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People have been cutting back on all sorts of items to get the most possible mileage out of a dollar. More and more often families are opting to forgo things like vacation travel and dining out in favor of spending their hard earned money on making their home and garden more comfortable and entertaining. As someone who gets to see the ins and outs of the home & garden improvement business we are often asked what to look for to get the best deal on home improvement projects.

My advice to those who would listen, regardless of the type of project, is always the same. Look for the best value. To get the best value it is important to understand the difference between PRICE and COST. Defined most simply, price is the amount of money you pay for something. Cost is everything you have to give up to obtain something. But wait! Aren’t they the same thing? No, they are not. Let me explain what I mean…

Price is the dollar amount you will pay for a product or service. For example, if you can buy a light bulb for 50 cents, then 50 cents is the light bulbs’ price. Simple! Now what about the COST of the light bulb? For that we need to consider how it will be used.

Suppose that the light that needs the new bulb is not the lamp next to your bed but is an exterior fixture which is twenty feet up the side of your house. You can pay the price of 50 cents for a bulb, but for the cost you also need to include the extra effort of setting up an extension ladder, climbing 20 feet up the side of the house, disassembling the fixture housing, changing the bulb, reassembling the housing, and then putting the ladder back in the garage. Wow! That was a lot of work. So while a 50 cent light bulb which needs to be replaced every few months may be a good value for the lamp next to the bed, the added cost of climbing up the side of the house every time it needs replacing means that the better value for the exterior light is in a higher priced bulb of better quality and with a longer life span.

The same concept applies to home improvement projects. Simply put, you need to look for value. A home improvement project is like the light 20 feet up the side of your house. Quality counts, because once the project is finished it is not easy, convenient, or inexpensive to redo it. So again, when getting ready to hire somebody to do a home or garden improvement project ask your self the difference between the price and the cost.

A good example of this is the story of a recent project which we did for a client. The client hired us to build a custom wood pergola next to their pool. At the same time, they hired another company to build a vinyl fence. They got a good price on the fence, but as my partner and I meticulously crafted their custom pergola so that it would have strength and beauty for many years to come, we witnessed some things which made us realize that the client did not get a good value in the fence.

Why not? The cost. The cost of getting the lowest price was that they had two men on their property who were, shall we say, of dubious character. At least one of the fence builders was already drunk when they would arrive to work, and both of them would periodically retreat to their truck, which was parked in front of the clients’ home, to smoke a certain plant which is sometimes used to treat glaucoma. In addition to witnessing a constant litany of loud and vulgar language, my partner and I also watched as the two men nearly came to blows one day over a minor disagreement.

As for the execution of the job itself? The two men constantly asked to borrow our tools because they didn’t have the correct ones to do their job. They set up their work station in the neighbors’ front yard and did not even clean up their mess upon completion, and best of all they filled their post holes for the fence with dry concrete mix and forgot to add any water before packing the holes with dirt!

The bottom line is that because the homeowner didn’t take cost into account and only considered the low price, the end result was a product of very low value. In fact, in just a couple of years the poorly constructed fence will likely have to be replaced or repaired and will end up costing the homeowner more money, time, and convenience then it would have even if the contractor with the most expensive estimate had been hired the first time around.

Is this a worst case scenario of cost far exceeding the price? Probably so. But it illustrates the point that when it comes to projects which are going to be a permanent fixture of your garden, yard, or home that quality and professionalism in a contractor leads to better long term value. Because, while it may be easy to replace the bargain light bulb in the lamp next to your bed the same can not be said of replacing that bargain priced deck, fence or kitchen.

So, to answer the question “How do I get a good deal on my home or garden project?” I say remember this. Because of the lengthy recession there are two kinds of businesses who are still available to do the job. Craftsmen, who get jobs because they are really good at what they do, and crafty men who get jobs by being the lowest bidder and cut enough corners to stay alive. The good news is that these days you can usually get the craftsman to do the job for a competitive price and without all of the intangible costs of the unscrupulous crafty man. Now that’s what I call a good deal!

Great for the family, or just for two!

The passion is gone. What was once new and exciting, is now routine and uninspired. It used to be that you couldn’t wait to get home from work and lose yourself by giving hours of your undivided attention and time. Now, it’s just something you do on weekends once in a while and even that has grown tired and stale. Yes, you are falling out of love…with your back yard?

What happened? You used to have such big plans for your backyard sanctuary. But now it’s just a place where the grill is kept, or a place to occasionally spend time with guests when you don’t necessarily want them inside the house. What about spending real quality time outside? Having a special place of comfort and style to retreat to from the grind of the day? A place which is just right for entertaining guests, or is the perfect romantic retreat for just the two of you. A beautiful custom pergola, or outdoor living room, can reignite your love affair with your yard by adding classic style and providing you an incredibly inviting focal point of interest.

