Home Builder Developer - Interior Renovation and Design

You live in a beautiful house that has been your home, and you are planning to perhaps one day sell it off. This naturally makes you wonder whether there is something you can do now to increase the value of your property in the long run and that you can still enjoy while youre there. Construction and big renovations are noisy and disturb your peace, so what can you do? How about you start thinking green and plant some trees. Heres how planting a tree today can add so much value to your property tomorrow.

Nobody plants a 70-year-old oak. You plant it young, and then you nourish it and care for it while it grows, and over the years, it repays you for all the work youve put in. There is nothing that can replace that. You cant speed up time and make a tree grow faster, you just have to be patient. When potential buyers see a home with a few young saplings in the yard, they might think it will be nice in the future, but if they see a big, tall tree that casts a lovely shade and gives fruit they will fall in love immediately. If then dont want it for some reason, they can hire a tree service to take it down and perhaps turn it into a beautiful table but they can never go the other way and make it grow. Its an investment that is really like no other in that sense.

If youve ever paid the bills during a hot summer when the AC is running all the time you start to appreciate every little degree you can lower naturally. And trees provide exactly that: a shade that prevents the suns rays from heating up your windows and walls and every inch of your house. The less direct sunlight, the less your AC needs to work to keep the place cool, which will lower the bills always a good sign for buyers. In addition to that, if you have a beautiful lawn, it might get absolutely scorched by the sun in the summer heat, and youll have to invest a lot of water and power into sprinklers to keep it alive. But if theres some shade that moves around and covers the grass throughout the day, you can lower the water usage.

Unlike other types of plants that you might want to plan in order to raise value (and many plants do, in fact, raise value), trees dont require much maintenance. They dont need to be watered, trimmed weekly, or kept safe from pests. The older a tree is, the deeper the roots go the more resilient it is. And people love things that give benefits without them putting work in, so unlike a full garden where they would either really have to get their hands dirty or hire a gardener, a tree will always just be there, majestic and beautiful.

A big, perfectly trimmed back yard with just endless grass to host BBQs on and play fetch with your dog is nice but a tree adds interest. It keeps the eye moving, especially if there are several trees. Not only when its at a standstill, but when the wind blows, it becomes so much more dynamic and gives life to space. Theres really nothing that can even come close to mimicking what a tree provides to the landscape of your home.

As people, we dont get attached to things, we get attached to emotions. A photo is just a photo, and a watch is just a watch, but the stories behind the two are what gives it so much value every time we look at them. The same goes for trees: Buying a property that has a number on it is fine, but when you show potential buyers your home, and you talk about the tree under which your child took their first steps, the swing that was put there decades ago that you played on and the hammock in which your late grandfather took his afternoon naps now youre selling a story. And the story will add so much value. Not only that but when you add the story, the new tenants will be much more inclined to take care of the tree after they inherit it.

There are many ways you can add value to your home, but few have as good of a cost-benefit as a tree. Make a fun activity out of it with your family, take a weekend to pick out some trees, plan where to put them, dig up some dirt, and watch the value of your home grow.

Link:
Why Having Trees in Your Property Increases Its Overall Value - E/The Environmental Magazine

Jenna Brandl, For USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin Published 8:16 a.m. CT Aug. 15, 2020

UW-Manitowoc professor emeritus Chuck Sontag has been birding the Manitowoc lakeshore for decades. HTR News

Honeysuckle, horrendous? I wouldnt have believed it a month ago, either.

As a Woodland Dunes land management intern, I often interact with honeysuckle. The Tartarian and Bush honeysuckle, aka Lonicera sibirica tatarica and Lonicera sibirica latifolia, are two of the most common subspecies found in Wisconsin. These shrubs can range from 3 to 15 feet tall, which can make them look more like a tree than a shrub.

How can you identify honeysuckle? Look to see if the leaves are 1 to 2-1/2inches long with an oval shape at the stem that leads to an abrupt pointed end. Their stems and branches aregrayish brown, have broad groovesand are thorn-less.

Honeysuckle at Woodland Dunes Nature Center and Preserve in Two Rivers.(Photo: Jenna Brandl)

May through June, these shrubs produce white or pink flowers that start to yellow as they age. In September and October, they produce red juicy berries in groups that usually occur at the leaf axil (where the leaf meets the twig). These elegant flowers are what some may say easy on the eyes, so why are these intricate shrubs so dangerous to our delicate ecosystems?

Surprisingly, they are actually an invasive species that cover a broad range of habitats including roadsides, lakeshores, open woods, forest edgesand old fields. Countless people continue to plant these invasive shrubs, especially the Eurasian Bush honeysuckle, as ornamentals in their yards, which leads to the spread.

Birds are no help, either. By eating the berries and flying from place to place, numerous species of birds spread honeysuckle twice as quickly. This makes the process of controlling their spread extremely difficult and why we typically find these plants at the bottom of trees that birds perch in.

Honeysuckle is also hazardous for plants such as tree seedlings and wildflowers because they are known to alter the habitat around them by decreasing light sources, soil moistureand nutrients. According to the Wisconsin DNR, it is also possible that L. tatarica releases allelopathic chemicals that prevent the growth of other plants around them. Does this affect the growth of trees as well? It is hoped new research might arise to help solve this mystery, alongside my own investigation at the Woodland Dunes preserve.

It might leave you flabbergasted to learn that honeysuckle is not your typical plant but an invasive to our wetlands, temperate forestsand prairie ecosystems in Wisconsin. Now you may be wondering, How do I control this invasive plant? The best way is the process of cutting the shrub stems and applying a herbicide treatment. It may be a tedious task to cut down the entire shrub, but it is the most effective way to kill the honeysuckle as a result of its multiple stems and large growth radius. For this treatment to be successful, all stems must be cut and treated with herbicide so no new growth is allowed to occur.

