In 1948, President Harry Truman wanted to add a balcony on the side of the White House and his detractors were up in arms. “Women especially seem to resent the fact that Mr. Truman is altering the White House a few months before the people are choosing a president,” David Lawrence reported in the Spokane…
Have you ever driven or walked past a house that was so alluring, so charming, so warmly inviting that you felt an urge to go in and sit a spell? I bet that house had a front porch. I’m convinced that our future as a species would be more hopeful if we all had front…
One day, when I wasn’t looking, my once-charming front porch went from shabby chic to just plain disgusting. I waited for the crew from HGTV’s Curb Appeal to show up. When they didn’t come, I decided to take on the job. Here’s the porch I started with: As you can see, I had many challenges:…
Q: What’s even better than blocking stains with KILZ primer-sealer? A: Doing so without poisoning yourself. I’ve been a fan of KILZ stain-blocking primer for years. It’s one of those rare products that lives up to its hype. And now it come in a formulation with no volatile organic compounds, or VOCs. That word “organic”…
Here’s a photo from the quirky former website Burbia.com. This fellow found a unique solution to that pesky hedge-trimming job. This beats the heck out of standing on a tall ladder and leaning over with a hedge trimmer in your hands. Hey, if this is safe and you’ve got the right equipment, why not?
From Baton Rouge Real Estate Appraisals: I ran across a situation in the Greater Baton Rouge Housing Market where a homeowner, located in a subdivision where the average home is worth $150,000, installed a $60,000 Gunite Inground Pool recently. Now, their home is on the market and they are about to be taken through the…
UPDATE: We have a winner! Congratulations to Jose, whose name was chosen at random from all who entered. Check back at the end of August for another chance to win. This month's giveaway is an excellent book titled Backyards: A Sunset Design Guide, which I reviewed here. To enter, you must do two things: 1.…
This is a big recall, folks. LP, Louisiana-Pacific, is putting out notice that its decking under the brand names WeatherBest®, ABTCo. and Veranda may rot and you may get hurt falling through the decking. Already there have been 37 reports of composite decks breaking, resulting in 14 injuries, including a broken wrist, sprained ankle, minor lacerations and…
So what do you do when your prized market umbrella goes flying off in the wind and breaks two spokes? And what do you do when your avocado trees are putting out so much fruit you fear the boughs will break? In my case, with this very scenario, I put a free ad on Craigslist…