Artificial Grass for Children’s Backyards

If you have children, you want to give them the best play areas possible. This includes making sure that your yard has everything they need to run, explore and enjoy the outdoors. You want your yard spaces to be fun but also safe for your children and their friends to enjoy any time.

One way to do this is to install a synthetic lawn at your home. Many people know that artificial turf lawns offer several benefits versus traditional natural grass lawns including lower maintenance needs, fewer costs associated with upkeep and helping the environment by using less water. What they might not know is that artificial turf is also a safe and popular choice for yards where children will be playing.

Some of the reasons that synthetic lawns make sense for children include:

Less Mess: Kids love rolling around on the ground and digging up grass when playing outside. This is great for them but can be a major headache for you. Kids are extremely messy and often bring their messes into the house with dirty and muddy footprints. This mess can also extend to their clothing when they are rolling in the grass. And if your kid decides to “dig for pirate treasure” in your lawn, this can mean costly repairs and unsightly holes.

Replacing your natural grass with artificial grass eliminates these problems. You never have to worry about how dirty your kids will get, since there is no dirt or mud with a synthetic lawn. Kids — and pets — also can’t dig holes in artificial grass lawns.

Safety: The last thing that a parent wants to happen is for their child to get hurt while playing outside. It’s impossible to make any outdoor area completely safe but installing artificial grass lawns can make a difference. Many artificial turf lawns come with a shock-absorbent bottom layer that is ideal for areas where kids will be playing. If they fall down, the padding makes it a softer — and hopefully safer — fall. This is in contrast to natural grass that can get hard because it is dry in the summer or cold and frozen in the winter.

You’ll want to use some precautions when installing and using an artificial turf lawn. Try to select a lawn that uses a natural in-fill like sand instead of rubber pieces that small children might dig up. In addition, artificial turf can get hot when exposed to direct summer sunlight for an extended period of time. Watering down the yard periodically can immediately cool it down while making sure it gets shade from trees or awnings can keep artificial turf cool in the first place.

Artificial Turf Supply Commercial and Residential Division has more than 130 nationwide locations to provide artificial grass to homeowners and business customers. With coast-to-coast representation, the company can ship fake grass anywhere in the nation or have products available for next-day pick-up.

Eco Friendly Projects to Do Around the Home

Written by: Toolsmith Direct

Looking for methods to green up your lifestyle without breaking your budget? You can actually save money with some of these tips for going green. All of these projects are simple to do yourself, and promote a greener lifestyle. You’ll need some Kawasaki tools, like a drill, a socket set, and boxes of screws and nails. None of these projects is particularly difficult, except for replacing a countertop, and most can be done within a weekend.

Read on for a few ideas on eco friendly projects you can do around your home.

Install a Clothes Line

The revolutionary solar clothes dryer, or clothes line in common-speak, is fairly simple to erect. It requires two anchor points and a rope, so there is plenty of room for experimentation. You can use a Powerbuilt drill to create a starter hole in the boards near your roof, the same place where you might hang Christmas lights. You can also run your rope around a tree, or anchor a pole into the ground. Stretch the chord taut and pick up a bag of wood clothes pins online.

Remodel and Green Up Your Kitchen

There are a few approaches to an eco-friendly kitchen, and all of them are viable. Solar screens, for instance, can give you protection from the heat of the sun with the option to let a breeze into your home. You can also purchase newer and more energy efficient appliances. You can use a Trades Pro hammer or pry bar to loosen your counter top, and replace it with a renewable surface like granite.

Change the Paint You Use

If you switch to a non-toxic paint, it generally increases the quality of living in your home. The paint is also designed to make it difficult for mold spores to grow. The freedom from chemicals like formaldehyde are especially good in homes with kids, who may be susceptible to chemicals in the air more so than adults. If you cannot use no-VOC paints, utilize low-VOC paints and clear the home after painting has finished. During painting, be sure that you are wearing a mask and are not directly breathing fumes.

Conclusions

With a few tweaks, and a weekend or two of spare time, you can green your house and lower your footprint on the environment. You can extend your green lifestyle into all the things you use around the house, like cleaners made of natural liquids.

Related Story: Make Sure You Have the Right Tools for the Job

Related Story: Low Cost Green Home Improvement

Help the Environment By Switching to Artificial Grass

Making a commitment to “go green” with your home makes sense in a variety of ways. A home that is environmentally conscious is not only good for the environment but also can save homeowners a significant amount of money with factors including reduced power and water bills. Doing things like installing solar panels or using energy efficient appliances area are great for the environment, but did you know that switching your lawn to synthetic grass can also be a big help?