After a month of combating these hellish shrubs, its my hope that others will begin to recognize and take steps to prevent the spread of honeysuckle.

Jenna Brandl is asummer land management intern at Woodland Dunes Nature Center and Preserve in Two Rivers.

MORE WOODLAND DUNES:

Autoplay

Show Thumbnails

Show Captions

Read or Share this story: https://www.htrnews.com/story/life/2020/08/15/honeysuckle-hazardous-how-prevent-spread-hellish-invasive-shrub/3365197001/

Continued here:
Horror of honeysuckle: How to prevent the spread of this hellish invasive shrub - Herald Times Reporter

from White Plains Hospital:

For those of us who hike, garden, or just enjoy being outdoors, theres a trio of troublesome plants spread across the country that can turn a pleasant day outside into a scratch-filled trip to the doctor.

Poison ivy, poison oak and poison sumac may be different plants, but they have one thing in common urushiol. Urushiol is an oily sap found in the plants and according to the American Skin Association,85% of all Americans are allergic to it.If you come in contact with one of these plants, youre likely develop a rash within 12-72 hours.

The signs and symptoms may include:

Leaves of three, let it be

Poison ivy grows throughout the United States, primarily east of the Rocky Mountains. It grows as hairy or fuzzy-looking vines or a shrub, and can be found in open fields, wooded areas, parks and backyards. The plants typically have smooth, almond-shaped leaves clustered in groups of three.

Poison oak, on the other hand, is indigenous to the western part of the country, and also grows as a vine or shrub.Although poison oak looks similar to poison ivy, it has larger leaves that are more rounded, like that of an oak leaf. Like poison ivy, it also has a tri-clustered leaf arrangement, so make sure to remember the old saying, Leaves of three, let it be!

The other urushiol carrying plant, poison sumac, is less common than poison oak and ivy and is mostly found in swamps in the southeastern part of the country. Poison sumac grows as a shrub or small tree with each stem containing 7 to 13 leaves arranged in pairs. Compared to poison ivy and poison oak, poison sumac has a greater potential to inflict a more severe rash.

The initial treatment for someone who has been exposed to any of these plants is to rinse the infected area with lukewarm soapy water to remove the urushiol oil within 10 minutes of exposure, says Dr. Jennifer Camacho, Allergy and Immunology Specialist at Scarsdale Medical Group. Its also important to scrub under your fingernails to remove any remnants of urushiol oil. In addition, you should thoroughly clean clothing or any objects that may have come into contact with these plants, such as gardening tools camping equipment or pets.

If youre working outside in wooded areas or locations with heavy foliage wear long pants, long sleeves, dont forget to wear boots and gloves for protection.

Stop that itch

If youre looking for relief from the itching and swelling caused by poison ivy, oak and sumac, calamine lotion is an over-the-counter medication that is convenient and affordable. While its not a cure, its main ingredient, zinc oxide, has a calming effect on the skin and helps dry out the rash caused by the plants.

Other remedies include a hydrocortisone cream, or an oral antihistamine like Benadryl. You may also want to tryhome remedieslike a baking soda or an oatmeal bath, or try essential oils such as eucalyptus or chamomile. For those who prefer a do-it-yourself method, it may take three weeks or longer for a rash to resolve. However, if the rash does not dissipate on its own, or if you are having trouble breathing, develop a fever, or cant find relief from the discomfort and itchiness, consult your doctor.

You should also see a doctor if the rash appears infected or spreads to your eyelids, lips or face, says Dr. Camacho. Your doctor may prescribe a high-potency steroid cream or an oral corticosteroid, such as prednisone, to accelerate your recovery.

Originally posted here:
Poison Ivy: How to Recognize and Treat - theLoop

The future of wildfires doesnt have to be calamitous or tragic.

There are factors at play that point to a bad ending. The results of ongoing climate change and a history of questionable land-management policies are already impacting the kinds of wildfires were seeing today, often more frequent and more intense.

But much is being done to brighten the outlook.

Fire scientists are working to create more ambitious modeling systems to predict wildfire behavior and provide officials with a better understanding of how fires function. Firefighters are experimenting with new technologies that will track resources and pinpoint hazards in real time, and developing better ways to enhance their suppression techniques.

As innovators work on creative solutions to deal with fires, others stress that one key to mitigating risk is more cultural: Can humans learn to better coexist with fire?

Most people tend to assume that we have a choice not to have wildfires, that we can put it out, we have that choice, said Mark Finney, Ph.D. and research forester with the U.S. Forest Services Fire Sciences Lab in Missoula, Montana. The fact is every year, were reminded we dont have the choice. Its not within our power to keep fire out of our wildlands.

The real choice that isnt often appreciated is our choice of when to have a fire and what kind to have. We have a choice of living with the kind that are both sustainable to our ecosystems and communities, or only living with the worst ones.

Some of the biggest problems surrounding future wildfires are climate change, invasive species and fuel loading.

The impacts of climate change could be far reaching. Warmer weather has resulted in earlier spring runoff, drier fuels and longer wildfire seasons. And experts say the trend of larger and more frequent wildfires is likely to continue.

In higher elevation forests that are ripe with fuel sources, the climate is historically what has helped to keep wildfires in check.

What weve seen looking at the trajectory going back through the past 50 years is that the fire season is getting longer, said Julie Korb, professor of biology at Fort Lewis College in Durango. When I first moved here 20 years ago, we would have snow in the High Country up to the Fourth of July, and then the monsoons hit. The fuel never had a chance to dry out.

