Low-Maintenance Exteriors – Our Top 5

Unless you are a born and breed handyperson type, you would probably want to have the exterior of your home as maintenance free as possible.  While no exterior material is truly maintenance free, you can have a low-maintenance home.  Here’s our Top 5 for low-maintenance exteriors:

5. Silicone Caulk

Not much excitement here, just good old-fashioned performance from a high-tech product.  When it comes to the exterior of your home, water is the number 1 enemy.  Individual materials can be very resistant to water damage, but their weakness is where they meet another material.  Sound construction techniques and caulking are key components for most of these situations.  Silicone caulks are long lasting; up to 35 years in some cases.  Silicone caulks are not perfect: they’re expensive and most can’t be painted.  There are, however, enough colors available to fit most any color scheme.

4. Metal Roofing

Metal roofing is certainly more expensive, initially, but can last 2 to 4 times as long as asphalt shingles.  A properly installed metal roof can last 50 years or more.

3. PVC Trim

If the design of your home calls for painted trim, consider PVC trim.  While initially more costly than wood, PVC trim out-performs wood in many ways:

• PVC trim is insect resistant
• PVC trim won’t rot, splinter or check
• PVC trim has no knots
• PVC trim does not have to be painted.  If you choose to paint it, the paint will last longer because PVC trim does not absorb moisture.

2. Clad Windows and Doors

Some windows with vinyl cladding rely on caulk joints where the individual cladding components meet.  Inspect these yearly.  Weather stripping can fail, especially the threshold sweeps on doors.  Otherwise little maintenance is required

1. Full Masonry Exteriors

Brick and stone exteriors do not require much in the way of maintenance:

• Don’t allow vines to grow on them
• Don’t allow weep holes to be blocked. Weep holes, located at grade level, above doors and above and below windows, allow moisture to drain from behind brick veneers.  Over time, mulching in landscape planting beds can block weep holes, which, in turn, can lead to spalling (damage to the face of brick occurring during freeze-thaw cycles)
• Over time mortar will degrade and needs to be repaired (pointed up).  Generally mortar will last between 25 and 50 years before needing to be replaced.  The areas most vulnerable are near grade where splashing from rain keeps the brick and mortar wet

Rain Gardens: Combining Beauty with Function

The purpose of a rain garden isn’t limited to what grows in it. It is a landscape area that functions as a small-scale, temporary wetland.

A rain garden consists of a shallow depression that is planted with shrubs, flowers and grasses that are native to a region. Also called a bio-retention area, the rain garden’s saucer-like shape and water tolerant native plants, help precipitation absorb into the ground. It is not a retention pond, which can become a breeding area for mosquitoes. A rain garden is designed to hold water above ground for only a short while, as it filters down into the soil, making it a good landscaping choice for low-lying, often soggy problem areas in many yards. These planting beds work to manage excessive rainfall.

Rainwater itself, usually isn’t the problem, storm water runoff is. By allowing the runoff to be absorbed into a rain garden, the amount of pollution and sediment reaching creeks, streams and rivers can be significantly reduced. The gardens offer an earth friendly, attractive alternative to piping rainwater to the nearest sewer.

Native plants are recommended for rain gardens because they adapt to both extreme dry and extreme wet conditions. These plants take up excess water flowing into the rain garden, and standing water is only present for a limited amount of time. The water filters through both soil layers and root systems, before entering the groundwater system, which enhances infiltration, moisture redistribution and provides habitat for microbial populations involved in bio-filtration. Also, through the process of transpiration, rain garden plants return water into the atmosphere and provide a local cooling effect. Rain gardens can contain many different mixes of wildflowers, sedges, rushes, ferns, shrubs and small trees. Plants from a local nursery are well adapted locally, and are usually the safest to use in the long run. It is important to determine where the plants came from before purchasing them. Were the plants wild-collected or were they propagated at the nursery? Collecting plants in the wild can devastate local plant populations, so insist on plants propagated from division, cuttings or seeds. Additionally, propagated plants tend to be healthier than wild-collected plants making them better for the rain garden.

• It is recommended that the garden bed be built with a planting mix of sand (25-35%), compost (50% or more) and native soil (15-25%). For a small rain garden, variations of these proportions may be workable.
• Stabilize the top of the garden with natural mulch, 2-3 inches deep. The mulch acts as a sponge to capture heavy metals, oils and grease. Bacteria break down the pollutants as the mulch decays. The mulch also reduces weeds and maintenance.
• Select natural mulch such as aged, shredded hardwood bark that will gradually decompose, adding compost (humus) to the soil. Apply the mulch to a depth of 2-4 inches and replenish as needed.

