prepareyourhomeforsale.biz Blog

Find A Handyman

We have all tried to find a handyman to fix our homes. You struggle with finding a honest and fair handyman to handle those repairs, this is the hard part. A handyman does not have to be a person who lacks knowledge and or insurance. Years back a handyman was generally an older man who just had experience in many areas of house repair from his own personal experience. Now days you have highly skilled handyman/contractors that can cover from your smallest to largest projects, that is if your lucky enough to find this type of company.

The new breed of handyman company is coming about out of need. Many people are now staying in their homes so they need them fixed or repaired. The down side of all this is the popping up of all the screening services and handyman franchises that charge an arm and a leg to cover their high over heads and and advertising. You see these large franchise companies just let anyone buy in as long as they have the money to buy their franchise. You often don’t get a true skilled handyman/contractor. You get a person who was hired by the new franchise owner/operator. So, you get the under skilled and possible under paid laborer of the handyman franchise owner.

They will typically have many ads and fancy trucks and great looking color matching uniforms for their under paid help. This will get them noticed/seen so many will hire them just due to their huge advertising budgets, not high quality work and reasonable pricing. So, you say, yeah your right. What do I do, to find what I think is a good handyman/contractor? I just don’t want people getting sucked into the “all that glitters is not gold” problem. People think just because a company has big fancy ads and highly decal-ed trucks, they have to be good. Many people fall for this everyday.

How to find a good handyman is not that hard, just see beyond all the glitter. A good handyman/contractor can be found from friends and family. Ask others who they have used and don’t be afraid to ask what kind of jobs these other handyman did and for how much. Did they show up on time? Did they finish in a reasonable time? Where did they find them? These questions will be very helpful to you. When people give a response of “ok or they did the job” in short or brief answers odds are they were not that pleased. Some people even get upset because they had such a bad experience with a handyman/contractor they will not say much about it at all.

Look for handyman/contractors with good word or mouth advertising. The small handyman companies will typically have nice small adds in business directories in some major papers and even your small community newspaper. The ads that are big and have pictures costs the company a lot of money, guess who really pays for that ad, you! It may have got your attention, but you will pay more. A short and to the point ad will be where you want to look. Then just call a few and see if they can help you with your needs. If you are lucky enough to find a good small handyman company where the owner still answers the phone, you know that you are on the right track.

Now, if you have the owner ask them a few questions. Look for people who are rooted to the community and have been part of your community for many years, even a life time. These are very important questions. How many years in business and what back ground or certifications, do they have? If you are in the greater Milwaukee area or surrounding areas please, give me an e-mail and maybe I can help you with your handyman/contractor needs. Please also go to my free sites and there are many free articles to help with your homes needs. You can also leave a question or comment there. I try to get back to people ASAP. Many people and many home repairs and home problems.

Remember Safety First.

SEO Hype And You

The SEO game is a game for the rich gurus who have already taken the online marketing to the bank. The big money being made on the net is not like these fairy tale marketers want you to believe. Your not going to start up a server farm in your apartment closet and in 6 months your making 6 figures. The con artists of yesterday has found his or her street corner of today. The net is just filled and over flowing with con-people waiting for any given moment to get you and your money parted. The old saying a fool and his money are soon parted, could not be more true today on the net.

The true SEO game for the small time net marketer is just like a dog chasing its tail. You always think you almost got it and then just turns out when you think, you got it; the only thing you did is bite your self in the butt! If your throwing money into online books and cds, videos, seminars and advertising to get traffic to your site, guess who is the one who is getting rich? The same rich guru who started the SEO game and pretends that magical ways can still be purchased from them for only $29.99 and you to will make $4000 a day on the net as a marketer guru. These false claims are everywhere.

They dress these programs up with lots of dreams and glitter to make you think that if you try and put your mind to it, there is no reason why you to can’t make $4000 a day on the net just like them. The best way to look at it and see it for what it is, is to look at the e-mail scams. You know, for a processing fee of $25,000, they will give you 1 million dollars. There are TV ads warning people of these scams. Do we really need public service TV ads telling you that no one is going to give you a million dollars for no work and you have to give them $25,000 processing fee first. I guess so, this is why these people all over the net are selling their SEO guru secrets for only $19.95 or just 3 payments of $29.95 for their online book.

