How many houses have you built ?
bichonbabe
2 months ago
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cpartist
2 months agoRelated Discussions
How many have ben successful with bat houses?
Comments (35)I just saw something on television about this. They suggested that size is one of the factors of success. They mentioned that many people build them too small and then the bats don't use them. Because they are social animals, they want them big enough to hold a couple hundred. The one they made was a couple feet tall and a foot and a half across (my estimate). They mentioned they needed to be quite high up for the bats to be able to fly because they are really gliders and need to start up high in order to fly. They also said that you should stain them with dark stain to absorb the sun because they need to stay warm. That is about all I know about them. My dad had a huge colony in our barn when I was a kid. They kind of creeped me out. I know they are good animals to have around, but I haven't gotten the courage to put one up yet....See MoreHow many pets do you have? How many is 'too many'?
Comments (102)i lost my senior great dane girl 5 weeks ago to bone cancer. it was sudden and shocking and i still look for her. my remaining dane girl and eden were joined at the hip, pip took the loss very hard and had been grieving so much, it broke my heart. i contacted pip's breeder and one of her former co-owners and asked that they keep an eye out for any adults that any breeder friends might be considering a new home for (retired show dogs, etc.). the co-owner gave me the contact information for one of her people who had a dane boy she had been looking for just the right home for and the rest is history. meet "flighty foto my way", call name "frank". frank will be 4 years old on 5/31. he is a very sweet boy and he and pippin hit it off immediately at our meet 'n' greet friday. they do zoomies numerous times a day, sleep curled up together and are just a perfect pair. pippin is so much happier and that makes me happier. even though i miss eden terribly, i am beginning to heal now that pip is feeling better. frank is a bit on the thin side because he lived the last 4 weeks with a female dane who was going through a heat cycle and when that's going on, intact males ignore food, do a lot of pacing and fretting and routinely lose weight. he's eating like a horse so i'm confident he will gain and be back to his normal weight soon. i'm giving him a few weeks to settle in and then i'll make an appointment to have him neutered....See MoreTell me how you built your house—from the beginning.
Comments (10)One of the best things we did was find an architect early on who understoord our budget and understood that we were doing almost everything ourselves. His design was smaller and more efficient that what we had sketched out on our own - he showed us where we could make compromises to get down to our budget, we still got everything we needed, and we LOVE the house. I'm sure not every architect would have been this way, but it's worth interviewing some (interviews/initial meetings are free) to get some ideas and see if you can find someone who can think about how to simplify and what can be done to make the building process more efficient. In our case, or architect defintily saved us money and we got a nicer house. You want to be really upfront about budget here (and maybe give a number a bit lower than your actual max), beacuse it's easy to have your eyes get bigger than your wallet. We were acting as GC as well as doing the carpentry and a lot of the other work ourselves (but we contracted out things like plumbing/heat, electric, roof, insulation, excavation, etc.). All during the design process and initial planning, we kept a spreadsheet of known costs. We broke down all the parts of the house (foundation, roof, doors, windows, plumbing, tile - everything down to the $100 medicine cabinet) and plugged in the best cost info we had. We used the homewyse online estimators for services and home depot online pricing for products at first, then plugged in actual estimates from contractors as we got them, then finally the actual costs when they occured. This allowed us to keep a really good eye on the budget, and understand when something had gone over and we needed to cut something in the future, or up the total budget. We had enough cash saved to not take out a loan, and I think that actually saved us a lot of money. Because we weren't having to draw down from a loan, we could pay the sub-contractors right away (I am postitive we got better service/prioritization because of that), and we were also able to put off some finishing details that a bank would have required be finished on a certain timeline. I know a family member who still has wall to wall carpet in their house, because the bank required it 20 years ago. They hate it, but that's what was required, and once it's in, it feels like too much work to change. Someone else told us they rushed all their detailed finish work (trim, stair railing, etc.) because the bank needed it done in x amount of days - it didn't come out very nice, but it was done on time. For us, the only penalty of taking longer was having to pay another month of rent - so that was a huge freedom. It was also really nice to be able to make all the decisions ourselves, rather than checking with the bank to see if they would allow things - just one less stressful thing in a very stressful project....See MoreHow many hosta did you have before you realized you were addicted?
Comments (33)Even though I said "2" I think the really honest answer would be that I was addicted before I bought even one because I found this forum and was blown away by all your gardens and those of a couple we have lost since then. I don't share much because my gardens don't hold a candle to others here-for example, almost every hosta I planted on our hill has been washed away with the rains this year, along with the mulch and much of the soil. I always seem to be trying to repair and replace all the failures. At least I am doing my part to keep all our nursery friends (the Boyz at Naylor Creek, Hallsons, NH Hosta, etc.) in the black....See Moreenajasereht
2 months agoDavid Cary
2 months agoarcy_gw
2 months agojackowskib
2 months agolast modified: 2 months agovinmarks
2 months agolikestonehomes
2 months agoPatricia Colwell Consulting
2 months agoArchitectrunnerguy
2 months agoDiana Bier Interiors, LLC
2 months agoMark Bischak, Architect
2 months agoLongbranchstitch
2 months agochispa
2 months agolast modified: 2 months agodeegw
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2 months agoCaroline Hamilton
2 months agoworthy
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2 months agoMary Elizabeth
2 months agoKristin Petro Interiors, Inc.
2 months agoJP Haus
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