Is it Yard Graffiti or Not?

Have you ever looked outside and noticed your neighbor’s front yard painted with colorful lines or covered with flags?

Despite its appearance, it’s not yard graffiti, but rather temporary markings to show the approximate location of underground utility lines on the property. Underground utility lines can be found in the front or backyard and include all of the service lines such as water, gas and communication lines that bring service from the street into your home.

The experts at the Common Ground Alliance, an association dedicated to ensuring public safety through underground utility damage prevention practices, share their guide to the colorful markings:

* Red markings represent electric power lines, cables, conduit and lighting cables.
* Yellow markings represent gas, oil, steam petroleum or gaseous materials.
* Orange markings represent communication, alarm or signal lines.
* Blue markings represent potable water lines.
* Green markings represent sewer and drain lines.
* Purple markings represent reclaimed water, irrigation and slurry lines.
* Pink markings represent temporary survey lines.
* White markings represent proposed excavation.

If you are planning a yard project that requires you to dig, follow your neighbor’s example and contact your local one call center by dialing 811 to have underground lines properly marked. Striking a single line can result in personal harm, costly fines, inconvenient outages or property damages. If you have hired a contractor for your yard project, they should arrange to have the utilities marked. Make sure that your contractor has included this requirement as part of their service. Be wary of the contractor that fails to mention or take care of this necessity.

No matter the type of project -- installing a mailbox, putting in a fence, planting trees or shrubbery, building a patio or deck, excavating a new garden area -- make sure to call 811 at least two business days prior to digging to have your site properly marked.

When you dial 811, a local one call center representative will collect your information and notify local utility companies of your intent to dig. A professional locator will then visit the dig site to mark the approximate location of all underground utility lines with spray paint or flags. Once your digging site has been marked, it is safe to begin digging around the marked areas.

Contact your local one call center at 811 before every dig, or visit www.Call811.com for more safe digging and state-specific information.

Courtesy of ARAcontent

Maintaining Fences and Gates Is a Smart Move

Good fences really can make good neighbors and neighborhoods. When was the last time you inspected the fence, gates and gate hardware around your property to ensure they’re still in good working condition?

Ignoring fence and gate maintenance can be extremely costly. Taking measures that will help protect your home, property, children and pets is inexpensive, quick and easy to do.

Fences help protect children from danger, keeping toddlers out of swimming pools or keeping them in the yard, away from busy traffic. Fences can help keep your own pets in your yard, and other animals out. They can reduce your liability by preventing injuries to uninvited guests on your property, or damage or injury caused by escaped pets.

Fencing around the home is especially vulnerable to weather-related damage, including rust. Ground freezing and thawing, wind and general abuse can damage the gate, affecting alignment.

An important spring and summer home improvement project should be ensuring that your fences and gates are functioning properly and are protected from rust, a destructive force that can render gate hardware useless. Rusty metal hinges and latches or gate misalignment can lead to gates that no longer close securely, rendering them ineffective. Most of these problems can be easily solved by replacing the gate hardware. Look for latches and hinges that are adjustable, self-lubricating and include stainless steel mounting hardware. New hardware is simple to install and doing so can update the look of your gates and enhance the effectiveness of your gate and fencing.

Courtesy of ARAcontent

Spring is a popular time to begin home improvement projects, especially if it's an upgrade to outdoor living spaces. With the economy keeping more homeowners in place, rather than moving up to bigger house, improving your home can elevate both your enjoyment and its eventual resale value.

Even if you choose just the right improvement -- one that makes you love your home even more and one that will appeal to potential buyers come selling time -- you may still be wondering how much you'll recoup on your investment.

Some financed home improvement projects pay off more than others in terms of enhancing your home’s value and your enjoyment of your house. If you’re opting for improvements to your outdoor living spaces, consider ones that will deliver the greatest return for your investment, such as patios, decks or screened porches. In fact, the National Association of Realtors’ 2008 Remodeling Cost vs. Value found that outdoor improvements, such as wood decks, continue to recoup 80 percent or more in value upon resale.