There are many reasons why a synthetic turf lawn is a significant improvement over a natural grass lawn for the environment, starting with water conservation. According to the EPA, the average household uses 320 gallons of water a day, with 30 percent of that used outdoors. Much of this comes from the need to constantly water lawns to keep them fresh and green. Switching to an artificial grass lawn eliminates almost all need for watering, meaning that you can potentially save thousands of gallons of water in a year.

Along with saving water, switching to an artificial turf lawn has other benefits for the environment. Artificial grass doesn’t require chemicals and pesticides, which can run off from the lawn and into the street and sewer. You also don’t need to use equipment such as lawnmowers and edgers which run on gas and emit carbon dioxide into the air. These are just some of the reasons why switching to an artificial grass lawn makes environmental sense along with helping you to save money.

Artificial Turf Supply Commercial & Residential Division is the wholesale division of Artificial Turf Supply. Visit their site to browse through the latest selection of high-quality artificial turf.

How to Determine the Durability of Steel

The job of a structural steel expert is to assess the authenticity and quality of the materials in a construction project. This isn’t a job for newbies, and those with experience tend to recognize faults in materials that untrained eyes would otherwise miss. Faulty concrete or steel can mean accidents and ultimately lawsuits down the road if you’re found responsible. Don’t get caught out of position. Know what goes into the projects you build by learning how to assess the quality of the steel you buy.

Know Your Steel

There are many kinds of steel, but the two most common types are known as 304 and 316. The main quality that separates the two is the addition of Molybdenum to type 316, which is known to increase resistance to corrosion. Knowing these facts will help you choose steel of the proper type for the environment you’re working in.

Be Careful About Delivery

Corrosion can come from elements interacting with the steel, or from the welding job done to it. Pay close attention to your own needs before you buy supplies. It can also begin at the time the steel is delivered to the job site.

Final Thoughts

If you find yourself in a dispute over materials used, hire a construction claims consultant. The paperwork alone is worth the cost, but experts will help you identify the causes of corrosion and find what’s legally to blame for the fault during construction claim preparation. Of course, you can shield yourself now by learning what to look for when you buy materials.

Source: Lyle Charles handles construction claims processing in the United States. For more information on construction mediation services, contact Lyle Charles Consulting.

Used Farm Machinery

By Worthington Ag Parts

As someone who runs a farm, you probably already have a lot on your plate when you wake up every morning. There are a million moving parts to keep your eye in order to ensure you get the results you need. Perhaps the most important element is the farm equipment you rely on in order to address your farm’s goals and stay ahead of the competition.

Unfortunately, this equipment doesn’t last forever and when it stops working, you can be looking at a fairly expensive solution. But whether it’s John Deere tractor parts or some other type of equipment, all you need to do is look for dealers that will sell you used options.

Most of the time, this equipment is refurbished anyway, so it’s not like you’re getting equipment of lesser quality. However, because it’s used, you can expect that you’ll be receiving a much better deal. As a result, you have less overhead to deal with and more profits coming your way without having to worry about producing lackluster products.

So the next time you need equipment, don’t fret. Go with a used product instead.

______________________________________________________________________

If you run a farm, it goes without saying that you need the best possible equipment on your side to get the job done right, day in and day out—that’s where Worthington Ag Parts comes in. The company sells every solution you need, including Ford tractor parts, so the results you need can be affordable too.

Takeaways from the UN Climate Summit

The United Nation’s Climate Summit just concluded in early September 2014 in New York City. It is sending a clear message how world leaders are looking at the climate change.

• Emission reduction efforts are taking place at local levels. The C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group revealed that cities will be able to cut their emissions by an amount equal to half of current yearly global coal use by 2050. Cities are home to more than 3.6 billion people worldwide and it will grow to 6 billion by the target date of 2050.
• More than 1,000 companies have joined the World Bank initiative to motivate governments to set a price for carbon. It will be an economic incentive to lower the carbon footprint. They also agreed to work together to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
• Countries overwhelmingly acknowledged that climate change is real and the extreme weather we are experiencing is a result of climate change. Leaders of the United States, China and many other countries discussed how extreme weather conditions are impacting their countries and some leaders put dollar values to effects of climate change. China, world’s leader of carbon dioxide estimated that the cost to the country exceeds more than 200 billion Renminbi.