Exterior shutter staining is a type of painting process although it differs from painting as it stands alone. It is referred to as staining. This process of exterior shutter staining gives the wood a more classic look and is sure to serve you for years. Another added advantage is exterior shutter staining protects your wood from damages like mildew and ultraviolet light damage. Article Sponsor: Concrete Stain Contractor of Tampa, Florida
Continue reading…Garage Floor Staining or Epoxy
I Am So Excited
I couldn’t wait to share this news with someone so the first place I turned it to my blog so I could share it with all of the peeps out on the interwebs. I am in home improvement mode, and one thing I have always wanted to do is to make may garage really nice. I know for some I probably lost you right there, but for others you will either have a lot of great advice, or be in awe that I am really going to have this done.
I just got off the phone with the guys over at Premier Concrete Staining Frisco, TX. Such a nice fella on the phone. I explained to him what I wanted, or actually that I don’t know what I want other than that I do want to do something with this garage floor. He is going to swing by tomorrow to do some measuring, and also show me some examples of what he can do, and provide a quote based on what I decide. I cant wait to see this final result. I will try to take some pictures of the process as he goes through if he will let me. I for sure will be taking before and after photos to post up here on the blog again.
So here is my dilemma. I am not sure what I really want to do in the garage other than make it look really nice. The good news is that no matter which route I take it will look very nice for sure. It sounds like I have several different options. From our conversation on the phone here is how I currently understand my options. They may change after he shows up to give me the quote. I am listing these in the preference I think I will probably select them.
Flat Tire Left Me Parked
Stranded On The Side Of The Road With a Little Generosity
So I went on a road trip this past weekend that left me a little lighter in the pocket book than I had planned. I hit the road around 5pm last Friday night headed down to San Antonio for the weekend. So several hours into my trip, I am cruising down I-35 when I feel the need to stop in for a coffee before the Starbucks closes up. I pull out my handy dandy smart phone (kids never do this while driving please) and found the nearest location which just so happens to never be too far away. I was just on the north side of Austin when I pulled into this Starbucks and opted to go inside so I could stretch my legs and take care of some business, if you know what I mean.
The break was nice, the coffee was warm, refreshing and delicious and I was happy as I could be until I returned to my car to find I had a flat tire. How in the world did it go flat just in the time that I had been inside? I had an immediate thought of fear and a little bit of anger (at whom I don’t know), but just was like, oh man now my trip is ruined because this is going to put me so far behind. I wasn’t thinking about not really even changing the tire, I was just going through all of this other stuff in my head.
This Starbucks sat in this small shopping center, and with it being so late, there were not very many people around. Luckily for me this small shopping center was preparing to have the parking lot re-striped that evening starting at 9:30pm after all of the shops were closed down. I said this was lucky for me because, David from Parking Lot Striping Austin was already on site and his crew was preparing their gear to knock the job out that evening. David must have noticed my random thoughts and he and Chris, another guy from his crew, came over to offer a hand.
Jimmy’s Fence Needs Help
The Fence Blew Over
A month or so ago we had a storm roll through and it did a number on my friend Jimmy’s fence. He has an older fence and quite honestly it needs to be rebuilt and a much better one should be put in its place. By Jimmy is what we call a tight wad. He is very frugal with his money. He can pinch his pennies to go further than anyone I have ever seen before. I think for some people that is just how they were raised, so being frugal may be in his DNA. If you ask him he just has a lot of bills, and has to be frugal to make ends meet, but who am I to judge?
So his fence like I said was nothing much. A simple 6 foot fence, side by side, with wooden post. Probably the same fence the builder put up when the home was built. When the storm came through it blew two panels of the fence over. It looks like the posts simply started to rot at the base of the posts causing a strong gust of wind to topple it right over. It is really amazing how strong Mother Nature can be when she waves her mighty hand.
Luckily for Jimmy and I we have a good friend Tony, that is a fence builder in Dallas. He has offered many times to replace Jimmy’s fence for cost, but like I said Jimmy is frugal. Anyway we spent one Saturday morning about a month ago repairing Jimmy’s fence. We had to laugh when he went to Home Depot and purchased two wooden posts, two bags of quickcrete, and 6 new pickets all under $30 to repair the fence. He was smiling ear-to-ear knowing he didn’t have to fork out a couple of thousand dollars to replace the entire fence.
High School Football In Texas
Are You A True Texan?
If you live in Texas and do not love high school football, then I am not sure if you can really call yourself a Texan. It is that time of year again when we can go out and hear the banging of the helmets, the chatter of the crowd, and the smell of hot dog and hamburger concessions. There is soon to be some brisk or rainy nights ahead, which makes the experience all the more fun. I am probably more excited about it than the kids out on the field playing. High school football in Texas is a staple to Friday night living.
Last night I volunteered with my friend Mark to hand out programs, flyers, and small freebies as people enter the gates of the stadium. Mark is a Dallas home inspector and has an ad for his company, Dallas Home Inspector Co, listed in the program so he was super motivated to get out and volunteer. I was super motivated because I love football, hot dogs, the atmosphere, and also the free$7 ticket was pretty motivating as well. lol I know I am cheap labor, and the thought of saving a few bucks gets me going. The thought of serving others gets me going even more. I know this is silly, but I do think of this as a way of serving. I am helping my friend Mark promote his business, I am helping to greet the fans as they pour into the stadium. Simply showing support for the team is a way of serving. I only mention this not to toot my own horn, but to demonstrate that there are so many ways to serve others.
