3 Steps To Maintain Your Property’s Curb Appeal

The status of your home’s exterior is a key component of a property’s curb appeal. This applies to both residential houses and commercial properties such as office complexes, banks, retail stores, industrial facilities, restaurants and more. If a prospective customer arrives to your business and the lawn and landscape is run down, or a friend arrives at your home and the lawn is grossly overgrown, it will be very off putting. So it’s critical to ensure an outdoor space is built and maintained properly and in order to do so, the right landscaping company needs to be chosen.

It Begins With The Design Plan

Before the outdoor space and landscaping at a property is built from scratch or newly renovated, the project must first be planned out. Planning includes taking site measurements, assessing the sun and shade areas, determining which spots will have more soil moisture, different soil types, terrain and more. This phase lays the very foundation for your landscape.

Landscape Design

Landscape Construction Needs To Be Done Right

The construction and building process must also be executed to near perfection in order for a landscape and lawn to thrive. Corners cannot be cut – this means using top quality materials combined with industry-standard installation practices. These practices can include installing bulk material such as rock or mulch at a proper depth with underlayment to ensure weeds can’t grow in, shrubs and trees are planted in areas where they will be able to successfully grow, and much more.

Don’t Skimp On Lawn Maintenance

The best landscape design and installation project could win awards, but if it’s not maintained with care, it could become a disaster in a short period of time. A property’s curb appeal is only as good as its yard and landscape maintenance – this includes weekly grass cutting, leaf removal, proper fertilization and weed control, tree and shrub trimming and core lawn aeration.

A rep from Proscapes & Tree, an Acworth, GA landscaping company states “We see a lot of properties with landscapes that have grown old that look like they are brand new, whereas some properties with landscapes less than 5 years old can be an utter mess. It all comes down to maintenance.”

It’s highly advised to take all three steps – design, construct, maintain into account when planning a landscaping project.

Proscapes & Tree specializes in all 3 aspects of any outdoor home landscape project in Acworth, GA and surrounding areas including Marietta, Sandy Springs, Kennesaw, Woodstock & Holly Springs, here is their contact information.

First Steps To Take When Moving Into Your Dream Home

Whether you are a single person looking to branch out on your own or are newlyweds looking to start the journey together and bring a family into a world, moving into a new home is one of the most enjoyable events of your life, especially for a first time home buyer. It is a truly indescribable feeling of excitement when you drive to your new home and the realtor hands over the keys on closing day, you walk in for the first time and get to do the full walk-through, then wave to the realtor as you and your moving team – whether you hired a moving company, or it is just you, your spouse, a couple family members or friends, either way the process to moving items begins. Once that is all done and everything is settled in, the fun begins!

A newly transformed backyard

First Steps To Take With Curating Your Home’s Design Into A Dream

Many first time home buyers find a house that was a good deal because it needs some work, commonly referred to as a “fixer upper”. These homes can require minor cosmetic restorations such as painting the interior or require gutting the entire inside and re-doing the outside of the house and their prices will reflect that compared to a newly built home. Let’s hypothetically say you have the budget to redo the basics, meaning no additions added onto the house, major structure changes such as redoing the kitchen or having a custom deck built.

The first answer is asking another question – what time of year is it? If your newly acquired home is in a location where the seasons change, the work you will do first can vary, and also your current budget at the moment will come into play.

Scenario 1 – “It is the dead of winter and your budget is on the low side”

This is an ideal time to spend working on the inside of the house, not only because it is way too cold to be outside, but also because most work done to a home cannot logistically be completed. So the perfect project that can have a tremendous impact on how your home will look is interior painting. If you are going to hire a contractor, expect to pay around $75-$150 per man hour which may or may not include material pricing into that.