But across the West, what were seeing is that even in normal snow years, theres early spring runoff. As we keep broadening that gap from when theres snow on the ground to when we get precipitation in the summer, its going to increase the length of the wildfire season, and often affect the size and behavior of wildfires. They can move more rapidly, and once they get going, theyre not as easy for firefighters to attack.

But climate change at lower elevations, which frequently deal with hot and dry conditions, also can have major impacts on wildfire behavior. Deborah Kennard, a professor of environmental science at Colorado Mesa University, said some ecosystems might never look the same after a wildfire.

Kennard said crown fires in ponderosa pine forests are preventing seedling regeneration, which could convert those areas to shrub or grasslands. Fires in riparian areas along the Colorado River could spell the end of some cottonwood stands, which require flooding levels for regeneration that might no longer be realistic. And as the Pine Gulch Fire rages north of Grand Junction, there are concerns that drought could impede the regrowth of the pinyon-juniper habitat.

We might be getting to a situation today where the climate may not be the same as it was when these woodlands were established, Kennard said. Those are going to possibly go through a type conversion to a different type of system.

One major fear is that as changes in the climate inhibit the regeneration of natural vegetation, invasive species could start to take over in certain areas. In Colorado, one nonnative species causing trouble is cheatgrass, a highly flammable weed that can significantly impact native plants.

The grass potentially could fill in traditionally barren areas that rely on fuel breaks in the landscape to keep fires at bay, creating more contiguous fuels and larger fires. And once the natural vegetation is dead, it might never return.

The grass comes back right away and even better after a fire, Kennard said. That means that those other species cant get ahold. Once you get cheatgrass in an area, it increases the fire frequency and the fire size, and it makes it so much harder for other fuels to come back. It turns into an annual grassland that could burn every couple years.

Climate change, I think, will be the overarching factor increasingly as we look forward to future wildfires because it will keep getting hotter and drier. But especially in Western Colorado and drier areas, climate change coupled with nonnative invasive species has a synergistic effect where we could see fires that are bigger than they would have been otherwise.

A history of wildfire suppression over the past 100 years is also taking its toll on many modern forests, which were not allowed to burn naturally resulting in massive fuel loads capable of creating larger fires. Colorado residents have seen the results already.

In 2002, the Hayman Fire northwest of Colorado Springs became the biggest recorded wildfire in the states history, burning more than 137,000 acres, 133 homes and costing about $40 million to suppress.

In the Forest Services case study on the Hayman Fire, officials said it burned in rich and dry vegetation, resulting from the exclusion of fire over recent years, and called the blaze an example of a consequence of what is wrong with current forest management policy in this country.

Repeat photography after more than a century or so of lapse shows tremendous changes in vegetation, Finney said. The trees in the forest are so dense now, and theres complete coverage over large parts of the terrain that at one point burned (frequently) enough to have a patchy structure to it.

Were well beyond the point where we can get a head start on this. Looking back to something like the Hayman Fire, it was a direct consequence of having landscapes for tens of miles with very little management.

While turning the tables against climate change is an endeavor further down the line, officials have begun to reshape the way they think about land management.

As with modern day firefighting, creating a more positive future outlook on wildfires relies heavily on proactive solutions. Fuels reduction projects along the wildland-urban interface have become more commonplace over recent years and will continue to be one of the more important tools officials have to combat fires near developed areas.

But some are calling for more cooperation from local, state and federal agencies to take a broader view in building resiliency across larger landscapes.

There are so many areas that need treatment that we need to stop saying this is private land or state land or federal land, Korb said. We need to work across all lines to determine how were going to manage our landscapes. So when were talking about tackling these issues in the future, its really about forming this collaborative and working together to look at larger landscapes not 1,000- or even 10,000-acre parcels, but 100,000 to half-million acres to determine how to manage that to have the type of fires were willing to live with.

Korb emphasized that resiliency might look different for varying types of forests and ecosystems and that there is not a one-size-fits-all prescription. In other words, the topography, fuel types and other factors in certain forests might call for more widespread human manipulation while others might be best left alone.

While fuels are really the only major component of natural wildfires that humans have some direct control over, it makes sense to prioritize treatment projects as we look to the future. But officials also say that not all treatments necessarily have the same impact.

Tree harvesting and the mechanical removal of fuel sources certainly have their place, but those treatments dont do much to remove finer fuels like grass and brush from the forest floor. Instead, some experts are pushing to allow more wildfires and prescriptive burns to create forest maintenance benefits.

You can use chain saws and modern logging methods, but that doesnt really remove the fuel that wildfires depend on, Finney said. And once youre done thinning, then fire is the only way of maintaining fuel conditions and keeping the ecosystem running. One thing we know for sure is that fire plays an essential role in most of our ecosystems in the West, and theres just no substitute for it.

But large-scale land-management overhauls and prescriptive fires are solutions easier said than done. In areas that already have embraced changes to management policies, officials say the funding to conduct the desired work is often difficult to come by. In other areas, where the strategies have been slow to take hold, officials say theyre still fighting a cultural war to inform the masses of the benefits of fire.

This culture which consists of the public, elected officials, media and the fire agencies all come together in reacting to wildfires and determining what the acceptable responses are, Finney said. And they tend to react in a very predictable way: to try and put the fire out.

When you try to change the appropriate response to fires, such as doing more prescribed burns or not putting a fire out, then the culture tends to react negatively to that. We have to change how we look at fires. The science is well developed. The obstacle to using that knowledge in a proactive fashion is almost entirely cultural.