Being My Own Exterminator
Bug Off
As you can tell, I am pretty much a do-it-yourselfer. I have no problem rolling up my sleeves, and getting dirty when I need to get something done around the house. I also don’t like paying for professional services when I can do them myself.
I started noticing a few bugs around the house, and was at first thinking I needed to call an exterminator. The thought of paying for an exterminator simply makes me ill. I kept thinking to myself, what would this guy be spraying that I couldn’t spray myself? So I did what any other tech savvy person would do, I googled it.
I looked around, and read a few articles, and kept reading about this stuff called Demon WP. People were talking about how it was really good stuff, easy to use, and really killed the bugs. Seems everyone loves it, and it is basically the same stuff the professionals use. Funny thing is it is also very inexpensive. So I ordered some (you can google Demon WP, and find it everywhere. Since it is easy to find, I will not post a link to any specific site). Here is what the current packaging looks like so you will know if you find it online.
Neighbors Building A Float
The Parade is Coming
This past weekend, I started hearing loud music, and a lot of voices near the front of my home. This is typically unusual in my neighborhood, as it is most times a quite laid back kind of place. I looked out the window and noticed a ton of people over at my neighbor’s house. There were probably at least 50 people at there house, both adults, and kids that looked to be about 14-15 years old. I watched them through the window for a little while, and then couldn’t stand it so I went out to see what these people were up to. I have a good relationship with my neighbor’s so it was ok for me to be a little nosy.
So, What’s Up?
I noticed most everyone was gathered around this one area of the driveway, all looking down at something. At first it scared me thinking someone was hurt and that they were all looking down upon them, but as I got closer I could tell that was not the case. It appeared they were building something, but what in the heck were they building?
It turns out they were building a parade float. Wanting in on some of this fun, I offered to help, and was welcomed into the group with open arms. I mean who is going to turn down free labor when it is offered.
Who Turned The Lights Out
Hidy Ho Neighbors
During my time here on God’s green earth, I have realized there are two types of people. Those who change light bulbs right when they burn out, and those that wait to change them until they are all burnt out. Don’t get me to lying as to why some people like to wait, but have you ever noticed this trend? I challenge you the next time you go to a friends house, pay attention to the lights in the house. Either they will have all of the lights working properly, or they will have half of the light bulbs burnt up in their house. It is a crazy phenomenon and you will soon see I am correct.
In keeping with my desire to help people out, I wanted to share this little story with you. It is not much, but kind of funny to think how other people just let some things go without even thinking about it on a daily basis. I was recently at my aunt’s house, and noticed that she had a light bulb out in the living room ceiling fan. I didn’t say anything at first, but started making a mental note when I looked over and also noticed that one of the lights in the kitchen was out as well. I questioned my aunt as to why the lights were burnt out, and to be quite honest, she said she hadn’t noticed. I think some people are just not observant. I asked if she had any extra bulbs and a ladder, because I was going to get to work. She pointed me to the garage for the ladder, and she went to fetch the spare bulb.
Cleaning Out The Weeds
What A Mess!
Gina’s next door neighbor (let’s just call her Ms. Smith for anonymity) is an elderly widow lady that simply has too much yard work on her hands than she can really handle. About 2 months ago, Gina noticed that although Ms. Smith has a lawn service to keep her grass looking nice, the flowerbeds were starting to look pretty shabby. Not wanting to intrude, and make Ms. Smith feel bad about the issue, Gina decided it was time to simply bless Ms. Smith with some work from our network of friends.
Gina made a visit to Ms. Smith just to pop in and check on her and found out that she had been having some back issues which explained why she was no longer keeping up with the flowerbeds. It is amazing how some people simply will not reach out and ask for help when they actually need it, but others have no problem asking for help when they are perfectly capable of doing work themselves. So knowing Ms. Smith’s situation Gina was ready to move into action, putting our team together. It is great because on smaller jobs like this, we dont necessarily have to have the entire group available to help.
Welcome To Our Site
Hey There!
Welcome to our site. We are a group of friends, that love to help others, and have fun doing it. You can find out more on our About page.
Helping Others (Helping Hands)
I will be using this site to blog about our past and future adventures where we help other people around our community. We know we are all built for a higher purpose, and helping others is a great purpose. We love using our talents and putting them to good use. When we help someone that is sick, or someone that is elderly we all feel such satisfaction. It is great to have a solid group of friends that all feel the same way. It must be due to how we were raised. (Look mom and dad, I am giving you a little credit here. 🙂 )
Seriously though we simply love helping others. We purposely look for people that are in need and lend them a hand. We kind of have this rule, if you come asking for a hand out, or simply looking for someone to do what you can do yourself we most likely will not help. If you are truly in need, we will be there even if you ask. We simply have to gauge each situation so we are not taken advantage of for free labor. We have been knowing to cruise through Craigslist ads looking for people that need help. We respond to the ad, and schedule the time to come do the work that you are needing to have done. We do let people know we are not professionals, as we would want to know that too. We also find people on Facebook and other social media that may be needing help in our area. It has really evolved now that we have the internet to help us find people in need.