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Gardening Tips for Growing Fruits & Vegetables

2010-05-27T18:07:00.000-07:00

How to Landscape with Fruits and Vegetables Safely and Effectively

When people get interested in food gardening, they tend to stick with traditional annual vegetable crops, such as tomatoes, beans and lettuce. But there are many other terrific food crops that yield a bountiful harvest with far less effort. Perennial fruits and vegetables, such as asparagus, blueberries and rhubarb, get planted once and then go on to produce food for several years and in some cases, a lifetime!

Some of these plants, such as asparagus and strawberries, work best when planted in standard beds, in or around the vegetable garden. Others, including blueberries and rhubarb, are shrub-like and can be integrated into your landscape along with other shrubs and trees.

Plan for Success

Perennial food crops, like almost all fruiting plants, require at least six hours of sunshine and appropriate amounts of water throughout the growing season. Some plants are pickier than others about things like soil pH, drought and winter cold. An easy way to find out what perennial food crops might be successful in your area, is to visit a local farm stand or farmers market. If they’re growing something successfully, chances are good that it’s worth a try at home! You can also contact your state’s Master Gardener Hotline through the state Cooperative Extension office.

Soil and Fertilizer

Almost all plants will perform their best in fertile, well-drained soil. most state Cooperative Extension offices offer free or low-cost soil tests that will let you know if you have adequate organic matter, minerals and if the pH of your soil (its acidity) is appropriate for the types of plants you want to grow.

Because perennial food crops get planted just once, it’s valuable to invest some time preparing the soil to ensure long-term health. Work in compost as well as an all-purpose, organic fertilizer that will provide nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and trace minerals.

If your soil is poor, consider planting your perennial food crops in a raised bed. This allows you to customize the soil mix, and will keep tasks, such as weeding and pruning to a minimum.

Moisture and Mulch

Most fruits and vegetables require about an inch of water per week. If you expect that you’ll need to be watering frequently, consider investing in an automatic timer and a drip irrigation system. This will get the water directly to the plants and minimize waste. Mulching plants with several inches of organic matter (straw, fall leaves, compost or shredded newspaper, is an easy way to suppress weeds while also preventing moisture loss from the soil surface. Organic mulches, such as the ones listed above, will gradually break down, adding additional organic matter and valuable nutrients to the soil.

Tips for Growing Popular Perennial Fruits and Vegetables

Asparagus: Modern cultivars in the 'Jersey' series produce all-male plants, which will give you much higher yields than older varieties from the 'Washington' series. Asparagus roots get planted relatively deep, so loosen the soil to a depth of 12-inches or more, adding compost and granular organic fertilizer. A well-prepared and well-tended asparagus bed can be productive for 30 years or more.

Each asparagus “crown” is comprised of four to eight roots that are joined at a central point. For each crown, dig a hole about 12-inches deep and 16-inches in diameter. Mound up the soil in the middle, set the crown on top and then spread out the roots. The top of the crown should be about 6" below the soil surface. Fill in the hole and water well. Asparagus does not compete well with weeds, so keep the area mulched and weeded. Harvesting can usually begin the second or third year after planting. Asparagus is hardy to at least minus 30 degrees F.

Blueberries: Blueberries must be grown in acidic soil that has a pH level of 4.0-5.5. If the pH level of the soil is more alkaline than this, the plants are not able to properly absorb the nutrients they need to sustain healthy growth and good fruit production. Blueberries are shallow-rooted and prefer a well-drained soil with a high organic content. Unless the soil in your yard is naturally very acidic, you’ll need to apply an acidifying agent at least once each year. This may be in the form of pine needle mulch, agricultural sulfur or a fertilizer formulated for acid-loving plants (azaleas, hollies, etc.) Hardy to minus 30 degrees F.

Of all plants considered for edible landscaping, blueberries are among the most attractive — especially the highbush types (Vaccinium corymbosum). These shrubs have distinctive gray bark and are covered with white, lantern-like flowers in spring. In addition, the plants put on a beautiful show in the fall as the leaves turn a mixture of orange, red and yellow. Highbush blueberries can be used to form a hedge or add variety to a shrub border. Keep in mind that these shrubs are sure to attact wildlife. If you want berries for yourself, be sure to have some bird netting on hand when the fruit begins to ripen. Learn more about growing blueberries in the Vegetable Encyclopedia.

Rhubarb: Rhubarb is grown for its juicy, super-tart stalks. It does not require full sun — four hours is usually sufficient. A rhubarb plant that is well cared for can produce for 30 years or more, so think carefully about where you locate it. When preparing the soil, dig in a bucket of compost and a cup of organic fertilizer for each plant. For best results, keep the area well mulched to maintain consistent soil moisture. Remove flower stalks as they appear to keep the plant producing. Top-dress around the plant with compost each spring. Learn more about growing rhubarb in the Vegetable Encyclopedia.

Raspberries: Raspberries multiply by sending their roots in all directions, so this is a good plant to contain in a raised bed. Plant in full sun, in well-drained soil that has been amended with compost and organic fertilizer. Good air circulation is important for maintaining healthy plants and quality berries. Summer-bearing raspberries produce fruit on the prior year’s canes. Each fall, canes that bore fruit should be pruned to the ground. Weak canes should also be removed, leaving only six or eight strong canes per plant. Ever-bearing raspberries produce fruit on the prior-year canes as well as current-year canes. For a continuous crop of berries from summer through fall, remove all spent canes in fall, and leave only a few young canes. Hardy to minus 30 F. Learn more about growing raspberries in the Vegetable Encyclopedia.

Strawberries: Standard strawberry varieties produce one large crop of berries in early summer. Everbearing strawberries produce a similar size crop, but over a several-month period. Plant strawberries in full sun, in rich, well-drained soil that has been amended with compost and organic fertilizer. Strawberries should be mulched during the growing season with shredded leaves or straw to keep the soil moist and the berries clean and dry. Plants reproduce by sending out runners with smaller "daughter" plants. Thin to avoid overcrowding, keeping only the healthiest plants. In cold climates, strawberry plants benefit from a winter mulch of straw or leaves. Hardy to minus 30 degrees F. Learn more about growing strawberries in the Vegetable Encyclopedia

The Health Benefits of Fruits and Vegetables

Eating fruits and vegetables is one of the best ways to maintain good health. Fruits and vegetables are an important part of a healthy diet. They contain vitamins, phytochemicals, and minerals that can protect your body from diseases like diabetes, cancers, and heart diseases. Ideally, you should consume five kinds of vegetables and two kinds of fruits each day.

Fruits and vegetables are essential components of your daily diet. Some contain natural antioxidants that can help to keep you healthy and fit, providing nutrients which are valuable resources of energy and sustaining the quality of your life.

The common vitamins present in fruits and vegetables include vitamin A, vitamin C, folate and potassium. Almost all fruits and vegetables are low in fat and calories. Many are excellent sources of natural fiber.

Some health professionals recommend from five to nine servings of fruits and vegetables. The serving depends on your daily caloric intake. If you need around 2000 calories each day, you might need up to nine servings of fruits and vegetables each day.

You should get best results if you consume a variety of fruits and vegetables. Eating a single type or color of fruit and vegetable may not offer the required nutrition. Each type and color of fruit or vegetable that is generally available has some benefit.

To get the best nutrients from your fruits and vegetables, eat those which are in season in your region. Fresh produce has the best levels of the nutrients we may need during the season.

If you eat out-of-season fruits and vegetables, their nutrient value might be less, they will probably cost more and their production and transportation may have a greater financial and environmental cost.

Your diet has a critical role in defining your health and energy levels which affects every other part of your life. The fruits and vegetables you consume regularly are a powerful storehouse of beneficial, even vital, vitamins and nutrients which help out body to protect itself against many diseases and other negative factors in our environment.

Different fruits and vegetables offer varied benefits for your health.

Vegetables that are said to be high in antioxidants and nutrients include broccoli, asparagus, brussels sprouts, beets, carrots, onions, cauliflower, red peppers, squash, tomatoes, and garlic.

Fruits that some say are high in antioxidants and nutrients include apples, blueberries, apricots, bananas, cherries, cantaloupe, oranges, kiwifruits, peaches, and pink grapefruits.

Nutrients of Fruits and Vegetables

Fruits and vegetables contain many different varieties of nutrients. Some fruits and vegetables are a virtual storehouse of beneficial minerals like anthocyanins, resveratrol, lycopene, and more phytochemicals are being found as research into the fruits and vegetables is conducted

Phytochemicals

These plant nutrients help sustain your body against the worst ravages of the aging process and may help to reduce health risks like heart ailments, high blood pressure and cholesterol.

Some of the phytochemicals include:

Anthocyanins, available in blackberries, blueberries, cherries, eggplant, plums, and kiwi fruit are claimed by some to have important properties that may help reduce the occurrence of severity of some urinary tract infections.

Lycopene, available in watermelon, tomatoes, and pink grapefruit.

Resveratrol is available in red grapes and peanuts. CAUTION: more people are finding they may have an allergic reaction to peanuts every year

Spacing plants in the vegetable garden is one of the most difficult tasks a new gardener will face. It just may challenge the skills of more experiences gardeners as well. The problem arises from the inability to envision full-grown plants and the space they require at maturity. A newly planted garden looks bare. In order to compensate, many gardeners add more plants than the space is equipped to support. With a few simple steps, these difficulties can be avoided. Read on to learn how to space plants for vegetable gardens.

InstructionsThings You'll Need:

Graph paper

Measuring tape

Twine

Row markers/sticks

Pencil

Gardening book or seed catalog

Step 1
Measure the gardening area to determine your complete growing area. This should include all allowable growing space.

Step 2
Outline the dimensions of your garden on graph paper. For small areas one-inch blocks can represent one-foot areas in the garden. Larger gardens may require ½ inch blocks to represent one foot. An accurate sketch of your vegetable plot is necessary to determine the spacing of your plants.

Step 3
Decide which plants you wish to grow in your garden.

Step 4
Consult a gardening book for growing conditions for that particular plant. "Fast, Easy Vegetable Garden" by Jerry Baker provides planting instructions that tell the amount of space each vegetable plant will need at maturity and the space needed between rows. Many seed catalogs, like "Burpee's Seed" also provide this information.

Step 5
Determine the amount of space you must leave between rows and mark this clearly on your graph paper.

Step 6
Sketch the plants onto the graph paper according to the space requirements for that individual plant.

Step 7
Continue the process for all plants you wish to grow in your garden.

Step 8
Mark the rows in your garden by following the layout you have already created. Inserting a small stick into the ground at the ends of each row and running garden twine to mark the row will provide straight rows.

Step 9
Follow the sketch of your garden to plant your vegetables

For more information, please visit our website:

http://www.dutchtouchlandscape.com/

HOME WATER CONSERVATION. Start now in Spring for a Hot Summer

2010-05-06T16:20:00.000-07:00

Water Conservation in the Home

Here are 25 ways to conserve water in the home and yard.

1. Check faucets and pipes for leaks

A small drip from a worn faucet washer can waste 20 gallons of water per day. Larger leaks can waste hundreds of gallons.

2. Don't use the toilet as an ashtray or wastebasket
Every time you flush a cigarette butt, facial tissue or other small bit of trash, five to seven gallons of water is wasted.

3. Check your toilets for leaks
Put a little food coloring in your toilet tank. If, without flushing, the color begins to appear in the bowl within 30 minutes, you have a leak that should be repaired immediately. Most replacement parts are inexpensive and easy to install.

4. Use your water meter to check for hidden water leaks
Read the house water meter before and after a two-hour period when no water is being used. If the meter does not read exactly the same, there is a leak.

5. Install water-saving shower heads and low-flow faucet aerators
Inexpensive water-saving low-flow shower heads or restrictors are easy for the homeowner to install. Also, long, hot showers can use five to ten gallons every unneeded minute. Limit your showers to the time it takes to soap up, wash down and rinse off. "Low-flow" means it uses less than 2.5 gallons per minute.
You can easily install a ShowerStart showerhead, or add a ShowerStart converter to existing showerheads, which automatically pauses a running shower once it gets warm.

Also, all household faucets should be fit with aerators. This single best home water conservation method is also the cheapest!

6. Put plastic bottles or float booster in your toilet tank
To cut down on water waste, put an inch or two of sand or pebbles inside each of two plastic bottles to weigh them down. Fill the bottles with water, screw the lids on and put them in your toilet tank. Do it safely away from the operating mechanisms. You can also buy an inexpensive tank bank or float booster. This may save ten or more gallons of water per day.

Be sure at least 3 gallons of water remain in the tank so it will flush properly. If there is not enough water to get a proper flush, users will hold the lever down too long or do multiple flushes to get rid of waste. Two flushings at 1.4 gallons is worse than a single 2.0 gallon flush. A better suggestion would be to buy an adjustable toilet flapper that allow for adjustment of their per flush use. Then the user can adjust the flush rate to the minimum per flush setting that achieves a single good flush each time.

For new installations, consider buying "low flush" toilets, which use 1 to 2 gallons per flush instead of the usual 3 to 5 gallons.

Replacing an 18 liter per flush toilet with an ultra-low volume (ULV) 6 liter flush model represents a 70% savings in water flushed and will cut indoor water use by about 30%.

7. Insulate your water pipes
It's easy and inexpensive to insulate your water pipes with pre-slit foam pipe insulation. You'll get hot water faster plus avoid wasting water while it heats up.

8. Take shorter showers
One way to cut down on water use is to turn off the shower after soaping up, then turn it back on to rinse. A four-minute shower uses approximately 20 to 40 gallons of water.

9. Turn off the water after you wet your toothbrush
There is no need to keep the water running while brushing your teeth. Just wet your brush and fill a glass for mouth rinsing.

10. Rinse your razor in the sink
Fill the sink with a few inches of warm water. This will rinse your razor just as well as running water, with far less waste of water.

11. Use your dishwasher and clothes washer for only full loads
Automatic dishwashers and clothes washers should be fully loaded for optimum water conservation. Most makers of dishwashing soap recomend not pre-rinsing dishes which is a big water savings.

With clothes washers, avoid the permanent press cycle, which uses an added 20 liters (5 gallons) for the extra rinse. For partial loads, adjust water levels to match the size of the load. Replace old clothes washers. New Energy Star rated washers use 35 - 50% less water and 50% less energy per load. If you're in the market for a new clothes washer, consider buying a water-saving frontload washer.

12. Minimize use of kitchen sink garbage disposal units
In-sink 'garburators' require lots of water to operate properly, and also add considerably to the volume of solids in a septic tank which can lead to maintenance problems. Start a compost pile as an alternate method of disposing food waste.

13. When washing dishes by hand, don't leave the water running for rinsing
If your have a double-basin, fill one with soapy water and one with rinse water. If you have a single-basin sink, gather washed dishes in a dish rack and rinse them with a spray device or a panful of hot water. Dual-swivel aerators are available to make this easier. If using a dishwasher, there is usually no need to pre-rinse the dishes.

14. Don't let the faucet run while you clean vegetables
Just rinse them in a stoppered sink or a pan of clean water. Use a dual-setting aerator.

15. Keep a bottle of drinking water in the fridge
Running tap water to cool it off for drinking water is wasteful. Store drinking water in the fridge in a safe drinking bottle.

Water Conservation in the Yard and Garden...

16. Plant drought-resistant lawns, shrubs and plants
If you are planting a new lawn, or overseeding an existing lawn, use drought-resistant grasses such as the new "Eco-Lawn".

Many beautiful shrubs and plants thrive with far less watering than other species. Replace herbaceous perennial borders with native plants. Native plants will use less water and be more resistant to local plant diseases. Consider applying the principles of xeriscape for a low-maintenance, drought resistant yard.

Plant slopes with plants that will retain water and help reduce runoff.

Group plants according to their watering needs.

17. Put a layer of mulch around trees and plants

Mulch will slow evaporation of moisture while discouraging weed growth. Adding 2 - 4 inches of organic material such as compost or bark mulch will increase the ability of the soil to retain moisture. Press the mulch down around the dripline of each plant to form a slight depression which will prevent or minimize water runoff.

For information about different mulch materials and their best use, click here.

18. Don't water the gutter

Position your sprinklers so water lands on the lawn or garden, not on paved areas. Also, avoid watering on windy days.

19. Water your lawn only when it needs it

A good way to see if your lawn needs watering is to step on the grass. If it springs back up when you move, it doesn't need water. If it stays flat, the lawn is ready for watering. Letting the grass grow taller (to 3") will also promote water retention in the soil.

Most lawns only need about 1" of water each week. During dry spells, you can stop watering altogether and the lawn will go brown and dormant. Once cooler weather arrives, the morning dew and rainfall will bring the lawn back to its usual vigor. This may result in a brown summer lawn, but it saves a lot of water.

