hi again! sorry for the absence, i just didn't have much to report - but today a local landscaper came and i'm all excited again. we have a retaining wall that must be replaced, (between the garage and the front of the house) it's 6 feet tall at the highest and about 19 feet long, the landscape company that is associated with my favorite local nursery sent their designer out to give me an estimate on the wall. i've been lurking and reading past posts on this site, i'm reading backwards down thru the 60s - and have learned a lot in just 10 pages of links to posts ;) and a lot of what i learned may have made me a better customer. the LD who came today seemed to be having fun, and to be excited about the project. one of the nicest things i found out today was that he suggested instead of replacing the whole wall as it is, that we could terrace back instead, creating some new planting areas, and also that it would be possible to widen the narrowest "choking" area of the driveway when we moved the wall. he also assured me that it would be possible to reroute the sidewalk thru the trees, without harming them, and mentioned that while this was being done, it would be a simple matter to address the slope toward the house, creating a small slope that would drain away from the foundation (something that we knew we needed). he's also going to break the plan down into stages, so that if i can't afford to do something now, i can at least plan for it. i'm so excited. so. excited. and lpink, lol - i think my 7 year old knows just who would loooove to paint that sun on the side of my house. she already chalks my sidewalks with art constantly. oh and btw, as per orders i moved the harry lauder's walking stick to a different location, in front of one of the tall oaks. i have marked out a different curve for the mulched area - more of a grand sweep instead of all the wiggly ones - and so far no deer have eaten any of my woodland plants. when i chose plants i shot for prickly, herbal or poisonous (charming i know). the only thing not going well is that i bought 40 cleome plants for near the mailbox that were supposed to be white - but in fact they are very very pink, which delights my daughter - so okay. Oh, and with much persistance, the landscaping fabric is slowly being dragged out from beneath 9 inches of mulch. I'm about half done the front yard. Even when I'm not posting all the time, think of me, endlessly poring thru the old threads :) And if it's okay, I'll post some particulars about his plans when they come back! Thanks guys!!

Jollyrd, your storage doesn't have to have as short a life span as you are thinking. It does take a little planning ahead though. For example, if you want hooks that your kids can hang their coats on, and you want to use those hooks for as long as possible, then maybe you hang them a little higher than you would ordinarily do so. That way the hooks aren't too low in two years. The kids maybe have to use a step stool for a year or two. And don't choose babyish-looking or cartoon-themed hooks that the kids will outgrow in no time. Just get plain, ordinary hooks. OR You can plan an alternative future use for the hooks. They will be used for coats for the kids now, but sports equipment when they get older. You can then install new hooks up higher, and hang a net bag for baseballs and tennis balls, etc.

Dave, Visit the Flood website and study their deck prep and finish instructions. Michael Here is a link that might be useful: Flood

Jim, I just cant see you diging up really old posts, going on and on about it, with out some type of goal. Exactley what are you trying to prove??? Go to my site, All the ipe projects have 116 on them. As you can see they are not Red or Redwood or anything close to that. Saying it is makes me Mad clear and simple. Now if you put 116 on say preasure treated,garapa or any light color wood then Yes its going to come out a different color than 116 on ipe. This is basic 101 wood finish. Any of the resin base twp products can be mixed together to come up with a different color. I have used combos like that when puting finish on Garapa and other woods. I put cedar tone natural on ipe one time because the Wallet asked for it the result was bad but I did what they wanted however for ipe its most always the 116. Ipe itself is not one color it ranges from almost black to a light tan 116 levals out the differances but the result is not Red. Any color chip you get from Any finish store is going to be different on another kind of wood other than the wood used on the chip you cant expect them to have samples of finish on every kind of product. Just get off it Man. Its up to the Customer to know if one finish is the right one for them. There is no way twp is showing product online / samples / or color chips that dont match up with what they sell. You might not agree with what they call it if so just pick another name for your self and call it that but it Defentley is what they say it is and what they say they sell is what they sell. The JonMon has been a little tense latley after a long term project was real hard on me. This is a mixed site if I could I would edit my last response but O Well. J.