The first photos are the before and the after of what this really nice Wayne Dalton Garage Door did for our house.  The flimsy, cheap door that was there served the function quite well, but it just did not have any Pizzazz to it.   Probably a bad choice in words considering how many are available in the English language, but the look of a garage door has evolved.  I think we are seeing the fading out of the typical white panel door and ushering in a new standard of the garage door opening being more of a designed statement.  I really feel that Wayne Dalton nailed it with the 9400 Series.  We were able to pick the panel design, the windows, the grids for the windows, the hardware and the best part… The color!

The Mahogany finish looks great and does not disappear into the house.  We have gotten a lot of comments from friends and neighbors that have said that they really like how it has classed up the look of the house and how the color and design of the door adds to the rest of the look.  Yes, we have nice neighbors and if there are some that do not care for it… they should move far away.   The TruChoice Color System from Wayne Dalton is a simple way to upgrade your home without paying an arm and leg. You can choose from more than 6,000 colors before installation!  Sure beats painting your garage door after installation.  I like it, and it is fun to come home to.  Weird how a new garage door changes your perception about the house.  It is the same house!  But if feels different driving up.  Hmmm.

The Garage Door Store Boise.com did the install.  Kevin and his guys are my Go-to’s” for anything garage door and Kevin had spent a lot of time fixing  my old door.  He was glad to see it go to the recycle center.    Two hours start to finish and gone with the old, in with the new.  It started with verification of all the new parts and panels, then removal of the old door and hardware.  That took all of 15 minutes.

The photo is a bit blurry because these guys wouldn’t stand still to get a picture taken!    The new door is installed in sections with the bottom panel the first to load onto the new tracks.  Then more panels to the top.  Remember how I said they make this look easy?  WORTH EVERY PENNY!  I did this once for a friend and it took us 4 hours to get to this point!

This new door has a bunch of insulation in it and I can tell you it is really quiet in the garage now; Not nearly as much street noise.  I bet it is going to be a lot cooler in the summer as the sun pounds on this side of my house.

The decorative hardware was installed, and some adjustments were made.  The opener was hooked up and tuned and they gave the door several run throughs to make sure all was lined up and working right.

We are really happy with the work and the new door.   I have one more section of siding to replace on the front of the house in the spring and our exterior makeover will be complete.  I would not have thought about how dramatic an effect a garage door can have as I tend to fall back on very conservative looks, but I am quite pleased with my leap out of my comfort zone and our choice of this Wayne Dalton 9400 Series Charleston Garage door.   It is nice to know we are no longer  just stuck with a few styles and even fewer colors.  The factory applied finish on this door is beautiful  and adds significant value to the curb appeal of the house.  My thanks to all those at Wayne Dalton who made this door, and Garage Door Store Boise.com  that  installed it.  Nice Job!

Once the snow is cleared, you feel ready and excited to get started on creating the best outdoor spaces this year. Outdoor projects can still be intimidating, though, and easy to put off for another year. Don’t be afraid to create the look you want outside your home this year and increase the impact that your home has.

Here are some simple ideas for creating outdoor statement pieces that you can achieve this year. Look to these tips for advice and methods to help make a statement piece reflect your personality.

A grand deck for entertaining

Whether in the front or back of the home, a really great deck will be a piece that will not only give your home character, but will also work as an extremely functional addition to your home. Install your deck in the front of your home for a grand statement you can use to relax and unwind on a Sunday evening, or build your deck in the rear of your home for more privacy and entertaining purposes.

Installing a new deck can be time consuming, but it does not need to be an expensive or space-sucking project. There are a vast amount of materials for outdoor decks other than wood that are not only less expensive, but more durable and easier to maintain. You can also raise your deck to the second level, connecting it with an outdoor spiral staircase to save yard space and create more usable space outside your home.

A water feature

Although they look expensive and difficult to install, water features can be some of the easiest and least expensive outdoor home improvements to make. There are many ways to make a water feature unique easily and inexpensively.

Picking out a pre-assembled water feature from a store may seem like the simplest option, but an idea growing in popularity is to create your own water feature. Collect your favorite stones or any other object that will hold up under running water and assemble them together, securing them if needed. Add a liner pad, pump and some water and you have a simple and personal water feature made by hand.

A flourishing flower garden

The wide variety and versatility of flowers and plants makes them the perfect way to add personality and visual interest to your home. Research flower types that work well in your climate and choose low-maintenance varieties to create less work for you.

Planting your flowers inside a basket or wheelbarrow can also make transitions and re-planting easier. Letting your plants be the path to your home creates an inviting and fragrant welcome to you and your guests upon arrival.

Author Bio:

Tina Hamilton is a journalist, blogger and DIY enthusiast. You can usually find her in the middle of a project or walking along one of Southern California’s beaches with her dog, Joey.