20. Deep-soak your lawn

When watering the lawn, do it long enough for the moisture to soak down to the roots where it will do the most good. A light sprinkling can evaporate quickly and tends to encourage shallow root systems. Put an empty tuna can on your lawn - when it's full, you've watered about the right amount. Visit our natural lawn care page for more information.

21. Water during the early parts of the day; avoid watering when it's windy

Early morning is generally better than dusk since it helps prevent the growth of fungus. Early watering, and late watering, also reduce water loss to evaporation. Watering early in the day is also the best defence against slugs and other garden pests. Try not to water when it's windy - wind can blow sprinklers off target and speed evaporation.

22. Add organic matter and use efficient watering systems for shrubs, flower beds and lawns

Adding organic material to your soil will help increase its absorption and water retention. Areas which are already planted can be 'top dressed' with compost or organic matter.

You can greatly reduce the amount of water used for shrubs, beds and lawns by:

- the strategic placement of soaker hoses

- installing a rain barrel water catchment system

- installing a simple drip-irrigation system

Avoid over-watering plants and shrubs, as this can actually diminish plant health and cause yellowing of the leaves.

When hand watering, use a variable spray nozzle for targeted watering.

23. Don't run the hose while washing your car

Clean the car using a pail of soapy water. Use the hose only for rinsing - this simple practice can save as much as 150 gallons when washing a car. Use a spray nozzle when rinsing for more efficient use of water. Better yet, use a waterless car washing system; there are several brands, such as EcoTouch, which are now on the market.

24. Use a broom, not a hose, to clean driveways and sidewalks

25. Check for leaks in pipes, hoses, faucets and couplings

Leaks outside the house may not seem as bad since they're not as visible. But they can be just as wasteful as leaks indoors. Check frequently to keep them drip-free. Use hose washers at spigots and hose connections to eliminate leaks.

Water conservation comes naturally when everyone in the family is aware of its importance, and parents take the time to teach children some of the simple water-saving methods around the home which can make a big difference.

Water Conservation Summary

In 1990, 30 states in the US reported 'water-stress' conditions. In 2000, the number of states reporting water-stress rose to 40. In 2009, the number rose to 45. There is a worsening trend in water supply nationwide. Taking measures at home to conserve water not only saves you money, it also is of benefit to the greater community.

Saving water at home does not require any significant cost outlay. Although there are water-saving appliances and water conservation systems such as rain barrels, drip irrigation and on-demand water heaters which are more expensive, the bulk of water saving methods can be achieved at little cost. For example, 75% of water used indoors is in the bathroom, and 25% of this is for the toilet. The average toilet uses 4 gallons per flush (gpf). You can invest in a ULF (ultra-low flush) toilet which will use only 2 gpf. But you can also install a simple tank bank, costing about $2, which will save .8 gpf. This saves 40% of what you would save with the ULF toilet. Using simple methods like tank banks, low-flow showerheads and faucet aerators you can retrofit your home for under$50.

By using water-saving features you can reduce your in-home water use by 35%. This means the average household, which uses 130,000 gallons per year, coulod save 44,00 gallons of water per year. On a daily basis, the average household, using 350 gallons per day, could save 125 gallons of water per day. The average individual, currently using 70 gallons per day, could save 25 gallons of water per day.

When buying low-flow aerators, be sure to read the label for the actual 'gpm' (gallons per minute) rating. Often, the big box retailers promote "low-flow" which are rated at 2.5 gpm, which is at the top of the low-flow spectrum. This may be needed for the kitchen sink, but we find that a 1.5 gpm aerator works fine for the bathroom sink and most water outlets, delivering the same spray force in a comfortable, soft stream. Eartheasy's online store carries a full range of low-flow aerators and showerheads.

Finally, it should be noted that installing low-flow aerators, showerheads, tank banks and other water-saving devices usually is a very simple operation which can be done by the homeowner and does not even require the use of tools. Water conservation at home is one of the easiest measures to put in place, and saving water should become part of everday family practice.

A guide to Waterwise Gardening

The following “Seven Fundamentals of Low-Water Use” should improve your chances of creating a successful landscape.

Soil Improvement: Adding organic matter to the soil will help to retain water and provide needed plant nutrients. The depth to which this organic matter should be cultivated into soil depends on your design. Different plant types require different depths.

Appropriate Use of Turfgrass: Lawns are our largest water user. Turf requires twice as much water as established drought tolerant plants. Smaller, rounded plots of lawn on level areas are easiest to water efficiently. Local WSU Cooperative Extension agents can assist in the selection of grass species and provide information on proper maintenance.

Efficient Irrigation: There are a variety of irrigation technologies to choose from: surface systems, subsurface drip systems, timed and untimed systems, and hand watering. Efficiency in an irrigation system is attained by keeping the system well maintained and applying water only as plants need it. Good soil preparation and proper plant selection can alleviate the need for irrigation altogether.

Use of mulches: Mulches reduce the amount of moisture that evaporates from bare ground. Mulches also help insulate plant roots during cold periods and deter weed growth. Organic mulches include wood chips, bark, straw, grass clippings, peat moss, and coarse sand. Mulches should be spread a few inches thick around plants and on any bare ground.

Selection of Low-Water Use Plants: Plants that thrive in the microclimate of the site should be selected, i.e. high and low temperatures, soil types, available sunlight, humidity and natural precipitation. Plants native to our region are “best choices”. Some plants from the Mediterranean climates also do well here. Keep in mind that some low-water use plants have specific needs such as shade or hydric soils. Not meeting these needs can cause increased watering. There are many good reference materials dealing with plant selection and low-water landscape design. A reputable garden nursery person can also be helpful.

Planning and Design: Evaluate existing conditions and assess your needs. What are your conservation goals? How much time can you realistically devote to a garden? Start with a notebook, collect images, visit garden nurseries and professional gardens. Remain flexible and don’t focus on details too quickly; use “bubble” diagrams. Reinforce your shape through a variety of plant layers. Plan on 3/4 of mature size when estimating plant quantities.

Appropriate Maintenance: Even drought resistant plants require additional watering until established (usually three to six months). Planting should be done semiannually, in fall and early spring, to take advantage of natural precipitation. Weeds require a great deal of water to compete with other plants. During the first growing season it is important to hand-weed to prevent damage to the soil. Correct pruning to remove dead and diseased growth and promote the plants natural shape may reduce the plant’s water demands.

Desert plant landscape is called Xeriscape. This is a great choice for San Diego County. We live in a semi-arrid desert so this is a logical choice for your home.

Dutch Touch Inc. can design, install and maintain these for you.

This blog has essential information regarding conservation of water and will definately save you money on your water bill.

For more information, please visit our website:

http://www.dutchtouchlandscape.com/

Solar Panels: A 100% WISE INVESTMENT FOR YOUR HOME

2010-05-05T17:03:00.000-07:00

Starting Your Smart Investment

of Home Solar Panels

Residential solar panel systems admittedly have beginning costs that are much higher than when power for everyday use originates from the local utilities or gas. This seemingly less expense brought about by the latter makes most home owners and builders decide on siding on the conventional power source.

Still, it should be clearly explained that the solar panels for home use of today are not competitive with regards to costs and expenses. Right now, most solar power proponents not only fight for the home solar panels because of their environmental benefits, but it can likewise be an economical reason.

As years go by, conventional fuel as well as electricity is becoming more expensive; this makes solar panel systems more advantageous. And not only the solar panels for home use are cost-effective but sun-powered water heaters likewise offer great savings for the users as an effective means of solar heating. It is shown that the water heaters’ expenses and costs are at least 50 percent lower than the electric heaters.

Besides the possible savings, there are likewise local and state financial incentives as well as tax credits which will sharply decrease the cost in the end. Solar panel systems indeed are the best alternative when comes to finding ways to replace the conventional power source.

Thinking about utilizing solar energy as a way of greening your life and lightening your environmental footprint? When choosing panels for your solar power system, there are a number of factors worth considering.

Solar panel costs

Costs vary widely depending upon the type, wattage and brand of panel. Additionally, the margins that stockists apply to their panels can differ tremendously.

You can pick up cheap panels on places like eBay, but given the size of the investment this can be risky if the merchant suddenly disappears or the sale of the panel is a sideline rather than part of the merchant's core business focus. You'll be spending a lot of cash, so you'll want to ensure the person/business you're buying from are renewable energy experts and in it for the long haul.

Calculating how many solar panels you'll need
This is one of the most asked questions and there's no set answer - it's all down to your electricity consumption, geography and other elements of your system. For example, if you have a stand alone power system as opposed to a mains grid connect , the capacity of your deep cycle batteries play a major role.

Here's a quick and dirty formula. It's based on watts rather than amps (amps would be more accurate) for the sake of convenience.

Jot down all the appliances you use.

Next to each, record their wattage.

Also next to each, record the numbers of hours of use.

Get a total for each and add those figures up.

Using the solar peak hours chart, gauge how many peak sun hours you get a day.

Divide the total wattage by the peak sun hours.

You'll have a very rough guesstimate of the total wattage of panels you'll need.

To gain a more accurate idea, some solar panel stores such as Energy Matters offer detailed solar panel calculators that will take into account issues like your geography and other elements of the system; e.g. whether you'll have a grid connect or stand alone system and how much of your electricity you wish to generate via solar power.

Solar panels still aren't dirt cheap, so if you're switching to solar it's a great time to also carefully evaluate your electricity use. The less juice you need, the fewer panels you'll need and you'll save a ton of cash. Don't forget that many governments around the world also offer substantial solar panel rebates which can really help remove the financial sting from your purchase!

The cost of a solar panel is determined in part by the size (in Watts), the physical size, the brand, the durability / longevity (or warranty period) and any certifications the solar panel might have. Choosing a solar panel on price alone is not wise, as it may not fit the area you wish to install it, may not have the necessary certifications to qualify for government rebates, or may not have the warranty required for economic payback of the power produced.

Durability / Longevity / Warranty
The durability or longevity of a solar panel is important for a number of reasons. Firstly, if the solar panel only has a 10 year warranty and it is used in a grid connect system you would expect the solar panel to produce enough power to pay for itself within 10 years.

Also, if the panel is to be used in a critical system you shouldn't risk installing solar panels that aren't as robust as the others. Reputable solar panels will have warranty a period of 25 years.

Solar Panel Size and Wattage

The size of the solar panel in Watts will directly affect the price, as solar panels are usually priced (and compared) in dollars per Watt.

Watts are related to the output of each panel; meaning a 100 Watt panel under ideal conditions will generate 100 Watts of electricity each hour and a 200 Watt panel will generate 200 Watts each hour. Therefore expect to pay double price for the 200 Watt panel, compared to the 100 Watt panel.

The output of a panel also affects the physical size of the panel, meaning the 200 Watt panel will be larger in size to the 100 Watt panel.

The type of solar cells used in its production also determines the size of the solar panel. They key issue to consider is that your system overall has enough Watts to power your appliances, and that the solar panels will physically fit in the area you wish to install them.

Solar Panel Efficiency

There's much debate about efficiency in solar panels, i.e. how effective the panel is in converting sunlight to electricity; but the key point to remember is that a 100 watt solar panel will produce 100 watts; regardless of its efficiency ratings.

Solar Cell Type

There are 3 main types of solar cells.

Mono-crystalline silicon

The most efficient and produces the smallest solar cells, and therefore the smallest panels.

Poly-crystalline (or multi-crystalline) silicon

Produces the next most efficient type of cells, but equivalent wattage panels are larger than their monocrystalline counterparts.

Amorphous (or thin-film) silicon

Uses the least amount of silicon and also produces the least efficient solar cells. This means thin film system take up more area than the other two, but it has the advantage of offering flexible panels that can be used on curved or irregular surfaces not suited to solid panels.

Solar Panel Suitability
Mono-crystalline and multi-crystalline work very well in bright cool conditions, whereas amorphous (thin-film) silicon will be more efficient at higher temperatures.

We generally recommend monocrystalline or multi-crystalline for large unshaded roofs, and amorphous panels for roofs with partial shading.

Regardless of the technology currently in use, a solar panel in full shade will only generate a small fraction of its rated capacity; so the "shade tolerant" features you may see advertised can be somewhat misleading.

A solar panel is made up of photovoltaic cells, usually 36 all told, varying in size depending upon the watt/amp rating of the panel. These cells are made from two very thin silicon wafers approximately 1 mm thick; one with a positive charge and the other negatively charged.

When exposed to the sun's rays, electron activity is generated which is captured by a grid of very fine finger-like electrical contacts distributed across the panel. This is then channeled through the junction box on the back of the panel and emerges as DC (direct current) electricity.

Closeup of a polycrystalline cell showing the fingers of conductor material

Covering the silicon wafers is a layer of toughened glass, usually around 3mm thick. It has to be strong enough to withstand hail, extreme temperatures and a degree of flexing, but thin enough not to filter out or reflect appreciable amounts of light.

As silicon (which is made from sand) is also reflective; it requires a thin layer of anti-reflective material.

The back of the solar panel is made from aluminium and the panel is set into an aluminium frame.

Cabling is critical
Once the juice exits the panels, it travels along cabling. The size/diameter of cabling is of critical importance. If it's too thin for the panel's output and distance to be covered, it's a little like trying to pour a large volume of water through a small opening. There will be a loss of electricity as it will convert to heat along the cable to the point the cabling can burn out.

This handy DC cabling size calculator can tell you what diameter cable you'll need for amp rating of the panel you buy and the distance there will be between the panel and the solar regulator or inverter.

Makes it all sound relatively simple doesn't it? I'm still in awe that sun shining on silicon and a bit of wiring can generate electricity though, but each time I try to delve further into how panels work, my brain says "let's go check out the latest Dilbert comic strip instead" :)

Monocrystalline vs Polycrystalline (Multicrystalline)
Rigid solar panels cell are usually made up of either monocrystalline or polycrystalline (aka multicrystalline) cells. Monocrystalline cells are cut from a chunk of silicon that has been grown from a single crystal. These are used in the more expensive types of solar panels and are more efficient in converting the sun's rays to electricity.

A polycrystalline cell is cut from multifaceted silicon crystal. More surface area is required due to inherent flaws and these panels are less efficient in converting the sun's rays. However, polycrystalline technology has closed up the performance gap in recent years.

Also, a 120 watt rated monocrystalline solar panel and a 120 watt molycrystalline panel are essentially the same thing - they crank out the amount of electricity.

The easiest way to visually identify the difference between a monocrystalline and polycrystalline panel is the polycrystalline has a shattered glass look as shown in the image above. Monocrystalline cells tend to be uniform in appearance.

Thin film solar panels
Thin film panels are created by the application of a thin layer of silicon directly onto various materials. It's applied in such a way that flexible panels can be made. The need for less silicon will reduce manufacturing costs significantly in the time ahead.

Thin film panels are also less efficient that polycrystalline and monocrystalline panels, so a larger surface area is required. Again, peformance in thin film technology is constantly improving in the area of efficiency. Given the processes to create thin film, cheaper alternatives to silicon can also be used, such as cadmium telluride; although cadmium is frowned upon by many as it's a heavy metal.

The sun and geography
Sunlight isn't the same around the world. Even without cloud cover, different places on Earth receive varying levels of solar radiation. When calculating the size and number of solar panels you'll need; kilowatts-hours per square metre (kwH/m2), or more commonly known as solar "peak hours" need to be taken into account. This is the number of hours a day when the sun has maximum punch in relation to potential for electricity generation.

These peak hours are also measured against average winter sun; the time of the year when you'll have the least sunlight.

You can get an idea of how many peak hours of sunlight in your area by using using this solar panel calculator - the figure to look for once you type in your area is the "Solar Irradiation:" Whatever the kW/m2/d figure is, that's your peak sun hours.

Solar panel orientation and angle
Again, this is dependent upon where you are in the world and also greatly varies with the season.

During summer, the sun sits a lot higher in the sky that during winter, so it's best to "chase the sun" so you can to get the maximum oomph from your panels. However, this is difficult to achieve if the panels are sitting on your roof, so a happy medium is usually found. Basically, if you have the angle good enough to get you through the winter months, you'll have no problems during the summer.

The general guidelines are:

Solar panels should face South in the Northern Hemisphere and North in the Southern Hemisphere

A solar panel's angle should be set to the equivalent of your your latitude plus 15 degrees during winter, or minus 15 degrees in summer.

Solar panels and shade
Solar panels and shade simply don't mix. While some panels claim to be shade tolerant, you will lose substantial charging power even if only a partial area of the panels is affected by shade. If one quarter of the panel cell area is shaded, the juice being cranked out will be virtually nil.

Solar panel care
One of the wonderful thing about solar panels is there's no moving parts, therefore next to no maintenance! A wipe/brush down occasionally will help prevent buildup of dust and grime that can impact on effectiveness; but usually the rain will also take care of this. Other than that, a visual inspection of frame seals and wiring from the junction box is all that's really needed.