Imagine a place to really relax during the day, where you are out of direct sunlight but still in the open air. A pergola gives you beautiful dappled light, but still allows heat to escape up and away from you while letting a natural flow of cooler air to enter from below.

At night time there is nothing so beautiful and intimate as a pergola accentuated with climbing vines and subtly illuminated by soft lighting hidden within the rafters. You can even comfortably enjoy it in the depths of summer by installing any number of attractive and functional ceiling fans to keep insects on the run and the cool breezes flowing.

You can still recapture that excitement you once had for your yard. In this day and age of staying close to home, let us help you rekindle your love affair with your outdoor spaces by creating the look and feel of your favorite bed and breakfast nook or resort style poolside spot. As for you and your significant other? Where things go from there is up to the two of you!

KEEP THE HOLIDAY SPIRIT ALIVE BY LIGHTING UP THE NIGHT!
by Pauhl Gazlay& Lance Hans

Almost every city has a neighborhood known for its incredible holiday decorations and lights. Places where cars line up in the evenings to drive around and see the imaginations of homeowners outlined in incredible displays of light. Now, come January, good taste and tradition calls for the shows to be packed up for the year and boxed away until the next holiday season. But wait, beautiful outdoor lighting isn’t just for Christmas any more! The magic of outdoor holiday lighting can continue year round, without complaints from the neighbors. Landscape lighting is a great way to maintain a sense of wonder on your property and extend your living space to the outdoors at the time of year when it is most enjoyable to be outside!

Best of all, the price is flexible! You can go the economy route with a few strands of strategically placed Christmas lights or, for an unforgettable impression have the job done by professionals. Either way is easy. Adding lighting to your landscape will really change the way you feel about your outdoor areas…for the better! Here is some helpful information about the three types of lighting we see the most….

Existing House lighting:
Some of our clients use what they’ve got. Existing spot lights, rotated to highlight shrubs or entranceways are very common. They are usually security lighting that was installed when the home was built, or a wall mounted fixture added to an existing exterior outlet using conduit that runs up an outside wall. This type of lighting is great for keeping the burglars away or for exposing fugitives, but its effect is limited to the area directly below it, and doesn’t make for a very inviting feel. Additionally, one is limited to existing fixtures and outlets. Adding new lights means new electric lines, which means increasing the electrical load on your exterior circuits, thus increasing the likelihood of failure.

While existing flood lights may be the simplest and least expensive way to go, they also give you the least appealing effect on your garden. By the way, the electric company will love you if you keep this type of lighting, as huge outdoor bulbs burn the most energy dollars. If you choose this method of landscape lighting, at least change your bulbs to softer, energy-efficient ones that will not blind your guests as they attempt to walk down the stairs leading from your deck. Also, try throwing in some strands of Christmas lights in lower areas to soften the effects of the bat signal. Christmas lights are also a cheap and easy way to accent a pergola or arbor.

Solar lights: If you are ready to “go solar” here are a few things to keep in mind.

Solar lighting is a double edged sword: spend a little, get a little in terms of light intensity, duration, and product lifespan. Spend a lot and get lots of light from larger batteries and sometimes larger solar panels, probably mounted on your roof. We’ve seen clients who pay higher prices for solar lighting with small panels, but they don’t really last much longer as far as we can tell. There have been some big steps in solar technology recently, but the technology is still filtering down to landscape lighting. But, one real advantage of solar lighting is that there is a one time cost, and no increase in your electric bills. While no pollution is made from the actual energy used, product life spans are short. I wonder how many plastic solar lights and batteries find their way into landfills.

Recharging cells do best in direct sunlight. So, if you have a bright, sunny landscape during the day, you’ll have light for most of the evening. If your garden is full of shrubs and trees, the light may only last a few hours after dark. Then it’s bedtime for everyone who didn’t bring a flashlight with them. Since they rely on our star for their energy reserves, the best place for them to charge is in full sun exposure; usually where you don’t need them during the evening. Personally, I think they do well on open pathways where there’s lots of sun during the day, and lighting the area up all night is not a safety or security issue.

Depending on where they are positioned, outdoor solar lights can take a real beating from UV rays and the weather. With cheaper ones, the materials they are made from, ironically, break down in the direct Sun. Cheap solar lights usually last me a couple of years. When their elements wear out, you’ll have to purchase new ones (you can usually find some on sale). If you want to lower your carbon footprint but don’t want the hassle of moving lights in and out of “direct sun zones” or replacing them every couple of years, think about low voltage lighting.

