If anyone wants to make a big change on their terrace or on their patio for a very low price, an outdoor rug was made just for that. You can only imagine what a difference a colorful rug would make. It’s common for homeowners to want to add some color to their yard as soon as spring arrives. When winter is over most people are excited to spend a little more time outside their home. It’s the time you begin to see more children outside with their friends and outdoor toys and it’s also the time people begin to plant their flowers. An outdoor rug can look splendid anywhere. It provides comfort and also safety.

Families with kids love color and love to create a fun atmosphere. You can get that with colorful outdoor rugs. It doesn’t really matter which colors or how the pattern looks any kind of rug can offer you the same thing. Choosing the right colors is a matter of preference. If you would like you can have a childish rug outside with cartoon characters. If not then you can get a classical more fashionable style. You shouldn’t have any trouble finding a rug that will match and complete any color and any type of patio furniture.

The summer can also mean a messier patio. Since your kids or your guests will be hanging out in your yard it will need more maintenance. An outdoor rug was made to be fairly simple o clean up. Because it is waterproof and made to withstand rain and snow that means you can wash it with your garden hose without a problem. This also means that it can dry up rapidly and on its own. This is actually great news for those who have outdoor space that they want to take advantage of.

Outdoor rugs provide safety on old decks. When decks get old they tend to lose their finish and cause splinters on bare feet. It can cost a lot of money to repair this problem but you can use a rug to cover the area to make it safe to walk on. It can be safe to have outdoor rugs by the poolside if you have a swimming pool in your yard. It will make it much easier to walk around with wet feet on wet grounds.

The benefits of outdoor rugs are unlimited. You don’t only have to use them for a patio or terrace or limit them for outdoor purposes, many people use them indoors also. They are used indoors where a floors are not comfortable or get too much traffic. As fast as it will get dirty is as fast as it can get washed.

Decorating your home can be fun with outdoor rugs. Remodeling your outdoors will be easier with outdoor rugs.

If you are in the market for a new patio umbrella, there are many different types to choose from. Patio umbrellas are available in a variety of styles, materials and price ranges and homeowners can always find one to fit the style of their backyard decor or outdoor furniture. A patio umbrella makes a big statement in your backyard space, because it is such a visible object. Therefore, in addition to choosing an umbrella that offers the best functional features, it makes sense to purchase one that offers the best aesthetic features as well.

The first thing to consider is the style of umbrella you want. There are offset and cantilever patio umbrellas that are designed with the pole on the side and the umbrella shade overhanging from the side. These are especially useful if you do not have a patio table with a hole in the middle, since the base and pole sit off to the side and the umbrella covers the area you require shade. Another style is the market umbrella, which is very popular among today’s homeowners. A market patio umbrella has a center pole with spokes that come out to hold the canopy of the umbrella in place. Most market umbrellas are made of wood with a canvas canopy, although the same style is sometimes offered with an aluminum or metal pole and base as well.

Another option to consider is the material your patio umbrella is made from. The materials that the frames of umbrellas are typically constructed of are aluminum, wood, metal or fiberglass. Most umbrella shades are made from canvas or vinyl. Umbrellas can usually be purchased in a wide variety of colors and patterns to match the décor of your backyard space.

Patio umbrellas are also available in a wide assortment of sizes and shapes. Umbrellas can be round, oval, square or rectangular and can fit small tables as well as large ones. Round umbrellas are sold based on the diameter of the shade, while square or oval ones provide the dimensions of the sides to determine size. There are many different sizes and shapes of stock umbrellas available in the stores or online, but if you are looking for something unusual, you can also have a patio umbrella custom made.

When it comes to the cost of patio umbrellas, there are a lot of variables that come into play. Size and shape are a factor, as well as the materials that are used to construct the umbrella. Different manufacturers also offer different pricing. One consideration to keep in mind is that while you may be tempted to purchase the cheapest umbrella you can find, quality is an issue when it comes to this outdoor item. Umbrellas withstand a lot of wear and tear from the wind and other weather elements, so it is best to invest a bit more to get a quality product that will last you for years of continued outdoor use.

No matter what type, style, size, or material you choose for a patio umbrella, this backyard item will add a great deal of functionality to your outdoor space, as well as beauty.

