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Resources
This page contains ideas and
book recommendations on all aspects of outdoor living - from designing your
outdoor environment, building it, and enjoying it. We post things that we
think will be useful and we invite you to share your ideas as well. In fact
if you contribute a tip or idea and we publish it, we'll send you a small
gift to show our appreciation.
Decking Poll
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One
of the most important decisions that you'll have to make when designing
your deck is the type and
brand of decking that you'll be using. There are over 100 decking
products on the market so this can be a difficult task.
CLICK HERE to go to an article
that discusses the major types and includes some recommendations based
on our experience from more that 15 years of deck building and thousands
of successful projects.
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Need a Contractor?
CLICK HERE
for our
FREE Contractor Directory and Contractor Selection Guidelines. |
CLICK HERE
for Our Screened Porch and Gazebo Kit Buyer's Guides
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General Design Tips
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 One
of the most important decisions that you'll have to make is the type and
brand of decking that you'll be using. There are over 100 decking
products on the market so this can be a difficult task.
CLICK HERE to go to an article
that discusses the major types and includes some recommendations based
on our experience.
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Your deck probably didn't come with
operating instructions,
but there are a few things that you need to know that may not be so
obvious.
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Was your deck built safe? A lot of decks built in
the '80's and '90's do not meet current safety standards.
"Was Your Deck Built Safe?"
provides some guidance on what to look for on your deck.
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When designing a deck, consider its
adaptability to be used as the floor for a future screened porch. Many
people find that a screened porch is far more useful than a deck and decide
to add one after living with the deck for a while. Shape and location of the
deck will determine how easy or hard it is to add a porch after the deck has
been built. If there is a possibility of adding a porch later, go ahead and
size the footing and add the additional framing when building the deck. It
is a lot easier and cheaper to do this when the deck is being built than
later.
Stairway illumination is required by the
national building codes now. This requirement can be met with exterior line
voltage lighting or low voltage post mounted lighting. If you wish to use
lighting fixtures mounted in the stair riser, you must put one in every
riser. If there is not one in every riser a dangerous situation is created
because the treads without a light will be in a dark shadow making it
difficult to see.
A lot of people think that deck builders
run the decking on a diagonal just because it looks nice. Well that is one
reason, however running the decking on an angle also increases the lateral
strength of the structure keeping the frame from racking. It is also
possible to greatly reduce or eliminate the need for splices in the decking
by running it on the diagonal.
If you plan on having a grill on the deck
consider adding a grill pad. Simply frame an area large enough for the grill
with 2 x 2's on the deck surface. Place thin brick pavers inside the frame
to fill the area. The pavers will catch any burning embers or grease that
falls from the grill. When the pavers become stained you can turn them over
for a fresh look and then replace them easily when both sides are stained.
Concrete Calculator
CLICK HERE to use our concrete calculator to determine the number
of bags of concrete mix you need for footings or a slab.
Recommended Books on building and enjoying your deck:
Voltage Drop --
CLICK HERE
for a brief explanation of what voltage
drop is and how to select the right transformer and wire for your project.
 The
Landscape Lighting Book
by Janet Moyer. A professional level
book, the author explains both the
technical and creative aspects to lighting a landscape, making an outdoor
area usable at night, and lighting plants indoors. Well illustrated with
diagrams and photographs, many from Moyer's own award-winning designs.
Considers such issues as avoiding conflicts with other design elements,
the characteristics of materials and surfaces, setting locations and
levels, and preventive maintenance. Also includes a list of products and
vendors. This book is currently not available at Amazon, but if you are
interested in professional level information on outdoor lighting it is
worth searching for.
For a very comprehensive discussion of outdoor
lighting design and installation visit:
www.outdoor-lighting-info.com
Brined Grilled Chicken
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Tired of dry grilled chicken? Try this trick. Dissolve a 1/4
cup of salt
(preferably sea or Kosher salt) with a 1/4 cup of brown sugar in 1 cup
of hot water from the tap. After the salt and sugar are completely
dissolved in the water add 3 cups of cool water and let the mixture set
until it is at room temperature. Place your chicken pieces in a large
re-sealable plastic bag or other container and cover with the brine
mixture. Place in the refrigerator for about two hours - no longer.
Remove the chicken and season and grill with your favorite sauce. You
won't believe how much better moist chicken is. We tried it recently for
a family picnic and you would have thought I had been named the BBQ Guru
of the year from all the compliments I received. For this and other
great BBQ recipes, we recommend
How to Grill by Steven Raichen.
Also if you're looking for a great, long lasting grill check out our
Stainless Steel Kettle Grills. |
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Deer Problems.
Damage to home landscaping by deer is becoming a real
problem in many areas of the country. There are a lot of commercial products
that are designed to keep the deer away from garden and ornamental plants,
but few seem to be very effective for very long. Some homeowners have
success for a while by hanging small bars of soap or stockings filled with a
handful of human hair (gathered at the local barber shop), but the deer seem
to eventually get used to those scents and start ignoring them. While
attending a fruit tree lecture recently, the orchard owner told us of a
trick he has been using successfully for about three years. He hangs a small
plastic fine mesh bag of Milorganite organic fertilizer about 4 feet off the
ground. The fertilizer slowly leaks from the bag giving off a scent the deer
do not like. He reports the only deer damage he has had has been when the
bags have been knocked to the ground by weather or the fertilizer runs out
before he has gotten back to refill the bags.
Material Calculators
Stone, Gravel, Mulch & Top Soil:
CLICK HERE
for our
calculator.
Weight, mass, distance & much more:
OnlineConversion.com
Convert just about
anything to anything else. Over 5,000 units, and 50,000 conversions.
Asphalt
Ben Pequeno is the asphalt expert.
CLICK HERE to see a few of his
videos and a link to his site.
Garden Sites
GardenGuides, BackyardGardener,
and the GardenWeb are
three terrific resource sites for all types of gardening information. Click on the logos to visit the
site:
Drip Irrigation
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Plants on and around a
deck or patio make a tremendous difference in their beauty and
enjoyment. The problem though is that often it is difficult to water the
plants properly to promote growth and a healthy appearance. Using micro
or drip irrigation is one way to solve this problem. Using flexible 1/2"
and 1/4" plastic tubing and micro spray heads, you can install a system
in under two hours - and its easy work. We installed a system that
supplies water to about a dozen planters on our deck and 4 average size
beds around the deck in about 1 1/2 hours. Drip systems are inexpensive
too. Our system, including a battery operated timer, cost less than $100
for all the parts that we needed. To learn more about this wonderful and
inexpensive enhancement to your deck and yard check out the books shown
on the right. |
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Community