Solar Panel Installation Tips

Solar Panels are typically installed on rooftops, building tops, or stand-alone facilities. It is vital to install your solar panel so that it gets the most direct sun exposure. You want to make sure your solar panel is maximally effective year round. To do this, there are several web-based solar resources to help you properly set up and install your solar panels by tracking the position of the sun in the sky over the course of the year.

Position your solar panel in direct sunlight

Solar Panels perform at optimum capacity when placed in direct sunlight. Try to position your photovoltaic array directly under the noontime sun for maximum efficiency from your photovoltaic unit.

Notice obstructions to sunlight

Remove all items unnessary items or trim branches that may be blocking sunlight to your solar unit. Trace the path of the sun in the sky to determine if an object is casting a shadow over your solar photovoltaic panels. If this is the case, then the operating efficiency of your unit will undoubtedly suffer.

Mounting your Solar Panel

Solar Panel Mounts are used to install photovoltaic solar panels. Solar panel mounts come in three main varieties: pole mounts, roof-ground mounts, and flush mounts. Using these mounts, you can install your solar panel onto an RV, on top of or against the side of a pole, on your roof, or even install them as a free-standing unit. You can learn more about installing solar panels using mounts in our mounts section.

Water pumping with solar panels

A good way to put solar panels to use is to install a solar-powered water pump for your well. Although windmills have traditionally been used to power such systems, a solar-powered system works just as well, and is equally friendly to the environment.

Your Well Pump

It is important to choose a quality well pump for use with your solar powered well pump system, one that makes the best use of your power and doesn't require an inefficient, wasteful transformer. Your well drilling provider is likely to offer you the industry standard well pump, a 220 volt alternating current model. The problem with such a high-voltage pump system is that the required transformer is extremely wasteful and can be a huge strain on your inverter during startup. This can cause the power to home to dip, and the lights to dim, which can cause a full-out inverter failure unless you have a top-quality inverter. Avoid such a high voltage system if you can, and instead, opt for a 120 volt AC model, which is much more efficient and does not put nearly as much of a burden on your inverter.

The Solar Panel

Your solar panel does not have to have a very high wattage rating in order to run your solar pump, just check with your well-drilling company to determine what wattage rating you need from your solar panel. An important consideration when setting up an outdoor solar panel system for your well pump is to ensure that you purchase a mounting rack that offers plenty of clearance between the ground and your solar panel and keep in it an open area away from trees. You don't want any large pets, floodwater, or falling branches to damage your system.

Solar Panels and Power Meters

As you purchase more and more solar panels for your home, your reliance on the city's power grid will progressively decline until your power meter doesn't turn at all. As you continue to buy solar panels, you wonder, what happens beyond that point? What happens on the days when my home produces more energy from solar panels that it needs?

Also, we recommend using a true sine wave inverter with your solar powered pump system. True Sine wave inverters tend to work better when motors are involved (such as those found in a water pump).

For more information, please visit our website:

http://www.dutchtouchcontracting.com/

Pet Indoor Cleaning Tips

2010-04-28T14:40:00.000-07:00

Pet Indoor Cleaning Tips

Since this blog only provides advice on cleaning, it doesn't address the issues of pet training or pet health. We are a cleaning service company and not qualified to provide information that pet trainers or veterinarians can give you. That means we are not responsible for your dogs and cats destroying your houses.

For that information, please look at those blogs instead.

5 Key Clean-up Principles

* The faster you clean up the mess, the easier it will be...and the less likely stains will set.

* You need to clean as well as deodorize and remove the odor. That includes what you can't smell...remember that animals have a much greater sense of smell. If animals can detect a prior pet mess or marking, they may try to mark over it.

* Use nontoxic products that are specifically made for pet messes and pet odors. They are typically more effective, since they organically break down waste while neutralizing odors, and they are safer for homes with animals. But always check the label to be sure.

* There are nontoxic, inexpensive cleaning solutions you can make at home using standard ingredients such as baking soda, white vinegar and club soda.

* Treat stains properly to avoid permanent damage to carpets and upholstery.

Urine
It is important to remember that you must eliminate all odor. Even if you cannot smell it, companion animals can, and they will likely try to pee on or mark over the same area. They do that out of instinct, not spite. Follow these clean-up steps for wet or dried urine spots.

* Soak up urine with a white towel or paper towels. Blot, don't rub. Rubbing can damage carpet fibers. Clean starting with an area sufficiently outside of the stain ring, moving inward.

* Rinse the area with water to dilute the urine.

* Blot again using clean towels.

* Optional but reportedly very effective: rinse the area with club soda, then blot up.

* Absorb the remaining liquid with towels - stand on the towels or place heavy books over them. Be patient; it may take 6 hours to dry. To hasten the process, extract moisture using a wet/dry vacuum. If you let the carpet or upholstery stay damp, trapped moisture can lead to mildew and eventual crumbling.

* Apply a cleaner/neutralizer formulated for pet messes such as Simple Solution. See suggested products below. Some contain nontoxic enzymes or safe bacteria that digest the pet mess residue.

* If stains remain, try another commercial stain remover formulated for pet stains. However, do not use such products before applying enzymatic cleaners. Proper sequence is important.

* Do not use ammonia, since ammonia smells somewhat like urine to animals.

* Alternate cleaning/deodorizing method: cover pet accidents with baking soda, let it stand for at least two hours, then vacuum. Proceed with other steps above as needed.

Keep in mind...

* Liquid messes seep downward and outward so be sure to also clean the area surrounding the visible stain.

* If you are able to pull up the carpet, clean the carpet pad beneath the affected area.

* If spot cleaning results in the surrounding area looking dingy, use a steam vac to clean the carpet.

* If a stain reappears on the surface of the carpet a few days later, dilute the stain with water and clean again. Steam-cleaning can be a last resort.

* Commercial cleaners usually advise that you test a carpet's color fastness before applying a product to clean a spot. Do this by applying a small amount on a hidden part of the carpet, then wait 24 hours to see if the carpet has changed color. Of course, you don't want to delay cleaning up urine, feces, vomit or other organic stain; so test products right after you buy them, instead of waiting until you actually need to use them.

Poop
Scoop up solid matter, then blot up moisture with paper towels. Vacuum up loose bits. Then follow the procedure for urine removal above.

Vomit

* The acid in vomit can stain fast, so immediately scoop up solid particles.

* Add a bit of water to help loosen stuck particles.

* Then coat the area with baking soda or salt.

* Let it dry, then vacuum.

* Repeat the baking soda and vacuum step.

* Next, pour club soda on the area, and blot with paper towels.

* If the area remains discolored, try Oxy Clean or a nontoxic cleaner/stain remover formulated for pet stains. Remember to give cleaners adequate time to digest stains.

* An alternate treatment: some folks successfully treat yellow vomit by spraying Lysol disinfectant on the rug, then rubbing the residue off with clean towels.

* Regular vomiting of yellow bile can indicate impacted anal glands. This can be very uncomfortable for your dog. Your vet can gently express the dog's anal sacs to relieve the pressure.

* In some dogs, vomiting results from lack of any food in the stomach. One solution is to give the dog a small biscuit or two before bedtime; also, feed the dog's first meal in the morning.

Pet Hair

* If your animal has favorite sleeping spots, place an easy-to-wash soft towel or blanket there to help absorb skin odors and catch the fur.

* Save those old rubber gloves. They are great for wiping dog and cat hair off furniture and clothes.

* Mix one part fabric softener to three parts water, put in spray bottle and spray on carpets and furniture. Wait two to three hours, then vacuum up fur.

* Spray upholstery with static guard then vacuum.

* Use a Bounce or other fabric softener sheet for picking up pet hair off furniture or clothing. But do not let your animals get ahold of these products; they can be dangerous.

* Roll some packing tape around your hand to remove fur from furniture, pillows and other surfaces.

* Brush your animal daily and you will have much less fur to clean up.

* Teach your dog or cat to tolerate the vacuum, and then work on acclimating them to being vacuumed themselves once a week. Some pets actually enjoy the sensation.

Fleas

These tiny insects are mainly just a nuisance - they generally cause a lot of itching and scratching. They may also cause some discomfort due to possible allergic flea bite dermatitis. Fleas will also bite people if pets are not available, and can rapidly infest your home. They leave behind flea "dirt" (digested blood) which looks and feels like pepper. Fleas are not a result of a dirty home - anyone or anything can introduce fleas to your pet or your home.

A flea collar can be provided at any time and will usually begin killing fleas as soon as it is first worn.

You can de-flea your home using a combination of flea foggers and a premise spray. We recommend products containing Insect Growth Regulators (IGR's). Use foggers one to a room. IGR foggers kill not only the adult fleas, but also prevent the larval stages from developing. If the foggers do not control larvae or if you have a heavy infestation in your home, you will need to re-fog in 2-3 weeks.

Please read and follow the label carefully when using foggers. Vacuum floors, furniture, drapes, and baseboards before fogging. You may either dispose of the vacuum bag immediately, or place insecticide treated cotton balls, or a flea collar inside the bag to kill any pre-adult fleas. Do not vacuum for two days following the fogging. The suction will remove the residual chemical, and interrupt prolonged action against flea larvae.

Use a premise spray under large pieces of furniture and in out of the way places before to fogging. Foggers do not go under and around objects. If you are experiencing a heavy flea infestation, you can use a premise spray in-between fogging to control population growth. Do not vacuum for 10 days following the use of an IGR fogger. Do not allow your pets to come into contact with wet premise spray.

* Many people have success with the following approach. Spread a thin layer of boric acid, borax or diatomaceous earth on carpets, then let stand for one day and vacuum. The powders kill fleas and help dry up their eggs.

* Or salt your carpets when winter ends, before flea season. Let the salt stay on 10 minutes, then vacuum up.

* Another suggestion: sprinkle dried, crumbled peppermint over rugs, then vacuum.

* Use Frontline, Advantage or other modern flea repellants on your animal during flea and tick seasons. For other remedies, including holistic approaches, see www.paw-rescue.org/PAW/PETTIPS/DogTip_InsectPrevention.php

Odors

* For an inexpensive odor remover, mix baking soda in water and saturate the area. Let stand a few minutes, then blot with paper towels and allow to air dry.

* Smelly vacuum cleaner? Some folks suggest placing a fragrant dryer sheet inside the vacuum near the exhaust vent.

* Also see More Cleaning Tips below.

Blood

For fresh stains, try soaking with cold water. Avoid warm or hot water, which can set the stain. It can also help to rub an ice cube over the stain, then rinse with cold water and clean or launder.

Hydrogen peroxide is one of the best ways to remove blood stains. Apply the hydrogen peroxide to the stained area, letting it bubble. Repeat this until stain is gone. Following by dabbing the area with water, then dry. Or if clothing, launder it. Keep in mind that hydrogen peroxide has a limited shelf life; you may need to replace your bottle annually.

Pour some milk over the blood stain to loosen the blood, then blot it up.

Mix corn starch and water into a paste, then apply it to the stained rug or fabric. Rinse with cool water and blot dry. Afterwards, use a brush or vacuum to remove the remaining corn starch.

Mix meat tenderizing crystals with cold water, then apply this paste to the area. Let stand for an hour, then rinse in cool water.

Rubbing with ammonia sometimes works, but remember that ammonia smells somewhat like urine to animals, so your pet may try to mark on the spot.

More Cleaning Tips

In addition to some of the tips in the Urine section, which also apply to vomit and other messes:

DOGGY DISCIPLINE!

* Never punish your dog or cat for having an accident. Dogs do not potty indoors out of spite. If you catch a pup or dog in the act of pottying indoors, state firmly Nah-ah-ah!, scoop him up, put on his leash and/or carry him outside to an approved potty spot. And if you do not catch him in the act, and discover the mess after the fact, just clean it up. Scolding doesn't work; in addition, dogs don't remember what they did even a minute ago!

* Do not let your dog watch you clean up the mess, since some dogs can get the mistaken idea that person cleaning up my mess is a game. Put her in another room (that is, after you have given her a chance to finish her potty business if she might need to finish going).

* If your dog or cat suddenly have potty accidents, see the vet. The problem could be a treatable bladder infection, worms or other easy-to-treat condition.

* If your pup or kitten is not yet housetrained, watch him closely when you are home, and keep him in a safe, confined areas when you are not there to supervise. See the articles on the PAW website, including the Dog Tips index. Get a recommended book to guide you in effective, humane housetraining.

* Neuter and spay your pets to reduce and even eliminate unwanted marking, spraying and blood during estrus (heat) cycles.

* Have an incontinent dog? Simple Solution now makes a washable Diaper Garment designed for puppies, incontinent dogs and females in season. It has adjustable velcro closures and is made of comfortable cotton. It can be used with or without absorbent liners.

* Low on paper towels? Newspapers are very absorbent. They will stain your carpet, so start with a couple of layers of white paper towels, then place the newspapers over the towels, and stand on them (or apply a level, heavy weight such as big books) to absorb liquid during the cleaning process.

* Baby diapers are great for absorbing pet mess. Over time, diapers can be cheaper than paper towels.

* Standard white vinegar mixed half and half with water gives you a great, inexpensive, multi-purpose, nontoxic deodorizer and cleaner.

* Yet another homemade formula for cleaning urine and other organic messes: mix equal parts water and white vinegar with a couple squirts of gentle dishwashing soap.

* Foaming shave cream can remove many pet stains. Spray on, gently rub in, allow to dry, then vacuum.

* A dab of toothpaste gets out some stains on fabric and can also minimize the appearance of rings and stains on wood furniture and floors.

* Try Windex for kitty stains on rugs and fabric.

* Place a small towel or pad under water and food bowls to absorb drips and dribbles. Launder the towel weekly.

* Plastic bowls absorb germs and get smelly. Instead, use stainless steel or coated ceramic bowls.

* Clean cat litter boxes frequently. Change the litter and wash the box. Try a covered box if your cat sprays litter all over.

Cleaning Supplies

* Paper towels and/or old cloth towels

* Spatula, cardboard or sturdy disposable (paper or plastic plates). Useful for scooping and scraping up as much solid matter as possible before cleaning and treating.

* Baking soda or salt

* Club soda

* Pet odor cleaner/neutralizer

* Stain remover formulated for pet stains

* Rug and upholstery cleaner

* Hydrogen peroxide (3 percent, and make sure it is fresh)

* Bucket of water and mitt, towel or washcloth by the door. Clean wet and muddy paws, salt and sand.

* Recommended: small steam-vac. Some folks substitute their shop-vac.

Note: Since animals and humans can have reactions to most any commercial product, carefully read labels before using any product. Keep in mind that a crawling child or a pet could pick up residue off a floor, then ingest it when licking hands or paws.

Many people are reducing their use of commercial cleaning products. Instead, they use commonly available, simple ingredients often recommended in Hints from Heloise, including water, baking soda, white vinegar, lemon juice, hydrogen peroxide, club soda and cornstarch. Properly used and combined, these products can clean just about anything. In addition, the natural cleaning alternatives as well as pet mess-specific products such as Simple Solution typically work quite effectively for a wide range of cleaning needs. Some folks also keep ammonia and bleach in their arsenal. Never mix ammonia and bleach, since that combination is dangerously toxic.

Whew! That was an exhausting and informative blog. I love dogs, and this information sure helps me out.

I would love to check out more dog and cat videos, photos and blogs online, but I have other work projects to do at the moment. Great Webmasters are always in demand this time of year.

For more information, please visit our website:

http://www.dutchtouchmaids.com/

Asphalt tracking on commercial-grade carpet

2010-04-27T14:33:00.000-07:00

Asphalt tracking on

commercial-grade carpet

This was a topic recently on the

Cleanfax magazine bulletin board.

This is maintained by Jeff Cross - Senior Editor.

The address is:

193 Purple Finch Loop, Pataskala OH 43062

Email: jcross@ntpmedia.com.

Website: http://www.cleaningprofessor.com/

Below are some photos so you can see the problem.

The first photo shows the carpet before cleaning.

The second after cleaning... but you can easily

see the yellow tracking, especially where

the tile floor transitions to carpet:

Here are some comments from the bulletin board. If you have a good solution, Dutch Touch Inc. would like to hear from you.

RE: Yellow traffic lanes... do you have a solution?: Barbara Middleton: 4/13/2010 2:23:32 PM

When we encap we use Releasit DS and it does the job.

On residential style carpet we use sodium percarbonate in our prespray. Sometimes Fels-Naptha scrubbed in does the trick.

Matt

RE: Yellow traffic lanes... do you have a solution?: Jim Pemberton: 4/13/2010 5:47:22 PM

I've had good success with products containing sodium percarbonate and encapsulants as well.

RE: Yellow traffic lanes... do you have a solution?: Kirk Saiger: 4/13/2010 6:20:40 PM

I repeat what Matt stated.

Use encap of choice on commercial and residential is boosted with powdered peroxide.

A solvent booster is also added to the mixture along with the peroxide for the oily soils such as calcium chloride or asphalt trackoff.

Some confuse this with that burst of BHT yellowing we were hit with in the 90's and use "yellow removers" or citric acid to no avail.