Image: http://www.bhg.com/gardening/landscaping-projects/landscape-basics/flower-garden-ideas-for-your-landscape/#page=4

Here is a picture of the door on the cabinet open.  The installation here is of a hinged door Susan cabinet.  If your door is attached to the rotating shelves, this exact install will not work.  You can see in the photo, the light is on and the cabinet is bright inside.  At first when my wife Vicki told me about this feature (seen in some magazine) I didn’t see the value of it.  However, after living with the illumination now for a while, it is kind of nice.  Also, it has some major “Oooh Wow!” when people see it.  Here is how it is done.  Or one way .

The switch is a standard door jamb switch that is used on hinged walk through doors.  It is a fairly generic part and has been around for a long time. They are available at Ace Hardware stores, Home Depot and Lowes, and electrical supply houses for about $15.  Shown above is one I put in several years ago on a hall closet.  This one is wired into the overhead light in the closet so open the door, light on, close door, light off.  Pretty handy for those quick access locations.

The switch box is all metal except for the push button.  I drilled two holes through it so I could get screws into the face frame edge of the cabinet.  The two wires are retained at the box with a romex clamp.  Violation #1- probably should be shielded cable.  One of the wires is coming in from the poser source, the other goes to the light fixture.  The neutrals are wire nutted together in the box, the other two pass through the switch.

The light is from an 18” under cabinet fluorescent .   Wires are secured with straps and screws.

Violation #2- I ran the wire into a box that is installed through the back of the cabinet.  A CATV cover plate provided a convenient hole.  #3,4,5 are all here somewhere I am sure.   The power comes from a dedicated circuit I ran for all of the under cabinet LED lighting and this light.  No outlets are on this breaker, just switched lighting.  This is what I was talking about at the beginning.  I knew that there was a desire for this feature before the cabinets went in, and I was able to wire the wall behind the cabinet before the cabinets went in.  I can pretty much guarantee that your cabinet does not have an outlet in it just waiting for this.  So, you might have to pull new power from a nearby outlet or another source from a basement or crawl space.  Check with an electrician on this.

We like the light in the cabinet.  So much, I think I’ll add another under the kitchen sink and one in the pot and pan cabinet under the cook top.  Less than $50 total and about an hour of  work for the install shown here.

Thanks to Justin at Western Idaho Cabinets for getting the cabinets built, Victor for installing them, and Tim at Johnson Brothers for getting me set up with the Butcher Block Counter Tops from Boos Blocks.

This is the “Before” with the divider wall between the old kitchen and the dining room just being removed.  The window over the sink will go away; the two tall windows in the dining room will go too.  In the middle will be three new windows.  I pretty much braced up the second story and re-framed the full exterior wall.

The following are the pictures as of 12-1-2012.  You can see the tile floor is in, the backsplash tile is a denim shaded mosaic  tile and the under-counter lights are all LED.  There are eight can lights in the ceiling, all LED also.

Here you can see part of the new cabinets installed.  We actually broke the install up into three parts so we could have something usable as we moved along.

Nampa Appliance supplied the cook top, refrigerator,  and oven and microwave. The windows are from Western Window through Campbells Siding and Windows.  We bumped out the sink and cook top area for a bit of texture to break up the long run (over 19’ long!).    Western Idaho Cabinets made the casing for the windows that also matches the set up I did in the front living room.  Small detail that really makes a difference.

The Sink is a Kohler item from Fergusons.  It is supposed to be used in an under-mount configuration in granite, but we just dropped it in.  The edge was finished so nice, it worked out perfect.  Huge single bowl with a drain shelf.  It also came with its own cutting board, 6 veggie bowls, and two prep trays and the wire racks.  It was very different for us, but we have come to really like it.

We do not have a dishwasher.  Never have.  We do all dishes by hand and dry them and put them away.  Partly because we have a septic system, and mainly because the Kids years ago would never empty the dishwasher.  Once it broke, we never replaced it- and just got used to it! It provided some family time an life lessons.  I built the plate rack for our Fiestaware out of the cut offs from the counter top.  Open shelving above is for the other dishes and glasses.   The sink and cook top cut outs made some killer huge cutting boards!

This wall is opposite the windows and is the “big Stuff” in the kitchen.  Note the big drawers.  We over did it here by going over 4 foot wide.  Next time, they should be a little smaller.  All the upper cabinets over counter tops are glass doors.  The picture you see at the end of the wall is a sheet of galvanized metal framed with some scrap molding I had.  It has all the family photos and stuff that used to be on the fridge.  Magnets hold it all on.

The counter tops require oiling about every month, but the warmth and feel of them is very much worth the care and maintenance.