When someone points this out in a article like this, you say well of course that’s a scam. The scammers put it all in a nice shiny package that holds your road to fame and fortune, they give false hope and get you to buy. The best scam is the scam running a scam. These are the ones that tell you that they to were scammed, but for free have searched the net and found the real money maker for the net. So, now you have a person that tells you they have been taken 30 times and spent $5000 on scams and now they want to share what they found with you! So, if you don’t want to be scammed like them, you should buy the program that they provide the link to the purchase site for that program.

Here again, when someone points it out to you and you look at and say that’s a scam. When a person is looking for the SEO secret of How-To make their fortune online, they don’t look like scams then. I can only hope that this article reaches one person and that person does not waste their time and money on one of the many SEO and blogging scams out there. The big search engines selling their ad placement to the little guy thinking there going to pay them for their efforts. They are not fully lying, sure after hundreds of hours spent monetizing your blogs and sites to get $5.00, is this not getting paid? So, it is true they paid you. The same is true about a lot of the article sites that say they pay you for your articles. You give them a article that you have to give them the exclusive rights to and they give you $3.00 – $4.00 and that’s if you are lucky. Some tell you that your not getting enough traffic and give you 3-8 cents for your article.

The above are examples of online scams that sucker people everyday. You have to filter your way through them. There are very few real deals online. There are a few good sites that provide good info and at no charge. Want to just see how many scams there are, just type in “make money online” on your fave search engine site and look at how many results you get. There will be millions.

So, when you think you have been shown the next SEO and money making blogging secret for only $19.95, maybe you will think twice.

Christmas Handyman Help

We can use a little Christmas help.  This is the time of year when we join with family and friends.  We even try to join with our co-workers in an effort to spread the Christmas spirit.  When we invite people into our homes for the holidays we invite them with open arms.  It all starts at the front door or maybe even the edge of your drive way.  Just because it is the holidays does not mean that you will not be able to find a good handyman to help you with your needs.  This is when you need the most help.  The Christmas spirit is in the air and we want it all to be just perfect.  No, you don’t have to remodel your whole bathroom; but maybe some new towel bars would be a nice touch.  We just installed a new rail/wall system in our entryway of our home.  I am hoping that it will be done before Christmas eve.

This is still a little bigger project than towel bars;  but will get noticed by everyone who enters.  When people come to your home you want your home to feel warm and inviting.  Fixing small things around your home helps give this feel.  A broken bathroom door knob which allows the door to swing open when someone is on the thrown is not going to give people a warm and inviting feel,  maybe screaming and shock!  I know family and friends are coming to see you and not your house; but your house is you.  Take a strong hold of pride of ownership.  When your front door light is burnt out and is only hanging by one screw, its time to fix it.  The are so many little things around the house that you can use a good handyman company for.  You don’t always need a general contractor who charges  a $100 dollars per hour just to talk to him or her.  The large property management and complex associations fall into the contractor pit alot.  They could get a good small contractor or handyman company that could cover all their needs and spend 25-50% less just because they did a little searching.  You can do the same.  You still need to be careful and research the background of the people you want in your home to do your work.

I can’t but think the bigger the company you go with the less you will know about the people you are letting into your house.  You see lets just look at one of these so called online screening sites for contractors and handyman work.  Take note,  your not paying the screening company for them to find you a honest and true craftsman.  So,  who is paying the screening company?  That’s right the same contractors and handyman company that they told you about.  Really seems like a conflict of interest to me.  These screening sites are popping up like crazy so someone must be paying their bills.  The other thing out there is the big flashy ads and hounding sales people.  The large replacement window companies are great for that.  I will stop there, what I am trying to say is the large places are not paying large money to the people they are sending you and that leads to high turn over.   A smaller company will know its people and you might even have the company owner working on your house.

