Modular Home Construction - Are There Limitations In Design?

Q Are modular homes limited in design? A. Modular homes are not limited in design. Modular home factories can build almost any home design including: capes, ranches, raised ranches, two-stories, multi-families and commercial buildings.
Q Can a modular home customer add or omit design features from an existing home design plan?A. All modular home floor plans can be customized to fit the individual needs of the customer. Most options (i.e. dormers, bump outs, bay windows, etc.) can be omitted and/or added to floor plans.
Q Can any existing floor plan be modified to make it a modular friendly floor plan?A. Every floor plan is different. However, most floor plans can be redesigned to build a modular home.
Q Are there standard building specifications in modular home construction?A. Each modular company has their own set of standard building specifications. It is important to carefully review the standard building specifications of each modular company to accurately compare. Most modular companies will also have many options available at an additional charge.
Q Can a customer obtain design floor plans for different modular home?A. Most modular companies will provide potential customers with drawings of their "in-stock" modular floor plans. Most companies require a design plan fee for custom plans. This design fee should be applied towards the purchase price of the modular home. The cost of the design fee will vary depending on the modular company and type of modular home.
Q Do customers have different options regarding features such as carpeting, siding, appliances, etc?A. Most modular companies work with multiple manufactures to provide a large selection of options. A sample of product manufactures include but are not limited to; Andersen Windows, Tamko shingles, Kenmore, Whirlpool, dal-Tile, Merillat, Moen, Therma-Tru and CertainTeed.
Q Will a change to a standard modular floor plan result in an increase in the price of the modular home?A. The price will vary depending on the nature of the changes. Upgrades to building specifications will obviously increase the price. Omitting certain features should decrease the price of the home. Intricate changes (i.e. bump-out, dormers, etc.) will also impact pricing.
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Blossoming Patios - Growing Plants in Small Spaces

You can enjoy a garden of colorful flowers or nourishing vegetables even if you only have a small space. With container gardening, you can make a garden in the smallest of apartments. You can choose from a seemingly endless number of styles and colors of containers to hold your plants.
For landscape containers, you can choose a standard old or new flowerpot (large or small), planter boxes, fiberglass tubs, wooden barrels, hanging baskets, concrete planters, and so on. Anything that can hold the soil and plants can potentially work in a small yard landscaping plan. You are sure to find something to fit your space, both in size and style. The following guidelines will help you get ideas to have a successful container garden.
Know Your Container
Growing plants in pots gives you lots of flexibility. You can move the planters from place to place, into and out of sunlight or humidity.
Cheap plastic pots will become weak if they are exposed to sunlight for extended periods of time. It is best to get pots with UV inhibitors if you want it to be durable.
Not all glazed pots are great for planting, even if they look nice. Pots need drainage holes about ½ inches across to keep the roots from rotting.
Terra Cotta pots are an option. Their potential problems are that they can dry out quickly and they can be quite heavy (if you want to move the plants around a lot).
Wooden containers can add a rustic look, but they can rot over a long period of time. You may think that you should use treated wood to avoid this, but the chemicals can be toxic to the plants. Wood planters can be custom built though, which is a huge advantage to fit your specific needs. Just remember that it won't last forever.
You need to choose a container, no matter what material it's made of, that is large enough to fit the plant or plants that will go in it. The soil cannot dry out too quickly, and the roots need plenty of space to spread out.
To protect against soil loss you should put newspaper, a screen, sphagnum moss, or pebbles at the bottom of the pot. To keep this from plugging the drainage hole, raise up the container on bricks or something similar to allow the pot to drain freely.
Be careful what color pot you choose if you are in a hot area. Dark colors will absorb heat which can burn the roots. If you must have dark colors in a hot climate, be sure to avoid strong sunlight. In general, light colors are best in those climates.
What better time than right now to explore and learn more on the subject of small yard landscaping ideas. Encounter the information you are missing at http://www.plant-care.com/1613-small-yard-landscaping.html .
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Solar Garden Fountains Bring New Life To Your Home