RE: Yellow traffic lanes... do you have a solution?: Fred Geyen: 4/13/2010 10:16:35 PM

The best results we have ever gotten are with Syon-5 the product put out by Tandus. I think it is the Tea Tree oil in it. We have used "pads" when using it.

Very good results.

RE: Yellow traffic lanes... do you have a solution?: Scott Warrington: 4/14/2010 10:37:09 AM

Olefin will be the worst. Nylon responds much better.

Solvents in the prespray or solvents boosters along with very hot water help.

But as other state, encapsulation and/or peroxide boosters often produce the best appearance.

Some of the new encapsulation products with oxygen boosters include such as Grrom Solutions Peroxicap and Bridgepoint's Encapuclean O2 work really well on yellow from asphalt tracking.

Frequent cleaning to remove the discoloration before it gets too severe or becomes oxidized is beneficial. I would definitely try to sell clients on frequent cleanings if this is a likely happening.

Scott Warrington

Technical Support

Interlink Supply / Bridgepoint Systems

RE: Yellow traffic lanes... do you have a solution?: Ivan Day: 4/14/2010 1:44:36 PM

We had an issue with asphalt tracked all over the C&A carpet. It was black. Many companies had been in to try to fix the problem and did not have a good outcome.

We took a large coffee urn filled it with water and heated up the water. Then we filled the battery sprayer adding 4 oz of Procyon to each gallon of water and pre sprayed the fiber cleaned an area teaching the custodian how to solve the issue with out the extra cost of additional cleaning products. This took care of the problem.

RE: Yellow traffic lanes... do you have a solution?: Lee Stockwell: 4/14/2010 3:44:08 PM

Most TMs get the water hotter than you could with a coffee urn, because water's boiling point is higher under pressure.

That being said, I don't believe heat is as important as is using the right chemical.

RE: Yellow traffic lanes... do you have a solution?: Terry Brevik: 4/14/2010 9:11:23 PM

little rotobrite helps

RE: Yellow traffic lanes... do you have a solution?: James Ladwig: 4/15/2010 9:58:28 AM

Scampoo and peroxide bonnet clean.

RE: Yellow traffic lanes... do you have a solution?: Dale Collins: 4/16/2010 10:46:47 AM

Hi guys:

If you have a sure cure for asphalt track-off, please post any photos. I've been involved in some serious inspections of this, that turned into replacements, and would like to have something to recommend that really works. All of the above were tried, but not by me personally.

Oh, and Jeff picked right the color. It seems that it always worse on a pale blue or grey. Which makes sence because of the lack of yellow.

Up until now, I have just been perfecting my presentation, on why you can expect nothing to always work.

Sincerely,

Dale

RE: Yellow traffic lanes... do you have a solution?: Fred Geyen: 4/16/2010 11:46:14 AM

Yes Dale I agree with you that it is about the color wheel which helps explain the Blue & Grey being biggest problem.

You say all methods above were tried. Really? Did they (at the inspections) have Syon-5 as I found it to really work well on many but not all carpets with the yellowing.

Question to you Dale. Who/what was the outcome of some of these type of inspections.?

RE: Please if there's a Miracle Chemical?: Dale Collins: 4/16/2010 12:13:59 PM

Hi Fred:

I'm not the best to ask about this. I only do very minor repairs and cleanings. I just refer the problem to the mill, who then typically sends out thier favorite local cleaner. And when I check back I only know what I've been told. I do not know that all brand chemicals have been tried, only the above processes.

The mills should be the "authorities" on it. And I have talked with their technical people, and have heard them "give up" when it comes to asphalt tracking. I also know of a couple cases where they paid for carpet replacement. But most of the time it is written as a exception in their warranties.

And, on one case after all the above was tried, I personally used "dry solvents" on a cut out sample of asphalt walkoffed carpet that I did not have to worry about delaminating, and cleaned until there was no more transfer on a white towel, and it still looked yellow.

I'm also pretty sure that if there were a "miracle" chemical, the company who makes it would hold a unique patent and the mills would acknowledge there's no longer a problem.

Sincerely,

Dale

RE: Yellow traffic lanes... do you have a solution?: Terry Brevik: 4/16/2010 7:22:53 PM

argosheen

RE: Yellow traffic lanes... do you have a solution?: Jim Pemberton: 4/17/2010 9:32:30 AM

There is no miracle product, only products and processes that "lessen the intensity of the discoloration". It also depends on what product left the oily residue, how long it was on the carpet before you had a chance to clean the carpet etc.

In some ways, its like red dye removers. Try one on a one year old stain resistant nylon that's never been "attacked" your customers' attempts to "help" and they'll all seem good.

Try one on a 20 year old nylon that's been doused with everything from Resolve to Oxy clean, and you'll not be as impressed.

Yellow traffic lane remediation is much the same.

RE: Yellow traffic lanes... do you have a solution?: Terry Brevik: 4/17/2010 4:34:39 PM

problem is explaining this to the customer so they under stand.

End of posting...

I hope you enjoyed that and learned something... and feel free to write back with your own solution to this cleaning challenge.

For more information, please visit our website:

WWW.DUTCHTOUCHCARPETSERVICE.COM

Maid Websites & Blogs on Google's #1st page. My Web Wisdom

2010-04-22T15:31:00.000-07:00

Maid Websites & Blogs.

Gospel of Web Wisdom.

I look around the web and see quite a few good, bad and absolutely ugly websites and blogs that pertain to Maids and House Cleaning. I write this based on my humble opinion as a Webmaster with many years of Photography, SEO Marketing, Graphic / Web Design & cutting edge Web Development experience. Nobody in San Diego North County & in the city even comes close! Nobody has even challenged me.

The SEO rankings are based on the search engine reading and indexing the content on a webpage. Since Google is the #1 search engine, everybody wants to be on the first page. Some companies take the affiliated marketing approach and still show up on Google's first 3 pages.

For example, this company called My House Cleaning Biz has marketed and aggregated different Maid and House cleaning Companies and posted them on this website. They even include videos. Brilliant e-Marketing concept but a little overwhelming. Nobody in their right mind is going to buy their e-Books unless they are an affiliated Maid and House Cleaning company and think they stand to gain an advantage by investing in their e-Marketing. It is not for me to decide. It is not my expertise. I do not make the money and marketing decisions around here. I just do the computer graphics, folks..

If you Google "maid cleaning blogs", you will get:

Maid Service and House Cleaning Blog. These people are very prolific. Lots of content and a few photos. Their advice on the blog is very informative. I posted some comments thanking them. They are on the #1 spot on Google Organic Search. They used WordPress Glamour. They make some very good WordPress websites. Have a look at their portfolio.

Their homepage, Sun Cleaning, comes in last on Google's 1st page. Not bad at all.

Maids Express Boston. This was done with Wordpress. The top thumbs are blurry. Some of the photos are stock and have nothing to do with the articles. The search engines LOVE blogs, but this site needs work. They obviously just slapped this together. I would fire the designer. At least his site is on the first page of Google. It comes in at #2 spot in the Organic Search. Let him or her start looking for their next web gig with that knowledge.

Maid Brigade are a bigger company. They rank #3 on Google's Organic Search. They are between good and bad. They lack photos. The text is just thrown on the page without any style checking.They used Compendum Blogware.You will find Google Ads. Why is a company that is big using something meant for smaller companies? Is it corporate greed or just everyday business? It just goes to show you this blog marketing business is guerilla warfare. Knowing this serves as a wakeup call as to the state of today's depressive economy.

Maid to Detail are a company in Vancouver. Just another Blog Abomination! Nobody is going to read that garbage just tossed onto a page. I would fire the person that made this Blog! Curse those cheapskates. And they call themselves professional?

Allpro Handyman Services are a little better. They service Oakland and the San Francisco bay area. I see the word "Overwhelmed" on the top right of the banner. I agree on that. Sloppy graphics on a website need to be cleaned and not just the house. Just look at all the keywords they use. This practice is known as "Blackhat SEO". This type of technique is called "Spamdexing". What they are doing is trying to cheat Google by keyword stuffing the webpage. The Google Ads on the bottom look terrible. I guess this is why Google looks the other way because they are in fact helping Google with the ad placement. That is an example of BAD SEO. Search Engine Optimization is a dirty rotten guerilla war.

The BEST blog on Google's page by far goes to Molly Maid. Even though they are a bigger company, they selected a GENIOUS web designer. This is WordPress at it's finest. Not only did they make Google's 1st page, the design, photos and text content are phenomenal!

Just remember, CHEAP GRAPHICS AIN'T GOOD, GOOD GRAPHICS AIN'T CHEAP.

Always keep that in mind. Making Blogs and Websites are a company's investment.

Many people will be looking at your Websites and Blogs. They might be Web Designers looking for content, customers looking for information or even companies, contractors, investors and owners looking for advice. You build it, they will come.

The 7 questions are:
1. Will they come back?
2. Will they leave good feedback?
3. Do they value your opinion?
4. Is it easy to read and navigate?
5. Do you have other media besides text?
6. Are your websites and blogs SEO friendly?
7. Is the design and development excellent?

For more information, please visit our website:

WWW.DUTCHTOUCHMAIDS.COM

Handyman Tips for Door Repairs

2010-04-21T16:20:00.000-07:00

Common Door Repair

One of the most common, and most bothersome, small problems around the house is having a malfunctioning entry door. If your door squeaks, sticks, or has other problems opening or closing, it is often an issue several times a day for anyone who lives in the house. Entry door repair is not always a straightforward task, but in most cases, it is not incredibly involved, either. If you're tired of dealing with an offending door, here are a few tips about door repair that might come in handy.

Door Repairs for Sticking or Swelling

Changes in temperature and humidity can cause swelling, and subsequently sticking, of an entry door. Repair for this situation will involve sanding down the portion of the door that sticks and causes friction. To identify where you need to sand, you can slip a piece of carbon paper in the area where friction is suspected and close the door; when you open it back up, the area that needs to be sanded will be marked with ink. Once you sand the area smooth, make sure to seal it up with varnish, or you're likely to have even more moisture problems in the future.

Door Repair: Sagging

A door will occasionally sag under its own weight and bind in the doorframe. If the situation isn't corrected, it will worsen over time until it's virtually impossible to open or close the door. Sanding the upper door edge is only a temporary fix because the door will continue to sag.

Instead, remove the screws from the upper hinge leaf that's attached to the doorjamb and replace them with three-inch decking screws. The screws will pass through the jamb and reach deep into the trimmer studs of the rough opening. Tighten the screws just enough to pull back the door a little bit. Be careful not to over tighten them or you'll bow the jamb and distort the swing of the door.

Drafty Entry Door Repairs

Especially in colder climates, a drafty entry door can make a room that would be perfectly comfortable into a far less pleasant place. Two very common solutions to this problem are adding weather stripping or installing a storm door. Weather stripping comes in a few different varieties, and can be installed in a couple different ways. When done properly, it is a sure fix for drafts that is cost-effective and quick. Installing a storm door can make a huge difference when it comes to blocking drafts, and when the weather gets warmer, a storm door fitted with a screen can allow a great deal of air circulation without letting in bugs.

Hiring a Handyman for Door Repair

Entry door repair is a project that generally doesn't take too much time, especially for an experienced professional. If you're not the do-it-yourself type, you may want to hire a handyman to come and do the job for you. Even folks with some experience in fixing things around the house might want to call a handyman service for door repair and group it together with a few other odd projects. Make sure to let the service know when you contact them about each individual project you need done, as this will allow them to come to your home prepared.

How to Fix Locksets & Doorknobs

Many lock-set problems can be corrected before they become so serious that the lock set will not work. Often, a malfunctioning latch assembly or lock mechanism causes the problem. An improperly functioning latch may be the result of a poorly fitting door. The lock mechanism may not work simply because the lock is dirty or dry and needs to be lubricated with graphite (do not use any type of oil).

Materials & Tools We Recommend for This Project:

MATERIALS: Graphite Lubricant, Wood Filler

TOOLS: Combination Square, Curved Claw Hammer, Drill-Driver Bit Set, Power Drill, Screwdriver Set, Utility Knife and Wood Chisels.

For serious lock problems, it is usually best to call a locksmith or to replace the lock entirely. If your problems require professional help, keep in mind that removing the lock and taking it to a locksmith is far less expensive than having the locksmith come to you.

A setscrew on a doorknob locks the knob to the spindle. To loosen the setscrew, turn it counterclockwise with a screwdriver; to tighten the setscrew, turn it clockwise.

If a door latch does not operate smoothly, the latch bolt on the door may not be lined up properly with the strike plate on the doorjamb. Repairs range from making minor latch adjustments to repositioning the door.

If the latch does not catch, close the door slowly to watch how the latch bolt meets the strike plate.

The bolt may be positioned above, below, or to one side of the strike plate. (Scars on the strike plate show where it is misaligned.) It is also possible the door has shrunk and the latch no longer reaches the strike plate. Once you have figured out the problem, try one of the methods shown here.

On mortise lock sets (the type that fit into a large slot in the edge of the door), doorknobs may become loose over time. To tighten them, loosen the setscrew on the knob's shank. Hold the knob on the other side of the door, and turn the loose knob clockwise until it fits snugly.

Then tighten the screw until you feel it resting against the flat side of the spindle. The knob should turn freely. If this does not help, remove the knob and check the spindle; if the spindle is worn, it must be replaced. If the whole lock set is worn, it is best to replace it entirely.

For less than a 1/8-inch misalignment of the latch bolt and strike plate, file the inside edges of the plate to enlarge the opening.

If the latch does not reach the strike plate, shim out the plate, or add another strike plate. If the latch still will not reach, shim out the door's hinges. Replace the door with a wider one only as a last resort.

For more than a 1/8-inch misalignment, remove the strike plate, and extend the mortise higher or lower as necessary. Replace the plate, fill the gap at the top or bottom with wood putty, and refinish.

GARAGE DOOR REPAIR

For repairing a garage door, read this link.

For more information, please visit our website:

http://www.dutchtouchhandyman.com/

Home Cleaning Chemicals: Is Green Better?

2010-04-14T15:49:00.000-07:00

Green Chemistry

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Green chemistry, also known as Sustainable Chemistry, is the design of chemical products and processes that reduce or eliminate the use or generation of hazardous substances. Green chemistry applies across the life cycle of a chemical product, including its design, manufacture, and use. Read more about the concept of green chemistry.

Twelve Principles of Green Chemistry

1. Prevention - It is better to prevent waste than to treat or clean up waste after it has been created.

2. Atom Economy - Synthetic methods should be designed to maximize the incorporation of all materials used in the process into the final product.

3.Less Hazardous Chemical Syntheses - Wherever practicable, synthetic methods should be designed to use and generate substances that possess little or no toxicity to human health and the environment.

4.Designing Safer Chemicals - Chemical products should be designed to effect their desired function while minimizing their toxicity.

5.Safer Solvents and Auxiliaries - The use of auxiliary substances (e.g., solvents, separation agents, etc.) should be made unnecessary wherever possible and innocuous when used.

6.Design for Energy Efficiency - Energy requirements of chemical processes should be recognized for their environmental and economic impacts and should be minimized. If possible, synthetic methods should be conducted at ambient temperature and pressure.

7.Use of Renewable Feedstocks - A raw material or feedstock should be renewable rather than depleting whenever technically and economically practicable.

8.Reduce Derivatives - Unnecessary derivatization (use of blocking groups, protection/ deprotection, temporary modification of physical/chemical processes) should be minimized or avoided if possible, because such steps require additional reagents and can generate waste.

9.Catalysis - Catalytic reagents (as selective as possible) are superior to stoichiometric reagents.

10.Design for Degradation - Chemical products should be designed so that at the end of their function they break down into innocuous degradation products and do not persist in the environment.

11.Real-time analysis for Pollution Prevention - Analytical methodologies need to be further developed to allow for real-time, in-process monitoring and control prior to the formation of hazardous substances.

12.Inherently Safer Chemistry for Accident Prevention - Substances and the form of a substance used in a chemical process should be chosen to minimize the potential for chemical accidents, including releases, explosions and fires.

According to the California Department of Toxic Substances Control, they share a share a common principle with Green chemistry - preventing the generation of waste.

Green chemistry is the design of chemical products and processes that reduce or eliminate the use or generation of hazardous substances. Green chemistry applies across the life cycle, including the design, manufacture, and use of a chemical product. Green chemistry is a highly effective approach to pollution prevention because it applies innovative scientific solutions to real-world environmental situations.

Products for household use

There are many companies that sell products besides Simple Green.

This one is called MyCleaningProducts. View their amazing formulas which are compounded of exotic ingredients we have found and instilled from remote locations around the globe. They manufacturer and develop many unique cleaning products such as rust removers, mold cleaner, mold treatment products, tile and grout cleaners and many more.