I have tried to write a couple articles on consumer protection and scams.  I write this article now as I know people want to have things just perfect for friends and family.  The haste to get things done can lead people to the wrong person to do their work.  The Christmas time of year is a special time of year that can really be destroyed; because the guy the big name company with all the flashy ads and hype sent out,  came back and did his own house call and your gifts and belongings in your home was his fee.   There are many good people out there doing high quality work for reasonable rates.  They are sometimes a little harder to find because they don’t have big flashy ads in the phone book or full page ads in your local newspaper.     In the end you will be happy that you spent a little time to find the right handyman for you.  Try to find someone that friends or family have used or just find out what you can about a company before you just hire them because they had the biggest ad or listed first on a big name online search engine.

There can be hazards of hiring a small company as they may not have the tools or knowledge you thought they had.  These smaller guys don’t last very long and makes the percentage of them finding you small.  The true small company knows how to treat people as their business depends on it.  If you have to dial a toll free number to find your handyman odds are this is not a direct line to the business owner.   You hear it all the time,  what happened to customer service?  The person answering that same toll free handyman number,  has no idea who is going to show up at your house!  Everybody likes to make fun of small cities or towns where there’s one or two plumbers or handyman,  but you never hear those people say, “yeah, Fred the plumber took my TV and all my Christmas gifts” or “Yeah, I just got ripped off again by Joe the handyman.   These people know each other and live in the same communities who have pride and respect for one another.  It also helps you know exactly where Joe lives if he would rip you off,  but Joe’s not going to do that because he wasn’t sent to you from some screening service.   Heck, you might have even went to school with Joe and now your kids go to school with Joe’s kids.

Look for companies with good names,  Badges Properties LLC and Home Improvements.  This name makes a statement.  Not a flashy franchise name and look at our big flashy ads and toll free number.  The company with a good name or family name is the one that will stand behind there badge and name to give you the service you need and want.

Remember, Always Safety First.

Fix Your House

The holidays are upon us and we will be having friends and family over to the house. We get to look at our houses everyday and forget about the things that need to be repaired or fixed. We just don’t think about it. Well they don’t get fixed or repaired as we like and now here comes everyone into your home for the holidays. Yes, I know Christmas is not about the shape our homes are in. I just feel you want to put your best foot forward and really shine this time of year.

The hard part is finding the right handyman to meet your needs and budget. I have written many an article about finding the right person for the job and if you need help, please let me know. I have been provding help to people for years with great joy and pleasure recieved for my efforts. We need to help each other and for many this time of year is a giving time more than other times. If you need it fixed, repaired, remodeled, sold, staged just let me know and maybe I can help.

Please feel free to leave your house problem questions.

Remember, Safety First.

Hydroseeding Cost For Your Lawn

I know,  what in world am I doing talking about hydroseeding when snow storms are hitting everywhere?  Well,  everyone was so busy during the summer so maybe some people will like to learn about the wonderful benefits of a hydroseeded lawn.  The new lawns that are put in via hydroseeding start growing in the first week.  The hydroseeded lawn in the 3rd to 4th week can be cut, that’s right a full lawn in 4 weeks!  The blend of seed, fertilizer, mulch and bonding additives give a high quality blend of mixture to give a great lawn.  The only faster way to get a new lawn is to use grass sod.  The cost of a hydroseeded lawn is 8-18 cents a square foot depending on your part of the country and how big your yard is.  Contractors can even get it for less as they normally volume discounts,  I have heard as low as 5.4 CENTS a square foot.

