The best contractor for this project is you yourself! Seriously, laying a new paver or flagstone walkway is a very doable DIY project and you will save a ton of $$ by doing it yourself. The hardest part of the project will be removing the old concrete path. But although that will take some serious elbow grease to accomplish, it can be done relatively easily by you and maybe a couple of good friends (promise liquid refreshments when the job is complete :-)) My brother and I helped a friend of mine break up and remove a 30' long, 60 y.o. concrete driveway a few years back and I'm a grandmother! She wanted the drive gone for extra planting areas and I needed the recycled concrete for a design project I was working on. It took a couple of weekends, a strong pry bar and a sledge, but we recovered 3, 3/4 ton pick-up loads of concrete chunks and my friend doubled her planting space in her rather tiny urban garden. If you need to, rent a masonry saw to cut the concrete away from any steps. You can also use the saw to cut the old concrete path into manageable sizes but I prefer the look of naturally broken concrete chunks for recycling purposes.......you'd be surprised how many uses you will find for them! As to designing and laying a new pathway, that is pretty simple. There are all manner of home landscaping books that outline the process, you can find instructions online or most stone suppliers will provide instructions as well. The most important thing is preparing a proper, level, compacted base. You can choose naturally shaped flagstones and fit them together like a jigsaw puzzle or select cut stones for a more formal look. The cut stones also allow for closer placement - naturally shaped flags allow for interplanting with grass or groundcovers if that is a look you prefer. Or, if your climate requires it, you can mortar in between the joints and remove the potential for any movement or weeds growing in the joints. And remember to be generous with your sizing. Most builder pathways are uncomfortably narrow. A primary entry access should be no less than 5' wide to allow two people to walk side by side easily - 6' is even better. This will provide a wide, welcoming entry to your home and garden and the hardscaping is an attractive accent to planting beds or lawns. And I'd recommend using rigid edging to contain the pathway. This is typically sold at the same places one would obtain the stone and is easily installed when the base material is constructed. The December/January issue of Fine Gardening has a great example of a new front entry garden with a stunning limestone paver walkway you could peruse for inspiration. Or just let your natural creativity flow! Here is a link that might be useful: only one of many online instructions.........

We have a metal front door but unfortunately it is white which shows everything. A new roof and roofing dust all over the front door. Don't paint it white.... We paint our door every 4 years or so (when paint from the trim starts coming off). We sand the trim areas where needed, chalk, prim it and then paint it. We had to do it more often until a painter told us with the enamel paint to let the primer set for a week before applying the paint. Such great advice which works wonderfully. Wish we had known this trick years ago. Oh, if the hot sun beams down on your door you might have to paint it more often.

Larisa - Thanks for posting this. I think you do have to take into consideration that a company that receives an “F” has got to say something in response. Their explanation, that Borax takes up 1% of their formula and they don’t believe EWG takes that into account, is not correct. I just read that on the EWG site, that they definitely do take it into account when giving grades. Have you looked at the review of Puracy on their site? They do list Borax [sodium borate] as an ingredient with an F. It is reported to be HIGH concern, because it causes developmental/endocrine/reproductive effects. And based on their explanations of what they consider in their grading, that 1% that is in the formula still ranks enough to cause high concern. Perhaps the company is saying that due to not wanting to give away trade secrets, they do not want to reveal how much borax is in their product. But - they just did. So it doesn’t add up that they didn’t want to tell EWG how much was in the formula before the grade was given. For me that category of concern about developmental and reproductive toxicity is really on my radar, so I don’t even want to use a product with moderate concern about these effects, let alone high concern. Here is EWG’s position on Borax… https://www.ewg.org/enviroblog/2016/05/watch-out-borax#.Wl5yCa2ZNGU Look at the whole review. This product has one F ingredient, 8 ingredients that get a C, 9 ingredients that are a B and 5 ingredients that get an A. That’s a lot of ingredients. The company in their statement, said “there are ONLY 19 ingredients”. [g]. That is a lot to me. Compare that to the products that receive an "A". They also have Benzisothiazolinones which are of moderate concern for acute aquatic toxicity. They have 4 ingredients that have no data on them. They do have a good rating for ingredient disclosure, which is a good start. I’ve noticed a number of recent reviews have upgraded some of the grades on products that changed their formula to remove some ingredient that was problematic. Or provided EWG with better information. The company is claiming that there is no exposure to these chemicals. That they are completely rinsed away from clothing in the rinse cycle. I don’t think they can guarantee that. Nor does that address what happens to them when they are dumped into the waste water and the effect that eventually has on the environment. If the chemicals that are of concern are not in the product in the first place, then there is no concern. The company is saying to you - as these companies have for decades - we have done OUR OWN testing and we say the risk from this product is a 1 or a 2 on a scale of 0-4. I’m sorry, I am not going to rely on what the company that makes the product tells me is the risk. They have too much at stake to be an objective source of that kind of information. The only way to have a chance of getting objective information, is to have an independent organization like EWG. If a company disputes their findings, then they should have their scientists meet with the scientists at EWG and work it out. Instead of getting their PR department to make an attack online of EWG and what they do. In this response from the company, they criticized everything that EWG does and didn’t take into account anything they are doing right. It’s a one sided, PR effort to avoid the consequences of a bad review. I'd be interested in seeing EWG's response to it. They explain that you have to have borax in a product that has enzymes in it to stabilize it. Yet Grab Green Pods has enzymes and no Borax and many of you here are happy with that product. So, that’s not right either. That's just my take on it. I know you use the product and like it and it's not simple and clear cut to weigh everything. But, I really support having an independent organization like EWG to protect the consumer and I don't think a manufacturer should criticize what they do, in defense of their product, especially when their defense has some inaccuracies in it. EWG is not singling them out. They are very anti-Borax, no matter who is using it in their formula, including DIY recipes.

The fact that this put out 2 more blooms (total of 4) surprised me. I didn't even see the pending blooms when I first saw the blooms. Guess I was too focused on the open flowers. It's still going strong. 85-degree days haven't fazed it.