As experts toil away at creating better land-management practices, scientists in the field are hard at work trying to provide better tools to get the job done.

If officials are going to use fire more proactively, providing them with an even better understanding of the underlying physical processes resulting in different wildfire behaviors is key.

Fire is full of nonintuitive processes, said Torben Grumstrup, a Ph.D. and research mechanical engineer with the fire sciences lab in Montana. Its a very odd phenomenon, and its very normal for us to run into something that makes us say, What the heck is that? Something that just doesnt make sense. But as we dig deeper, we realize it does. Were learning more and more about fire behavior and ultimately we hope to update and modernize training with that knowledge.

Scientists at the fire lab and elsewhere around the world are working to create newer computer modeling systems that can more accurately predict how a wildfire will behave in a given environment. Upgraded models would allow officials to realistically preview how a fire would react in different fuel types, topographies and weather conditions as well as fundamentally improve the way we plan fuel mitigation projects and fire breaks along the wildland-urban interface.

Variations of this technology have existed for a while. Current models are still based on the foundational Rothermel surface fire spread model developed during the 1960s and early 1970s, but theres much that could be improved.

Our understanding of fire has come a very long way, Grumstrup said. The advantage to the model is its very fast on the computer, and relatively simple and easy to run.The disadvantages are that there are some aspects of it that dont model fire in a realistic way. There are some parts that were developed as educated guesses. Its long past time to develop a new model.

Grumstrup and his colleagues are actively working to develop a new modeling system that would incorporate more realistic physics, heat transfer, ignition processes and combustion properties. But as the underlying framework undergoes a facelift, better data collection is needed to power the model.

On a more micro level, the lab is running experiments to determine how fast and long different sizes of fuels burn and how a flames orientation on a piece of wood plays a role. With Big Sandy, a 12-foot-long rotating table filled with sand, scientists are getting their best data yet on how the shape of flames and variable slopes are impacting heat transfer.

On a macro level, officials are working to map fuel types and densities on a massive scale. Aerial mapping of fuel sources across the United States is updated every few years, and serves as a valuable tool for land managers and firefighters.

In the mid-2000s, the Landfire project launched in partnership between wildland programs at the U.S. departments of agriculture and interior, and was tasked with providing comprehensive geospatial data to describe vegetation, wildland fuel and fire regimes across the country. But experts say more detail is needed to determine not just how much fuel is in an area but how it is arranged.

The way we describe fuels right now is with the average loading, the average tons per acre of fuel across an area, Finney said. But that doesnt account for gaps or patchy structure in the landscape. The nonconformity is not captured. Through some of these much more high-resolution images, we can capture special arrangements of fuels that are sufficiently detailed to do a good job modeling whether a fire can spread or not.

To that end, researchers are relying on new technologies in aerial imagery to help. In smaller areas, light detection and ranging systems are allowing officials to get detailed 3D maps by reflecting lasers off the treetops from the air. Other techniques rely on aerial photographs taken from different angles that are later constructed into 3D structures of the landscape. Once detailed fuels mapping is complete, experts can distill the information into their more sophisticated wildfire modeling systems.

Were hoping in a couple years well be satisfied enough to release (the model) to the world, Grumstrup said. And we think it would be a revolution in how we model fires.

Learning to live with wildfires doesnt mean letting them run unimpeded. In high-risk areas along the wildland-urban interface or near important watersheds, fires will always call for a strong suppression effort.

Firefighters also are working with new technologies to do their jobs safer and more efficiently. One of the newest tools breaking its way into the firefighting scene is the Android Team Awareness Kit developed by the Air Force Research Laboratory to help track friendly individuals on the ground during airstrikes.

Firefighters in Colorado already have begun using the kit and similar technologies in pilot deployments. The system essentially allows officials to keep track of all of their resources including firefighters and aircraft in real time, providing better spatial awareness and allowing individuals to update conditions and threats.

If I have a safety officer on a hill watching us work, instead of him communicating that theres a spot beyond some trees to go to if things get bad, he can actually put a point on a map that pops up on everyones phone, said Ben Miller, director at the Colorado Center of Excellence for Advanced Technology Aerial Firefighting. From the command post where they have the bigger perspective, they can look at lightning or high winds coming in, and they can show us that information within seconds on our map.

Spatial awareness tools also are helping firefighters implement other military technologies in their practices. The ability for officials to point out detailed locations of power lines and topographical hazards paired with night vision could soon allow helicopter missions after dark.

With operations often in remote areas, firefighters are also experimenting with new equipment that would allow them to detect strong cellular networks nearby and deploy radios to boost the signal to make sure all firefighters are kept in the loop. Similarly, new drone programs are in the works that would allow firefighters to get more eyes on the fire from the air and serve as pseudo-communication satellites.

Down the line, options like Starlink, a satellite internet initiative being developed by SpaceX, would provide firefighters in the backcountry with connectivity independent of cell sites on the ground.

We want to get to the point where when somebody has something to report, they can just point their camera at it, Miller said. And not only would everybody be able to see what theyre talking about, but it could actually triangulate that image so everybody knows what theyre seeing and where exactly it is.

In regard to actually attacking the wildfires, firefighters are also looking for ways to do more with the tools they have. One way is through experimenting with new water enhancers, essentially a type of gel that firefighters can mix with water from any source en route to make it evaporate slower and more effectively douse flames.

With the changing climate, we think the future holds more fires and bigger fires, Miller said. Our challenge from a technology perspective is really about researching and potentially employing new technologies that make us safer, faster and more efficient.

As we look to what the coming years might bring, the challenges facing tomorrows firefighters are considerable.