The Midwest areas, especially in the greater Milwaukee areas of Wisconsin have not even heard of hydroseeding.  Most of the builders are still using roll out straw blankets and seed on commercial developments!  These straw blankets contain plastic mesh inside of them unless they use the environmentally safe weaved blanket,  which at $80 a roll for cost to installers then add mark up,  you can see the problem here.  The roll only covers 900 hundred square feet and the above figure does not include seed or fertilizer!  A small hydroseeding machine will cover 4000 square ft with only 1 tank full!  This only shows me that the builders are not even aware of hydroseeding otherwise they would not be paying so much money for a low quality product and still get much less.  The paper mulch type used by some hydroseeders,  is safe to all land and animals, besides providing a erosion barrier that the EPA calls for on construction sites now days,  this mulch combined with a bonding agent provide  the required  erosion protection.  The best part the paper mulch degrades and then feeds the new grass!  No, plastic mesh and safe for the environment.  This only shows me again that builders and home owners in this area are not aware of hydro-seeding.  This stuff only costs pennies,  how much more economical can you get and still be safe for the environment.  Going green cannot get any easier here!

This year I cannot even say how much of the straw roll out blankets, I saw.  It just makes me shudder at the thought of all that plastic being laid over our top soil surfaces,  never to dissolve.  The thought of that is just horrible.  The next question is why?  Why is this horrible stuff being used when a environmentally safe alternative of hydroseeding is available at such a economical price.  I could use this stuff and make lots of money, but I just cannot lower myself knowing that it is such low quality and still costs more then hydroseeding.  What are people thinking here?  I would rather only install 12,000 square ft of lawn via hydro seed a week, then put in 40,000 square feet of straw and seed and get paid 4 times as much for the straw.  I just cannot lower myself,  even when the there is such large amounts of money to be made from straw and seed applications.     The way they are using the straw/seed in Wisconsin, greater Milwaukee area you would think they were giving it to the builders for free.  There is a local greater Milwaukee area hydroseed contractor by the name of Badges Properties LLC who is willing to work with contractors and developers, offering volume discounts.  G&G Hydroseeding is another local hydroseeder who is willing to also hydroseed small or large jobs.  See, some hydroseeders will only take certain sized jobs.  The two above are very good and willing to work with home owners and builders.  Badges Properties can be found in the online yellow pages and G&G Hydrseeding can be found by searching for hydroseed contractors, Wisconsin.  A hydroseeder site that lists contractors has them as a member of International Association Hydroseeding Professionals,  their number can be found there.  

The hydroseeded lawns and erosion barriers are highly economical and green to all.  The true problem is just educating people to the fact that hydroseeding opposed to straw/seed application even exists.  They say knowledge is power, so let’s try to educate people and help to move out of the dark ages and into the present.  

If you have any questions or would like to help spread the word about hydroseeding please leave a comment and I will get back to you.     There are many quality hydroseeders out there,  stick with ones in your area that are listed with professional hydroseeder associations.   These people are showing they are committed to being professional and keep the high standards.  Don’t be fooled by just being listed on a turf machine site, some list people just because they bought their equipment from them.  The actual professional association members will have a member symbol by their names.

New Article Directory

The new directory at www.blogskinny.com is the best direcrtory if you want people to see your work. I have many articles on many different article sites and they don’t compare. The articles on the other sites have yet to be indexed by popular search engines. The blogskinny site really must have their finger on the pulse of SEO. I write to help people and inform them on how-to articles and consumer protection. I have been writing for awhile now and now that I know people are seeing my articles on www.blogskinny.com, I can’t help but want to write more.

What writer does not want their work seen. I write to help people, so they can help them selves. There are sites out there that say they help to get your articles seen, none have worked to the level of blogskinny. This directory is brand new and it is out performing article directories that have been around for awhile. I am a writer and don’t talk all that much about SEO, but this site has a good idea and it is working.

I cannot say enough good things about www.blogskinny.com article directory, except that my articles will be posted there!

Time To Shop

Just taking a short look at online retail shops. Came across a site that looks into electronic items and more. The warm feeling the site gives it a small home town look and feel, but offers a large selection to fill all of your needs. The site www.miserymonkey.com has a small site charm with a big store selection that has been lost in a sea of big box online shops.

The site is well laid out and makes it easy for you to find your needed items. You never have to search to long and you find the exact item you are looking for. Don’t keep getting lost in those large hard to find sites.

You really must go to www.miserlymonkey.com and find what you need in a secure and easy to use shopping site.