A solar garden fountain is a worthwhile addition to your outdoor area, and here's why.
When you design a garden, you have to take many things into account. After all, you're not just throwing a bunch of plants together and hoping they look nice. You're taking the time to find the right plants, make sure they match in terms of color and composition, planting the right seeds and the right trees in the exact perfect spots. You have a theme, a stylistic choice.
Garden Decor
But plants aren't the only things you add to the garden. Statuettes, decorations; all of them add an extra touch of beauty and class, and a piece of you. But sight isn't the only thing you have to consider. What about sound? Part of creating that beautiful ambience is making sure that it's pleasing to all the senses, including hearing.
Classically, one major element used in adding a touch of visual and auditory beauty at the same time is a fountain. Tumbling or shooting water is a lovely thing, and when it's all put together, it makes you garden a much more relaxing place to be.
Installing A Fountain Can Be Complicated
The only problem with it is that in order to set up a fountain, you have to run power cords away from it, possibly through your work of art, to your house. Cords are generally ugly things. Who wants to see that? If you plug it in, there's a chance that bad weather might cause a short circuit, and you'd need an electrician to hook it directly into your house's power supply. And someone might trip on it besides.
Solar Power Simplifies It
This needn't be a problem. The best solution for beauty and utility is solar garden fountains. Solar power is a fast-growing technology that is finding a home in all kinds of places, including gardens. Many sun-powered fountains have the solar cells built right into them, and the ones that don't, you can just install a small solar panel a few feet away from it, to make sure it catches the sunlight.
No matter the theme of your garden, you're sure to find a solar garden fountain to go with it. A popular style is a cascading set of bowls or pitchers, usually glazed. A pump and barrel fountain adds a classic touch. If you really want to bring something special to the table, add a birdbath fountain. These alone have many styles to them, and birds bathing in your garden adds life to it.
Relaxing Sounds
If you have a small pond in your garden, consider adding a geyser-style pump to the center of it. The various water jets shooting into the air and the droplets hitting the water adds a light sound of rain that's very relaxing. You'll be able to sit in a meditative mode for hours on end, reading or just staring of into space.
Adding even an ordinary fountain is something that can bring extra life and beauty to a garden, and with solar garden fountains, setting it up is easier and takes less time than planting the garden itself.
Ernest Jarquio is a successful Webmaster and publisher of Solar-Panels-Central.com. He provides more resources on topics such as solar lamp posts, solar pathway lights and surplus solar panels that you can research on his website even while lounging in your living room.
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Time to Create Your Outdoor Family Room

The concept of having our indoor spaces and outdoor spaces work together is not a new one.
As an interior designer, I recommend approaching the design of our outdoor rooms in the same way you would an indoor room. If you are thinking of creating a new outdoor room, or redesigning your existing outdoor room, here is a planning process to follow:
First, always remember 'form follows function'. Determine the ideal usage for the outdoor space. For example, is it a space you will want to watch TV in? What about music? When you entertain, will you want easy access to the grill? How about refrigerated beverages? Jot down your wish list for the ideal outdoor space and work from there. Even if you don't have the resources to fully realize your 'ideal', you will have the proper plan in place to execute against. Look on-line and in magazines and cut out pages of spaces that appeal to you. You can even tour some of the resorts and take pictures.
It is important to have the design of the outdoor room compliment the indoor décor. So, if you have a rustic Southwestern look and feel inside, you would not want to create a shabby chic cottage look outside. As an example, a saltillo tile patio floor will complement a Southwest, rustic décor, while an acid stained concrete might be a better choice for complementing a contemporary modern interior. Furniture materials include; teak, faux wicker, aluminum, iron and composites. Covered with plush cushions covered in solution dyed outdoor fabrics, and accent throw pillows will create a comfortable, beautiful seating area.
Sketch out a plan. Don't worry about scale and artistic rendering, just place things to get a feel for how your outdoor room will be set up. Do you want a large outdoor sofa to recline on? How about a hammock? How many people will you ideally be able to seat at a table under a covered patio? Will you want or need a secondary covered area in the yard? If so, you will want to investigate gazebos or large free standing umbrellas.
There are some amazing products that have been adapted to suit the outside elements. You can get an outdoor TV (sunbritetv.com), cabinetry designed to withstand heat, cold and water (outdoorcabinetry.com). There are extensive choices for area rugs that are designed for outdoor usage. The area rugs can be found at local retailers and a multitude of on-line resources (i.e.Ballard Designs, FLOR, Home Decorators). By the way, these area rugs are so functional and pretty, I recommend them for indoor heavy pet and children areas too!. Much like the area rugs, outdoor fabrics are so fabulous to look at and touch, they are suitable for use on indoor furnishings too (Sunbrella, Perennials). There are even outdoor fabric trim options available to dress up your throw pillows. If you have old, moldy, dull cushions, but your furniture is in good condition, I recommend replacing the cushions versus starting over with new furniture. Furniture upholstery vendors (Gemini Upholstery) are very knowledgeable about the proper interior foam and fabrics to use on outdoor seating. Outdoor lighting including floor and table lamps and window treatments both for looks, and to block the sun and provide privacy are quite popular too.
Of course landscaping is a key design element too. Carefully placed trees, shrubs and ground covers will add color and texture. For the under patio areas, potted annuals will add bright splashes of color to complement your outdoor fabric choices. Free standing water features will add an additional feeling of relaxation to the space as well.
Before we know it the temperatures will climb into the triple digits so now is the ideal time to create, and fully enjoy our outdoor family rooms.
About the author:Suzanne Lasky, Allied ASID is the owner of S Interior Design. S Interior Design makes homes harmonious, functional and beautiful for families with 2-legged and 4-legged members. Suzanne has an M.B.A. and an A.A.S. degree in Interior Design. Suzanne offers years of real world experience, giving her clients the peace of mind to know that their projects will be professionally handled from start to finish. She is an experienced residential and small commercial interior designer and is the exclusive provider of Pawprint Design Services™ 'Stunning Interiors with Pets in Mind'. For more helpful tips-visit http://www.sinteriordesign.com/
©Copyright 2007 Suzanne Lasky, All Rights Reserved, http://www.sinteriordesign.com/ You have permission to re-publish this article as long as the Resource Box is included with the article. All rights reserved.
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Let Your Personality Speak With Yard Art

