Home and Garden Tips

Archive for February, 2010

In Today’s throwaway society, there is absolutely no need to go out and purchase mulch material for your garden, unless it is for the particular aesthetic appearance, “The Look”, sake of the mulch material.

Were you aware that there are a number of mulching materials that you can obtain from around your own community that are free, and some of which can even be even delivered to you for nothing as well.

Impossible you might say. Well I mulch my gardens fairly heavily, and I never pay a cent for the mulch material. As a matter of fact, most of the mulch is willingly delivered to my home for nothing. As the former owners are only too glad to see the back of it, as it would cost them money, time and effort to find other ways of getting rid of it.

I also combine these outside sources of mulch with my own compost, weeds and other organic matter mixed through to achieve a great result in my garden, and so all that it costs me is time and effort.

So what am I talking about? While some of the below list is delivered free, other items I pick up myself, depending on time, circumstances, importance etc. Grass Clippings from other people in the area or from lawn-mowing contractors. Wood shavings from local wood turners and carvers, ( Do not use shavings from treated timber).

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Green home designs use eco-friendly reusable materials, furnishings and leftovers. These kind of designs feature the use of long lasting, non-toxic materials as well as recycling. Green home designs make use of materials that are renewable and long lasting. To remodel a residence with new materials every few years is not green building design.

When you use materials to be green, you restore and salvage what you have when possible. Options for green flooring design can provide you many different choices today. You can sand and refinish or even paint and stencil without using materials containing volatile organic compounds (referred to as VOC’s).

Green home designs today features the use of materials such as cork, bamboo and eucalyptus since they are earth friendly and renewable. Cork is especially good since there is no destruction of trees during extraction of the cork. Hardwood flooring can last forever and is very desirable, however, these kinds of woods are often the remnants of old growth from rain forest trees and this is not eco-friendly or green. You can select types of woods that have the approval and certification by environmental groups.

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You’ve decided to spruce up the homestead with some needed improvements. Fantastic. Now here lies the rub, how are you going to find home improvement financing? Let’s face it, kitchen floors and new window panes don’t grow on trees. Even though home improvements are an investment that will make you money in the long run, finding the home improvement financing you need now can be difficult, and not getting an adequate amount of funding for your projects can lead to compromises in quality that you may later regret.

Homeowners have a variety of options when it comes to finding home improvement financing. They can borrow against the equity in their homes and various federal loan programs also exist for borrowers. Here’s a few home improvement financing options you may what to consider.

Mortgage refinancing: Now is the time to take advantage of historically low interest rates by refinancing your mortgage to pay for home improvements. You can refinance your mortgage and borrow money against the equity you have in your home. Some banks even offer loans that allow you to borrow more money up front by adding the value of the planned improvement to your equity. Refinancing your mortgage for home improvement financing purposes is a good deal because you’ll have the convenience of just one home loan and monthly payment.

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