Stone Walkway To The Front Door of Your Home

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Stone Walkway To The Front Door of Your Home

The stone walkway to the front entrance of the house, with shrubs and other greenery along the side of the pathway, helps beautify the landscape around your home garden.

If you want to make your entrance more inviting to visitors to your home, then a stone walkway to your front door would be ideal. This would also help lessen the amount of mud on your visitor’s shoes before they come into your home. Especially on rainy days.

You may need to ensure your current pathway is safe and stable so that there is no chance of an injury to your visitor. Get an inspection by a landscape designer to get advice on the condition of your pathway and how you could replace it with a stone walkway.

To Repair A Stone Walkway

Stone Walkway To The Front Door of Your Home

When my mother moved into her house about ten years ago, there was a stone walkway that leads up to the front door. Though I thought it looked good near the driveway, it was torn up quite a bit near the entrance to the house.

My mom didn’t know if she should try to save it or if she should rip it up and go with concrete. There was a good chance someone would trip and get hurt, but I asked her to save it and try to fix it before she gave up on it.

I ended up working on the stone walkway for her. Because I work in construction and landscaping I can often get really good deals on building supplies, and I went to my reliable suppliers and got the stone I needed.

I studied the stone walkway as it was before I went to get a new stone because some of it could be used again. There were other pieces that were shattered that had to be removed, but about half of the stone was good.

I got some that matched pretty closely, and most of it was a reddish-pink color.

It took me only a few weekends to work on the stone walkway for my mom. I couldn’t take off of work to do it, but I said do it on the weekend for them was not a problem.

House And Stone Walkway Needs Some Work

My mom and stepdad were going to leave that for last, as the stone walkway was the least of their problems. They had bought the house with the knowledge that it would need some work, but once they got started it needs more work than they had realized.

Had they tackled the walkway on their own I fear it may have never got done. The roof and the windows alone took quite a while, and there was more to do after that.

After the stone walkway was finished, my mom thanked me for talking her into saving it. It was really great, and she said she wanted to plant some flowers along the edge of it.

She ended up planting a shrub that has green and red leaves, and they really looked good with the reddish-colored stones. Everyone who came to see their new house once they got most of the work done said they loved the stepping stone walkway ideas, and it truly did add something to the house.

I advised mum about other types of plants she can place along the stone walkway to make the path to the entrance of the house more interesting. She did not want tall plants, as she was concerned about security.

I went to my favorite nursery supplier and got a few more shrubs that would blend with the stone walkway colors.

Solar Lights For Safety And Security

Stone Walkway To The Front Door of Your Home

As mum was concerned about safety and security, I also advised her about placing solar lights around the house. She agreed.

I arranged for some solar lights to be installed around the outside of the house so that once she stepped outside the house at night, the lights would turn on.

She said she had always been afraid of the dark and what lies out there. Now she is assured that there is no one out there as the solar lights turn on whenever she or her husband steps outside.

She knows that there is someone out there when the solar lights come on.


How to Build An Attic Walkway

Having an attic walkway can be an important part of protecting your safety, and the safety of your family, and can even save you money. Attics are often where the crucial mechanical systems that make your house run smoothly are kept.

When You Need One

However, many attics are unfinished and have raw, exposed fiberglass insulation that can make maintaining the units in your attic inconvenient at best, and damaging or dangerous at worst.

If you have ever found yourself wanting to check on your furnace, your heater, your central air conditioning unit, or anything else stored in your attic, but have encountered protection on the base of your upper room rather than a strong, well-assembled floor, there is no compelling reason to live with the issue.

Developing a basic upper room walkway can enable you to defeat the plan defect so you can take care of the frameworks that are at the core of your home.

Why You Need an Attic Walkway

In many houses, the attic is where the major systems like the furnace, air conditioning unit, and sometimes even the water heater is kept. These kinds of systems need regular maintenance and checkups in order to function without problems. If you can keep an eye on your furnace or A/C unit with ease, you are more likely to maintain it, which means that you can save money on costly repairs that are often a result of negligence.

An attic walkway will allow you to make your way through your attic to check on any unit installed in this area of your home. By having a secure catwalk that will let you access these kinds of units, you will make it easy for you, prospective buyers, and any professional maintenance or repair workers to make sure that your heat, A/C, and water are running smoothly, and if there is a problem an attic catwalk will let you diagnose and solve the problem with relative ease.

Your Materials

All you need in order to build a simple, functional attic walkway is a few 2x boards, some plywood, (See Different Types of Plywood) sturdy deck screws, and some heavy-duty construction adhesive. Choose 2x stock that will easily extend above your attic insulation when you set the wood on top of the bottom chords of the horizontal trusses that run across your attic.

In addition, you will need some gloves to protect your hands from the fiberglass, and enough plywood to build a few gussets and to cover your 2x foundation boards.