BackyardsAndGardens.com is a premier guide in helping homeowners turn their outdoor space into an oasis. They provide information on how to select the best patio umbrella to meet your functional and aesthetic needs, while remaining within your budget.

Importance of Maintaining Decks and Porches

While log home owners enjoy living within the warmth and beauty of logs, many also enjoy outdoor living which is why a large number of log homes are designed and built to accommodate decks and porches. It is equally important to take the same care and attention you give to your logs to maintaining your decks and porches. Decks are especially vulnerable during the long winter months, weathering due to pooling rain water, direct sunlight and large amounts of traffic. Annual or possibly seasonal inspections should be performed to help keep maintenance to a minimum and avoid costly repairs.

Inspecting Decks and Porches

When performing inspections of your deck, walk around looking for obvious signs of peeling stain, blistering or weathering. Look for green areas which are a sign of algae. Algae by itself are not harmful to the wood cells but are a sign of excessive moisture which can eventually cause decay. Black areas are a sign of mildew which is especially evident when the deck is wet. These areas can be cleaned with percarbonate bleach followed by a light power washing. Many log homes have porches in which the roof is supported by posts. The bases of these posts are often hidden below the deck floors and are in ground contact keeping them continually wet and vulnerable to insects. As decay sets in, these posts shorten with the weight of the roof and deck above. The roof eventually sags and expensive repairs are the result.

Protecting Lower Log Courses above Deck

Deck surfaces cause water to splash back onto adjacent log surfaces. These areas require more frequent inspections, cleaning and staining. Gutters should be installed to prevent rain water from contacting the deck closest to log walls. In addition, metal grating installed in the deck floor directly beneath roof overhang will help reduce backsplash. Flashing the lowest log course will also direct water away from the log. These lower log courses at deck level are very problematic for many homeowners and these simple steps may save expensive log replacement in the future.

Protecting Decks and Porches

Protecting your deck and rail with a quality finish is an important factor in the maintenance process. The most common sources of deterioration are standing water and direct sunlight. With proper cleaning and a quality deck finish, these situations can be greatly reduced. Many log home stain manufacturers offer environmentally friendly products to safely clean and protect your deck. Most manufacturers offer a wide range of color choices and will provide sample colors upon request.

Log Rail – A common place for log decay is at the base of the deck rails. Water tends to pool where the log rail meets the horizontal supporting log. This can be avoided by drilling “weep holes” in the bottom of the rail to allow rain water to pass through the support log and allow drying.

Supporting Deck Posts – Supporting post bases are especially vulnerable to decay because the ends tend to draw moisture up into the post. Be sure your posts sit on cement or stone footings well above ground level. Some post bases are equipped with metal risers which help keep water from being drawn into the post end.

Rail Support Posts – The top of your deck rail support posts also absorb moisture and over time will begin to decay. Post caps should be installed to eliminate this problem. Often these caps are made of copper but can be other metals or even wood.

Stairs – Deck stairs are exposed to the elements even if you have a covered porch. Stairs always end at ground level and this is where most problems occur. Make sure that the bottom of your stairway sits on a cement slab or stone base and is not in ground contact. Even with this precaution it is susceptible to backsplash. For this reason stairs require more frequent inspection, cleaning and staining.

Conclusion

Decks and porches are aesthetically appealing, provide extra living space and are great places to relax and entertain. Safely enjoy your outdoor living with continual maintenance and care using quality products and implementing these cost effective measures.

Article written by Tom Tydeman, Owner of Log Options, LLC. We network with quality log home professionals throughout the country and help connect log home owners to log professionals. Contact us for a free consultation or DIY information. Visit our web site for more articles, useful information on how to care and maintain your log home and photos regarding details on the above article at http://www.logoptions.com

If you’re thinking of adding a sunroom or enclosed patio onto your home, join the half million Americans who are discovering the benefits of 3- and 4-season enclosures each year. According to the U.S. Census, about half of the 1.27 million new, single-family homes built in 2001 had some kind of attached porch

And there’s good reason for the popularity – aside from relaxing and enjoying the sunshine and stars with the comforts of indoors. Adding a sunroom or patio enclosure can extend your living area, often at less than half the cost of a standard home addition.