The harsh chemicals in non-green products can be devastating for individuals who are allergic and have keen and delicate senses. MyCleaningProducts see this alot with mold problems and their chemistry department has attacked this issue full force with developing the organic mold cleaning line of products.

Seventh Generation is another company that makes green cleaning products.

Eco Concepts is yet another company with environmental friendly cleaning supplies.

All-Green Janitorial Products specialize in nothing but green cleaning janitorial products & supplies!

Clean solutions is based out of Sonoma California and have their own products and services.

At the Grist blog, they will show you a test of 8 green cleaning products. Grist also blogs about how to clean your house without hurting the planet.

For more information, please visit our website:

http://www.dutchtouchmaids.com/

Types of Wood for Woodworking: A Guide to Furniture Woods

2010-04-07T14:22:00.000-07:00

Types of Wood for Woodworking

Solid wood — that is, wood cut into boards from the trunk of the tree — makes up most of the wood in a piece of furniture. The type of wood you choose determines the beauty and strength of the piece. Many varieties of wood are available and each has its own properties. The following sections introduce you to the most common types of soft- and hardwoods.

Sampling some softwoods
Softwoods aren't weaker than hardwoods. Softwoods come from coniferous trees such as cedar, fir and pine. They tend to be somewhat yellow or reddish in appearance. Because most coniferous trees grow fast and straight, softwoods are generally less expensive than hardwoods.

It's also relatively easy to find sustainably grown softwoods (woods grown on tree farms to ensure a endless supply of wood); this means you're not contributing to the deforestation of the world and will always have a supply of wood for your projects.

Following is a list of common softwood varieties and their characteristics.

Cedar - The most common type of cedar is the western red variety. Western red cedar, as its name implies, has a reddish color to it. This type of wood is relatively soft (1 on a scale of 1 to 4), has a straight grain, and has a slightly aromatic smell. Western Red cedar is mostly used for outdoor projects such as furniture, decks, and building exteriors because it can handle moist environments without rotting. Western red cedar is moderately priced and can be found at most home centers.

Fir - Often referred to as Douglas Fir, this wood is very soft, has a straight, pronounced grain, and has a reddish brown tint to it. Fir is most often used for building; however, it's inexpensive and can be used for some furniture-making as well. It doesn't have the most interesting grain pattern and doesn't take stain very well, so it's best to use it only when you intend to paint the finished product. Douglas fir is pretty hard, rating 4 on a scale of 1 to 4.

This wood is worth mentioning because it is very common at your local home center and it's so inexpensive you'll probably be tempted to make something with it.

Pine - Pine comes in several varieties, including Ponderosa, Sugar, White, and Yellow, and all of them make great furniture. In some areas of the country (especially southwest United States), pine is the wood to use. Pine is very easy to work with and, because most varieties are relatively soft, it lends itself to carving.

Pine generally takes stain very well (as long as you seal the wood first), although Ponderosa pine tends to ooze sap, so be careful when using this stuff. Pine is available from most home centers, but it's often of a lesser grade than what you can find at a decent lumberyard.

Redwood - Like cedar, redwood is used mostly for outdoor projects because of its resistance to moisture. Redwood (California redwood) is fairly soft and has a straight grain. As its name suggests, it has a reddish tint to it. Redwood is easy to work with, is relatively soft (2 on a scale of 1 to 4), and is moderately priced. You can find redwood at your local home center.

Honing in on hardwoods

Most woodworkers love to work with hardwoods. The variety of colors, textures, and grain patterns makes for some beautiful and interesting-looking furniture. The downside to hardwoods is their price. Some of the more exotic species can be too expensive to use for anything more than an accent.

Some hardwoods are becoming very hard to find and are being harvested without concern to their eventual extinction (Brazilian rosewood comes to mind). Not only is this hard on the environment, it drives the price of the wood so high that making furniture out of it is out of the question for most woodworkers. If you can, try to buy wood from a sustainable forest (commercial tree farms that ensure the supply of the wood). Check out the National Hardwood Lumber Association or SmartWood.com for ways to support sustainable forestry.

Following is a list of common hardwoods and their characteristics.

Ash - Ash is a white-to-pale-brown colored wood with a straight grain. It's pretty easy to work with (hardness of 4 on a scale of 1 to 5) and takes stain quite nicely, but ash is getting harder and harder to find. You won't find ash at your local home center — it's only available from larger lumberyards. Ash is a good substitute for white oak.

Birch - Birch comes in two varieties: yellow and white. Yellow birch is a pale yellow-to-white wood with reddish-brown heartwood, whereas white birch has a whiter color that resembles maple. Both types of birch have a hardness of 4 on a scale of 1 to 5. Birch is readily available and less expensive than many other hardwoods. You can find birch at many home centers, although the selection is better at a lumberyard.

Birch is stable and easy to work with. However, it's hard to stain because it can get blotchy, so you might prefer to paint anything that you make with birch.

Cherry - Cherry is a very popular and all-around great wood; easy to work with, stains and finishes well with just oil, and ages beautifully. Cherry's heartwood has a reddish-brown color to it and the sapwood is almost white. Cherry has a hardness of 2 on a scale of 1 to 5. This is a very common wood for furniture-making and is available from sustainably-grown forests. You won't find cherry at your local home center, so a trip to the lumberyard is necessary if you want to use it. Because it's in demand, cherry is getting somewhat expensive compared to other domestic hardwoods, such as oak and maple.

Mahogany - One of the great furniture woods, mahogany (also called Honduran mahogany) has a reddish-brown-to-deep-red tint, a straight grain, medium texture, and a hardness of around 2 on a scale of 1 to 5. It takes stain very well and looks great with just a coat (or 10) of oil.

The only drawback is that mahogany isn't being grown in sustainable forests (not a big deal unless you want to ensure that it'll be around forever). Forget going to your home center to get some — the only place to find mahogany is a decent lumberyard (and it'll cost you).

Maple - Maple comes in two varieties: hard and soft. Both varieties are harder than many other woods; hard maple is so hard (a 5 on a scale of 1 to 5) that it's difficult to work with. Soft maple, on the other hand, is relatively easy to work with. Because of their fine, straight grain, both varieties are more stable than many other woods. They also tend to be less expensive than other hardwoods. You won't find maple at your local home center, but most lumberyards have a good selection of it.

Oak - Oak is one of the most used woods for furniture. Available in two varieties — red and white — oak is strong (hardness of about 4 on a scale of 1 to 5) and easy to work with. White oak is preferred for furniture-making because it has a more attractive figure than red oak (white oak is also resistant to moisture and can be used on outdoor furniture).

This is one wood that can be found quarter-sawn (the most stable cutting option available). In fact, quarter-sawn white oak is less expensive than some other hardwoods like cherry, for instance. The grain has a beautiful "ray flake" pattern to it. Red oak can be found at most home centers, but if you want white oak, make a trip to the lumberyard.

Poplar - Poplar is one of the less expensive hardwoods. It's also fairly soft (1 in hardness on a scale of 1 to 5), which makes it easy to work with. Poplar has a white color with some green or brown streaks in the heartwood. Because poplar is not the most beautiful wood, it's rarely used in fine furniture and if it is, it's almost always painted. Poplar can be a good choice for drawers (where it won't be seen) because it is stable and inexpensive. You can find poplar at larger home centers, but a lumberyard will have a better selection.

Teak - Teak is becoming rarer as the days go on, but it is the staple for fine outdoor furniture. Teak is highly weather-resistant and beautiful (not to mention expensive — can you believe almost $24 a board foot?). Teak has an oily feel and a golden-brown color. It rates a 3 on a scale of 1 to 5 for hardness and is only available from larger lumberyards and specialty suppliers.

Walnut - With a hardness of about 4 on a 1 to 5 scale, walnut is a rich brown wood that's easy to work with. Unfortunately, walnut is somewhat expensive (usually around $8 a board foot) and finding large boards for big projects is getting difficult. In spite of this, walnut is still a great wood to work with and lends itself nicely for use as accents and inlays to dress up a project. You won't find walnut at your local home center and you may need to special order it from a lumberyard if you want a large quantity.

A Guide to Furniture Woods

Almost any type of wood could be used to build furniture, but some woods have always been favored for their beauty, durability, and workability. Before 1900, most furniture was made with these woods: walnut, oak, mahogany, rosewood, fruitwoods, and rare wood veneers and inlays were in common use. American Colonial furniture, dependent on local availability, was made with maple, oak, walnut, birch, and cherry, as well as pine. The preferred furniture woods were readily available, so less attractive or durable woods were used only for hidden parts inside a piece. For this reason, pre-1900 furniture is almost always worth restoring.

As these preferred woods have become scarcer and more expensive, furniture has been made with more abundant woods; the traditional favorites have become rare. Today, most furniture is made with ash, pine, gum, and poplar; pine, fir, and other inexpensive woods are used for hidden parts. The rare woods are used only for very good furniture, and they're often used in combination with the less expensive woods.

Being able to identify the type of wood used for your furniture can help you determine its real value. Wood identification can sometimes be the deciding factor when you aren't sure if a piece is worth refinishing or if it should be thrown away. There's a good chance that a beat-up old dresser, for instance, was built with what today is considered a rare wood. In this article, we'll show you how to examine a piece of furniture and what details or identifying marks to look for to easily identify the type of wood used to create it. It will be helpful to know the basic characteristics in all woods, such as hardness, grains, and color.

Wood Characteristics

Hardness: The simplest way to describe a wood is to say it's a hardwood or a softwood, but this description can be deceptive: not all hardwoods are hard, and not all softwoods are soft. The hard/soft classification is a botanical one -- hardwoods are flowering trees; softwoods are conifers. Although most hardwoods are harder than most softwoods, there are exceptions.

In general, hardwoods are more valuable than softwoods, because the wood is scarcer. But this isn't always the case -- gum, for instance, is a hardwood that competes in price with softwoods. A more practical way to identify wood is by its grain and color.

Wood grain and color: The cell structure of a tree, different for each species, determines its grain. Hardwoods have tubular cells called vessels, visible as pores in the wood. If the cells are large, the texture of the wood is slightly rough, or open; a filler may be needed to smooth the surface. If the cells are small, the texture is smooth; these woods, described as close-grained, don't require filling. Oak, walnut, ash, mahogany, rosewood, and teak are all open-grained woods; beech, birch, maple, cherry, satinwood, gum, and poplar are close-grained. Softwoods don't have vessel cells, but for all practical purposes can be considered close-grained.

All trees have annual growth rings, made up of the cells formed during each year's growing season. The types and arrangement of the cells determine how the wood looks. There are woods with subdued and with clearly defined grains; there are straight grains, stripes, swirls, waves or curls, ripples, eyes, and mottled effects. There are colors from white and pale yellow through red, purple, and black. Every species has its own particular grain and color, and although they vary from tree to tree, these characteristics can almost always be used to identify the wood.

Furniture woods are chosen and valued for the character of their grain and color. Hardwoods usually have a richer and finer-textured grain than softwoods, but there are rich grains of all colors and patterns. Woods with very distinctive patterns are usually more valuable than woods with subdued or indistinct patterns, and the weaker-grained woods are often stained to give them character. This is why the old finish must be completely removed before you can tell for sure what wood a piece of furniture is made of.

How to Assess Wood

How do you begin to identify the type of wood used for your furniture? This may seem difficult at first, but you'll find it easier as you gain experience. With practice, you may be able to recognize various woods by smell and touch as well as by color and grain. You should ask yourself some key questions:

Consider the piece of furniture itself. About how old is it, and what style is it? Some types of furniture are made with specific woods -- ash, for instance, is widely used in bentwoods -- and most new furniture is made with woods not used for older furniture.

Look at the color. Although color can vary considerably from tree to tree, its tone is fairly constant within a species; the color intensity may change, but not the quality. Some woods have very distinctive color characteristics -- poplar, for instance, is the only wood with a green tinge to it, and rosewood can be dark purple.

Finally, look at the grain. Is the wood open- or close-grained? Are the pores evenly distributed, or are they concentrated at the growth rings? Is the grain straight or wavy, mottled or swirled?

Now that you have closely looked at your furniture, you might notice it is made with veneer (thin layers of wood) or a combination of woods. Both are common practices for furniture building.

Veneers and Inlays: Because rare woods are scarce, and because they've always been more expensive than other woods, many types of furniture, both new and old, are made with veneer, a thin layer of wood glued to a base of less expensive wood or plywood. In old furniture, veneers and inlays of rare woods were often used to form designs or special effects; highly figured burl woods and other exotic woods were especially prized. In modern furniture, veneers are used primarily where solid wood is unavailable or too expensive.

Many different woods are used for veneers and inlays. Some veneers are cut from the crotch or butt of a tree, where the grain is more interesting; some are cut at an angle to produce a particular pattern. Some highly prized grain patterns, such as the bird's-eye figure in maple and the burl patterns, result from irregular growth. Some veneer woods, such as the burl woods, are not usable for solid construction because the wood isn't strong enough. Ebony, in contrast, is veneered because it's much too heavy to be used alone.

Veneers are fragile, and they can be damaged by refinishing techniques. Veneers are common in modern furniture construction, so take a good look at your furniture before you start to work on it. Any highly figured wood is probably a veneer.

It isn't always obvious what's veneered and what's not. Sometimes the veneer is visible at the edge of the wood surface, a thin layer glued over the base wood. If you can't see a joint at the edge, look at an unfinished area under the piece of furniture. If the unfinished wood looks the same as the finished surface, the piece of furniture is probably solid wood. If there's a considerable difference, it's probably veneered.

Wood combinations: Another consideration is that many types of modern furniture are made with two or more kinds of wood, to keep the cost down. Rare woods are used where appearance is important, such as table-tops; the more common woods are used for less conspicuous structural pieces, such as table and chair legs. This multiple-wood construction isn't always easy to see until the old finish is removed -- a table you think is walnut, for example, may turn out to have gum legs, stained to match.

Furniture made with more than one wood eventually needs special refinishing treatment. If you find yourself with a multiple-wood piece, you may have to stain and finish the common wood again to match the wood of the most conspicuous surface.

Once you are familiar with the color, grain, and construction style of your furniture, you can use that information to determine the specific kind of wood or woods used. Check out the next section for tips on how to easily identify common furniture woods.

For more information, please visit our website:

http://www.dutchtouchwoodworking.com/

Selecting Grass for Your Landscape

2010-04-06T13:54:00.000-07:00

Selecting Grass for Your Landscape

The lawn is the most dominant feature of the American home landscape. Most people have lawns to some degree. The lawn may have a flowerbed located in its middle, or it may be reduced in size by a patio, but it is, for the most part, ever present.

Not just any sod or grass seed will work everywhere. It is important when you begin designing and building your landscape that you choose grass that will thrive and that is likely to succeed. It is also very important to select grass that answers your ideas of maintenance.

Where? Before you select your grass, however, it is important to decide were you will put it. Practical consideration of how to efficiently water the lawn and care for it is part of the determination as to whether or not your turf will survive. It is not a particularly sound practice to seed or lay sod in long, narrow strips of landscape.

Grass is much better in larger square areas. Odd shaped areas of grass may not receive the water they need (it can be going other places, like onto the driveway or in the lower garden, especially with sprinkler irrigation), while large blocky areas are easier to water and easier to mow. Take this into account even before you select the grass for your landscape.

Which? When it is time for you to select your grass, think about the requirements that the region in which you live and that your soil will impose upon your grass. Make sure that you have a soil analysis to determine the characteristics of your soil. You want to choose a grass that will thrive in that soil.

If the soil is especially bad, you can usually add some sort of amendment to help the soil do better. However, you can increase your chances by choosing sod or seed that will be compatible with your area and with the condition of your soil.

You should also select grasses that fit with your climate. If you live in a hot climate, Bermuda grass and St. Augustine grass may be a good choice.

Many people like Kentucky blue grass, but fail to realize that this type of grass does not do especially well in times of drought.

If you live in a semi-arid region, then zoysia grass,

buffalo grass and centipede grass are very promising choices. These types of grass do not need as much water, and are hardy and great ways to increase the efficiency of a xeriscape by conserving water.
Choosing ornamental grasses can also be important for your landscape. Ornamental grasses are not grasses that are meant to be used as a lawn. These grasses usually grow taller and have distinctive looks.

When selecting ornamental grasses to add beauty to the yard, you should take into consideration things like the location of the grasses in your landscape, the colors and textures of the grasses you are using, and whether or not they are compatible with the growing conditions and climate in your area. The advantages of using ornamental grasses in your landscape include the facts that they are low maintenance and that they often conserve water.

How Big? In addition to thinking of location (some grasses do well in drier soils in full sun while others require moist soil) and climate when selecting your ornamental grasses, it is also important to approach your choice with a sense of scale. Know how big the grasses will grow.

Willows and other large grasses would not do in a small area. And, if you have a large area, you might consider planting fewer different types of grass plants, but more of the types you do use. The attraction of ornamental grasses planted in large groups is that the grasses grow up to be large patches of color or texture, and can contrast nicely with other portions of the landscape.