Scenario 2 – “It is summer time and your budget is ample”

Spring and summer are GREAT times to do work to your yard, the exterior of your house, your driveway, everything. The weather is amazing and for things such as adding a new lawn, renovating and replacing it in spring or early to mid summer – whether it is with seed or sod, you will have ample time to allow it to establish before the cool season or winter arrives. Meaning you will get to enjoy its beauty sooner than later. The going rates for landscaping work can vary between contractors, one company we reached out to Northwood Outdoor Services a top-rated provider of landscaping Rogers, MN stated their average rates on a yard renovation project varies depending on several factors:

    • Job size – small jobs will usually bring a higher price per sq. ft. compared to bigger jobs where the volume of work yields way to a cheaper price per sq. ft. plus contractors usually have minimum prices for projects such as $750 for any lawn renovation if they have to bring in equipment to prepare the new lawn surface
    • Scope of work – how much preparation work is there? Does an existing lawn need to be removed entirely and hauled off site, or does it just require bringing in fresh dirt, grading it and laying down the sod?
    • Materials that will be used – big difference between basic lawn seed being applied on top of the already prepped soil, applying hydro-seed or laying sod
    • Access points for the work area – fences or buildings preventing access for larger, more efficient equipment mean increased prices because manual labor has to be used – takes more time for the company and there is opportunity cost factored in

Their video explains professional landscaping and yard work pricing:

You can learn more about the company here:

 

Those are a couple scenarios of hundreds of different projects that you can do on your first home. Hopefully this sparks some ideas for what you do once you move to your new place and you put some of these tips to work and begin to enjoy the process. Until next time…

Your Home’s Exterior Sets The Tone For Impression

The exterior of a home tells the story of its occupants. Whether it is a positive story or a negative one, it is completely true. If you ever notice the appearance of a house or property looking bleak, disorderly or trash everywhere, it is safe to say the occupants or residents of that household are probably low in terms of quality humans because it is very evident that they do not care about what their home looks like. They probably work a low-level job for minimal money that they hate, and they cannot wait to get off work to then come home and lounge on the couch for five hours with Netflix or some other dopamine triggering stimulant. The last thing they are thinking about is cutting the lawn, fertilizing it to maintain its green appearance, cleaning gutters, or pressure washing.

Ensuring The Home Exterior Impression Is Positive

On the flip side of the person who just tries to survive the workweek to then binge on alcohol and movies over the weekend, there are the folks who take the initiative to ensure their home’s exterior looks its best. The first level is actually performing the work themselves during their nights and weekends. These are typically people that are possibly enjoy the work like mowing, weed spraying, shrub trimming, cleaning windows and more.

The next level is the more affluent group. They hire companies or contractors to do all the work for them. They realize the value of their time is worth more than the price paid to a contractor, and when a person understands the value of their time, it is a no-brainer to swipe their card for that landscape project or renovation work.

Finding A Company To Do The Work

There are dozens of outlets to find an ideal match for a company to hire. Platforms such as Homeadvisor or Thumbtack can be great sources, as can the local newspaper, heading to the internet search engines, or asking your neighbor who has had work done recently.

“We get dozens of calls a week just from being found online, it really allows us to streamline finding new customers.” Stated the the owner of a Champlin Exterior Service Pros, a highly recommended window cleaner in Champlin, MN.

They mentioned the benefits of having incoming prospects finding them online. “A website or lead generation platform runs 24 hours a day. We can be doing so many other things within the business in order to keep operations flowing.” Hands down, the best place to find and learn about a company is online.  You are able to research the history of the company, the services they offer, see their accolades and most importantly, check out what current and previous customers have to say about their services. There is no better way to get paired up with the proper provider to get the work completed.

Designing Electrical Components For The Future

The times are changing rapidly. Advancements in technology are completely flip flopping the way the world works. You have taxi companies that had been operating for fifty or more years and now a single mobile application turned them on their back similar to a poor turtle that’s stuck. The same holds true in modern electrical design and installation.

“No longer are electricians able to just simply install wire and connect light fixtures. There are insane amounts of training the guys go through before stepping foot on a job site or client’s property.” Stated the owner of Eagan Electrician, an electrical contractor in Eagan, MN with a crew of top tier electricians offering residential and commercial electrician work.

Technology Shifting

When designing an electrical system in a home, the old days of schematics are long gone.  Today’s tech requires a skilled electrical designer who not only can design a layout for an entire home or commercial building, requiring them to know CAD systems, (computer aided drafting), but they also must know how the in’s and out’s of all the new technological features of any electrical system. Things like total home monitoring systems for security, to lighting system that are run off wireless internet which connect via bluetooth on a mobile device using a mobile application and the list goes on.

