How To Improve Your Backyard

Help your backyard reach its fullest potential and develop into something more than just extra grass. With a few additions, your backyard can be completely transformed into your favorite space to relax and entertain.

Create a Comfortable Space

Install a deck or patio for you and your guests to enjoy a relaxing area to hang out. Decide if you want to install a patio using decorative stones or build a floating deck. If you have a pool, you can build your deck surrounding your pool for easy access. For help with building a full-service deck, you may want to hire a professional pool design and installation Charlotte NC service. Think about what type of outdoor furniture you want and how you can make it comfortable. You will likely want a nearby grill to cook up food while you enjoy your time outside. Depending on how much cooking you do outside, you might even want an outdoor kitchen.

Plant a Garden

Bring more color and personality to your yard with a freshly planted garden. You can even try growing your own herbs and vegetables. A garden can be a great topic of conversation, improve the appearance of your yard, and help you save money on groceries. Gardening is also a natural way to relieve stress and exercise outside. Soak up the sun and relax your mind as you tend to your plants. After gardening, both you and your plants will feel rejuvenated and happy.

Install a Playground

If you have children, consider building a playground for them to play and enjoy. Instead of having to make trips to the park, your kids can get plenty of exercise in their backyard. Depending on how much yard space you have available, you can make it as simple as a sandbox or build a multi-level treehouse with swings and a slide. Shop around for a safe and reliable swing set. Playgrounds can include a climbing wall, monkey bars, or interactive games.    

Set Up Lighting

Illuminate your backyard with ambient outdoor lighting. Light up any pathways with solar-powered landscape lighting and hang string lights around to create a beautiful sparkling effect across your yard. Outdoor lighting will help set the mood as the sun goes down and minimize any chance of tripping in your yard at night. Warm up your backyard on chilly nights with an outdoor fireplace or fire pit. Enjoy roasting marshmallows and gathering around the warmth with your family and friends.

Improve the appearance and function of your backyard using these simple tips.… Read more ...

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6 Signs You Need Foundation Repair in Baton Rouge Area

Your home’s foundation probably isn’t something you think about on a daily basis. Out of sight, out of mind- and a foundation is about as “out of sight” as you can get. Its job is to silently support your home and keep everything level as it should be.

However, nothing lasts forever- and that includes your foundation. It’s important to keep your home in good shape for as long as possible, and part of that process is knowing the signs of disrepair around the house. Here are 6 signs that you should start thinking about calling a local company for foundation repair services. This information is presented by our company for foundation repair in Baton Rouge.

1.    Sagging Floors

A dip here and there on the floor, especially during the winter, is normal. There may even be a few creaky or low spots when you move in. However, what’s not normal is a dip in the floor that appears suddenly, worsens over time, or feels weaker than the rest of the floor when you step on it.

Floors may sag due to foundation problems. If the walls of the foundation are being pressed inwards by an external force, such as soil expansion, then the floors won’t have as much support and may develop dips or sags. Waiting too long to fix these issues can result in further damage to the floor joists and then foundation in general.

2.    Cracks in the Wall

Perhaps the biggest sign of foundation problems is cracks developing in your walls. Over time, your foundation can sink or weaken, especially in the middle. When this happens, the walls lose their support and start to weaken as well, leading to cracks.

Cracks in your basement walls can be caused by soil expansion as well. Especially in areas that have large amounts of clay, spring rains cause the soil to expand and press inwards on the foundation walls, breaking them down and forming cracks. If they are smaller than ⅛ of an inch, or small enough that you can’t slip a dime into them, you may not need to worry about them just yet. However, any bigger than that and you’ll need to start thinking about calling a Baton Rouge foundation repair company.

3.    Water Damage

Cracks in your foundation are, unfortunately, a way for all sorts of things to make their way into your home. This includes water! Water damage is particularly likely if you have cracks in a basement foundation, since these allow groundwater to seep in from the soil around it. Heavy rains in the spring can contribute to this problem, flooding a basement in no time. Now you have two problems to deal with: cleaning up the water damage and fixing the foundation.

If you suffer water damage in the basement, don’t panic. You may need to contact a flood cleanup company along with the foundation repair company, or one company may do both. Either way, get it addressed as quickly as possible … Read more ...

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