Grasses are very important parts of the landscape. Whether you are using sod or seed to plant a beautiful lawn, or whether you are looking for ornamental grasses to be part of your landscape (or both!), you need to consider your grass selections beforehand. When you take into account what has the most chance of success in your landscape, and what would look the best as part of your design, then you end up with a superior looking yard.

What types of lawn grass are there to choose from?

Your choice depends in part on where you live. I'll give two examples to illustrate types of lawn grass, and where they're best grown:

In the southern U.S. "warm-season" grasses are generally grown. These types of lawn grasses grow actively from mid-April to mid-October. As their name implies, they like the warm weather. Bermuda grass is an example of a warm-season type of grass.

In the central and northern U.S. you are more likely to see people growing "cool-season" grasses. These types of grasses often grow the most in the moderately cool temperatures of late spring and early fall -- the heat of summer slows them down. Kentucky bluegrass is an example of a cool-season type of grass.

Don't forget that, in addition to lawn grasses, there are also "ornamental" grasses. Ornamental grasses can also be classified according to whether they are warm-season or cool-season grasses.

The Benefits Of Using Artificial Grass

For some residents in a neighborhood in Carlsbad California, the streets are very well kept and the lawns are nice, green and beautiful.

However, all this prettiness changed when one resident decided that enough is enough. He ripped his yard up and installed artificial grass.

Though there are those who think that having a synthetic artificial lawn grass is pathetic, there are those who think otherwise.

Believe it or not, this coming summer will be witness to a lot more people from the suburban areas that are to install yards upon yards of artificial grass.

This is lawn faux grass that is somehow very lifelike and real that people could be fooled to think they are what they appear to be, and pets actually think it is real.

The fact of the matter is that spending on artificial grass is supposed to rise by a quarter this coming year at businesses as well as homes.

This basically translates to a revenue of two hundred and fifty million more. Compare this to a real lawn grass that need to be maintained, trimmed, sprinkled, etc. and an artificial grass that solely needs to be blow dried.

Why artificial grass? Though this prospect is tempting for some, it is unthinkable for a lot of other people. There are still those suburban residents that find artificial grass tacky and surreal.

Some residents still find a reason to complain on artificial grass. For them, artificial grass looks just too lushly fake in the cold, cold dead winter. This has even prompted some neighborhoods to ban the use of artificial grass altogether.

For the research director of the National Association of Gardening, having artificial grass is like having a toupee on your lawn.

But there are still positive perks from having artificial grass. For one, the artificial grass industry thinks that there are advantages of faux lawn grass.

One benefit is the decrease in the care of one's lawn. Thereby saving anyone and everyone money and energy.

Artificial grass is also one way to decrease the use of fertilizers. It also helps neighborhood and households comply with the restrictions with regards to the use of water especially in areas that experience a lot of drought.

Take for example an area in New Mexico, particularly Albuquerque which actually offer five hundred dollars to those residents who have a part of their lawn converted to landscape and which need less water.

Same laws are also enforced in Arizona at Mesa as well as in Las Vegas. Simply put, for those who really want to see lush green grass, the use of artificial grass is a good alternative.

For those homeowners who prefer the artificial grass, the reasons are simple. One artificial grass user has found it helpful that his son no longer drags mud inside their house.

Though the fact of the matter is that he also had to pad some areas of the lawn in order for the child not to hurt himself - it cost three hundred dollars.

Another benefit that artificial grass brings: no bugs.

Also, artificial grass - like real lawn grass - comes in varieties. There are those who are garden lush variety artificial grass that has a recently-been-mowed look. This type of grass costs an average of thirty thousand dollars.

The plus is that it simply needs to be airblowered once after quite a long while.

How did fake grass become so hip? It all started in the 1970's when football teams as well as baseball teams decided to install artificial grass in stadiums all over the country.

Though fans claimed it as an ugly alternative, as well as dangerous and totally unnatural, it was actually a low maintenance and low cost landscaping phenomenon.

Until there were athletes that tore their ligaments and broke their bones due to the artificial grass.

All in all, the use of artificial grass depends much on a person's preference, style, need and budget. What one could see as ugly could be beauty to another person's perspective.

The important thing is that all the benefits and disadvantages are properly weighed by the potential user of the artificial grass and from there decide which is best as according to his long term likes and dislikes.

Still another benefit: no lawn disease.

Every lawn, whether new or established, is susceptible to a variety of lawn diseases. Most lawn disease starts with a fungus. Fungi are an oddity because they don’t set seeds; instead, they propagate by distributing spores in their surrounding area. Some of the spores are picked up by wind or animals and distributed in new locations.

One of the biggest problems in controlling lawn diseases is diagnosis. By the time signs of infection are evident, the fungus that causes it is often difficult to control. Although there are dozens of types of lawn disease, most can be prevented through regular lawn care. Most fungus spores lie dormant until conditions are right for them to grow and infect your lawn. Generally, fungus spores need warm temperatures, a moist environment, a source of nutrition and a susceptible host. Although you can’t control the weather, you can deprive them of the nutrients they need as well as a susceptible host.

Common Turf Diseases Identification

Please note that all the disease pictures on this page are examples taken from very short mowed turf. This makes for better pictures, but symptoms in a lawn situation where turf is taller, are often not so obvious.

Dollar Spot

This is a common disease on Bluegrass. However, it can occur on other turf grasses. It is one of the diseases that can be discouraged by adequate fertilizer. It prefers warm days, and relatively cool nights. It often appears during abnormally warm fall weather. It is among the easiest of diseases to control. Different Bluegrass cultivars show a wide range of resistance to this disease.

Brown Patch

This is a troublesome disease which is very common on Tall Fescue turf. Brown Patch requires warm, humid days, and warm nights. During favorable conditions this disease is often present to some extent on almost every Tall Fescue lawn. Some cultivars of tall fescue have shown resistance, but none are immune. This disease rarely kills the turf, but can discolor it for extended periods. It can be managed with fungicides, but the disease pressure often outlasts the fungicide protection.

Leaf Spot

This is a common disease on Bluegrass. It prefers cool, wet weather. We see it mostly in the spring. It can discolor the lawn if many plants are infected. Leaf Spot is not tolerant of hot weather, so generally it is thought of as a temporary problem. When we have a long, cool and wet spring, this disease may eventually affect almost all Bluegrass lawns. It can be managed with fungicides, but generally is tolerated on a home lawn. Plants severely infected in the spring may weaken and die later in summer. This is called "melting out".

Summer Patch

This is a very serious disease on Bluegrass. It is caused by a soil borne fungus that colonizes the roots of the plant. It is a perennial problem on the lawns in which it is present. The infection of this disease initiates in late spring, but visible symptoms do not appear until late summer. Management of Summer Patch in a home lawn involves one of two options. You can convert the lawn to tall fescue, or you can help encourage recovery of the damaged turf in fall. Fungicide treatments for this disease are expensive, and results are often disappointing.

Powdery Mildew

This disease is common during cool weather. It often appears in shady areas with poor air circulation. The white grass blades are easy to see, and this is an easy disease to diagnose. It generally does not permanently damage the turf, but it can be very persistent. It responds to many common fungicides.

Rust

This disease occurs on all types of grass, including Zoysia and Bluegrass, but is most common on Ryegrass. It often can be managed with proper fertilization. Rust frequently appears during wet periods of late spring and summer. During the hottest part of summer, this disease may show up in heavy shade areas. Fungicides are effective but are usually unnecessary. The spores of this disease are orange, and will stick to your shoes as you walk through the lawn. Orange shoes are a dead giveaway that this disease is present in the lawn.

Fairy Ring

This disease may occur in any lawn. It is caused by a soil borne fungus. The classic symptom is the circular dark green narrow band in the lawn. This narrow band will turn brown as moisture stress develops over the summer. There are many variations of this disease. The bands may be circular, small arcs, or long and winding. Sometimes mushrooms will grow in the band. This condition may be unsightly, but rarely causes permanent damage. It is very difficult to eliminate.

Mushrooms (Toadstools)

Mushrooms and toadstools are fungi that often appear in home lawns. They may occur in conjunction with a Fairy Ring, but more often they occur during wet periods, where decaying organic matter is in the soil. Old tree stumps, buried lumber, or even a heavy thatch layer can provide the nutrients necessary to support these mushrooms. There is no chemical control for these invaders, and none is necessary. Just knock them over, or mow them down. If possible, you can attempt to remove the source of the organic matter, but often this is not practical.

Slime Mold

This generates a lot of customer calls, but is harmless to the turf. It shows up as a grayish, dusty looking coating of the grass blade. It can be washed of the grass, or swept off with a broom. The mold usually disappears on its own after a short period.

For more information, please visit our website:

http://www.dutchtouchlandscape.com/

Window Cleaning Ladder Safety Advice

2010-04-01T14:24:00.000-07:00

Window Cleaning Safety

Professional window cleaning can be a very precarious occupation, especially given the fact that falls from height are one of the biggest causes of workplace deaths. In addition to several fatalities, many more window cleaners suffer serious injury every year as the result of falling and you don’t even need to fall from a great height to be severely injured with many accidents occurring as the result of a fall from less than head height.

Principal Causes of Falls
Most falls suffered by professional window cleaners are from ladders which is hardly surprising seeing that they are the most commonly used implement for a window cleaner to ascend although cradles and other types of mobile elevating platforms can often be used too.
The predominant causes of a fall from a ladder are the window cleaner over-reaching, poorly maintained or old worn-out ladders, the user slipping off the rungs and the ladder itself slipping and falling. Please read The OSHA Standard below.

The OSHA Standard (shown in blue) for portable ladders contains specific requirements designed to ensure worker safety:
1. Loads 2. Angle 3. Rungs 4. Slipping 5. Other Requirements

1. Loads - Self-supporting (foldout) and non-self-supporting (leaning) portable ladders must be able to support at least four times the maximum intended load, except extra-heavy-duty metal or plastic ladders, which must be able to sustain 3.3 times the maximum intended load.

2. Angle - Non-self-supporting ladders, which must lean against a wall or other support, are to be positioned at such an angle that the horizontal distance from the top support to the foot of the ladder is about 1/4 the working length of the ladder.

In the case of job-made wooden ladders, that angle should equal about 1/8 the working length. This minimizes the strain of the load on ladder joints that may not be as strong as on commercially manufactured ladders.

3. Rungs - Ladder rungs, cleats, or steps must be parallel, level, and uniformly spaced when the ladder is in position for use. Rungs must be spaced between 10 and 14 inches apart.

For extension trestle ladders, the spacing must be 8-18 inches for the base, and 6-12 inches on the extension section.

Rungs must be so shaped that an employee's foot cannot slide off and must be skid-resistant.

4. Slipping - Ladders are to be kept free of oil, grease, wet paint, and other slipping hazards.

Wood ladders must not be coated with any opaque covering, except identification or warning labels on one face only of a side rail.

5. Other Requirements - Foldout or stepladders must have a metal spreader or locking device to hold the front and back sections in an open position when in use.

When two or more ladders are used to reach a work area, they must be offset with a landing or platform between the ladders.

The area around the top and bottom of ladder must be kept clear.

Ladders must not be tied or fastened together to provide longer sections, unless they are specifically designed for such use.

Never use a ladder for any purpose other than the one for which it was designed.

Other Medical Factors
In addition to faulty or poorly maintained ladders, a careless approach to the task or a simple freak accident, there are other medical conditions which should also be taken into consideration when thinking of using a ladder. It’s recommended that people who should refrain from using a ladder at any time include those who may suffer from epilepsy, psychiatric disorders, heart and lung conditions, problems with joint movements, those who misuse alcohol and/or drugs and those who may be on medication temporarily which might induce dizziness or drowsiness.

MORE LADDER SAFETY TIPS
Whether you’re a self-employed window cleaner or working for a larger company, you should ensure that any ladder you are using cannot slip and will not move when it’s stepped on. It should be of sufficient length to do the required job safely and without the need for any over-stretching and, where possible, handholds should be available to enable the user to have 3 points of contact. It is also imperative that you maintain a ladder and to check it for defects regularly. Unlike certain other equipment, if there are any signs of defects and your ladder is showing signs of wear and tear, it is usually advisable to get rid of it and buy a new one as opposed to having a ladder repaired; any repair could impair the strength of the ladder. It’s far better to buy a new one than to run the risk of a repaired one giving way whilst you’re high up on it as that could prove fatal.

After all, window cleaning via extension ladders IS DANGEROUS!
To avoid personal and property damage we need to take a close look at ladder safety procedures. During the course of this article, I'll reference safety standards and regulations from the IWCA, ANSI, OSHA and Cal OSHA. First, let's take a look at...

Correct Extension Ladder Setup:
Prior to using an extension ladder, visually inspect and take the appropriate measures so that building features, such as window ledges, frames, entranceways and landscaping will not impair the safe climbing, descending and moving of a ladder.

First - lay extension ladder flat on it's back with feet of the ladder butted up against building's wall. If a wall is not available, there are overhead obstructions, or other reasons you can't use building's wall to secure ladder, a second person can assist in setting up ladder. The second person takes the place of the wall by placing his or her foot on the bottom rung of the ladder and his or her other foot on one foot of the ladder.

Second - lift ladder's top while pushing forward to maintain pressure against building's wall. *Don't perform ladder work if you are not mentally or physically capable of safely accomplishing the work.
Lift with your legs, not your back.

Third - lift ladder overhead. With your hands extending ladder to your highest point of reach, work hand over hand pushing ladder towards the building.

Note: When you reach beyond the middle point of setting up your extension ladder, or lift past the middle rung; an increasing force of ladder's top weight will be working against your efforts. It may feel as though the top portion of the ladder will crash down over the back of your head; much , in the same way, a child's playground "See Saw" works. *You'll need to remain focused and calm; continue to lift ladder while increasing pressure against building's wall.

Fourth - At this point, you're ready to rest extension ladder against the building.

Fifth - lift ladder's base with both arms and move ladder slowly away from building. Make sure not to move ladder into glass below or mar exterior building surface.

Sixth - Extend ladder using ladder's rope and pulley system while stabilizing ladder with your right or left foot on ladder's bottom rung. Ladder must be close to, if not, fully vertical in position. Once ladder is erected to the correct working height, slowly lower top of ladder until it rests against building. Both feet of ladder and both left and right top arms of ladder must equally rest against building. To take down ladder, follow this guide in reverse.

Tip: Do not attempt extension ladder work when wind or when other weather conditions make it unsafe to the worker, property or public.

Ladder Pitch: The horizontal distance from its top support point to the foot of the ladder is 1/4 of the unsupported length of the ladder. Or, equal to 75° degree angle at level grade, i.e.. (ladder is extended 28' feet, it's base should be 7' feet from the building).

Tip: Do not stand above highest "safe standing level" prescribed by ladder's manufacturer, i.e.. (above top three rungs).

Tip: Do not extend the center of your body's torso past either side rail of ladder, i.e.. (do not over reach).

Tip: Keep atleast 3 points of contact when working, i.e.. (your feet and 1 hand).

Tip: Face ladder while ascending and descending.

Tip: Don't carry tools in hand, use a window cleaner's tool belt, or belt designed for the ladder work to be accomplished.

Tip: Wear proper footwear with non-slip soles.

Tip: Never leave erected ladder unattended.

Tip: Secure ladders placed in areas such as passageways, doorways, or driveways, or where they can be displaced by workplace activities or traffic to prevent accidental movement. Or, use a barricade to keep traffic or activity away from the ladder.

Extension Ladder Leveler and Stabilizer:

All ladders must be leveled before climbing. The leveling device must be an approved or certified device.

The “Ladder Leveler” is a fantastic addition to any extension ladder. Although, it will add weight to your ladder, the safety features far outweigh the inconvenience. The Ladder Leveler allows you to mount your ladder on uneven surfaces such as... (sloped grades and stair cases) by extending one or the other of it’s two legs. It also has “feet” that roll forward and has “teeth” that will help stabilize the ladder when on slippery surfaces like grass and loose gravel. When working on flat, solid surfaces, roll the feet back to their standard position – black “rubber pads down”.

This ladder leveler has an addition benefit; it helps stabilize ladder by creating a larger ladder base width.

Although, nonslip bases are not intended as a substitute for care in safe placing, lashing or holding a ladder that is being used on oily, metal, concrete or slippery surfaces, this "Ladder Stopper" can help add addition traction and provide a safer ladder work environment for the user.

In the example shown, the ladder stopper is helping to stabilize an extension ladder on a home’s interior wood floor.

"Ladder Mitts" (Those orange things on the top) not only help protect property from be marred and damaged but, add stability to ladder's top. These rubber mitts can be easily added to and removed from common extension ladders. In my opinion, these are an absolute must, especially when mounting an extension ladder against vinyl, metal or other slippery building surfaces.