New Energy Levels?

The new tech does not necessary draw more energy. Some items are so new that we do not know the full usage because they connect to other devices. However, the energy that is consumed is used in different places. Before it would be the wiring to the switches for a light system which leads to each bulb. Now with wifi enabled electrical systems, you are seeing a potential reduction in wiring and plastic manufacturing for outlets. Since the whole system can be operated wireless, this means less production of plastics, less labor for electrician crews to install which means less energy spent commuting to and from job sites or clients’ homes. Resulting in a massive reduction of energy use indirectly.

We welcome the new changes in electrical advancements because with more efficient home energy, more items within the home are affordable yet still efficient.

Taking Design To The Next Level

When a home is being renovated, it is common place that the yard and landscape needs to be redone. During the home renovation process, areas near the home usually get destroyed. Whether it is from removing and replacing siding, redoing the roof or installing new windows, the debris and traffic from personnel and equipment can trample your lawn area and landscape beds and demolish those poor tulips while tearing up the grass. Whether the contractor pays for the repair and replacement landscape work that must be done is up to them, but the bottom line is that the yard and landscape will need to get redesigned and installed once again.

Landscaping Design Ideas After A Home Renovation

While it can be a huge bummer to have lost your existing landscape during the renovation project because essentially, you are losing an asset that once added value to your house and will require currency to purchase another asset to replace the yard and landscaping. We asked some pros what are some top tips for refreshing a landscape design:

  1. “Keep it simple – the most elaborate of landscapes require lots of time from a professional designer, revisions, as well as a lot of revisions. This will increase the price if you are on a tight budget.” Said the owner of Spokane Landscape Design, a design and installation firm in eastern Washington.
  2. “Know what your use of the landscape will be. Do you want to have an area for kids to play games like soccer, football or baseball? Or do you just want a quiet place to relax with your significant other during the evenings around a fire.” Said the owner of LA Design, a design firm in California.
  3. “Be aware of how much maintenance is required. If you want perennials, be prepared to either have to cut them back in the fall or spring, or hire someone to do so – which increases costs. Also, learn about shrub varieties and their trimming requirements as the plants mature. Some require more pruning than others which can become costly.” Said the owner of Iowa Designs, an Iowa based landscape contractor.

Some other points we gathered regarding a landscape design is to know what you want for the future. Do you plan to have kids and want a space for them to be able to run around in? If you do not presently have a lawn sprinkler system, do you have room in the budget for that? They can be costly at the time of installation but make up tremendously over long periods of time with not having to spend your time moving sprinklers, fighting with hoses, and you can go on vacation for multiple weeks during the summer and not have to worry about the lawn’s condition.

This video also lays out the principles of a landscape design.

Maintaining The Curb Appeal Of Any Home Can Be Simple and Affordable

The topic of boosting or keeping the curb appeal of your home is of utmost importance for many home and property owners. Things like trimming the bushes, mowing the lawn, planting flowers, refreshing the gardens to name a few are what come to mind. Adding some allure to your home can be quite simple and can be done on a shoestring budget. It either requires some resourcefulness and ingenuity to do it on your own, or currency to pay a professional to handle the job. The determining factor of how the job will get done, (DIY or hiring out) is decided by the complexity of the project.

Here are some simple projects you can do to spruce up the home:

1. Fine Tune The Lawn

Giving your lawn some tender loving care is a common do it yourself project that not only adds instant curb appeal to your home but is relatively simple if you have the equipment to do so. So break out the lawn mower and cut the grass each week. There are also other yard work projects that can be done but it is best to hire a trained professional to do them, such as core aeration or dethatching, also called power raking. We reached out to a professional who provides aerating and dethatching in Champlin, MN, “These tasks can be done manually with spiked shoes to aerate, but rarely do they outperform a core aerator machine. Homeowners can rent aerators, however more often than not, the rental and time spent picking up, returning home, operating on your lawn and returning the machine costs more than just paying a contractor. One can also hand rake their entire lawn but it can be incredibly time consuming and frustrating.”
The contractor has this informative video discussing the yard sprucing services they offer and recommend homeowners seek out.