Once I get the bathroom up stairs roughed in and tested, we can sheetrock the ceiling and end the project in this part of the house.  Good, we are ready to be done here!

The next step was to determine the layout of the walk.  I thought just a straight shot out the back door and through my garden.  NO said Robert.  Too boring.  He suggested the gentle curve and again, I am glad he did.  I guess that’s why he gets the big rocks!  When the where was figured out, the next move was to dig out 6” deep of sod and soil.

This trench in the lawn was filled 2/3 with sand and gravel.  Then the artist began setting stones and making little ones out of big ones to get them to fit.   The garden part went directly over the sand bed that I had already in place.

So here is the cool part.  Look at the last photo.  What looks like sand between the stones is actually a high tech polymer sand that when it gets wet for the first time, it turns into a rubberized kind of grout.  It comes in 40# bags in several colors.  Robert poured it over the set stones and then ever so gently swept and pushed it into every void and to the edges.  He moistened it, and sure enough, the next day it became solid, but flexible.

So, after having lived with this walk now for a couple months and multiple mowings, I have to say that this is fantastic!  We now have the look of a country stone walkway, but without the issue of tracking sand into the house, or washing away the filler with the sprinkler system.  I do want to see if it keeps the weeds out over time, and I wondered about a fabric barrier under the gravel, but too late now.  Robert and Kirk didn’t feel it was needed.  And I like what they did so far, so I’ll trust their judgment.  Thanks guys for a great job!  To contact Kirk call 3-D Landscape at 208-631-2827 or visit www.3dlandscapeidaho.com

The deck design incorporated a skirt that went from the walking surface to the ground.  This reduced airflow and trapped even more moisture.  But there is more.

The other issue was that the composite decking was installed with zero gap between the boards.  So, over time, the combination of ground moisture, gutter run off, rain, snow and humidity all started eating away at the structure and in just a few years after construction, the deck fell apart.  Areas of it were sagging, water was pooling on the surface, and the walking surface was falling apart.  Time for a rebuild.

The homeowners liked the footprint of the original size and wanted to maintain the same look that they first had.   We calculated the costs and they said to get it done.  We did make a few changes though.  This time around, we elevated the deck a few inches above where it was the first time.  This got the lumber off the ground.  I also used redwood for all of the substructure.   And, in the process of building the frame, we figured out a better way to build the bench supports, the connection to the house was simplified and improved, and the center joint and decking direction change was enhanced.  We also connected the downspout for the gutters to a drain tube and ran it out into the yard and a pit.  As you can see by the photos, the tear out was a lot of dirty work.  And I am please to say, I did not have to do it!  This homeowner had her family help out and when I showed up 99% of it all was gone and ready for me to get to work.

The first day, myself and two others were able to get the new frame built.  Day two we were able to install most of the new decking and on day three we finished up the deck.  Day four we installed the new “Floating” skirt, and built the new benches.   We also framed in a hole in the deck and recessed the huge potted bushes into the deck rather than setting the pot on the deck.  This will allow for drainage and will not create a sag in the deck or stains from the pot.

Now for the most critical thing to remember if you are building your own deck.  You MUST provide at least 1/4″ gap between the boards for drainage and for expansion and contraction.  Composite decking while very good, must be installed so that it can breathe.  It has to dry out.  As I mentioned earlier, with the deck now elevated a bit, in fact it is now flush with the door sill instead of stepping down a few inches, the skirt having a gap to the lawn, and the boards having the proper gap between them, this structure should last many, many years.

You would want to do the same thing for a redwood deck.  Ventilation is critical in all areas of our homes, and the back yard living areas are no exception.  In fact it is even more important here.  Of note, the textured and stained patio area was also added in as a replacement to a cracked slab that was there before.  I like the combination of different materials to add interest and create a different walking feel as you pass from one zone to another.

The result is a very sturdy assembly of laminations held with gorilla glue and counter sunk plated screws. I set the leg posts into concrete footings and the wood is finished with a UV protection natural finish from Behr. Stanley cane bolt and latch hardware in a black finish secures the gates. The plan here is to continue the fencing and landscaping to the house and side fence and should look really good when it is fully landscaped.

Material cost- $110

Here’s a tip.  If you bend Trex like this, do it on a nice hot day, it bends much easier.  The decking is 5/4 x 6 Trex Accent Series attached with Senco trim head square drive screws.  I left the boards running long and then transferred the perimeter line to the surface plus an inch or so for the overhang.  The cut was made with a Bosch Jig Saw, very slowly and carefully.  I cleaned up the cut with a belt sander and then put a Router to the edge with a radius bit profile.

I have not been back to the house to see it with the patio furniture and the plantings but I am sure that it looks and feels great in this superbly manicured back yard.