Load Ratings:

The American National Standards Institute defines the load rating of each ladder and is found printed on a safety label located on every ladder's leg. The Type designation of each ladder is a rating of how much weight a single rung on the ladder can bear.

Type 3 (Use Household) is safety rated to hold up to 200 pounds

Type 2 (Use Commercial) is safety rated to hold up to 225 pounds

Type 1 (Use Industrial) is safety rated to hold up to 250 pounds

Type 1A (Use Industrial) is safety rated to hold up to 300 pounds

Type 1AA (Use Industrial) is safety rated to hold up to 375 pounds

Disclaimer: Ladder work is dangerous and the use of techniques within this document may not be held liable against in the case of personal bodily or property damage. In other words... Use At Your Own Risk.

For more information, please visit our website:

http://www.dutchtouchwindowservice.com/

Why Is It Smart To Hire A Maid Service?

2010-03-31T14:44:00.000-07:00

Why Is It Smart To Hire A Maid Service?

In our time and need of help around the home, we've turned to the growing industry of Maid Services. They provide us with all the needed aid and support we need to make our lives much easier with their cleaning services to turn our homes into clean havens once more. In San Diego North County, we turn to these maids for help because we hardly have time of our own to handle our household while we are away from the home, being breadwinners for our families. What are the benefits maid services offer us as people too busy to be home to cater to the weeklong mess we probably left behind are these simple services that give us a piece of mind:

The main benefit these maids in North County give us is a cleaner home. They go through our household with the latest in cleaning equipment as well as the safest cleaning agents (being eco-friendly products) that don't leave behind strong chemical antiseptic smells after being applied, these chemicals are also safer for our children and pets since most conventional cleaning products such as Sodium Hydrochloride is trans-dermal- meaning they can enter the body through the skin and swim in the bloodstream, causing poisoning. The power of Maid Services' cleaning equipment also gives your house a more guaranteed cleanliness since they can eliminate nasty stains no ordinary carpet scrubbing or washing can handle. The maids in San Diego North County are trained professionals in the cleaning methods and procedures it takes to turn our homes into sparkling abodes devoid of dirt, they vacuum our floors with special vacuum cleaners that suck up any dirt from carpets, the also clean our windows; both inside and out as well as organize our house in such ways as folding our clothes, laundering our messy clothing, changing our bed sheets, etc. - It's practically full service.

The other benefits that maid services provide are their timing and availability. On the days we cannot clean our homes, they are always ready. Should it be a weekend or hectic weekday, Maid Services are available to us at anytime during the day and night. It's the whole point of being a maid service, to always be ready to serve. They provide us service packages that can vary in prices but with every package set up to have those above our budget range and those right on it- making it convenient for us to choose which one we want or could afford. There are additional services Maid Services provide as well like Pet Grooming and Cooking that goes beyond their normal cleaning service, these are always available to us at any time. Time is of no problem when it comes to calling on Maid Services.

The maids in San Diego North County also provide a function to us that are not quite obvious until you've understood the mechanics of how burglary works, putting their use and timing of maid service at such a crucial moment of safety for your home. Burglars often stalk and "case" the places they wish to hit and they do this by watching our homes for long periods could be weeks and take down noted patterns out neighborhood has to set up the right time to strike our homes. With Maid Services, we can ruin their careful planning and even discourage them to try as we can call in the maids in San Diego North County to clean our homes while we aren't in it, making it a perfect time to clean the house while any burglars plan to break-in is thwarted by the presence of the maids. Though not directly in aid to our home protection, Maid Services still affect the possible outcome if we did not call on them.
All these benefits are part of what we get when we hire a maid service to our advantage. The costs and effect of calling on one seemingly outweighs the doubts we have of availing the maids in San Diego North County help any time we need them.

Live In Maids For Hire – Making The Smart Choice

Live in maids for hire are common these days; however, before you decide on getting maid services, you have to understand many things first. You must be aware that the maid you hire is not a member of your family, and so it is of utmost importance that you choose carefully the one you will entrust your home to. Since the whole family will benefit from maid services, getting a maid should be a family decision.

Why should you hire maid services to begin with? There can be plenty of reasons like you need someone to care for your parent, to tend to your children, or to keep the house in order while you are at work. Whatever your reasons may be, you cannot deny the value of maid services.

Since you will be entrusting your home and your family to a stranger in this case, you need to be very cautious when looking for a maid. There are reliable agencies that deal with live-in maid services that you can approach. As much as possible, be specific with your requirements. Verify references and make sure that the maid has gone through proper profile or background checks.

You can have plenty of choices of live in maids for hire, but you can narrow them down based on your own feelings towards the maid, the skills you want your maid to be equipped with, her civil status and age.

Aside from these, you may prefer your maid to have a good experience with her previous employers or vice versa. She should be someone who can strictly adhere to the rules you set, and be always prepared to exhaust her skills and knowledge if needed. Before getting maid services, see to it that the salary, benefits, as well as bonuses and vacation leave credits are discussed well with the agency.

It certainly is no joke to get the services of a maid. So when looking for live in maids for hire, do a thorough research first and consider all possible options. This should guarantee that you will be taking in someone you can rely a hundred percent.

For more information, please visit our website:

http://www.dutchtouchmaids.com/

Painting tips and techniques

2010-03-30T14:11:00.000-07:00

Tips and Techniques for a Great Paint Job
A room looks wonderful with a fresh coat of paint. But if you have a "Love-Hate" relationship with painting, you'll want to read our tips on getting a great finished product. You might even enjoy the project as much as the finished product!

Start Out Right
You'll enjoy the job more if you get everything together at the start. Organize a tool station in the middle of the area you'll be working in. Gather together your paint, brushes, rollers, hammers, screwdrivers, plastic bags, plastic wrap, rags, paint can opener, and drop cloths.

Plan a Day for Prep
Don't try to get everything done in one day. Use the day before painting day to gather furniture in the center of the room, patch cracks and holes, put blue painter's tape around doors and windows, and cover wall and ceiling light fixtures (light bulbs removed, of course!) with large plastic bags.

Clear the Decks
If you can, clear out all the furniture and accessories. Take everything off the walls. If you can't move everything out, place the furniture and lamps in the middle of the room and cover them with a good drop cloth. Be sure that you tape the cloth around the furniture. Then put a second cover of plastic or old sheet over everything.

Remove All Hardware

It may seem easier to paint around door knobs or cabinet hinges, but unless you're a professional, very experienced painter, you're bound to get drips around. So carry around some zip top bags and remove all cabinet knobs and hinges, door knobs, light switch plates and outlet covers, and light fixtures. Place the pieces together in separate bags and clearly mark the contents and location (top left cabinet, bathroom door, etc) you took them from. This is a great time to clean the hardware! Put them back when you're done painting.

Get Yourself Ready
No matter how hard you try, you're bound to get drips (or more) of paint on whatever you're wearing. So take off all jewelry. Reserve some old, but comfortable, clothes for your painting jobs. Slip-on shoes are easy to take off if you need to leave the room. You won't have to worry about tracking drops of paint into other rooms. When you paint the ceiling, put a scarf, shower cap, or old baseball hat over your hair and some plastic over your eyeglasses.

Don't Paint Over Problem Walls
If your walls have holes or cracks, fix them before you start with the paint. Any home center or paint store has knowledgeable personnel to guide you to the best products for the job. Wide cracks and large holes can be "bridged" with fiberglass tape, spackle will fill small holes and cracks, and texturizing products are available to match your existing wall finish.

Use the Right Painting Supplies for the Best Results
Rollers, Pads, Brushes, Painter's Tape, and Paints

Every year, new products come on the market to help make painting more enjoyable. You'll want to select the best ones for your job.

Natural or Synthetic Brushes

Paint brushes with natural bristles are meant for oil-based paints. Natural bristles will soak up the water and go limp in water-based paints. The newer synthetic bristles were designed for water-based or latex paints, but can be used for anything. Densely packed bristles that taper to a chisel edge help with painting a straight edge, cutting in or tipping. Split ends or “flags” hold more paint and spread it more evenly and smoothly. Choose the right brush for your job.

Foam Brushes and Rollers
Foam brushes come in many widths, are inexpensive, and are great for small jobs or touch-ups. Foam paint rollers work well, don't spatter the paint, and are easy to use when you want a really smooth wall. Don't try them on rough surfaces, though, as they will not hold up.

Pad Painters
Smooth pad painters offer simple and neat paint application and easy clean ups. Don't apply too much paint to the pad, as it will drip. You'll have to take it apart, clean it, dry it thoroughly, and start over.

Paint Rollers
A paint roller with a plastic core will last longer than one with a cardboard core. Select a roller "nap" (fullness of the covering) according to the texture on your walls. Use a flat, smooth roller for flat, smooth walls and a thicker, more plush roller for rough textured walls.

Water-Based or Latex Paint
New latex paints are formulated to be environmentally-friendly. Drying time is short (usually about 1 hour) and clean ups are easy with water. Apply water-based paints with rollers, pads, or synthetic bristle brushes. Latex paints tend to get a "skin" of paint in the can when they begin to dry out, so keep the can covered as much as possible. Pour paint into another container to work from and close the can.

Oil-Based Paint
Most professional painters prefer oil-based paints, especially for cabinets, furniture, and trim. New formulations do not harm the environment and are not toxic. Because they dry more slowly, oil-based paints allow for better coverage and work well in warm, dry climates where water-based paints would dry too fast. Apply oil-based paints with pads, rollers, or natural bristle brushes. Clean up with paint thinner or other solvent.

Drop Cloths

The best material for a drop cloth is a heavy canvas cloth. It's not as slippery as plastic and covers better than newspaper. Fold the cloth to fit any size room and tape down the corners to prevent paint from oozing over the edge. To prevent scratching, be sure to vacuum hardwood floors before you put the drop cloth down.

Tinted Primer
Most paint jobs work better when you use a primer or base coat. Have the primer or base paint tinted to match your surface paint color. You may be able to avoid a second coat of finish paint. For ceilings, try paint that is specially formulated for ceilings. Some brands go on light blue and change to white when dry. This makes it easier to see where you've already painted.

Painter's Blue Tape

If you've never used painter's blue tape, why not? It has a waxy coating to keep paint from seeping through, is available in several widths, and provides a perfect straight edge for painting. It will not pull up the paint on the surface it's stuck to, and the seal is activated when you put it down onto a smooth surface. Its special properties don't last forever, so don't leave it on the wall more than a couple of days.

Even if you've done a great job, some clean up will be required. You'll have to do some touch ups and put things away. Read some simple tips to wrap up your painting project in style.

Keep Your Brush Ready
You won't want to clean your paint brush or roller every time you need to take a break. Wrap them in plastic wrap and seal them in a plastic bag. They'll be ready and flexible when you return from your break. For longer storage (as much as a week), put the plastic bag with brushes in the freezer-- yes, the freezer! Thaw out the brushes for an hour before you use them again.

Have Plenty of Rags for Wipe Ups
No painter would be without a supply of rags. You'll undoubtedly need to wipe off excess paint, catch drips, clean up spills, or wipe off your hands.

Razor Blades
Scrape excess paint or drips from windows, tile, or glass with straight razor blades. The drips won't smear, and the surface will be perfectly clean.

Simple Clean Up for Latex Paint

When you're done painting, take time to soak your brushes or rollers with latex paint in a solution of water and laundry fabric softener for about 10 minutes. Swish them around in the water, remove them, and rinse well with clear water. Wipe or roll off excess moisture, then air dry the brushes and rollers before putting away.

Extra Paint
No need to save a big can of paint to store just the little that's left over. Use a glass jar or pint size paint can to store excess paint. Remove the paint can label or mark the new, smaller container with important information. Include the date the paint was used, the color name and number, where it was purchased, the room where it was used, and where (wall, trim, etc.) If you have it, attach the paint swatch from the paint store.

Be Ready for Touch Ups
Use small baby food jars or food storage containers to store small amounts of paint for touching up scratches or dents. Fill them with leftover paint, label where the paint was used (kitchen cabinets, master bedroom ceiling, etc.) and what type of paint it is (latex flat, oil eggshell, etc.), and place the containers in sealing plastic bags. When you need to make a small repair, shake the container well and dab on a spot of paint with a small foam brush or Q-tip.

On your next inside painting project, religiously follow these simple rules and I guarantee that you will save at least 2 hours. Here we go!

1. Slosh Your Brush
Before painting, slosh your brush in whatever solvent you will be using at the end of the day to clean the brush (i.e., water for latex, mineral spirits for oil, etc.) It'll be easier to clean when you're done.

2. Wrap Brush or Roller
If you don't feel like cleaning your brush or roller at the end of the day and expect to get back to painting within a few days--wrap the brush or roller tightly in a plastic bag and put in the freezer.

3. Latex Gloves or Lotion, Your Pick
Latex gloves are great for keeping your hands clean (especially if you're using oil-based paint!). If you can't stand latex gloves or are allergic, a thick application of hand lotion before painting will make cleaning a lot easier later on.

4. Wet Edge
Always keep a wet edge as you paint, and work away from that wet edge. If you paint over a dry edge, you will get overlap marks.

5. Avoid Cheap Roller Covers and Brushes
This one is important. Cheap roller covers leave fuzz on the wall. Cheap brushes leave streaky brush marks. Avoid those multi-packs of rollers, ten for a dollar. Pay the extra few cents and get better tools. It'll be worth it. Honest it will.

6. Test for Loose Paint
Will the existing painted surface take new paint? And hold it for years to come? Test this out by adhering a strip of duct tape to the existing painted surface and...ripping it away. If flakes of paint more than microscopic size come off, you may need to scrape and sand.

7. Low-Stick Masking Tape
Also known as "blue tape," this tape comes off easier and doesn't peel off primer or existing paint. Blue tape, by itself, will save you at least an hour of frustration over the old-style beige masking tape.

8. Rein in Your Paint Can Opener
Paint can openers, those little metal keys (you do use one, don't you?) are notorious for getting lost in the shuffle. Chain it to a small chunk of wood just like a public bathroom key. Whatever you do, just don't lose it!

9. Painting Process
Paint in this order:

Ceiling

Walls

Trim

Cabinets

Doors

And remember to always paint from top-down!

For more information, please visit our website:

http://www.dutchtouchpaintingservice.com/

Mailbox Installation and Postal Regualtions 101

2010-03-18T14:10:00.000-07:00

How To Repair or Replace A Damaged Mailbox Post
Rain... sleet... gloom of night... no matter what the time or weather, one day your mailbox or post will require replacement.

Thank you, snow plow... with an assist from the carpenter ants and termites!

The hardest part of a mailbox installation can be removing the old box or post! So I'm going to make the assumption that you wish to replace the box and the post. If I'm wrong, and you want to do just the box, I will have even less to tell you, but, if you scan down past the sweaty, smelly, earthwormy stuff, you may still pick up a few tips. I don't exactly know where this tale is going, so follow along as best you can, and hopefully we'll arrive at the end together!

Removing the old post... pray there's no cement!

Sorry... I can't make this easy! Wiggle it, pray for no cement, and pull like heck!! Then again, if you are pretty sure there is no cement, there is a strategy that can work, especially if you have a broken post with only a few inches exposed. Nail or screw a piece of 2x4 or larger lumber to the post at or within a few inches of ground level. Then, using a big pry bar or the mason's bar, pry the post straight up, using another board, toolbox, or significant other as a fulcrum.

Caution: don't use a significant other as a fulcrum... if you expect your relationship to move to a higher level!!

A post set in concrete creates a whole new problem. If I found one of those foundation-like clumps of rocks and gravel mix when the digging started, my first choice was always to choose a new location for the box!

Occasionally, there just isn't an option and the cement must be removed or moved. Yes... moved. Sometimes, it's easier to dig the hole a little wider and muscle the ball of concrete aside. Install the new post next to it.

US Postal regulations regarding mailbox location and height
In order for the safe and efficient delivery of mail, the US Postal Service has issued regulations regarding curbside deliveries. However, the local post office has the final say in mailbox placement. The "old guidelines were:

Vertical height from road surface to bottom of mailbox: Between 41" and 45".

Distance from outside edge of curb or edge of road surface to front of mailbox : 6-8"

This requirement dates back to February of 2001. However, the more recent requirements (12/9/2004) are less specific and do not refer to specifics of height and location. Instead, they require the post to be approved by the local post office and 2) accessible from the vehicle for curbside delivery such that the carrier does not have to leave his vehicle. That means that any obstruction, including parked cars, snow piles, etc. , give the carrier the option of withholding delivery until the obstruction is removed. (Click HERE for the last known location of these newer requirements.)

If you are installing a post with an extending arm, figure the position based the final position of the box, not just the arm! Note that the arm will need to be much higher up if you plan to hang the box. (More on mounting the box below.)

If you feel your situation is unique or would like an exception to the rules, talk to your postmaster or ask your friendly postal carrier for suggestions. (This is when that little bag of Christmas cookies or envelope makes all the difference!)

