<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<rss version="2.0"
	xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/"
	xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/"
	xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"
	xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom"
	xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/"
	xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/"
	>

<channel>
	<title>Home Improvements Depot &#187; Exterior Projects</title>
	<atom:link href="http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/category/exterior/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
	<link>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com</link>
	<description>Home Improvement Tips and Tricks for the Average Homeowner!</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Fri, 03 Feb 2012 22:07:08 +0000</lastBuildDate>
	<language>en</language>
	<sy:updatePeriod>hourly</sy:updatePeriod>
	<sy:updateFrequency>1</sy:updateFrequency>
	<generator>http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1</generator>
		<item>
		<title>The Best Way To Get Rid of Dandelions</title>
		<link>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/get-rid-of-dandelions/</link>
		<comments>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/get-rid-of-dandelions/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 08 May 2011 01:24:51 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Tom Coffee</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Exterior Projects]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Lawn and Garden]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/?p=1213</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[It wouldn&#8217;t be spring without the annual dandelion outbreak, turning green lawns and empty flower beds into seas of yellow and white flowers. Dandelions get a bad rap because they are one of the larger, more visible weeds that almost everyone has to deal with at one time or another. Dandelions can grow about a foot high in the right weather, they have a single bright yellow flower at the top of a thick stalk and within just a few days their flower can turn into an inviting white cotton-ball just waiting to be picked and blown by apart by the kids. Using a weed puller like this to rip dandelions and their roots from the ground is the best way to get rid of them. Compared to some other weeds, dandelions are a pretty easy weed to kill and get rid of once they appear. They&#8217;re big and they can easily be spotted in a lawn or flower bed. They&#8217;re prolific and there&#8217;s almost no way to fully prevent them from appearing here and there, but when they do begin growing there are lots of things you can do to get rid of them or kill them off for [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/get-rid-of-dandelions/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Snow Blower Tips and Tricks</title>
		<link>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/snowblower-tips-and-tricks/</link>
		<comments>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/snowblower-tips-and-tricks/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 17 Jan 2011 22:13:23 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Tom Coffee</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Exterior Projects]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/?p=1056</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[When snow comes there are few gasoline powered tools that are as appreciated as a snow blower. Shoveling snow can be good exercise but it can also be too dangerous for some people and too difficult for others. Thick snow can fall at any time in most parts of the country and a mild winter can easily be followed by a snow-filled winter from one year to the next. There are lots of different kinds of snow blowers from completely electric to single stage and double stage gas and oil powered machines. No matter what kind of snow blower you have, there are some basic rules on how to use them to your advantage. Can&#8217;t find a snow blower in the stores? You can often order them online with free shipping from Amazon.com Always consider safety first: Snow throwers are basically garden tillers that are designed to break up icy snow instead of dirt and stones. They not only chop up anything in their path, but they also forcefully expel debris and snow through the air. You must to be careful around the front of the machine as well as near the throwing chute. Most operate by quickly turning a [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/snowblower-tips-and-tricks/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>How To Install Vinyl Gutters</title>
		<link>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/how-to-install-vinyl-gutters/</link>
		<comments>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/how-to-install-vinyl-gutters/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 13 Aug 2010 10:13:37 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Tom Coffee</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Exterior Projects]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gutters]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/?p=947</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Last year I replaced most of my home&#8217;s old aluminum rain gutters with vinyl rain gutters (some people call them &#8220;plastic gutters&#8221;). My previous seamless aluminum gutters were at the end of their life, falling off my house and bent beyond usefulness after years of being dented and dinged by ladders, falling branches and even a baseball or two. I considered replacing my aluminum gutters with aluminum again, but after I weighed the pros and cons of aluminum vs vinyl rain gutters I decided to try something new. Vinyl gutters are relatively easy to assemble and you can even order most everything you need from Amazon.com! You&#8217;ll see a lot of negative things on the internet about vinyl gutters, but my real-world experience didn&#8217;t match what was being said about them. I found more than one aluminum gutter installer (not exactly the most objective reviewer) complaining about how vinyl gutters only last a few years before getting brittle, regularly turn yellow in the sunlight and are generally much less hardier than aluminum gutters. I&#8217;ve had my vinyl gutters up for over a year now through one of the most icy and snowy New Jersey winters in memory and through one [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/how-to-install-vinyl-gutters/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>What To Do About Brown Grass</title>