Have fun and happy shopping

Don’t Get Scammed

This article is in a on going series under “Save Money On Your House”  on my site “Houses To Go”.   I will jump right in here,  I was having a conversation with one of my clients, when she asked if we were bonded or not?   People see this in the telephone book all the time in ads.  These ads are just another advertising tactic by usually large contractors with big advertising budgets.   You don’t have to be bonded to show you are a quality and honest company.  Now,  I am sure all the companies selling these bond / insurance policies will have something different to say.  Many years back when people would give full payment down for materials and labor, back in the day where there were more honest then dishonest contractors a few would run off with their customers money.  These people then had to track these companies and sue to get any money back and have them arrested.  The advent of a company being bonded for construction work was invented to give the consumer piece of mind and put more money into a bonds companies pockets for premiums.  Let’s be honest,  who do you really think is paying the premium on the bond, that’s right you.

The bonds cover things like bond for work completion,  in other words your contractor runs off half way through the job.  Again, many years back people paid in full then lost that money and then had to hire someone else.  Now days  most people only put 25-33% down and then more as the work is completed.  Hence you can see no reason if you do it this way to have someone who is bonded.   You never gave them your money so you still have it!  You would still have to find another contractor to finish your work anyway.  The bond company gives you the remaining money to complete the work, they don’t find you another contractor who won’t scam you.   So,  you can see how some one saying they are bonded is just a “warm fuzzy advertising tactic now days”  the only ones who still demand being bonded is government contracts and that everyone can see makes all the difference when we are paying $500 dollars from a shady contractor, for one toilet seat.  Well,  being bonded really made all the difference here,  NOT!

Now, the next type of bonding is for performance.  example,  shady window contractor sells you services to reduce your old window drafts,  shows up with a caulk gun and a tube of caulk and charges $15,000 and tells you that you have new windows now.   The bond is then paid out to have you find a real contractor and have real windows put in.  Here again,  only put down 33%  and then only pay at the end if you got the real replacement windows you thought installed.  Here again,  no reason to be bonded,  just use common sense.   You need to take the time to look into who you are using for your home improvement work.  I have seen people ask,  are you bonded and insured?  Reply by shady contractor is not going to be “why no, I am here to just take your money and run”.  They are going to say yes,  problem here is most people just say “ok” and never look into anyway.  The ads in the phone book can say anything the person wants it to say,  they can say their bonded and insured for 400 hundred billion dollars,  if no one checks it don’t make a difference.  Hence, it is more of a advertising tool then anything else.  

People need to use contractors that they have heard of through others and see their work.   I had a person once even say “I am going with you, because I was standing in your work”.  This person used a bathroom at a friends house that we had remodeled for them.  She was going with us because she talked too and had seen our completed work which was of the highest quality, we did not tell her this, she saw it with her own eyes.  The large contractors out there always have in their ads that they are bonded,  you see when they bid on government work,  remember they have to be anyway.   The smaller high quality contractors have their prices set so low already buying bond would cost them more money then what it is worth.  Remember,  the big contractor sales people don’t tell you that you are paying for their high priced bonding and insurance, fancy ads on TV, radio and news paper.  Think about who is here?  That’s right you again. 

People just need to use their heads when picking people to do work on their homes.  The guy with the big fancy ads and trucks is not always the best.  People just don’t seem to get this one at all.  No,  I am not saying the guy in the 1975 rust bucket truck is the answer either.  Many large contractors spend thousands and some even millions on advertising in a effort to win people over.  Remember,  the bigger they are,  the larger crews they need.  You may ask yourself so?   Big crews normally equals high turn over and unknown back grounds on many of their employees.  Remember people,  your never going to see their work crew until they are working on your house.   In the home improvement arena many people are not Harvard and Yale graduates here, your lucky if the work crew even went to college at all.   I have heard of roofing and other crew jobs especially landscaping companies using all illegal crews and you don’t want to know where they find these people and their back grounds.  I have even had our customers say that they were afraid to let some of these contractor crews in their house.   So,  bigger is definitely not always better in this case.   You have areas where you need to be more careful then others.  I have seen many roofing guys call themselves a roofing contractor because they have a truck and roofing gun.  These guys even scare me.  The higher end trades, plumbers, electricians, home inspectors all have to be certified or hold a license.  When these guys try to scam someone they know their credential’s and living is on the line.  Again, remember anyone can say they are certified, if you think they are not, just go on line, state sites list people who have been state certified or may be decertified.   

