To take out a warranty on your roofing shingles or not to? That is the question. According to TheRoofery.com, the answer should almost always be "no." Shingle warranties only cover manufacturer defects, which are such rare occurrences that Andy Talley of Apple Roofing Company in Philadelphia says he has never seen it in his 20 years in the business. According to the article, shingle failure is almost always due to an incorrect installation. And labor is where the money is anyway; shingles account for only 10 to 20 percent of the total cost of a roofing job. Even if you were to cash in on the warranty, it would not come close to recouping your roofing cost. Best bet? Find a reputable roofer and say no to the shingle warranty.
Do you have a black thumb and limited space for a garden like me? If so, you need to look to this Daily Green article. It's got six plants that even the gardening-inept can handle.
1. While herbs need sun, parsley and mint can handle partial shade. 2. Cherry tomatoes need a sunny spot, a whiskey barrel-sized container and a five-foot support. 3. Dwarf evergreens require much less labor than bonsai trees. Keep them out of direct sunlight. 4. Coreopsis, a sun-loving perennial for a window box. 5. Coral bells do best in partial shade. 6. Sedum is a drought-resistant and overall trouble-free plant.
Please keep in mind, these plants aren't miracle workers and they need to be watered regularly.
Here's a project someone should undertake: rehabbing Mike Tyson's now abandoned estate in Ohio. The property has had a colorful history since Tyson sold it in the late 90s and now it stands abandoned and decaying. It features a 10,000-square-foot swimming pool, sundae bar, a waterfall, two fountains, tiger cages and a gate with Iron Mike's name written in steel. The architecture borders on the over-the-top side but what else would you expect? The man was paid to bash people, not design houses. Check out the pictures to get a sense of the excess.
It was close to a year ago that I wrote about an amazing piece of software called Floorplanner, advertised as the easiest way to create and share interactive floor plans that could save me hours of back-breaking labor. As if it were possible, the product is now improved and looking for beta testers. The new version features 3D objects, easier surface drawing, faster speed and some interface refinements. The 3D objects addition is by far the greatest improvement on an already booming business: over 10,000 floor plans are saved on their site daily by their 500,000 registered users.
The New York Times hot topic story about the possibility of granite countertops containing radon and uranium sure made the industry jump. The official industry response to the story is here at the Marble Institute. Also, the National Kitchen & Bath Association (NKBA) would like to remind everyone that they have "long recognized the carcinogenic effects of radon in the home" and recommend consumers planning to remodel a kitchen or bath consult with an NKBA-certified designer. NKBA-certified designers have been taught the proper methods for eliminating radon and other hazardous gases. We have a feeling there will be more back-and-forth over this story for some time. In the meantime, here are some other things you can do to protect yourself and your family.
Everywhere you look today people are talking about the high price of gas and how we can reduce our usage. Now Design Within Reach is offering the Neuton Battery-Powered Mower to help. The Neuton's 24-volt rechargeable battery gives it enough charge to mow for 45 to 60 minutes and produces no CO2 emissions. Given that about 800 million gallons of gas are burned annually mowing lawns, this is a chance to make a big change.
With high supermarket prices driving people to grow their own vegetable gardens, it was only a matter of time before people started looking into livestock. Enter the eglu, the surprisingly stylish chicken coop designed for rural, suburban, even urban living. The prospect of having fresh eggs every morning almost sounds worth the weekly chicken coop cleaning. The eglu is designed for ease of maintenance and the Omlet.us Web site has a handy FAQ page for those of us who don't know the first thing about keeping chickens.