Yard art is a great way to express yourself and to dress up your outdoor home décor. Metal yard art is very popular and we come across a variety of this in the form of address markers, personalized signboards with the family name, lamp holders, garden banner posts, and simply decorative yard art.

Metal yard art fits practically everywhere and is highly weather resistant when maintained well. These can go anywhere like the front door, your patio or deck, front yard, backyard and anywhere you choose to place them. Back yard art can also be according to season or related to a specific holiday. While some people prefer to display their yard art the year round, some just dress their homes up for the occasion after which they store them.

Christmas yard art is common when the home is especially decorated for the festival and can add a lot of sparkle to your decor. This kind of back yard art or garden yard art is generally lit brightly to spread the cheer of the holidays.

You get rope lighted Christmas displays mounted on metal frames to make them stable for the outdoors. These lighted Christmas yard art displays make for enchanting decorative pieces, bringing home the magic of the season. Adding brilliance to your outdoors, these yard art specials can be reused over and over.

Christmas yard art is not restricted to your garden or backyard. You can also display them outside your home at a window. Holy family yard art is a favorite showing the Christmas story brightly lit. Almost all churches display the Christmas manger scene in their yard art.

Yard art can be a personal thing, since it involves finding the right piece to enhance your particular theme of décor or taste. It is an expression of your personality so that each time you or your friends see it, it feels good. Most people tend to stick to the traditional kind of back yard art. This centers around formal yard art like statuary of angels and goddesses, the opulent birdbath and the heavy water fountains.

Your back yard art can be just about anything you like from bronze or resin statues of children to those of animals strategically placed in your garden or yard. There is no rule that you must be formal with your yard art. You can even have wood yard art, and yard art made of stainless steel or terra cotta. Topiary garden sculptures are quite a passion with some people. Stone birdhouses are common. Some interesting backyard art displays show stained glass stepping stones, pottery placed artistically and so on.

Copper is a charming material for back yard art. These make great patio pieces. Often we come across specialized yard art that is made out of old junk that is transformed into works of art. This consists of a lot of recycled metal yard art.

Yard art can be located in a variety of places around your home to look great. If you have bare patches in your yard, an interesting yard art piece can liven it up and become something to talk about. You can place your yard art at the end of a garden pathway.

Even animal garden sculptures make great yard art. If a part of your yard looks messy, you can place some yard art there to disguise it. Back yard art can also be used to create privacy by placing it at a spot that blocks your neighbors view of your home. If you have a large backyard bounded by a longish fence, how about adding a mirror or painting of your choice to break the monotony?

About The Author: Jonathan Goodman is the owner of Market Merchants an online retailer specializing in home and garden products. My passion for bbq grilling and fireplaces is the core focus of Market Merchants. I am a member of the Hearth Patio Barbeque Association (HPBA), the National BBQ group (NBBQ), and the Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS). We sell these products because we love them and are passionate about consumer living needs. So whether its furniture and decor, home improvement, kitchen and dining, or outdoor living Market Merchants brings a dedicated commitment to the customer and a passion for high quality products. Visit the Market Merchants website: http://marketmerchants.com

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Home Made Fire Pits

Home made fire pits can go with accessories collected from home improvement stores. But there is nothing like building it in the original way. Here are some steps/tasks to do that:

Select stones for your pit

You can use simple landscaping blocks here. Field stone or other similar kind of materials will do. It is suggested to avoid stones that have remained submerged in water for very very long time- say a hundred years. Stones of this type tend to explode when put to the heat of the fire. Some place prefer to use concrete blocks. But these tend to get deteriorated with heat, but worth using as replacing them is not expensive.

Drainage

Drainage is an important part of home made fire pits. You can dig a a fencepost-sized hole 2 feet deep. Then fill it with gravel. This hole needs to be dug right in the bottom center of the pit. It should work like a sump and let the water drain.

Use of adhesives

You should dry-stack the stone first. This will make the process consumer more time. The dry-stacking is also helpful for replacing cracked or broken stones. Some prefer to cement the courses by laying cement around the outside half. This is considered effective for protecting the cement from heat. Apart from this some people try to use adhesives here, but they tend to melt in heat and fume. So using them is not recommended.