There currently are not any certification or licenses for home improvement/handy man companies in many areas.  Show me the last certified or licensed painter or landscape company you have seen or used.  There are people out there that are over kill and end up paying way more for services,  example, the person who wants a bonded, insured, licensed, certified electrician to come in an change a light bulb or light switch in their house.  Sure, the electrician will provide theses services  at $65-$150 per hour with a automatic trip minimum most of the time equal to one hour of time.  The old saying a fool and his money are soon parted.  Now, if you are replacing or updating your electrical services to 100 or 200 amp service,  yeah,  you should be looking for a good electrical contractor.   There is a time and place for everything.

I have for many years provided and performed many repairs and improvements so yes, I understand not all people know a wrench from skill saw.  Hence, why I also get hired just to consult for people and let them know what they need done.  I save people thousands this way, they already know what they need before the contractors line up ten deep at their door steps.  I also keep a small secured network of trusted individuals that have provided high quality work for reasonable prices.  When I look for contractors, I first ask around my network of trades people I use.  Now,  it’s my business to have this network of people at my disposal, but you also can check around by asking friends and family.  Also, remember these so called screening companies you see online all the time,  the contractors they use have to pay them to get them to use them.  Sure sounds like a conflict of interest to me.  Now, free sites or forums run just to help out, thats different.  You have to be careful that someone on the forum is not just a shady contractor posing as a home owner.  You still  have to use common sense.  I would not use those screening companies just has to be a conflict of interest,  if a contractor pays money to the screening company to get customers,  come on people, that should be red flags to all.  A small contractor or consultant on the other hand will only use the best people as their business depends on it,  not a paid subscriber based fees by thousands of contractors.   

Well, it’s hard to write these articles, because I never know if people have followed the series of articles.  So, I have to repeat information to ensure that people still get the message.   As I have stated before, my sites are free, so you get information that in-person people have had to pay for, obviously their information is more detailed to their exact needs.  These articles have to cover a large general area. 

Have a home question, just ask.

Remember Safety first. 

Cost Of A New Seeded Lawn

I  know it is now time to put the lawn mower away a break out the snow blowers in the Great Midwest.  I cannot help myself as I cannot believe how many people have not heard of a lawn installation process called hydro-seeding in the great state of Wisconsin.   I know we run behind the times on fashion and other new things,  but we really need to start thinking here people.  People are still using a caveman way of throwing grass seed in the air and covering it with straw,  you see it all the time here.  I know its heard to believe.  Then even using granular fertilizers that can run off and cause harm to other areas.  The really bad stuff is rolled out straw blankets.  These blankets are held together by a plastic mesh which animals can become entangled in and die.  Not to mention we are covering the earths soil with a plastic compound that will never never dissolve.   I see it here in Wisconsin all the time,  is no one concerned about our wild life and environment.

The real kicker is there is a process called hydro-seeding that is 100 times better than the straw/seed and the grass / straw process uses unsafe granular fertilizers of the past.   The hydro-seeding lawn installation process gives you a new sod quality lawn in 4 weeks and costs half the price.  Did you get that?  Sod quality like lawn in 4 weeks.  The best part no animals dying in plastic nets or old granular fertilizers in our hydro-seeding process.   I could install lawns and erosion barriers with seed and plastic netting all day and make tons of money; but I won’t.  The hydro-seeding process saves our environment and wildlife.  That’s enough reason right there.  You want more of a reason,  that even some builders don’t know?  It is more economical to hydro-seed then use the roll out plastic/straw blankets.   That’s right even builders are not aware of the advantages of hydro-seeding.  You see most of them have set up deals with landscapers who don’t use hydro-seeding machines because it would cost them to much.  You see the machines are costly at first, but really pay for themselves in the end.