Wildfires are a matter of when and not if. And Coloradans and others throughout the West will continue to be confronted by that fact.

But thanks to the work being done by scientists, firefighters and land-management experts, we have a choice in what kind of fires well see and better tools to learn to live alongside them.

If we know more, we can do better, Finney said. We can explain it in more detail. We can provide better foundations and expertise. But the bottom line is that human beings are going to have to utilize the science behind wildfires a lot more and be smart about how we interact with them. That is inherent to the challenges were going to face with the future of wildfires.

Editors note: This is part four of a four-part series about wildfires. Read more at SummitDaily.com/wildfire.

Read more from the original source:
The future of wildfires: A cultural struggle to learn to live with fire - Summit Daily News

On the recent episode of 'Christina on the Coast' that aired on Thursday, August 13, Christina Anstead was seen helping out her good friend, Cara, and her husband, Chris, remodel their bathroom and their main bedroom. Aesthetically, the couple's vision for their house didn't match with what she had in mind for the remodeling process and there were unexpected costs that kept cropping up. The onus was now on Christina to take all of it in her stride and renovate the space in a way that she could bring joy to her friend and her family's lives.

Cara's career as a nutritionist depended a lot on the health and wellness videos that she recorded from the confines of her bedroom. She was in dire need of a renovation that would help bring additional natural lighting to her filming space. She could also use a better backdrop for her videos and these were one of the few points that she brought up to Christina as requisites from her end. Chris didn't demand too much from the remodeling initially and was happy if the house exuded the look and style of a modern farmhouse and if Christina could incorporate more natural wood around the house during the remodeling. Later on, the couple and Christina move to the bathroom to see the changes that were required there. Their bathroom was untouched since they moved into the house. No renovations were ever made to that space and it was one of the most ignored areas of the house. The shower lever handle was held together by a screwdriver and that was proof enough that the area could use a pick-me-up and Chris expressed that he was looking forward to an improved shower situation in the bathroom. Cara, on the other hand, listed a bench in the shower as her requirement and joked that she needs it to make her life easier as shaving in the shower was getting difficult in her 30s.

Christina took all of their requirements into consideration and began work on their house with star contractor Israel "Izzy" Battres. Shortly after he began work in the bathroom, Battres discovered that the couple's house was susceptible to mold as their bathroom wall was wet from the inside as the waterproofing had gone bust. This directly affected the couple's budget that was initially set at $55K and they had to amp it up by another $10K. However, that was one of the only major challenges that were a part of this renovation and the rest of the remodeling progressed smoothly. Izzy and Christina managed to completely jazz up Chris and Cara's house and the new and improved space was worth every penny and every day that the couple had to spend away from their home during the process.

You can catch the re-run of this episode at 12 am ET on Friday, August 14. 'Christina on the Coast' airs Thursday nights at 9 pm ET only on HGTV.

Go here to see the original:
'Christina on the Coast': Christina helps friend Cara and her husband remodel their main bedroom and bath - MEAWW

LINCKLAEN, N.Y. In 2002, Ronald and Ruth Luchsinger were looking at farms in Madison County.

Not having much luck, they drove a little further south, crossing into Chenango County. Finally, while reaching the top of a hill near Lincklaen, Ronald found exactly what he wanted.

This is the place! he remembered shouting.

Nestled quietly in 123 acres of Central New York farmland was an 1885 farmhouse that had seen better days.

It was such a nice setting, vacant and unaltered, Luchsinger said.

But the farmhouse was not so good.

Cosmetically, it was trashed, he says, laughing. It was bad.

He tells a story that he celebrated his 50th birthday on the day he and his wife closed on the property. They hosted a few friends there and one told him straight out, You bought this!

But Luchsinger was undaunted. In fact, with a personal passion for carpentry and remodeling, he looked forward to the challenge.

I enjoy taking something old that does not look too good and make it look like it should, he explains.

Like it should meant creating a nostalgic feeling of yesteryear.

Our goal was to make it look like grandma and grandpas house, he said.

Over four winters, they gutted everything, reconfigured rooms and replaced the homes roof, windows, and siding.

Now, he says those skeptical friends of his, cant believe it!

Inside they kept the traditional feel of a 19th century Central New York, with original trim and wainscoting. Modern amenities like internet and new kitchen appliances were also added.

It has been a labor of love, Luchsinger admits.

The property has great potential as an agribusiness.

Ronald and Ruth use the three-bedroom upstairs bedroom as a bed and breakfast and house more guests in the top floor of an 1864-era barn he found in Tully, which he moved to Lincklaen, piece by piece.

They are booked solid for most of the summer.

The Lodge, as it is called, can accommodate six people. It is heated, has air-conditioning, and has guests until the cold weather arrives.

He believes an enterprising owner can transform the property, which has 7,000 feet of road frontage, into a brewery, apple orchard, campground, Airbnb, vineyard, farm-to-table restaurant, or wedding venue. For nature lovers the property borders Lincklaen State Forest and Mariposa State Forest.

(The man-made spring-fed swimming pond on the grounds has hosted three baptisms.)

After 18 years, the couple have decided to take on a new project, rebuilding another property near Tully.

I have run out of projects here! Luchsinger says laughing.

An open house is scheduled for Sunday, August 16, from 1 to 3 p.m.

THE DETAILS

Address: 312 Springer Road, DeRuyter, N.Y. 13052

Price: $569,000

Size: 2,064 square feet

Acreage: 123 acres

Monthly Mortgage: $1,985 (based on this week's national average rate of 3.27 percent, according to Freddie Mac, for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage with a 20 percent down payment. Fees and points not included.)

