I use old tires personally. The auto shop I live by gives them to me for free and most others should too because (here at least) the shop has to pay to have them removed from the property and disposed of. I simply cut the sides out, wash them to get rid of any road tar, lay them down and fill them up. When they get full I start another stack. They're so much easier to turn too. All I have to do is push the top tire off, set it upright again and start filling it up from the other tires. The open bottoms are also awesome for allowing bugs, worms, lizards etc. to move in all by themselves. AND the black rubber helps keep in heat during the winter helping it break down even then, not to mention keep my lizard friends happy. I've heard some people claim that they can leech harmful metals into the compost but I don't think thats true. One of the reasons tires are hard to recycle is that the metals are so well bonded to the rubber. But hey I've been wrong before. (its also a great way to reuse pesky tires so they don't end up in dumps) If you're looking for something mobile, I've heard of people composting directly in a wheelbarrow. That way you can just wheel it around. To turn it I guess you'd dump it out then shovel it back in....

Yes Britbrit, things at BMs house are much worse than we suspected. I suppose that, prior to now, this craziness didnt spring forth since my SD didnt spend enough time here. But now that shes been living with us full time for -- what -- 2 months now, these things are slowly coming to light. Lazygardens, good question! Top 10 Rules at our House: 1) Be nice, be polite. 2) We will all be respectful and supportive of each other. 3) If you use it, put it back. If you dirty it, clean it. 4) Use your brain! Think! Assert your individuality! 5) If you have a problem or a question, speak up. Anything can be openly discussed. If it appears that something is on your mind, you will be asked about it. 6) Everyone has the right to retreat to their private sanctuary (aka bedroom) without being disturbed. 7) Knock before entering. ALWAYS! 8) Everyone has the right to their own opinion or ideas without being criticized (well, if its really funny maybe well all share a hearty laugh over it). 9) Laughter is a good thing. Jokes welcome anytime. Play, have fun! 10) Remember your manners. (Ok, its fine to get gross now and then for a giggle, but always mind your manners when in public). Say please and thank you. Hmmm its hard to squeeze an entire lifestyle and philosophy into 10 simple rules! :-) Oh -- and I almost forgot my favorite .. passed down thru the generations ... and never fails to get a smile from the kids ... 'YOU'RE BIG AND UGLY ENOUGH TO DO IT YOURSELF' ...

Just to clarify: The entire value for your land, let alone your house, is what someone will pay for it. For insurance valuation you can look at replacement cost because it's about what you've lost that you can buy again at a store. As soon as you start using your stuff its individual market value (that is, what you could sell it on Craig's List for) goes down. That's why insurance for replacement value costs so much more than insurance for real value. The concept, if you sue someone for destroying your stuff, is to make you whole for what it's worth at the time it's destroyed. You might be able to argue that the durability of granite is such that it doesn't depreciate, but your appliances sure do! That's why people want to be insured to be able to replace what they lost as if it were new. No one wants to replace a fridge that was new out of the box two years ago with a two year old one on Craig's List that's been in someone else's house holding someone else's food, even though, technically, you already used up the first two years' worth of of value, and only lost a two year old, used fridge. For security against your loan, you're looking at market sale value only. The appraisal is what someone who really understands the market thinks you can reasonably get for it. It's more art than science, and the only way to know for sure is to actually sell. Since, of course, you don't want to sell, the trick might be to find an independent appraiser who thinks that your opinion about jalousies being not charming matches that of potential buyers for your house, and that seeing that they're gone will induce them to pay more for your place. The disintegrating and dangerous stuff you mentioned doesn't necessarily mean someone will pay more for the exact same house with those things fixed. It may be that there's a higher demand for a fixer "that we can put our own personalities into" than a place that's been fixed up already. Maybe there are 10 houses on the market with similar lots, houses, etc., 2 like your was, 5 with less destruction, but still ugly old tiles and jalousies, and 3 like yours improved with nice windows and no maintenance issues. If the ones like yours are priced at 20-30% more, do the buyers just choose the 5 in the middle? Do they actually pay less for the two at the bottom? Or does it turn out that they all sell for within $5K of each other? That's what the appraisers check. One of the two at the bottom might be at the top of that range, too, because it has a really cool tree, and one of the best three might go for the least because no one likes the granite in the kitchen. And that's how they get an average price for what your house is worth based on everything remotely like it, not just the ones that have had the maintenance and upgrades. Why do they sell the loans that way? So you'll buy them!!! They're into it for making money off of you, not to do you a favor. Banks are remarkably cold blooded institutions, and credit unions only seem nicer. Underneath they're just as cold blooded.

Chris, I love the colors you used on your catio/dog yard! The lavender and green are so nice together yet again. I have wanted to use it at my house, too, since (what was her name? Loretta, maybe?) used it in her bedroom. Your painting the furniture and the fixtures really unifies the space. Vintageliving, you have a beautiful property! What did you do with your potting lean-to? Did you get it done? You have so much room and privacy and are not likely to have zoning laws infringing on your plans, either. I am a Smaller Homes old-timer who has been hiding out on the Bathrooms forum when I am on THS, finishing up the purchasing for a gutting of our bathroom. I have been on "hold" for that project for a long time, and this spring, as I started looking at my planters on the patio, I realized that It is not "safe" out there for my tippy self! There is so much clutter, and so many things that have no home to be "put away" to, cluttering up the space that it is hazardous for me to try to work out there. I went on our city's web site and learned that I may make a shed up to 200 sq ft - as long as this does not put the "built-up" part of our lot over a certain ratio of land-to-buildings. But with the easement along the back fence of 9 ft, and the rule that the shed must be 10 ft or more from the house, and the rule that it must not go more than 10 feet into our side yard (we are a corner lot, with a lawn area of 30 ft to the sidewalk), it leaves me with just a few places to put it. A growing maple tree further limits my options because I decided that if I am building a shed, I will have a side walled off for a greenhouse where I can do seed-starting in the spring and grow greens into the fall and early winter. That side will face south. Here is my first version of the shed, if I have it in the center of the yard, near the end of the patio, sticking 10 feet into the side yard. Here, the house does not block the sun in winter. The sides are 14 ft long. The low greenhouse wall comes out 2 feet and there is an additional 3 feet inside the greenhouse side of an insulated wall that separates the greenhouse from the storage shed. That outer door is 4 ft wide and a standard 3 ft wide insulated door goes to the greenhouse from inside. That gives me a storage shed of 8 x 14. Given all the stuff in the garage and the stuff on the patio, I believe I can fill it! Once I have the shed, I also have a place to store some things that need to come out of the bedroom next to the bathroom, so that wallpaper may be removed, and flooring can be laid. Then, the bathroom project that I have been planning for 4 years can begin and the garage will be free for the construction guy(s) to use! Then I can finish up organizing that bedroom (which is both my craft space and my Physical Therapy room) and organizing the shed. Then maybe we could park a car or two in the garage for the first time ever! I have called a shed builder and discussed the general idea and he was on board. I do need to decide on the spot and the design, though. I may have to make it longer and skinnier if we end up putting it near the back easement. I fear putting it there, close to that growing maple tree, though!