When you redo your driveway or patio, or the pathways around your home and garden consider permeable pavers instead of solid concrete. Permeable pavers are more eco-friendly that concrete, because they include holes (sometimes filled with crushed gravel) between the pavers that allow rainwater to sl…

Wood looks great in Adirondack beach chairs, but wood is not the only material that is good for constructing them. You may not want to use a tree for your chairs. These Adirondack Chairs look just like wood but are made of Poly-wood and are available from Green Culture online. They look like the c…

So, you have decided to finally build the deck of your dreams in the backyard. In the planning, designing and the construction of that very special deck there are a variety of ways to save money:

1. Design your deck so that you use standard dimensions of lumber (8, 10, 12 and 16 foot lengths) …

In the construction of your deck the nails, screws, bolts and other kinds of deck fasteners are the glue that will hold your project together making it strong and stable for years to come. Some of these choices such as the size of lag screws or carriage bolts are regulated by local building code…

For many years decks were built as simple rectangles located at the back door of a house. Today however, homeowners are spending more time and effort as well as imagination in designing decks that take special advantage of the shapes of their homes and the sizes of their yards.

There really is…

The problem with decks can often be that they are raised above ground level and therefore make homeowners and family members clearly visible to neighbors. Fences already in place may be too low to provide a practical amount of shielding.

There are alternatives that can be implemented to provid…

In recent years many homeowners have made the decision to enter the do-it-yourself world especially in the area of deck building. They have been encouraged by the large home improvement retail outlets that provide demonstration clinics, a wide variety of deck materials and products, tool and equ…

If there is not a watering ban in your area, water your lawn by providing an inch of water every week. During extremely high heat, or in sandy or compacted or clay soils, shorten the periods between watering sessions and give half an inch of water twice a week. Measure this with an empty tuna or cat…

Planning will make your job a whole lot easier. There is nothing worse than realizing you’re short one bag of shock when you are in the middle of prepping the pool. So first, you need to make a list of chemicals that are needed.

The needs will vary depending upon the type of pool you own. T…

The back porch was designed as a screen porch. We settled on doing it in cedar, even though it isn’t the most low-maintenance choice. The bottom three feet or so of the walls are closed off, to keep kids/dogs/other stray critters from running through the screen. But there’s still a wide open vie…