Taxes: $3,323

Built: 1885

School District: DeRuyter

Kitchen: Listing says that the new Country Style kitchen will bring back memories of Grandmas house. The motif of the space mirrors the rest of the farmhouse. Traditional trim was maintained, as were the old-style Hoosier cabinets. Exposed ceiling is seen. Owner calls the kitchen very handy to work in. Kitchen features new modern appliances.

Living areas: Home underwent a four-year remodel between 2003 and 2006. New windows were added, and owner says that 90 percent of the property can be seen from somewhere inside the house. Visitors arrive in an inviting front foyer or in a back mudroom, which is very convenient if you were out working or playing outside. Home features an open-floor plan on the first floor. The kitchen, dining area and living room make for one large space. There is a den or library with access via double doors.

Bedrooms: The master bedroom is on the first floor. The room is quite spacious and features a double door closet. The three bedrooms upstairs are currently being used a bed and breakfast.

Bathrooms: There are two-and-a-half bathrooms in the house. The first-floor half-bath is just off the mudroom. The master bathroom has a shower unit and is home to the houses laundry room, which the owner considers very convenient for farm life. There is another full bathroom upstairs.

The Lodge: The Lodge is guest accommodations built inside an 1864 Tully barn. It can sleep six people. It maintains its old-fashioned feel with exposed beams and kitchenette. The space is insulated, heated, and has air-conditioning. It is open during the warm months.

Outdoors: The 123-acre farm was chosen because of its spectacular views. The back patio is a favorite. There is always a cool breeze there. Besides the farmhouse and Lodge, the property features a workshop, two-car garage, wetland pond, five-stall horse barn with tack room, seven paddocks with high tensile wire fencing, and a private campground. Owner dug out his own spring-fed swimming pond with a dock six years ago. It is ten-and-a-half feet deep and has seen a lot of action during this warm summer. It has also hosted three baptisms. The farm is bordered by Lincklaen and Mariposa State Forests and there are 33 miles of seasonal roads for outdoor recreation. Property has enormous potential as an agribusiness.

Agent: Theresa Billy / The Karim Team

CENTURY 21 Arquette Properties

Address: 104 Salt Springs Road, Fayetteville, N.Y. 13066

Phone: (315) 663-8390

Email: thekarimteam@gmail.com

Website: http://www.thekarimteam.com

MORE HOMES

House of the Week: Owners find it hard to put into words the beauty of their LaFayette property

House of the Week: Stately home in Syracuses Sedgwick neighborhood is wonderfully comfortable

House of the Week: Owner says secluded North Syracuse home has instant wow factor

See our real estate transactions database

If you know of a beautiful or interesting house currently up for sale, please consider sending a nomination for it to be featured as a future House of the Week. Send an email with the listing to home@syracuse.com.

Do you know of any older homes in Central New York which have fallen on hard times but have a lot of potential should they be restored to their original grandeur? A fixer-upper with a lot of potential? Consider nominating them to our new feature, Save this Home, in which we will spotlight grand houses of the past around Central New York that need to be saved. Send nominations to home@syracuse.com.

See the rest here:
House of the Week: Remodeled 1885 farmhouse in Lincklaen evokes feeling of visiting Grandmas house - syracuse.com

ROCHESTER, N.Y. More people, of all ages, are working from home in the age of COVID-19. Local architects and designers are getting calls on how to accommodate that. Theres a demand in the market for home offices, repurposed lower levels, bonus rooms and even home gyms.

People working from home have either been working at kitchen table, or makeshift office, and now theyre getting into actually remodeling a room, said Melanie Portland, Director of Marketing for Inde Designs. She said more college kids are returning home, as well as adult children, which calls for bathroom and bedrooms in the basement, or lower levels.

More and more companies are not having employees come back to the office, and this is going to be a more permanent solution, working from home, said Chris Keil, Vice President of Greater Living Architecture. Keil said there was originally a trend of clients wanting to downsize their home, pre-virus. Now, they want to re-purpose it, or add bonus rooms above their garage.

Architects and designers are saying the demand for supplies has gone way up, increasing construction costs. The services also came to a halt when COVID-19 hit, and architects had to work remotely with clients for conferencing.

Manufacturers, lumber yards, steel manufacturers, were all shut down for a number of months (when COVID-19 hit), said Joseph ODonnell, President of Greater Living Architecture.

Kitchens, sinks, flooring, lighting, everything really came to a screeching halt, now theres a very, very tough supply for those items, said ODonnell.

He said its hard to know what the future holds in terms of a second wave, and how that would affect their business if schools had to close again. But all they can do, is prepare for anything.

Were kind of a wait and see right now, said ODonnell. The idea of re-purposing a space for home-schooling is something on his radar, and something hes already received calls on. He said the at-home learning experience consists of educational, social and physical components.

Kids arent socializing with peers at home, theyre with their parents and siblings and not getting a social experience. What weve seen people consider is creating small group learning in a neighborhood [pods], where kids can go to house one day a week to safely be with friends and have that social interaction, said ODonnell.

In addition to accommodating children, Keil said its common that two spouses are working from home, requiring not just one home office, but two. Home offices have been part of plan for some time now, but now two home offices are in demand. People need their own spaces, its hard to share space on conference calls and stuff, he said.

Keil said if you are looking to add a space to your house, a permit is required. He said youd have to work with designers to come up with a plan, and youd also have to meet with a contractor. Drawings would have to be submitted to your town for approval.

Continued here:
Re-purposing the home in the age of COVID-19: offices, gyms, bonus rooms - RochesterFirst

SPRINGFIELD A citizen committee is recommending that 15 projects receive a total of approximately $1.5 million to improve historic properties, parks and open space, and community housing.