Costs less than conventional addition

A sunroom addition can range from $12,000 to $70,000, depending on models and features, compared to $30,000 to $80,000 for a conventional room addition. And sunrooms and patio enclosures can often be built where underground obstacles, or building codes and zoning ordinances, restrict conventional backyard additions.

Then consider that adding a sunroom has one of the highest returns-on-investment of all home improvements, and it’s no wonder that America’s going sunroom-crazy. Some sources estimate that you’ll recoup between 65-95% of your investment when adding a sunroom, depending on your geographic location and features included.

A sunroom helps sell your home faster and for more money

Because of all the financial and usage benefits, sunrooms are the third most popular amenity requested in homes over $250,000, according to a recent survey in Builder Magazine. And homes with a properly designed sunroom tend to sell faster and for far more money than those without.

According to some estimates, the average cost to install a sunroom on an existing home is between $125 and $150 per square foot. This includes the room itself, installation and related construction work, such as foundations, floors and tear-out work. Keep in mind that these are averages, and final costs can vary dramatically based on where you live, contractors, complexity of the project, quality of products and the need for extra construction work on your existing home to accommodate the addition. Adding a sunroom or patio enclosure to a new home will be significantly less expensive.

Inform your insurance company

You will need a building permit for your sunroom or patio enclosure, so you need to ensure that your sunroom or patio enclosure contractor is licensed. Discuss with your contractor who will obtain the permit, and ensure that you have one before any work begins. Then once your sunroom or patio enclosure is complete, inform your house insurance company of the addition to arrange adequate coverage. And keep in mind that a sunroom is usually not considered to be a square footage addition to your home, but a patio addition. Check the local bylaws to be sure.

If you live in an area where it gets chilly at night, or gets cold during certain parts of the year, you may still want to use your outdoor areas, even in the cold. This is where something like an electric patio heater is going to come in handy for you. You are going to be able to use an electric garden heater to make your outdoor areas livable again, even during the cooler months, or even through evenings which might end up being slightly cool.

What Is It?

An electric patio heater is basically a heater that you can put out on your patio. It is usually made to be outside, and it comes in numerous different sizes. There is a mechanism in it that causes heat to come out of it in the same way that your heater in your home works. You can plug in an electric patio heater and it will have an on and off switch so that you can turn it off when it has created enough warmth for you. You can also set the heat on your electric patio heater so that you can locate just the right setting for you.

What Does It Look Like?

There are several different styles to select from when you are getting your electric patio heater. There are smaller sizes and styles that mainly look like a box or a large unit, like an outside air conditioner. There are also taller units that might look like to a wood burning stove. Depending on the style and decoration of your patio, you can choose from many diverse styles when it comes to your electric patio heater. You can find one that fits your needs perfectly.

Is It Safe?

Most people avoid getting an electric patio heater because they fear that it is not safe and might cause a fire. In fact, most of the electric patio heaters that you can buy today are very safe. They come with safety shut offs – valves that will shut the heaters off if they get too hot, or if something is pressed up against them. They should be able to shut themselves off if there is every any risk of getting too hot. Of course, with any electrical device, you have to make sure that you are using it precisely and following directions when it comes to proper use. Nonetheless, if you are doing what you are supposed to be doing, and if you are not leaving the electric patio heater running while you aren’t at home you are probably not going to see any problems that come along with it.

Have you been thinking long and hard about building your own custom deck railings? You may have seen a lot of examples of deck railings on other people’s landscapes and you would like it for your own deck. The news that you will be glad to hear, is that the planning is quite simple and so is the building and installing too. This is great even for people who have no experience whatsoever of being a carpenter or a builder. Anyone with experience will tell you that building the railings will take preparation, planning, measuring and also getting everything that you need.

Constructing Your Own Deck Railings

Deck railings are generally a lot simpler to install than building the actual deck yourself. It should only take a couple of hours at the most to install the railings, providing that you have the right tools in order to finish the job. When the railings have been installed, they may need to be waterproofed in order to protect them from the damaging weather.

It is always a good idea to first prepare and plan the type of railings you want to construct. It is advised that you go around your neighborhood in order to see what styles other people have gone for so that your will follow the theme if there is one. Remember that the rails have to fit in with the style of your own home and your own personality and lifestyle too. When you have decided upon a design and style and you have done the correct measurements etc, it is then important to get the right tools needed for the job.