Their is another very sad factor of this whole thing,  it is illegal help in our great country that is one of the causes for all this damage.  The landscape companies take advantage of these poor people by paying them very low wages and getting away with it as these people are not even suppose to be here as they are illegal.  So,  instead of buying the hydro-seeding machines, they exploit these poor people for their own huge money gains.   The landscapers using illegal help don’t want to tell the builders they work with, that hydro-seeding is better and safer as it was cost them more money.  The builders on the other hand would get a much better lawn at cheaper rate which is safe for all.   You maybe asking your self how is it cheaper?  You see the landscaper company owner still charges a premium rate for a low quality product.  So, the only one who sees the benefits is the landscape company owner.   There are many builders that just think it is the cheapest route to get their lawns and erosion barriers put in.  Builders making millions and millions and they don’t even know.  So,  without general home owner being told about hydro-seeding and all of its benefits,  how would they know?

There are some high quality builders that know about it and just automatically figure since it is new and high tech that it is expensive, but it is not at all.   The people in the southern parts of the country have been using hydro-seeding for many years already.  The builders here may have also run into high priced hydro-seeders when it first arrived here and just said it’s to expensive.  This is not the case anymore if they would just take 1 second and read a letter or take a phone call from a quality hydro-seeding company representative they would see that hydro-seeding is far better for new lawns and erosion control.   The new home owner  would be the other one to benefit highly from hydro-seeding.  Besides a hydroseeded lawn being very economical for a home owner to put in, it is also less expensive to get and keep a great looking lawn.   The straw/seed landscapers don’t want you to know,  it costs more in fertilizer and still grows 50% weeds and then you finally get 50% grass.  A straw/seed lawn takes 2 years to grow in.  hydro-seeded lawns take 4 weeks!  You do the math on materials and time spent.   It is really obvious that hydro-seeding is by far the most economical and best product.

The International Association of Hydroseeding Professionals maintains a list of professional hydro-seeders for the whole country (www.hydroseeding.org.)  It is a great source to help find out about hydro-seeding and professional,  look for the contractors that have the I.A.H.P. symbol by their company name as these are members the others are just known contractors in that area,  stick with the members.  The Wisconsin listings has members right at the top of their list of contractors.  Many contractors can have large areas that they will service,  so just call and ask. 

I really wish some people who would be interested in helping the environment would help spread the word about hydro-seeding.  If you want more info, please leave a comment or e-mail and we can talk about hydro-seeding and it’s benefits to all.  People building a house need to ask their builder if they know of a quality hydro-seeder in the area.  If they don’t just check the site above.  I don’t like to give free advertising to a site, but I feel it is a worthy cause.  I even encourage all builders to look into and just because one hydro-seeder is a little high, does not mean all are.  I have heard of hydro-seeders going as low as 6.5 cents per square foot for large builders.   Think of what you can buy for 6.5 cents.   This shows you how cost effective hydro-seeding.  Most home owners are looking at about 8-16 cents depending on what part of the country you live.

I will try to help spread the word, but I cannot do it alone.  I could use any help I could get.

Remember Always Safety First. 

The New Lawn Game

The New Lawn Game

November 9, 2007 on 11:12 pm | In Improvements, Save Money On Your House | No Comments

The new lawn game.  The great lakes area is the area where no one seems to know how much money they can save by putting their new lawn in via hydro-seeding.  So much so, the landscapers in the area don’t even know about hydro-seeding.  They still do it the cave man way via straw/seed.  Yes, very hard to believe.  People even insist in some cases that the straw/seed way be used or nothing.   This is like someone stating they will only use a corded phone in their house that is screwed into wall and use a cell phone, well you get the idea.  The state of Wisconsin is really hit hard in this area.   Very few if any know what hydro-seeding is or that it exists at all.  Even the builders use straw and seed and don’t really know what hydro-seeding is.  The high end builders who keep up with the standards and look to give their customers a premium lawn know what hydro-seeding is.  The rest that don’t care about their customers or who just look to save a buck use the straw/seed method and again many don’t even know about hydro-seeding, building the home is their part not the lawn.