If you have lawn related questions, they can be reached here:


Anticipated cost:
Cutting the grass each week with your own lawn mower will cost nothing except the fuel for your machine. If you want to have the lawn core aerated by a professional is usually around $75 – $200 depending on the size and complexity of your lawn. Dethatching or power raking is generally around $100 and is done in the early spring.

2.  Trim Your Bushes

Yard Clean Up in Champlin

Yard Clean Up in Champlin

Nothing can look more untidy on a home than a bunch of overgrown shrubs, hedges, bushes and trees with their branches hanging to the ground. For most shrub trimming and tree pruning projects, these can be achieved with a simple hand pruner for the tree branches and renting a hedge trimmer. The hard part is gathering up the branches and hauling them away. You could either hire a local tree service that can come pick them up for a fee, or if you have a vehicle of your own and a yard waste site nearby, it would only cost the fuel. Just make sure to prune your trees early in the season before the buds for leaves begin to sprout from the branches, as the tree uses a lot of energy to produce these buds, therefore to cut these branches that are actively growing could stunt the tree for the future.

Anticipated cost: A set of pruning sheers for a tree will run you about $50 plus the disposal fees unless you use them as firewood, provided that you have a place to store the wood as it dries. Hiring a tree service and shrub trimming company to perform this can vary depending on the work required, expect a minimum of $150 and upward from there. If just needing a crew for the haul away, shrub trimming can be cheap, around $20 if a lawn crew uses their large debris vacuum. A tree service can come out and chip the branches for probably around $75 if not making a separate trip.

These two projects alone will completely revamp and revitalize the appearance of your home. After these basic yard and landscape maintenance projects, you will be surprised as to how good your home will look and you can boast about it to the neighbors as they look at their dismal lawn, low hanging tree branches and overgrown shrubs.

 

 

 

Exquisitely Designing The Aspects Of Your Home To Your Ideal Specifications

Purchasing a home can be one of the most exciting parts of your life! The process is filled with endless emotions. From stress and anxiety when closing the deal with making offers, the timeline of waiting forever to hear if the seller accepts your offer, the closing period. Then begins the stage of moving in, then once settled in. The process of making their house into a home begins. For some, this begins on the inside with painting the interior or renovating the kitchen. For others this may be landscaping projects. But before hiring a landscaper, it is important to look into specifics on the characteristics of your yard to ensure the project will be done right and become something you are happy with.

A top tier landscape designers is an expert at designing landscapes, they have educated themselves on the formal aspects of landscaping, plus they have the capability to add artistic flares to your outdoor spaces. They know and understand potential problems that can occur with a landscape, and use these to their advantage to create something of beauty out of what would previously have just been a wasteland. Here are some important things to consider when hiring a landscape designer.

Small Properties Require Intricate Design

Any landscape design contractor worth their salt will know right away when looking at a property that is small that it must be designed carefully. Including curves, tiered levels and creating spaces that otherwise would not have been present are a great way to expand the use of a small yard because they add more depth without taking up space. Choosing plants and trees is another important factor because it is crucial they will not outgrow the small space but are also varieties that can handle the conditions of that area – be it lots of sun, no sun, lots of moisture, no moisture just to name a few. a simple front entry residential landscape design

Avoiding High Maintenance Landscapes

A designer that has your happiness in mind and not just the money in the company’s pocket will encourage the reduction of maintenance. The result of a high maintenance landscape equals a large monthly expense to keep that landscape and yard looking its best, of which can not only benefit your property with curb appeal however it can hurt the wallet and pad the pockets of the landscape contractor for many months and years to come. But many designers will suggest the installation of shrubs and trees that are native to handle the climate, while ensuring that planted material does not require pruning or upkeep several times per growing season. There is a vast amount of low maintenance trees and shrubs that require essentially no work to maintain once established. This is especially the case with perennials as they are pruned and cut back in the autumn after the initial cold wilt (if your region experiences a cold winter) and then they grow back the following spring.

Low maintenance but intricately designed outdoor spaces can lead to years of aesthetic and functional enjoyment of your yard while not hurting the pocket book or the back with having to prune trees and shrubs multiples times per year.