Prepping Your Wood And Your Attic

Your catwalk will sit on the horizontal chords, which can bear a heavy load as long as you do not cut or damage them. Start by sawing your plywood into pieces that will match and support your 2x stock, then use your plywood scraps to construct a few basic gussets.

You will need one gusset for each chord, and they should be big enough to reach from the chords bottom up to about an inch below the top edge of the boards that will make your attic walkway. Wearing your gloves, take a few moments to push the insulation surrounding the chords back so that the chord surface is clean and exposed, then move on to installation.

Installing Your Walkway

To complete your attic walkway, run glue along a side and along the top of every cord, then securely fasten your 2x stock and gussets to the chords, using both glue and screws so that you will not have any slippage. For additional footing, place your fastens in a multi-directional befuddle design so no single side of the gusset will bear the full weight.

Utilizing numerous screws, join the compressed wood spread pieces to your 2x establishment structure. Presently, wearing gloves once more, cautiously supplant the protection, and make the most of your new upper room catwalk.

Landscaping: Perfect Primrose Paths

This article discusses ways to improve your outdoor walkways. Including types of plants that could be planted and what materials to make the walkway of.

When one thinks of a garden, the image usually brought to mind is that of dazzling flowers and bright shrubs, elegant trees providing a cool shady canopy, and a lush lawn surrounding the area. Of course, this is understandable; bright, bold, and colorful, this is how gardens are usually designed.

A garden is an elaborate stage, filled with beautiful actors and actresses who each play their own parts in making that garden a simply enchanting place. When one mentions the word ‘garden,’ it usually evokes one, if not all of the following words: bright, bold, and beautiful.

But also like a stage, there are those who play key roles, yet remain hidden from sight. The quiet workhorses, often work behind the scenes or are designed so as to be nearly invisible. Our paths, trails, and walkways are often overlooked and understated, designed for functionality; simply as a way to get from point A to point B. In fact, many fail to realize that a well-laid walkway can either make or break a garden.

Instead of thinking of your walkway as an accent to your garden, you should think of it as a backbone. Taking some time to plan out your path can be the difference between an average garden and a stunning retreat that you will never want to leave.

If properly done, a nice path will accent your home perfectly, increasing not only your personal aesthetic value but also increasing property value. Here are a few helpful things to take into consideration, while you go about planning out your primrose path:

Materials

There is any number of interesting materials that can be put to use in your garden paths; you are only limited by your own creativity. Colorful or textured stepping stones can create a lighthearted journey through your garden, whereas intricate laid brickwork or cobblestones can create interesting geometric patterns for your pleasure. The crunch of gravel, underfoot, can be a relaxing sound or if you like to appeal to the sense of smell, you might try an aromatic material such as a cocoa mulch.

Whatever senses you wish to stimulate, you can do so while turning your garden into a relaxing retreat. One thing to keep in mind, however, is the practicality of the different materials that you wish to use. While a mulch walk may be useful in drought-prone areas, it can prove messy in a garden that receives a lot of rain on a regular basis.

Gravel is very nice and inexpensive, but you may want to take into consideration snowfall if you live in a northern state; in this case, it may prove more beneficial to lay down some tightly arranged bluestone, in order to make the snow-shoveling easier. Also keep your budget in mind, as well. Brick and bluestone may create a breathtaking walkway, but gravel and stepping stones may be more practical for your pocketbook.

Size Matters

Regardless of what they say, size does matter; at least, when you are talking garden paths, that is. Take a moment and consider the size of the path that you want to lay down and the type of plants you intend to place along with it; your path should complement your home, so you will want to try and match it up in a way that will be flattering. Common errors are making garden paths too narrow (especially when bordered by tall and/or dense foliage), making the path seem dark, confining, and claustrophobic, or making the walkways too wide, in which case, they tend to make the house look small and insignificant.

Avoid the gaudy look and take a few minutes to plan and plot out your pathways; the key to a beautiful garden is taking the time to plan it all out before you ever make a move to lay it down.

Stimulate the Eye

Once you have your plan plotted out, you should take your borders into consideration next. What kind of look do you want for your garden? Something neat, clean, and orderly? Or perhaps you want your garden to be more whimsical and romantic, with soft edges of flowers spilling out onto your walkway.

Whatever look you decide to go with, you will want to create an environment that stimulates the senses; try using different heights and layers to your garden, keeping the eyes moving and intriguing. Comfortable benches, cozy reading retreats, bird feeders, and fountains all add interest to your garden and can accent your beautiful paths.

With a well-planned walkway, you are setting the scene for people as they walk up to your home, as well as giving some insight as to the person you are. Remember, your home is a reflection of who you are, and a beautiful walkway leading to your front door can only make a good impression. Don those gloves and get creative!

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