Creating your own mailbox? Be careful...
If you plan on making a mailbox yourself, you should check with the postmaster or letter carrier to get approval before you spend time and money on it! A poorly designed mailbox can halt your mail delivery!

Choosing your new mailbox post - wood or "other"?
Plastic
There are a number of choices for mailbox posts. The most recent addition is molded plastic. Some make no pretence about being plastic, using flowing shapes, interesting colors and unique designs with integrated features such as newspaper holders. Others are made to look like painted cedar mailbox posts but for a fraction of the price and without the durability problems. As a whole, plastic mailbox posts are extremely durable and will outlast any wood or metal post.

Aluminum and galvanized steel
Metal posts are available in galvanized steel and aluminum. Both are durable, but the nod goes to aluminum. Because it doesn't rust like steel, the finish stays looking good longer. However, aluminum posts tend to be more expensive.

Wood
Wood mailbox posts are the traditional choice, especially for do-it-yourselfers looking for economy. The cheapest and simplest post is a simple 4x4 or 6x6 post of any wood variety. A 3/4" - 1" thick pine, plywood or cedar wood base is attached to the top of the post and the mailbox is screwed onto it. The base should be sized to fit into the recess under the mailbox. On many boxes, you will need to leave some space at the door end of the base to prevent rubbing. Test the operation of the door before making the final box installation.

If you have more money to spend or want a more interesting look, you can buy a fancy-schmancy wood posts with a horizontal arm, complex supports and other ornamentation (or you can build one yourself). These are available in redwood, cedar and various untreated and pressure-treated woods.

Each type of wood has its advantages and disadvantages:
• Cedar and redwood are both very insect resistant, but are quite expensive and will eventually rot if buried. For the maximum "bang for the buck", they require an underground preservative (see next section for details) applied right to ground level.

• Untreated woods such as Douglas fir and pine can be used for mailbox posts but require preservatives both above and below-grade. They have the shortest lifespan of any post, regardless of the preservative used since they have no inherent resistance to insects or rot.

• Pressure-treated wood has high resistance to rot and insects due to the infusion of a powerful preservative and will last longer underground than any other wood product. However, pressure-treated wood does need to be coated with a protectant above ground or may crack, twist and split rather dramatically!

• Masonry mailbox posts or enclosure of granite, concrete, stone and brick must conform to both local or state code as well as postal requirements. Though the postal service is silent on the post's material, "rigid structures" at the curbside of busy roads may be considered a "safety hazard" by your state or town, so check with them before building one. (A customer of mine built a large brick mailbox enclosure on a main state road without consulting anyone. In the end, she had to pay for construction and destruction of that structure when the state ordered her to remove it. Let the builder beware!)

Prepare your mailbox post for burial with the correct underground preservative
There was a time when this was a no-brainer. My father used to put good ol' creosote on everything, except for my mother's tulip bulbs. (Or did he?) It rivaled his use of Mobil red and blue paint! Anyway, it went without saying that the old timers expected the wood to rot, so they prepared for it with crosote... the only available solution.

Today, most wooden fence and mailbox posts are made from either pressure-treated wood or cedar. Somehow, in popular thought, cedar has been compared to pressure-treated wood for rot resistance. Nothing could be further from the truth. CEDAR WILL ROT!! I have replaced untreated cedar mailbox posts less than 5 years old, cedar lamp posts less than 3 years old that were totally rotten, full of ants and all sorts of other awful creepy wormy things. In my neck of the woods, a fine 6x6 cedar mailbox post costs well over $200.00 installed. Expensive ant food, if you ask me!

Pressure-treated mailbox posts do not rot under most circumstances. (I've never seen it happen in 30 years of installations.) They are more likely to die from snow plow or garbage truck injuries! However, I have heard rumors that, under some unusual conditions of extreme moisture, they may rot after many years. So if you have some underground rated preservative around, slap some on that pressure treated post. Otherwise I wouldn't lose any sleep over it!

What type of preservative should be used underground on my post?
Good old creosote, a staple wood preservative for generations of do-it-yourselfers, has become extinct... joining the dodo bird, 30¢ cigarettes and the $1.00 gallon of gas! However, there are still quality underground preservatives available. A brand I have used for decades is Termin-8 by Jasco. Its dark-green color means you won't mistake it for a wimpy deck sealer! Termin-8 is oil-based and can be painted after 2-7 days when thoroughly dry.

Another, somewhat newer product that works quite well is Woodlife Creocoat from Wolman. Unlike Termin-8, Woodlife is water-based and is not designed to be overcoated.

Since the end of your post is most vulnerable to water damage, pour some of the preservative in a small pail and set the post into it to soak as long as you can... overnight if possible. Cut off a few inches from the end of the post immediately before to soaking it for the best results. Of course, you should also coat the rest of the post right up to ground level for the best results.

DO NOT install a mailbox post in cement unless absolutely necessary!

Or a fence post, for that matter! Think about it. 160 pounds of rock-hard concrete mix, buried 18" into the ground, in the only place the mailman can reach from his truck. Tough luck! So, using the secrets of the Pyramids, you manage to get this now useless clump of lime, gravel, and sand up to ground level. As you marvel at your improvisational skills, there is a lesson to be learned here, and it doesn't only apply to mailbox posts.

If you think that you may have to redo a job again sometime in the near future, design your repair so that the next time it will be easier... not harder! After all, do you really think a couple of hundred pounds of cement means as much to a moving vehicle (or the the carpenter ants) than it does to your poor overworked back? Hmmm?

NOTE: If you are installing one of those fancy ornamental iron posts, which generally don't stand upright very well in soil despite what it says on the box, you can use cement... but just enough to stabilize the post, not enough to anchor the Queen Mary!

Digging the hole the easy way... but not too deep!
I was joking. There isn't an easy way. But we're not quitters, right? Buy or rent a post hole digger so you disturb the minimum amount of soil. The hole should be no more than 18-24" deep. You do not have to bury the post down below the frost line! We're talking mailbox post here, not a house's foundation!

If you have particularly rocky soil (I love New England), you may need a long mason's bar, a rounded heavy steel bar from 4' to 6' long, flattened to a wedge-shape on one end. This can be used to pry out rocks and the flattened butt end can be used for tamping.

On the graphic of the post hole digger (left), notice the black lines on the handles. They are improvised depth indicators... far better than dirtying up your tape measure! If you rent one and it's not already marked, apply pieces of black electrical tape at your desired depth.

Add gravel, level the mailbox post and fill the hole in steps...
It's recommended to put a 4-6 inches of gravel in the bottom of the hole to improve drainage and to keep water from pooling at the bottom of the post. My judgment is that it may not be a bad idea for cedar posts, but for pressure-treated wood it is optional. If you don't have a bag of gravel handy (or prefer not to steal it from elsewhere in your yard), a bunch of small stones will do as a substitute.

To keep the mailbox post vertically level, I found a nifty little device that straps right onto the mailbox post. However, an ordinary level will do fine, too. Check the level every time you tamp down the dirt. You don't want your mailbox to become another "leaning" tourist attraction! Don't put the level on the top of the post... the top might not be square! Always check the level from the side.

Some people screw or clamp boards to the post to hold it upright. You can also wedge a few rocks around the post in the hole for temporary support. Or just hold the new post fairly level as you begin filling, making minor corrections as you fill. (A helper wouldn't hurt, either, if one is available to share the joy!)

Filling the hole around the post should be done in steps, packing or "tamping" down the soil as you fill around the post, 6-12" at a time. If you wait until the hole is full before packing, the post may always be loose. You can use most anything that will fit into the hole to pack the soil... a shovel handle, the but end of your masons bar, 2x4, etc. Keep checking that level!!

Installing your mail box on the post
If you wish to mount your box directly atop the pole or onto the top of an extended arm, you will use method (1). If you want to hang the box beneath the extended arm, use method (2).

Whichever way you choose, don't ever nail the mailbox to it's support... use galvanized or stainless-steel screws. If your mailbox does not outlive your post, you want it to be easy to remove. I have found galvanized square-drive decking screws to be a great choice.

(1) Mount a board directly on the mailbox post or on the arm extending from the post

If you don't have a board for the post, you must cut a piece of ¾" plywood or pine that will fit into the base of the mailbox. It should be a tight fit widthwise so the box doesn't bend when you screw it on, and short enough in length so the box door doesn't hit the board when the door opens. Position the board as you like it on the post or arm and secure it with at least 4 wood screws. I personally use #8 or #10 galvanized square drive screws, 2½" -3" long. If you are using a post with an arm, you may want to let the board overhang the end of arm for clearance of the door.

(2) Hanging the mailbox under an arm extending from the post

You can purchase a special set of bolts designed for hanging a mailbox at most hardware or home stores. The hardware consists of an eye bolt and an screw eye, interlocked and ready to use. The eye bolt is screwed into the underside of the post arm and the bolt is attached to the top of the mailbox. It may or may not come with a rubber washer to seal the outside of the hole.

If your hardware store doesn't carry these parts, you can either (1) use an eye bolt on the mailbox and a hook on the post arm, or (2) use an eye bolt and screw eye of the same size and bend either open to allow you to hook them together... then bend them closed. For each eye bolt, you should get two nuts, one for inside and one for outside the box, and a small rubber washer (a faucet washer will do) slightly larger than the nut, for the outside to prevent leaks.

Determine the location of the eye bolts on the box first. Some mailboxes have indentations or raised areas to indicate the suggested location for the eyebolts. Locate and drill the holes in the mailbox. Hold the box up under the arm in the position you want it, and use a pencil to transfer the location of the front-most hole you just made to the underside of the arm, being sure to center it along the width. Measure between the holes on the mailbox, and use this measurement to locate the second hole on the arm. Predrill both holes and install the screw eyes.

Put one nut on each eye bolt, and then push on the rubber washers. Bore out the centers of the washers with a drill if they are too tight for the bolts. Then put the eye bolts through the holes in the mailbox and secure them with the remaining nuts, tightening securely.

NOTE: You can use a dab of caulk instead of a rubber washer. The washer, however, will probably last longer.

Last but not least... mailbox numbers and other interesting facts
•The post office requires your street address number on the side of the box or post facing your approaching mailman. This is required even if you have your number on your home.

• If your box location is on another street (for example, if your home is on a corner), regulations require that both the house number and street name be on the box or post.

• You do not have to put your name on the mailbox unless you want to.

• Placing offensive graphics, caricatures or effigies intended to ridicule or disparage an individual or group of people is prohibited. People, huh. I guess the cats and cows haven't started complaining yet!

• Advertising on mailboxes is also prohibited.

Again, this regulation can be waived by your local postmaster for the appropriate consideration. (Only kidding!) So it goes.

For more information, please visit our website:

http://www.dutchtouchhandyman.com/

It's time to go CAT Sailing! 12 TIPS for SAFE Catamaran Sailing

2010-03-16T13:45:00.000-07:00

It's time to go sailing!

The foul weather is gone and today is the 1st great sunny warm day of the year. Now is the time to go outside. Call Oceanside Sailing at 760-804-5788. We are located at Oceanside Harbor. Experience the thrill of wind-fueled travel on a large 36ft Catamaran, that accommodates up to 6 passengers. Actively learn to sail the boat with us, or simply put your feet up, loosen your shoulders and enjoy the ocean's breeze. All tours include snacks, water, sodas, friendly smiles and local marine life!

SAFE SAILING IS IMPORTANT!

Rest assured, your captain and crew know Oceanside Harbor and will make sure that you have a safe sailing adventure. For those of you that are planning to sail yourselves, please read the 12 safety tips below if you have never sailed before or you are a novice sailor.

12 Critical Catamaran Safety Tips:

1. Know your boat. Fully understand what each and every control line does and how to effectively sail the boat. When an emergency occurs and you need to think fast, you won't have the time to think, "now what does this line do?"

2. Make sure your mast is sealed. Take it down to your local lake and drop it into shallow water. If it leaks - SEAL IT! Trying to right a knocked over catamaran with water in the mast is next to impossible. When it fills up with enough water, the boat will turtle. And then you've got a FUN time on your hands!

3. Learn the properties of sailing your boat. Learn to steer by the sails alone. Get the feeling of tacking and jybing. Learn to feel how your boat behaves relative to the crew position aboard. Understand how flattening the sails de-powers the boat. Practice flying a hull. Practice going out on the wire. DO MOB DRILLS! Or in this case HOT drills (Hat OverBoard). Since your boat has no engine, you need to learn how to quickly turn around a retrieve an overboard object or person! It's more important on a non-engined beach cat than any other kind of boat!

4. PURPOSELY FLIP YOUR BOAT! It'll happen sooner or later, so you might as well be prepared for it. Getting knocked down isn't a bad thing. It's all part of the cat-sailing experience! Have a friend with a powerboat shadow you and a crewman (in case you need assistance). Knock her over and right her several times. Get the feeling for going over and righting it. This way, you'll never be surprised when it happens.

If your catamaran is prone to pitchpoling such as the Hobie-16 (be extremely careful with this next maneuver) you should get the feel for what it's like one or two times. With you and your crew as far foward as possible, sail into as large a wake as your friend's powerboat can produce and try to pitchpole forward. It's gonna happen, so learn how it feels and how to avoid it. (Bascally - as wind strength increases, get all aboard AFT! Get the weight as far back as possible and keep those bows up! If you feel that you need a little extra security, you can buy some anti-pitchpole fins for the bows. They're not legal for racing, but they are somewhat effective in preventing pitchpoles. You can get them from murrays.com for $82 part no. 01-3240.)

5. Before taking anyone aboard, instruct them on emergency procedures in case you go overboard. Everyone should know the two steps for stopping the boat: How to uncleat the sheets and then steer the boat into the wind.

6. ALWAYS WEAR YOUR PFD when the sailing is getting wild! By law, we must have the Portable Floating Devices aboard. What we do is have them nearby. But when you are a novice, be safe!! Common sense tells you when the weather turns stormy, put your PDF ON!

7. Carry an airhorn aboard that you can quickly grab if some idiot in powerboat doesn't see you. Maybe he'll hear you and you can avoid a collision.

8. Get yourself a pair of Sea-Snips. They're basically EMT scissors in a velcro sheath. Attach it to your PFD strap. One of the most dangerous things in sailing any boat with a trapeze system (cats, 49'ers, Aussie 18's, etc) is getting your harness hook caught up in a line when the boat flips and trapping you under water. It's very rare that it happens (one in a million chance) but if it does, your PFD won't save you. You'll be caught and you'll need a way to cut yourself or crewman free. Knives require two hands, you can drop them, and they may not cut steel cable. A pair of Sea-Snips stays in your fingers, only requires one hand, and they chop anything in half that can fit in their jaws! They're inexpensive too, like $15!

9. If you plan to sail far from shore, always carry a handheld, submersible, VHF radio. If you are out on a lake alone with no other boats who can render assistance, carry a VHF radio. If you are soloing, carry a VHF radio. As you can see, I believe in the investment in a submersible VHF radio as a piece of safety equipment.

10. When in doubt - sail another day. You've got yourself one of the most fun sailboats every designed! Beach cats are great! But that's exactly what they are, BEACH cats. You're not going to be crossing oceans. If the winds look like they'll overpower your little boat (easily done), just sail another day. There's always another day. When the sailing becomes more work than fun - why do it? It should be fun and exciting, not stressful and worrisome.

11. Always carry some critical spare parts and materials with you such as duct tape, nylon zip-ties, pins, rings, rudder pin, spare line, etc. and the basic tools necessary to make basic repairs. One of the most frustration things has been to lose a rudder crossbar connecting bolt while sailing. All of a sudden, one or both rudders becomes totally unusable with no way to fix it or steer the boat other than sitting on the transom and holding onto the gudgeon itself. That sucks!

12. Before you step your mast, LOOK OUT FOR POWER LINES! Before dropping your mast, LOOK OUT FOR POWER LINES! When moving the boat with the mast up, LOOK OUT FOR POWER LINES! Oh yeah ALWAYS LOOK OUT FOR POWER LINES! Without a doubt, the most dangerous part of cat sailing! You would think that a boat ramp wouldn't have overhead lines around it... Nooooooo! You would be amazed as to how common this is!

Extra Tip: You betcha you can take the kids aboard. Just take it nice and easy and gradually work them into flying hulls. None at first and then add a little bit each time. DO NOT TETHER them down. If a kid goes overboard, do your MOB drill and pick them up quickly (you have been practicing, haven't you?) But if you flip, you don't want anyone tethered because they could get "teabagged" which could cause injury.

Extra Tip: Make sure you carry fresh water bottles aboard with you. Catamaran sailing is fast and exciting, but you will get thirsty sailing under the sun. Get a bottle in an insulated pouch with a strap and secure it to the trampoline so you can easily get at it. And finally... sunblock, sunblock, SUNBLOCK!
You can never have enough sunblock!

Hope these help you out! Have fun with your new catamaran.

For more information, please visit our website:

http://www.oceansidesailing.com/