		<link>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/what-to-do-about-brown-grass/</link>
		<comments>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/what-to-do-about-brown-grass/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 07 Jul 2010 09:54:28 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Tom Coffee</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Exterior Projects]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Lawn and Garden]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[grass]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/?p=931</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Okay, what is the photo on the right? Is it a photo from Africa&#8217;s Serengeti National Park? It is the remains of a foolish attempt to grow a lawn in the Arizona Desert? Maybe it&#8217;s a farm that specializes in growing hay? Sadly, it is none of those things. It is, unfortunately, my back yard. I live in New Jersey where we&#8217;ve been suffering from a heck of a drought for the past three months. In March we had double the amount of rainfall we normally get, but for April, May and June we&#8217;ve actually had only about 50% of the rain we normally get, so a lot of yards around my area look just like my back yard: mostly brown and nearly dead due to a lack of water. I know that my grass is brown from a lack of rain and water restrictions in my town prevent me from doing much about it. Is My Brown Grass Dead? Yes, my grass is brown and actually a bit crunchy to walk across (never a good sign). The question of whether or not my grass is completely dead is still an open one. You can find out if brown grass [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/what-to-do-about-brown-grass/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>House Numbers Plaque Review</title>
		<link>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/house-numbers-plaque-review/</link>
		<comments>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/house-numbers-plaque-review/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 07 Nov 2009 12:12:40 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Tom Coffee</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Exterior Projects]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Lawn and Garden]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[New Home Products]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/?p=547</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[This summer my wife and I spent a fair amount of time and energy on increasing the &#8220;curb appeal&#8221; of our home and the last official exterior home improvement we&#8217;re performed this year was purchasing one of those fancy new metal house number plaques! Our old house numbers sign before we painted our house. Our previous house numbers were more than likely original to our house: they were black metal letters that were screwed directly onto our wood shingles. They spelled out our house number in script letters and were nearly impossible to see, much less read, from the street. They were also placed on the opposite side of the door from our front porch light, so they were virtually invisible at night. Big hardware stores like Lowe&#8217;s and The Home Depot sell a large variety of metal custom-ordered house number signs under different brand names but they&#8217;re almost all actually made by a sign and mailbox company called Whitehall Products. The plaques are almost always mounted tightly to the wall so you&#8217;re really unable to get a good idea of the quality of them. I decided to write up a little review, just to let people know that those [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/house-numbers-plaque-review/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Control Carpenter Bees With Copper Mesh</title>
		<link>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/control-carpenter-bees-with-copper-mesh/</link>
		<comments>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/control-carpenter-bees-with-copper-mesh/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 03 Oct 2009 11:47:44 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Tom Coffee</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Exterior Projects]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Lawn and Garden]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gutters]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/?p=496</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Carpenter bees are large bees that are often mistaken for bumble bees and are known for their destructive and annoying habit of burrowing into dead wood. For homeowners around the world this means that any piece of exposed wood on the outside of home could become riddled with small almost bullet-like holes that serve as the burrow from which eggs are hatched. Wooden decks, wood shingles, dead trees and wooden house eaves and fascia are all prime targets for carpenter bee holes. The holes that the carpenter bees drill will rarely cause any sort of structural damage, but they&#8217;re unsightly and could open your wood up to rotting in the future. A roll of copper mesh can be used to prevent carpenter bees and other pests from climbing between the eaves and fascia boards of your home. I know all this because about three years ago I noticed some large bees flying around the side of my home and climbing up between the fascia boards and shingles of the side of my home. I also noticed little tell-tale streak of black dust coming down from behind my fascia, which told me something was burrowing up there. I was tempted to [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/control-carpenter-bees-with-copper-mesh/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Making Sidewalk Art With A Power Washer</title>
		<link>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/making-sidewalk-art-with-a-power-washer/</link>