Robert McCarroll, chairman of the Springfield Community Preservation Committee, said the projects were chosen from among 25 applications for 2020. The grants are funded annually by a local property surtax approved by voters in 2016.

You can see they are peppered across the city, which is one of our goals, McCarroll said. I think its a good broad section.

The funds can be used for purposes including the acquisition, creation and preservation of open space, recreational land, historic resources and community housing.

The recommendations will be forwarded to Mayor Domenic Sarno and the City Council in September, McCarroll said. Any project funded will need council approval, but the projects first need to be recommended by the citizen committee.

The following 15 projects are recommended for funds:

The committee is scheduled to meet again Sept. 1 to finalize the grant amount for the Trinity House project.

The city has approximately $2.1 million in community preservation funds this year, including this years allotment and unused funds from the past year, McCarroll said.

Ten other applications were considered but were not recommended this year. Some were ineligible or deemed low-priority, and others were encouraged to apply in a future year, McCarroll said.

Last year, the committee recommended projects for funding totaling $1.7 million, approved by the council last September.

Local organizations, nonprofit groups and city departments annually apply for the funds.

Related Content:

Go here to see the original:
15 projects recommended for community preservation funds in Springfield - MassLive.com

When the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency began mandating that landfill operators install low-permeability bottom liners and final covers, the idea was to mitigate leachate and precipitation and ultimately protect groundwater. These design features have proved to accomplish those goals, but some drawbacks have been discovered over time.

Liners and final covers extend the time during which gas is generated while slowing the speed of the generation, and they extend the waste decomposition time.

When waste is encapsulated or entombed in these engineered structures, gas production could go on slowly for decades up to 70 or 80 years, as reported in a technical article written by SCS Engineers Bob Isenberg and Darrin Dillah.

But Isenberg and Dillah found that if that same dry tomb they modeled in their paper were made into a bioreactor where moisture is introduced into the waste the gas would be produced for about 20 years, and then it would stabilize.

Why are people paying attention to gas production rates and the moisture content of landfill waste?

Gas is generated when you have moisture, and quick gas generation stabilizes waste, says Dillah. The quicker you stabilize the waste, the quicker you can get out of post-closure care requirements. Conversely, by entombing waste, you extend the natural stabilization process, and you extend the time period for post-closure.

The first landfills are about to reach the 30-year mark since Subtitle D began mandating bottom liners and final covers the prescribed post-closure care period.

I think a lot of landfill operators will find they cannot show they reached the stabilized point where gas generation and leachate quantities are minimal and where they can say there will be no impact on human health and the environment, so the 30-year period could be extended, Dillah says.

Time is money. Post-closure care can cost $100,000 or more a year, depending on the size of the site. Shortening that period could save thousands to millions of dollars in some scenarios, Isenberg estimates.

Despite the potential for dry tomb-related delays in ending post-closure periods, no one is looking at changing the bottom liner and final cover to speed gas generation and waste decomposition. But a small number of operators are exploring new approaches, from techniques to deal with leachate to the timing of the placement of the final cover. EPAs research, development and demonstration rule is allowing landfill operators to try some of these approaches.

One technique of interest is the recirculation of leachate in a controlled manner, either by spraying or injecting it into the waste. Another approach, though not as common, involves allowing stormwater runoff into the waste.

Operators typically try to divert rainwater from landfills and create ditches, channels and ponds to manage runoff. But if its done carefully, one might be able to allow some stormwater runoff into the waste. This can be tricky, however, because if a 100-year storm hits, it could create problems, Isenberg says.

Another method is to delay the installation of the final cap until several years after the landfill is filled in order to add moisture from rainfall. Some operators are looking at this approach as it relates to settlement.

As Isenberg explains it, decomposition produces gas as a byproduct, and as gas is generated, mass is lost, which triggers settlement. Pennsylvania allows operators to wait until five years after landfills are filled to install caps in order to allow settlement to take place.

These techniques come with drawbacks. For example, recirculating leachate costs money and requires manpower. And it has to been done carefully.

If you inject too much leachate, you can slow down the gas generation due to saturation of the waste, Isenberg says. Or you can create localized settlement problems, slope instability, or odors.

In the case of delayed cap installation, operators must anticipate and predict settlement so that when the cap is installed, they have positive drainage and stormwater is controlled.

Another method to avoid the dry tomb impact is to accept wastewater sludge and other wet types of waste. Adding these materials to municipal solid waste increases moisture content and accelerates decomposition.

But wet waste has to be introduced carefully and with engineering controls, because this type of material may be weaker and could create stability problems or odor issues. Technique is important: Its advisable to distribute wet waste around the landfill, though more in the middle or the interior than on side slopes.

Engineers advise that operators establish a percentage of wet waste that will be accepted based on engineering evaluations, looking at stability, gas generation, and leachate in order to avoid saturation.

Jeff Murray, landfill practice leader for HDR, says technology like landfill liner systems and leachate and gas collection systems have proved effective in protecting human health and the environment.

When the solid waste regulations were developed nearly 30 years ago, perhaps their performance was uncertain and was supported by the dry tomb approach, Murray says. But with available disposal capacity at a premium, we should be having a discussion to provide more flexibility for closure time frames that allow solid waste to degrade more fully and to settle so that airspace can be recaptured, incorporating proper planning and controls.

This approach, Murray says, could extend the life of some landfills by up to 30%. In addition, it could reduce the time to reach functional stability after closure, potentially shortening the post-closure care period, and it could reduce the long-term liability and risks to human health and the environment.

