For deer and rabbit problem this may work. http://www.gqfmfg.com/pdf/GardenGuardian.pdf that pdf show guardian birdhouse #9505 model number. www.GQFmfg.com will get to web site. this bird house has 4 red flashing light and 4 blue flashing light all are ramdom flashes. Rabbits bird house need tobe mount 2 foot off grond blue light is scare for rabbits I was going to try led blue christmas lights but went with birdhouse guard rabbits just don't eat bark here at my home I'm just throwing this in as you may have string blue Led lights. Ramdom flashing is name game when trying scare off any animal about 4 patrend need scare deer birds of pray awls hawks coyotes. Rat terror dog (Jack & Jill my greeters) and blackbirds don't pay any attention to lights. It will not work on song birds. One other thing its solar power thanks to larrygene and pinkswine for help with links. One these have range they work 100 foot radius so want work for front and back yard at same time at 79.95 there not cheap but encore roses cost more than that and small money pit in chickens I had long 4 toed stand build so could move it around.

Semi, Fake anything, whether it is owls or snakes or whatever, only works for a couple of days before the birds figure out that the fake animals don't move and aren't a threat to them. I have two terrific scarecrows that a very dear friend of ours made for my garden (a most wonderful and unexpected gift), but many songbirds sit on the scarecrows and use them as a perch. However, the hawks (who are quite a problem and often try to get our chickens and guineas) seem to think the scarecrows are real, so they are effective in that regard. With strawberries, the first thing to understand is that every critter in your neighborhood that is an omnivore or herbivore will try to eat them, and this includes not only the birds, but mice, rabbits, voles, insects, turtles, etc. So, netting is perhaps your best bet. It needs to be raised up a little so it does not lie directly on the plants and fruit, or the birds will sit on the netting and peck at the fruit through the holes in the mesh. It also needs to be secured at the ground level to keep out small animals. You also could use a Remay-type floating row cover. I don't know if any place in Ardmore sells them, but think TSC or Orschlein's or Bluebonnet Feed might be the best place to look. (I haven't seen them at Lowe's.) These row covers are very lightweight and keep everything off the plants except for insects that can navigate their way up through the soil, like sowbugs and pillbugs. If you can't find floating row covers, the "sheer" curtains sold in stores are a reasonable substitute. Things that move tend to scare off birds more than things that are stable. There is a commercial product called bird flash tape that is iridescent and supposedly scares off birds as it blows in the wind. I haven't tried it, but have used surveyor's tape (you can get a roll for just a couple of bucks at Lowe's) for the same purpose. Strawberries are one of those crops that gardeners love to grow (especially new gardeners). However, they are VERY labor-intensive and are very hard to grow organically because keeping them "safe" from both pests and diseases requires a LOT of chemicals (esp. commercially). Some people have a lot of success with them. Others don't. I think Plantermunn is quite accomplished at growing strawberries, so perhaps he'll see this post and give you some tips. You also can go to the Noble Foundation website and read about their work with strawberry plasticulture. If I ever were to grow strawberries again, that's the route I would go because it seems very efficient and probably has a high rate of success. I don't grow strawberries myself because I think they require too much work/cost in return for the amount of berries you harvest from a small patch. (I did grow them in Texas, but I had a smaller garden and landscape to maintain.) But, that's just me. I have a huge garden area to maintain, so I can't give high-maintenance plants like strawberries the attention they really need. Good luck, Dawn Here is a link that might be useful: Bird Scare Flash Tape

Thank you all so much for your concern. I really appreciate it as DH and I are still pretty ignorant about the whole process of building, although we've been taking a crash course in window flashing and installation online, this past week! I have followed the links all of you have kindly sent and decided to spend the $67 and download the ASTM E2112 window installation chapter. It is too technical for me and DH to grasp, but what we can understand is that it says the window openings require flashing prior to window install. DH contacted the window dealer again, relayed our interpretation of the document, and that our opinion was that the windows need to be reinstalled correctly! Surprisingly he didn't even have a copy and requested I send him a copy of the pdf file! So it will be interesting to see if it's still 'acceptable' to him. We will be letting the builder know that we want the windows installed properly! I don't understand why window installation is not in the building code! With all the 'mold' litigation going on, how can building inspectors say it's not an issue of health and safety. This is how they look from the interior.

Mmm, I had my chimney reflashed this year and it was about 200 dollars (that included sealing and fixing a couple bricks) it has a warranty for five years I think. anyways, won't the new chimney have flashing? Then it will fail in about 3-5 years and you will have to get new flashing again also, regardless if it is new or an old chimney. So Eventually I think that it will look ugly, like the older chimney. also you have an old house and old house owners know it isn't as easy as you think (nor as cheap) if you tear down the top of the chimney I bet you will find other things that need to be repaired and the cost and time will increase! If it were me I would go with just the flashing repair. We had tar all over the chimney also so the repair was done with some sort of epoxy or something. It looks black but isn't tar. Anyways, the chimney looks SO much better now. I think they cleaned up the tar a little while they were up there. Because of the degradation of the chimney bricks, which were then tared over, it would be difficult to put the metal flashing on our chimney. Also the bricks are very rough. Our house is over 150 yrs old also. Our chimney is not used anymore though. We use the front chimney and we have a liner in that.