Ask your local nursery for plant, tree and shrub suggestions. It may be a good idea to do a sketch, to scale, of the rain garden area before going to the nursery to purchase your plantings.

A rain garden gives you an opportunity to make the most of every rainy day. Rather than allowing rainwater runoff to flow into the sewer, why not capture this valuable resource in your own beautiful and functional rain garden?

For more information on Michigan native plant material, you can read more HERE

Master Bath – Top 8 Ideas

When it comes to Master Baths, luxury trumps square footage every time.  So here are our top 8 ideas for Luxury Master Baths:

8. Dual Vanities

• Today this is almost a given, but the concept still makes the list in a cost conscious housing market

7. Whirlpool Tub

• 2-person whirlpools have fallen off everybody’s list
• Given the choice between a shower and a tub, today’s homeowner prefers the shower
• The 1-person whirlpool remains on the list for those who have the necessary space

6. Linen/Towel Closet

• Nothing like locating storage close to the point of use

5. Accent Tiles

• A few words can hardly due justice to the renaissance in ceramic tile today.  Do not start a new home or remodeling project without a visit to a ceramic tile showroom to see everything that is available
• Here are a few of the special tiles you can include in your project: Chair rail cap tiles, contrasting tiles, mosaics, decorative tiles, accent borders. Combine them to give your Master Bath the touch of elegance that built-up crown moldings  have done for the living areas of the home

4. Walk-in Closet

• Concern about damage to clothing from tub/shower generated humidity has proven to be unfounded
• Direct closet access from the Master Bath allows a person to get dressed and ready for work without having to disturb a spouse who may still be sleeping.

3. Separate Toilet Compartment

• In a word, its all about privacy
• If you don’t have room for a completely separate compartment a partial enclosure can still provide a measure of privacy

2. Heated Tile Floor

• Programmable thermostats allow the pre-heating cycle to be completed so your bathroom is toasty warm for you in the morning
• A true luxury if your bathroom floors are wall-to-wall tile or marble

1. Large Shower

Today’s dream showers have most of the following

• Size – in small, tight areas nothing works like a few extra square feet. Make the floor of your new shower at least 4’ x 4’
• Built-in Seat
• Frame-less Euro-style glass enclosures
• Multiple shower heads including a hand shower
• Multiple shelves
• Steam generator – this really belongs on the option list, but if you’ve found a way to include all of the above features in your project and still have room in your budget …

Incorporating these items into your new home or remodeling project doesn’t have to cost a fortune.  The wise consumer consults with a design profession for guidance before starting the project.

Attracting Hummingbirds

There are five different varieties of hummingbirds that have been spotted inMichigan between May and late August, the most common is the Ruby-throated hummingbird. The male has a red, metallic throat while the female is less colored with a white/gray throat. The female is the larger of the two. Gardeners and bird watchers are fascinated by these birds and often create gardens and hang feeders to attract them.

Because of the fast pace of their wings, they expend extreme amounts of energy, making it necessary for them to feed every 10 to 15 minutes from dawn until sunset.

Although hummingbirds eat tiny insects, they prefer nectar, which tends to be most abundant in trumpet-shaped flowers. They will also feed from other flowers, typically blooms that are reddish or purple in color.

Garden center specialists will often suggest using both a feeder, filled with sugar and water, and flowers or shrubs with high nectar content for attracting hummingbirds. The feeder should be in close proximity to the nectar producing plants.

The feeders are constructed to allow the birds to feed with ease. Many of the feeders are red, making them attractive to the birds. The sugar water is easy to make at home; a combination of 1 part sugar to 4 parts water. After combining, bring the solution to a boil let it cool before filling the feeder. Boiling it will keep the solution fresher for a longer period of time, however, if the feeder is not emptied quickly, change the solution within a few days. Clean the feeder often to avoid mold spores and fermentation.  Never put honey into the feeder.  The recommended perennials, both spring blooming and summer blooming are often shown with bird symbols on the plant containers.

Some of the recommended perennials are:

• Ajuga                         
• Columbine
• Dianthus
• Iris
• Bee Balm
• Bleeding Heart
• Bellflower
• Coneflower
• Coral Bells
• Delphinium

 

Some recommended annuals are:

• Salvia
• Impatiens
• Lantana
• Hibiscus
• Fuchsia
• Petunia
• Dahlia
• Nasturtium
• Snapdragon

 

Don’t forget the Honeysuckle and Trumpet vines, Azalea and Rhododendron shrubs.

If you want to encourage more hummingbirds to take up residence, plant several different hummingbird gardens in your yard with plenty of distance between them.  Hummers are territorial and will dive bomb other birds if they get too close to the food source.

It may take a season or two before the hummingbirds appear, but when they do, they will return every spring if the food source is available.