Safety issues

The fire pit we are talking about here is meant to be made around wooded area. It is a good preventive tactic to soak the area around the pit with water before you start the fire. On an average you will need 7-gallon buckets of water. 5 for soaking and 2 set aside to put off coincidental fires. Keep a shovel handy as well as you can put sand and soil on the fire if it gets rough. Here are some other things needed here:

· Retaining wall blocks

· Steel pit ring with tabs

· Metal grate

· Sand

· Gravel

Ring and grate are indispensable items while building a fire pit at home. This can be found a home improvement stores or near garden stores. Sometimes it becomes difficult to purchase these online. So it is comparatively easier to weld your own or make some at a nearby local welding shop.

The wideness of the wall blocks used here can be 12 inches wide, 4 inches high and 8 inches deep. Get ready to put a considerable amount of sand and gravel in the pit.

Digging a hole

Dig a hole now. This hole should be 2 feet wider than the fire pit. Dig the whole around 7 feet across the fire pit. The hole should be round. To make it so you can hammer a stake into the center of the fire pit area. Now, 3 string (0.5 inch length each) should be looped over the stake. Then mark the circle. Dig out 12 inches of soil. Then dig for four inches of gravel plus four inches of sand. That layer should be tamped flat.

Now to work with the base course of blocks. It has to be laid down and you should carefully make the course level at all direction. The space out of the blocks have to be filled. You can fill it with gravel. The first course will be almost buried this way. This in tern will reinforce the stone base.

Courses of Stone

Now the pit builder will concentrate on laying more courses of stone. Here you will use the steel ring. The ring is supposed to keep the grill intact. This is done to make sure that each of the course is round with exact diameter. The ring has to be made perpendicular to each other as well as to the ground surface. If you see that the middle of your pit is around 32 inches in diameter- you will know you did well.

Stacking additional layers

Before you start here, clean debris from the surface of the last layer. Use a brush here. Now you can overlap the stone layers. In each of the courses, you should leave 3/4 gaps (do it randomly) between stones. The gaps are meant to allow air to flow in and help the fire burn. Dry-stack the stone for better results.

Put the steel ring

As all the tasks are done- it is time for the builder now to lay the final course of stone. Before the final course is laid, the steel ring should be set in place. As a normal statistics, a fire pit built this way can have 7 layers- each layer needing 14 stones. Your pit built this way should be 24 inches tall this way. For getting a better burn from your fire, you can remove a layer or two.

Home made fire pits are a great way of warming up the outdoors, they are also a great utility when it comes to cooking outdoors. Learn more about home made fire pits at http://firepit.zupatips.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=John_Furnam

Lawn Care Secrets Revealed - Why Bother With A Lawn Feeding Program Anyway?

Did you know that your lawn in its natural and wild state would be around a metre high and really untidy?

It is unnatural for the lawn plant (whether it be couch/Bermuda grass, kikuyu, fescue or durban turf grass) to be cut or mowed! Also, did you know that your lawn is placed under a tremendous amount of stress just by mowing it?

So, in the pursuit of the perfect lawn it is helpful to know that the regular mowing of the lawn is quite an unnatural and stressful event for the lawn. So to counter this stress and hardship, we need to provide our "green oasis" with a good supply of food.

The quickest way to a beautiful lawn every year is by fertilizing your lawn. By feeding your lawn you create a thick lush turf grass that outperforms weeds. All lawns need to be supplemented with the proper nutrients to enable healthy turf growth and to counter any competition for food by other plant life including weeds and trees.

So, to help the lawn overcome the unnecessary stress it undergoes with mowing, it makes a great deal of sense to bump up the lawn's food intake.

Now that we have established that regular feeding is highly beneficial for your lawn, we need to determine how often and so on.

Warm season turf grasses such as couch grass [as is known in Australia (or Bermuda grass as it is known in North America)], kikuyu turf grass, zoysia grasses, buffalo grass [as is known in Australia (or St Augustine grass as it is known in North America)] and so on respond nicely to being fertilized in Spring, Summer and Autumn (Fall). The better fertiliser types used in sports field situations are slow release granular fertilizer products that last up to 13 weeks (3 months). These slow release granular fertilisers are sold in hardware and garden stores and can be applied to coincide with the growing seasons.

Cool season turf grasses such as rye grass, fescue and Kentucky blue grass will require feeding all year round including winter.

In the next Lawn Care Secrets Revealed article we will look at just what are the right fertilisers that you should be using to feed your lawn.

Gerry Faehrmann is the managing director of Lawn Green Pty Ltd based in Sydney, Australia.

Lawn Green specialises in "turning your tired old grass into lush green lawn." All Lawn Lovers please go to http://LawnGreen.com.au for your Free Report on "The 5 Secrets To A Great Looking Lawn."

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