right choice. Whoever you choose will have access to your property and you need to have built a trust relationship with them. Following these tips and with a little patience and the right planning you can make sure your project goes off without a hitch!…