The Tools You Will Need

The main tools which you will need to construct the deck railings include a hammer, a saw, balusters, a caulking gun, a drill a wrench and eyewear to protect your eyes from any flying debris from the materials you are using. To measure the adequate spaces you may also need some cinder blocks too.

Generally once you know what you are doing it should not take very long to construct the railings. However if you are really not sure about the whole thing, it might be a good idea to cut your losses and hire a professional. If you don’t know what you are doing it is always better to simply try and just complete the railings instead of the whole deck. The deck really can be complicated to construct so unless you know what you are doing, it is better to leave that completely to the professionals!

With so many choices on offer, you might be overwhelmed by the simple task of buying a patio umbrella.

There are two questions you need to ask yourself before going out and buying your new outdoor patio umbrella.

What do I want to use the umbrella for? And where will I be using the umbrella?

These two questions are key factors for choosing the right umbrella to meet your needs.

If you want an umbrella to shade you on the deck while cooking the barbeque or shading you and your guests while you sit at the patio table sipping cocktails and nibbling on a cheese board, then a market umbrella or regular patio umbrella will be just your thing.

If you’re planning on taking the umbrella to the beach to sit under while you’re relaxing on the sand reading a book, then you’re going to need a beach umbrella – these have pointed umbrella poles which make sticking them in the sand easy. They look very similar to patio umbrellas, but can often be a lot brighter and more colourful.

If you want the umbrella to shade you while you’re floating in the pool or Jacuzzi then an offset or cantilever umbrella is what you’re looking for. These have a side post instead of a center pole which means they can shade an area off to the side.

All these different types of umbrellas vary in price. You can get cheap versions of beach umbrellas right through to designer ones. The same goes for the regular patio umbrella and the cantilever umbrella. The market and offset umbrellas are generally the more expensive kinds. So if you’re looking for something cheap, opt for a plain beach or patio umbrella.

There’s no reason to be satisfied with a bland, gray concrete pool deck anymore. Why settle for the boring style of twenty years ago, when you can have a deck that is stylish and attractive? The answer lies in being able to stain and stamp your pool deck – it’s much less expensive than having a new deck installed, and the results are amazing!

If you took a walk around your neighborhood and checked out each pool that has a concrete pool deck, chances are most of them would be the standard poured concrete without any decoration or style added. You might find a coat of paint on a few, but that would probably be the extent of it. The reason for this is that most people just are not aware that there are options available to make the concrete more beautiful.

Concrete definitely has several advantages, which is why there are so many concrete pool decks:

· Safe – The texture of a concrete pool deck provides good traction to bare feet. Clearly, safety is a priority issue around pools.

· Easy to clean – If something gets spilled on concrete, no problem – a quick spray of the hose and you’re done.

· Durable – A concrete pool deck doesn’t rot like a wood deck will over time.

But even with all these advantage, concrete can still be improved. Imagine your pool deck still having the benefits of concrete as mentioned above, but looking exactly like antique stone. Or your deck could appear as the dark orange bricks or pavers. You could even make your concrete pool deck have the appearance of a hardwood floor. Yet with any of these looks you still have the safety and durability of concrete.

You can achieve this by staining and stamping your deck. Manufacturers such as Renew-Crete Systems and Cool Deck make tools and materials available for this type of work.

Staining is what gives the pool deck an amazing color. Instead of gray concrete, you can be enjoying any one of a host of colors. Earth tones are common, but in reality it is your pool deck so the final decision is yours. There are two components to staining:

1. Before the new overlay of concrete is poured, you will mix in an integral color based on your preference. So the concrete that is being applied already has the basic color in it.

2. Then, after the concrete has been poured but before it dries, an additional coloring agent is applied in powder form. This adds more color to the new layer of concrete.

Stamping is what brings about the amazing appearance of all those different textures mentioned above. There are different concrete stamps to use for each situation, depending on what you want your concrete deck to look like. With the concrete still wet, and right after applying the powder coloring agent, the stamp of choice is applied many times all over the surface.

Once the new application of concrete has dried (usually the next day), you should pressure wash the surface. This gets rid of any excess coloring agent. Add a couple of coats of high-quality sealant to protect your new deck, and your work is done. Now is the time to plan your next pool party – and be prepared for the compliments from your guests!