Ants or termites will find a way to get into your walls and eat the studs, especially if moisture occurs. You have only two options: 1. apply pesticide every year around your perimeter or – 2. install a zinc flashing under the sill planks, on top of the foundation wall, with a 1-1/2 inch lip draping over the wall at a 45 degree angle.

A few companies manufacture them preformed, but you can fashion one from a role of zinc flashing. Don’t use aluminium or copper or some galvanized metal. They will react to the pressure treated wood and concrete and break down chemically.

This is the green thing to do. The ants are not harmed, the ground is not poisoned, but they can’t get in and you only do it once. If your house is preserved from destruction, you are conserving natural resources. That is green. Write me if you want to see a graphic detail of this shield in a wall. If you build to last, you save on material resources.

I will admit, it is curiously difficult to find a building materials supplier in Maine who has any idea what a Termit Shield looks like, or a builder who ever installs them. Mainers are under the impression that they are unecessary due to the impression that termites seldom appear in Maine. However, we already have a severe problem in Maine with ants infesting homes and eating the wood frame of the house. What is traditionally called a “termite shield” will also work for ants. If you do not install one in your house, you are making a serious mistake. I found two companies online who supply termite shields. Print them and bring them to your builder or supplier and tell them you want these on your home. They are installed by laying them along the top of the foundation wall, under the sills. Here are links to their PDF brochures.

http://penciljazz.com/blogpdf/Flamco_termiteshield.pdf

http://penciljazz.com/blogpdf/Union_termiteshield.pdf

written by pencilman \\ tags: ants, pest control, termite shield

“When should I remodel my house?”

If you are asking the question, then you already want it to happen. Now is a good time. Prices never go down any more. They hang around, or they go up. Before you decide to begin, you should answer some questions.

• Do I own the house or have permission to remodel it?
• Do I have any money to invest in the project?
• Am I unhappy with the place the way it is?
• Is it possible to remodel this building without huge problems?
• What time of year should I begin?
• How will my daily life change during construction?
• Will the house be worth what I invested after I remodel?
• Should I hire a design/planner to get this all organized in a planset?
• What kind of national construction laws should I know about?
• What does my bank need from me to approve the loan?

Oh, there are so many questions. You will want to pay someone to help you answer all these questions before you even decide to remodel. Overlook the important questions at your peril. If money is no object, then hey, don’t plan anything. Jump right in.

I like to get to know my clients on a friendly basis to learn the way they want to live in their home. Then I analyze the space to find the possibilities. After that, I ask questions, listen carefully, and write down all the answers when I get home. Jumping ahead, this all gets assembled into a plan. From a plan you can determine materials and their cost. A professional contractor will then give you a price on the work.

Finally, you decide if the job will be done. You’ll know the answer for sure if you get this far. Before that, it’s a pipe-dream.

written by pencilman

I have returned after a long period of devastating financial distress, intense creative reflections . . . all yielding only small bits of potential genius in the rough. I intend to build an empire with these seeds. Empires appear in a variety of forms. Mine might be audio visual and digital and buildable and very eclectic. Or it might be very simple and huge. I haven’t ironed out the details. Meanwhile, I will be starting a new thread in my blog this season. I will talk almost exclusively about remodeling homes and offices. Stay tuned.

Look out world!

written by pencilman

Whether or not you choose to buy from this company, you will like using their website for choosing textures and colors in granite or marble countertops.

http://www.marble.com

written by pencilman \\ tags: Granite Countertop, Marble Countertop