		<comments>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/making-sidewalk-art-with-a-power-washer/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 16 Sep 2009 09:46:51 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Tom Coffee</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Exterior Projects]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Green Home improvements]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Home Improvement Tricks]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/?p=450</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Today&#8217;s consumer power washers are good cleaning tools but you can also have some fun with them and add a decorative flair to your home. Just about any type of small to medium pressure washer should work for this project, no matter how low the psi might be. With a little imagination and creativity you can use a pressure or power washer to clean the sidewalks and pavements around your home and also leave some fun designs on your cement. There are no chemicals involved, it&#8217;s completely temporary and kind of fun! Even a little hand held power washer like this one from Amazon is powerful enough to make artistic designs on cement and concrete. First, before you go playing with your power washer, be safe. Power washers, even the little home units, are dangerous tools that can seriously hurt someone. Never aim a power washer at a person or animals, always wear goggles or safety glasses when using them and be very vigilant about what you are washing because you could be damaging something without even knowing it. If you have corded power washer then you also need to be extra careful about mixing water with any electrical tool. [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/making-sidewalk-art-with-a-power-washer/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Paint Your House With These House Painting Tips</title>
		<link>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/paint-your-house-with-these-house-painting-tips/</link>
		<comments>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/paint-your-house-with-these-house-painting-tips/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 19 Aug 2009 10:02:44 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Tom Coffee</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Exterior Projects]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[paint]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/?p=401</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[One of the many outdoor home improvement projects I&#8217;ve completed this summer is a complete painting of a my home&#8217;s exterior. If you hire a professional house painting company you can easily spend between $2,000 to $5,000 for a general paint job, depending on the size of your home and the complexity involved. There are about a million variables in painting a home from the size of the home to the material you&#8217;re going to paint on to the condition of the surface to the climate and even type of paint. I&#8217;m just an amateur do-it-yourself kind of home improvement guy who wanted to save a few thousand dollars in labor. Got a lot of interior and exterior painting to do? Painting is one of those great first home improvement projects that just about anyone can do because in the end it&#8217;s hard to really hurt your home with paint. Sure, you can make things messier than they should be but generally you can&#8217;t do much damage to a house and a decent coat of fresh paint always makes you feel good for a while. Besides, painting your home is a great way to protect the outside of it without [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/paint-your-house-with-these-house-painting-tips/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>3</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Improving the Cooling Power of Your Central Air Conditioner</title>
		<link>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/improving-your-central-air-conditioner/</link>
		<comments>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/improving-your-central-air-conditioner/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 14 Aug 2009 10:16:45 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Tom Coffee</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Exterior Projects]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Home Improvement Tricks]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Interior Projects]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hvac]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/?p=395</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Now that we&#8217;re into some of the hottest days of the summer those of you with central air conditioners might be finding that on the really hot days your home isn&#8217;t staying as cool as it once did. Maybe you&#8217;re even finding that your central AC isn&#8217;t able to keep up with a stretch of high heat and humidity that lasts several days or more. Here are some quick things I&#8217;ve learned that you can do to improve the efficiency and cooling ability of your central air conditioner: The previous owners of my home severely cut down their central air conditioner&#8217;s cooling ability by putting makeshift scented filters in all the air vents. First, you&#8217;ll want to make sure that you&#8217;re regularly maintaining your central air conditioner properly by changing the filters regularly, cleaning out the outside compressor unit and generally taking good care of it even when it&#8217;s working just fine. There are lots of different brands and designs of central air conditioners now, but they all require the same basic care: keep them clean and clear and they should keep you cool. Next, you&#8217;ll want to be sure your AC is working well. If it isn&#8217;t working at [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/improving-your-central-air-conditioner/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Do-It-Yourself Gutters: Vinyl vs. Aluminum</title>
		<link>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/do-it-yourself-gutters-vinyl-vs-aluminum/</link>
