I don't know about woven material, but in my experience the black plastic definitely heats up the ground. I read somewhere that it actually works better if the soil is damp because the warmth creates steam. I've heard clear plastic works better to warm the soil in the Spring, but that black will still help with warming the soil. I know that if I step on black plastic in the garden in the summer, it can burn my feet, so I'm sure that kind of heat has some effect. I've come to the conclusion that here in Utah just having a shorter season tomato doesn't cut it, we have to also grow varieties that handle our extremely hot/dry summers. I think that varieties that do well for Texas growers would do better here than varieties grown by those in the Pacific Northwest or the New England states. Some things I did this year that greatly increased my success were---consistent watering(we installed a drip system), I also used Fish emulsion to fertilize when the plants started blossoming, and about a month or so later when fruit finally started setting. This was in addition to the compost, peat moss, bone meal, and fertilizer I added at the time of planting. The plants seemed to really love the fish emulsion, I swear many of them grew overnight after applying it. (I especially noticed this on the peppers and squash.) I'm going to try and plant out earlier next year by warming the soil with plastic, and planting up against our ceder fence on the west side of my yard. Plants are effected least by frost there. I am going to buy some row cover, and tack some clear plastic to the fence and create a mini-greenhouse. I have a tomato friend from another forum that gardens in Montanta---I have gotten a lot of good advice from her as far as variety recommendations. She really raved about a variety called Aurora this year. I will be trying it out next year. I think days to maturity is so variable. I just stick to varieties that are in the early to mid-season range and still try one or two varieties that people rave about each year regardless of the maturation date. Tyffanie

This is a rather old thread but I wish to make a comment anyway since every time I search for fire safety-dogs, it comes up as one of the few resources. Also this thread catapulted me into finding a solution! This is it and I couldn't be more excited to have found it!Someone above mentioned a harness made for letting rescue dogs down from a helicopter into an emergency zone. That looked great until I found the following, which is less than half the price at $70. https://www.x-itproducts.com/how-it-works-large-pet-escape-sling/ At this time it's not offered on Amazon so you have to go directly to the X-It website to order. Ours arrived today. My husband and I tested it out a bit. Okay, we didn't throw our dog out the window however easily got our 80 lb. Golden into the sling/harness very very quickly without any struggle from him (and he's a guy who snaps at being brushed - gently). It's just so easy to get the sling on - slip paws into the large holes, pull up and cinch the velcro at the neck. Next we picked him up using the handles - no problem - and again, not an ounce of struggle. He was obviously well supported and comfortable, even off the floor! We were very happy to discover the sling comes with an attached nylon webbing strap that was way longer than it would take to get him down from our 2nd story bedroom. (It's made for a 4 story building.) Best of all, the "strap" has handle loops every so often taking away the danger of it slipping through your hands while letting your dog down. We're seniors yet I feel confident we can do this if necessary! Of course using this is a last resort and it clearly states that in the instructions. But we feel so much better having a 2nd way out of our 2nd story bedroom for our dog, as well as ourselves (via ladder). We're so grateful someone finally thought of large dogs. Thank you X-It!!! We'll be spreading the word to everyone we know who has dogs. And no, we're not paid by the company, nor have we received any free products! We're simply happy to have finally found this solution. But I agree with some of the above comments, the next house we buy will be one story. Until then, we have a plan.

The more I think about it the more I do not want to deal with an easement, just too many possibilies for issues. The only way we would purchase the property would be if we could also purchase a strip of land from the neighbors. There actually is another easement as well on the other side of the neighbor's property, for a bridle trail. I wonder if it would be possible to utilize that in a potential negotiation, as we don't have an interest using the easement. Between the access easement and the bridle trail easement, the neighbor is quite limited in fencing option I would think. Maybe for a few thousand dollars and relinquishment of the trail easement (if that's possible) the neighbor might be interested. I have no idea how be would price a small stip of land that is already encumbered by an easement. Chipsa: I agree, if we can purchase a portion of their lot for a *reasonable* amount then I would be inclined to do so, but if not then I think we will pass on the property. I don't even know if the neighbors are open to selling. And that's just one issue we still have all the other unknows to contend with- well, septic approval, "wetlands", etc. This land buying business is turning into a real headache. This post was edited by olivesmom on Mon, May 13, 13 at 16:42

Before my (late) DH and I embarked on a large renovation/addition, we did the math to compare what the addition would approximately cost (x), then added that cost to the approx. value of our home (y), and priced out homes in our area for sale at approx. x+y. For us it was worth doing the addition rather than buying a different house, even though ours ended up over $200/sqf, probably closer to $300/sqf. For comparison homes in this area are about $1.5+M for new builds; homes for teardown between $400=600k in very rough approximations. Some things to factor in: the cost of a rental when you move out during construction, including the cost of switching utilities to the rental then back (it's not so much the cost as it is the hassle. For example, keeping my same email address with Comcast required almost an act of divine intervention, not to mention about 20 phone calls.) Also count on scope creep. We were victims of our own enthusiasm and I can't tell you how many times we said, "While we're at it, we might as well do...." That's how we ended up going from the kids wanting a dog and me saying "no dog until I get a mudroom", to a 1000+ sqf addition with gutted kitchen and 4 gutted bathrooms, plus a new garage and a new roof. World's most expensive dog. (But Hendrix is worth it. :) ) Finally, there are compromises you will make that no one has to make with a new build from scratch, and there will be surprises. (Like when they cut an opening for my new office window and found a vent pipe no one knew was there. Or when they broke the sewer line while digging the new foundation.) I guess this is a long way of advising you to have a good contingency budget. For us it was totally worth it and I'm so glad we did the addition. And you have something in your favor I didn't know about at the time... this forum! I often wonder whether my layout and kitchen would be different if I knew about this forum and the kitchens forum when we did our work.