Isenberg says dry tombs are fine for protecting groundwater, but there are approaches to accelerate decomposition to reduce post-closure in a safe manner.

You have to understand gas, leachate and settlement, Isenberg says. This requires working with engineers to design the system, contractors to build the system, suppliers of equipment and materials, and regulators to ensure compliance. We just have to think outside the box or think outside the tomb.

See original here:
Conundrums of Dry Tombs and Possible Solutions - waste360

Located at Cholsey near Wallingford, Oxfordshire, New Barn Farm Quarry is the latest quarry operation to be opened by Grundon Sand & Gravel (GSG)

A 6 million investment:With Grundon purchasing the site in July 2015 and gaining planning permission in November 2018 an estimated 2.5 million tonnes of sand and gravel is expected to be extracted over the next 18 years. Once quarry operations are complete a 20-year conservation and restoration programme will be put in place.

GSG have invested 6 million in the 66-acre site, which included a state-of-the-art Sand Plant and Water Treatment System which will provide gravel and a variety of sands for the building, construction, leisure and landscaping sectors, including two local concrete plants as well as selling directly to the general public.

Golden Harvest Gravel:The opening of the new quarry also sees GSG launch an exclusive new Golden Harvest Gravel into its gravel range. Blending shades of gold, bronze, and cream, it is an exceptionally durable hard flint, and is ideal for areas with high footfall, such as driveways and car parks, as well as landscaping areas. It is available in 10mm and 20mm grades.

Andy Bright- GSG General Manager, commented, We are delighted to add New Barn Farm Quarry to our quarry portfolio. We believe it will prove a valuable resource for the local housebuilding and construction industries throughout the wider Oxfordshire, Berkshire, and Buckinghamshire region, underlining our reputation as a leading supplier of sands and aggregates.

We are also pleased to have brought new jobs to the area and look forward to welcoming local people through our gates for their own gardening and landscaping requirements.

PowerX Equipment The next generation in Aggregate & Mineral Processing:The plant has been designed, supplied and commissioned by PowerX Equipment who are the next generation in aggregate and mineral processing. Whether a client is looking to incorporate a single item of equipment or create an entire, integrated plant solution, PowerX Equipment design, supply and install; Aggregate Washing, Crushing & Screening, Water & Silt Management Systems, Bulk Materials Handling, Recycling and Materials Processing equipment to meet expectations and achieve profitable outcomes.

The Processing Plant:As well as supplying the wash plant and MS water treatment system PowerX also installed a 400m long feed conveyor including a feed hopper situated adjacent to the current dig. Here material is loaded into the hopper and is conveyed to a hopper fed radial conveyor next to the processing plant. From this, the material is either fed direct to the main plant or stockpiled adjacent to it.

With the plant operating at 200tph material is fed via a hopper to the inclined primary conveyor and then onto a Terex Washing Systems 4.9 x 1.5m triple-deck rinsing screen. Here the rinsed fractions of 10mm/20mm/+20mm are split and sent to radial stockpilers.

Twin sands production:The main product, sand then falls through the bottom deck of the rinsing screen and is then pumped up to the single hydro-cyclone of the AMP compact sharp sand plant. Silt from the thickener is also delivered and measured back into the feed of both the sharp and soft sand processes consistently maintaining the concrete specification.

Consisting of a high-energy 2.4m x 1.2m dewatering screen and one 200/150centrifugal pumpfor sharp sand, the plant specification is completed with one 625mm diameter conical bottom hydro-cyclone hydro vortex.

The soft sand production is dealt with by an AMP compact soft sand plant which consists of a high-energy 2.4m x 1.2m dewatering screen and one 150/100 centrifugal pump and is completed by four 250mm polyurethane cyclones to reclaim the material above 20m.

Arranged in a cluster with equal feed, each cyclone has a knife valve with chutes and rubber lined distributor box. Both sand plants are of modular design to allow complete flexibility.

Both sands are then delivered to their respective stockpile by radial conveyors.

Added benefits with the PowerX Equipment Design:John Collins Technical Director for PowerX, comments, The main difference with this plant compared to most S&G plants, is that the plant design ensures that all the silt is deposited back into the sand product which means they dont require silt ponds.

They have a fresh water pond and a thickener and the silt from the thickener is measured back into the course sand to keep that within the concrete specification and then into the fine sand and this is effectively the main difference with this and other S&G plants.

Having originally been told by other suppliers that it could not be done, the plant operated correctly within a set of parameters will operate all day long. On the flipside of this, it is not something you can do anywhere, because if the material you are washing is really dirty there is a limit to how much you can put in the sand.

The as raised material at New Barn Farm only has an average silt content of 6-8% so it allowed Grundons that benefit to lose that silt straight back into the sand without them going out of specification.

Water Treatment Plant:The wash plant at New Barn Farm incorporates a MS water treatment system featuring a 12m diameter 3m high 340m volume capacity thickener which provides a minimum of 380m/hr flow rate with a low flocculent consumption. An 8m diameter 3m high clarified water tank provides a 150m capacity with a technical room housing the flocculent system. A flocculent mixing plant and flocculent sampling plant make up the system.

Ed Fagan - Head of Projects, Engineering and Design Grundon Sand and Gravel, commented, We are extremely pleased with the design and performance of the plant which has enabled us to eliminate the requirement for silt ponds and ensure production is as efficient as possible. The PowerX team were very professional in their approach to the project showing great attention to detail and a strong emphasis on H&S throughout the project programme.

View post:
Grundon Sand & Gravel enjoy the benefits of a new PowerX Equipment Wash Plant and Water Treatment System. - Hub 4