		<comments>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/do-it-yourself-gutters-vinyl-vs-aluminum/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 17 Jun 2009 10:17:41 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Tom Coffee</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Exterior Projects]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gutters]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/?p=328</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[One of my home improvement projects this summer is to paint my house and while I&#8217;m doing that I figured I would also replace the old aluminum gutters that I currently have installed on my home. Gutters are an essential part of most roofing systems because they collect all the rain that hits the wide area of a home&#8217;s roof and directs the water away from the foundation of a home. I&#8217;m probably going to replace the gutters myself, but I&#8217;ve been trying to decided whether I should use aluminum gutters or vinyl gutters. You can get all sorts of gutter and downspout accessories and parts online. The gutters I have now are seamless aluminum gutters which are probably 10 years old or more. They are still holding up, but they are dented and bent in a number of places, the downspouts are prone to falling apart and they are held up with those lousy aluminum nails that regularly &#8220;slip&#8221; out of the wood fascia. About twice a season I now have to go up to bang in the existing gutter nails and to try to knock out any sagging or bends which may have occurred from the rain. Most [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/do-it-yourself-gutters-vinyl-vs-aluminum/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>8</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>How To Spread Mulch</title>
		<link>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/how-to-spread-mulch/</link>
		<comments>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/how-to-spread-mulch/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 12 Jun 2009 09:53:21 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Tom Coffee</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Exterior Projects]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Lawn and Garden]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[garden]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[grass]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/?p=317</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I&#8217;ve been spending the last couple weekends creating some new landscaping around my house and one of the projects I&#8217;m dedicated to doing this year is properly mulching my flower beds and trees. In the past I&#8217;ve tried other forms of weed control like putting down plastic and even some fancy chemicals, but I&#8217;m quickly learning that old-fashioned mulch seems to work the best and is almost always the cheapest, best-looking option. Here&#8217;s a little bit of everything about mulch and using mulch around your home. What is Mulch? The term &#8220;mulch&#8221; can refer to a lot of different categories, but mulch is generally some sort of ground covering you spread down in flower beds and around trees to prevent weeds, regulate soil temperature and keep moisture in the ground from evaporating too quickly. Using mulch ultimately means you&#8217;ll use a little less water (because it often keeps the soil beneath it moist for plants) and you won&#8217;t have as big of an issue with weeds. In my experience some weeds almost always find a way to grow where you don&#8217;t want them, but mulch definitely makes the weeding job much easier by severely limiting the weeds. Mulch basically serves [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/how-to-spread-mulch/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Quick Railroad Tie Flower Beds &#8211; My Last Summer Outdoor Home Improvement Project</title>
		<link>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/quick-railroad-tie-flower-beds-my-last-outdoor-home-improvement-project/</link>
		<comments>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/quick-railroad-tie-flower-beds-my-last-outdoor-home-improvement-project/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 22 Sep 2008 10:32:50 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Tom Coffee</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Exterior Projects]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Lawn and Garden]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/quick-railroad-tie-flower-beds-my-last-outdoor-home-improvement-project/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[My son&#8217;s birthday is in late September and we always have a party with friends and family coming over to our house, so that&#8217;s a great motivator for my wife and I to complete any large home improvement projects before we show off our house from one year to the next. This year we spent the summer ripping out old shrubs, replacing the wood fence around the entire backyard and our final project was building some quick and relatively cheap flower beds using railroad ties. Let me say up front that I know these beds won&#8217;t last twenty years and I know they aren&#8217;t perfect, but we needed something that was quick and relatively cheap to add some definition to our disastrous back yard flower beds. The previous owners of our home let everything pretty much overrun the yard and go to see for years, so we&#8217;re have an uphill battle trying to get our yard even remotely presentable. I actually am not a big fan of railroad tie flowerbeds because they generally rot and shift after only a season or two in my experience. These are the first beds I&#8217;d built myself before, though, and the ease and low [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/quick-railroad-tie-flower-beds-my-last-outdoor-home-improvement-project/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>3</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>How To Build Your Own Dirt and Stone Screen Sifter&#8230;with Wheels!</title>
		<link>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/how-to-build-your-own-dirt-and-stone-screen-sifterwith-wheels/</link>
		<comments>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/how-to-build-your-own-dirt-and-stone-screen-sifterwith-wheels/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 04 Jun 2007 10:00:41 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Tom Coffee</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Exterior Projects]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Lawn and Garden]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[garden]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/how-to-build-your-own-dirt-and-stone-screen-sifterwith-wheels/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[As I&#8217;ve written before, one of the most offensive parts of my ugly backyard is the giant ring of stone and sand I have that has, overtime, become part of the dirt and ground of the yard. My goal for the area is to remove all the stone and sand, leaving mostly sifted dirt which I will then mix with topsoil with the eventual hope of growing new grass. My hardest task has been removing the stone from the dirt. To do this I needed to have some way to collect the stone and leave the dirt. I quickly settled upon making a screen out of some left over 2x4s and a roll of 1/4 inch garden screen I had picked up just for the job. Building the Soil Sifter A simple dirt sifting screen can be made with some extra lumber and a piece of steel screen. This version uses screw in steel plates to hold the screen securely and make screen replacement a snap! Using a reciprocating saw I cut two 24&#8243; sections of 2x4s and 2 20&#8243; sections of 2x4s, laid them out in a rectangular patten and simply screwed them together at the corner. I chose [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/how-to-build-your-own-dirt-and-stone-screen-sifterwith-wheels/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>51</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>My Ugly Backyard: Removing the Dirt from the Stone</title>