Low voltage Lighting
This type of light is powered using your home’s existing electrical outlets. A transformer is installed to lower the voltage from your home’s electricity and power more energy- efficient bulbs. In fact, many of the newer technologies in low voltage lighting produce the same amount of light at a tenth of the watts required for traditional halogens. And the better quality products will be warranted for ten years or more. Low voltage lighting can be mounted to any deck or pergola, inserted into flower beds, or screwed into walls. Lighting is always consistent no matter whether it’s sunny or not. A variety of colors and effects can be added to adjust for different moods. The initial cost is about the same as installing new exterior house lighting and lasts far longer than solar luminaries.

Best of all, low voltage lighting can be installed anywhere in your landscape. You can light up a walkway in the back yard or shine down on that shrub that only blooms for a few weeks during the year. Up lighting, down lighting, and path lighting are all possible with low voltage lights. Because the transformer allows you to plug in multiple circuits, you can also add, mix and remove components easily, as your budget and landscaping allow. These are very versatile systems. While everyone has different needs and tastes, after years of seeing and working with the other two choices, I’ve settled on low voltage lighting for my garden. Their one time cost, very low maintenance, and superior effects finally convinced me.

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We get a lot of questions concerning Vinyl as an alternative to the custom wooden structures we craft. When comparing vinyl to wood as a material for building garden structures such as pergolas, arbors, fences, and gates, we have found four definite reasons to steer clear of vinyl….

1) Environmental Impact
Vinyl, or Poly-Vinyl carbonate (PVC), is a chemical/petroleum bi-product. The production process for vinyl relies heavily on non-renewable foreign oil supplies and creates a large degree of environmental contaminates. Vinyl itself is non-biodegradable. That is why underground sewer and drainage pipes are often made from PVC. It lasts for decades or longer underground without breaking down. Now, imagine your vinyl fence in a landfill…

By contrast, since North American lumber providers actively manage forests to ensure a permanent supply of lumber, domestically grown wood is a renewable resource! Happily, wood is biodegradable and, as a building material, requires a low degree of processing to bring it to market. It will last for years as part of a building structure, but will degrade into fresh soil relatively quickly in a landfill.

Wood is Practical, Beautiful & Renewable. Used for millennia, it remains the original green building material!

2) Price
You will find that vinyl products are often more expensive than wood. Vinyl fences, for example, cost more for a six foot section than wood costs per eight feet. This price disparity is increased by the fact that vinyl has a shorter usable life span. Paying twice for a product does not make it better. The long term value is in wood, hands down.

3) Appearance
Wood ages gracefully. Vinyl just ages. Sure, it looks neat and clean when first installed, but as the suns’ ultra-violet light breaks it down, vinyl becomes thinner, discolors, cracks, flakes and breaks. Not to mention, vinyl tends to become permanently discolored from irrigation sprinklers. Do you want proof? Walk around your neighborhood and take a close look at some of your neighbors’ vinyl fences that are more than a couple of years old. With wood, a fresh coat of stain every few years makes it look like new again! Not even possible with vinyl.

4) Strength
This is an easy reason to choose wood rather than vinyl. Wood’s strength is far superior to vinyl. Wood can span longer lengths and support heavy vines for far longer than vinyl, without being torn apart. Falling braches or storm debris that would have little or no effect on wooden structures, can easily ding, dent, or even destroy a similar vinyl product. Once a vinyl garden structure has been damaged, it goes off to the landfill. Wooden pergolas and fences, should they require it, can be more easily repaired back to their original appearance.

An outdoor room, quite simply, is a permanent area located by your pool, garden, deck or patio which contains the comforts and amenities of a normal indoor room, such as furniture, lighting, entertainment system and appliances. Typically it is tied together as a room by a pergola, arbor, trellis or fence and its contents are constructed to be weather-resistant so as to ensure continuous outdoor enjoyment.

Florida is one of the few places in the U.S.A. where we have the pleasure of spending quality time in our yard, pool, and garden year round. As a result, the concept of the outdoor room is becoming very popular. Until recently, outdoor living may have involved folding plastic chairs, a charcoal grill, some paper plates and maybe a picnic table. Today, thanks to great advances in exterior products and design, the possibilities are limitless. Be it outdoor living rooms, kitchens or even outdoor theatres, gardencarpentry.com can help you to make it happen.

Gardencarpentry.com can truly unite the home with the outdoors by crafting elegant and exciting wooden garden structures as a framework for your outdoor room. Our, wooden pergolas, trellises, arbors, and fences are the perfect mediums to build your room around! Let us get you started by providing the showcase for your new and exciting outdoor living area. Then let us point you to the professionals who will fill your room with all the comforts and luxuries of home. Your full service outdoor kitchen and fully functional outdoor home theatre are only a phone call or email away.

Gardencarpentry.com works with premier companies in our quest to bring your living space outdoors… Call or email for more information.