		<link>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/my-ugly-backyard-step-1-removing-the-dirt-from-the-stone/</link>
		<comments>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/my-ugly-backyard-step-1-removing-the-dirt-from-the-stone/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 25 May 2007 09:41:37 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Tom Coffee</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Exterior Projects]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Lawn and Garden]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/my-ugly-backyard-step-1-removing-the-dirt-from-the-stone/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[A little while ago I wrote about my ugly backyard with the large crater in it and how I was hoping to remedy the ugliness this summer. The crater is a large ring of overgrown stone and dirt around a pit of sand. If you recall, my backyard is so ugly that you can actually see the large crater that takes up half my yard on satellite photos of my neighborhood. And now I have decided it&#8217;s time to take action and begin my backyard makeover. I have several option for how I can make my backyard more enjoyable: I could hire a contractor to come in with a Bobcat and dig it all out. That would cost about $1,500 and I have yet to find a contractor that wants to haul the sand and stone away. They all want to bury the stone in a large hole. I don&#8217;t think that&#8217;s a very good method. I could simply dump dirt over the crater, but there is too much sand and stone there at the moment, so in a few years my crater would probably be visible again. I could dig it out myself, sifting the stone out and using [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/my-ugly-backyard-step-1-removing-the-dirt-from-the-stone/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>My Ugly Backyard Can Be Seen From Outer Space</title>
		<link>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/my-ugly-backyard-can-be-seen-from-outer-space/</link>
		<comments>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/my-ugly-backyard-can-be-seen-from-outer-space/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 28 Apr 2007 12:06:05 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Tom Coffee</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Exterior Projects]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Lawn and Garden]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/my-ugly-backyard-can-be-seen-from-outer-space/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I have an ugly back yard. Really, really ugly. It&#8217;s about 75 feet wide and about 50 feet deep and I don&#8217;t think anyone has actually done anything positive to the backyard in a good ten years. The entire yard is surrounded by a rickety fence which is lined with piles of rotting wood and leaves left by the previous homeowner. The green stuff on the ground is only about 50% actual &#8220;grass&#8221; of at least three different varieties while the rest of it is just various weeds and ground covering that happens to be the same shade. The ground is lumpy and uneven and practically unsafe to walk on in spots and the patio slab of concrete is about as unattractive as a slab of concrete can be. My Ugly Backyard My ugly backyard with my own personal crater can be seen in this satellite photo. And I have a 25 foot crater in it. When you pull it up one one of those many different satellite mapping services that allow you to see a bird&#8217;s eye view of your town or neighborhood you can always find my yard pretty quickly because it&#8217;s the one with a large brown [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/my-ugly-backyard-can-be-seen-from-outer-space/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Cheap and Easy Rain Gutter Covers</title>
		<link>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/avoid-climbing-on-your-roof-by-using-cheap-and-easy-rain-gutter-guards/</link>
		<comments>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/avoid-climbing-on-your-roof-by-using-cheap-and-easy-rain-gutter-guards/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 05 Mar 2007 11:36:15 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Tom Coffee</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Exterior Projects]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/avoid-climbing-on-your-roof-by-using-cheap-and-easy-rain-gutter-guards/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The roof and gutters on my home are a little over ten years old, so it&#8217;s going to be time to have a new roof put on and all the gutters replaced in another year or two. In the meantime, however, I&#8217;ve found that because I have a tree in front of my house my mesh covered rain gutters tend to get clogged in a matter of weeks during the summer and fall months. Even with the plastic and then the metal mesh, I was still cleaning out my gutters almost once a month. It was becoming too much work to keep climbing up on to the roof to clean out the gutters. These cheap plastic gutter guards do the trick, even with an old dented gutter system like mine. I don&#8217;t have the money for those super expensive gutter guard systems you see advertised in the local paper, so I climbed up on my roof (using my ladder stabilizer) and decided to try something different. Instead of the usual mesh, I went to my local big box hardware store and found some solid plastic gutter covers with rain holes on one side. They simply snap over your gutters and [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.homeimprovementsdepot.com/avoid-climbing-on-your-roof-by-using-cheap-and-easy-rain-gutter-guards/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
	</channel>
</rss>