The real kicker is hydro-seeded lawns far out perform a straw/seed lawn.   The real deal is that even with hydro-seeding being so much better people don’t know about it and even pay more for a lesser quality product.  Even the builders are paying more for lesser quality lawns and don’t even know it.  You would think a builder would keep up on these types of things.  Some even get letters from hydro-seeding companies and their secretaries just throw them away not even realizing they could save the company alot of money and get a high quality product.  See,  they just keep using the same guy over and over not knowing any better.  Again their are some quality builders that do get the value and high quality value of a hydro-seeded lawn on their construction site.   What is really shocking is the commercial construction companies are paying these straw/seed guys way more and getting a lesser product by far.  Hydro-seeding is one of the best erosion barriers that is safe for the environment also.  That’s right go green with green.  The commercial sites have been using a seed/straw blankets for grass and erosion control.  I don’t know why no one has said anything about the plastic netting that never dissolves is being allowed to be used at all.  Wild life can become stuck in the netting and it never will  dissolve and it is covering large amounts the earths dirt surface.  We have learned how bad plastics are for our environment and still it is being used even encouraged in some cases to cover our soil or ground surfaces with it.

Their are new EPA laws in some areas that mandate run off or water retention ponds be built by builders.  When they build these ponds the sides need to have a ground erosion barriers applied, grass.  But they use these straw blankets with the plastic netting inside to hold the seed and straw in place.  Creating huge land masses covered in plastic netting.  These ponds weree built to help the environment and water run off systems in our communities and now some one has found a new way to make a buck and destroy out environment out of what was meant to save it.   The local agencies are telling the builders they have to put down a erosion barrier so they hire what they think is the cheapest lawn  or erosion barrier installation company.  Little do most of them know,  they could spend less money and still help the environment if they would just hydro-seed instead of straw/seed applications.  That’s right costs a builder less money and still be good for all.  Remember,  the whole letter and secretary garbage thing?  Hydro-seeding is so new in the Midwest areas they just throw it out and it never reaches the building companies management to even see the huge cost savings they would get by hydro-seeding, not to mention saving the earth.

There are a few quality builders that know about hydro-seeding.  The problem is most don’t and some when they look into it, ask the guy who is currently doing their lawns and barriers, well that guy is clueless and he knows he would not get his big bucks for his straw/seed application with the plastic netting inside.   So, its not to say that they are not a quality home builder they just don’t know.  The general public needs to be informed about hydro-seeding and all the cost savings and how it is green to all.   The hydro-seeded lawn is so cost effective especially for new construction home owners and builders.    The Midwest is growing colder this time of year and grass is not a big deal,  what is a big deal is our environment and saving it.    Educating people about hydro-seeding and saving the environment is a everyday and season job.   The sad part is, hydro-seeding is cheaper than the seed/straw blanket barriers and still people go with the lower quality and higher price of the straw blanket with the plastic in it.  I could understand a builder saying that it costs them so much more to hydro-seed,  but it does not and is cheaper material cost wise.   We can only hope the high quality builders tell other builders that hydro-seeding is more cost effective than straw and seed, not to mention a far higher quality product.  Hopefully the builders in Wisconsin will start talking to each other more to find out how much time and money hydro-seeding would save them and their customers.  

The applications for hydro-seeding don’t stop at nice green lawns.  There are wild flower seed blends that can be sprayed and erosion sprays also.  The benefits of hydro-seeding just go on and on.  You can even spray prairie grass for pastures that have been used for farm animals.  

Please feel free to ask about hydro-seeding a lawn and all of its cost savings and benefits.   I encourage all new construction home owners and builders please inquire about pricing and quality of hydro-seeded lawns and erosion barriers.  Ask your builder for a local company who hydro-seeds or if they don’t know just do a search on line for hydro-seeding contractors in your area.  To give it more credibility there is the International Association Of Hydroseeding professionals which can help you find a quality hydro-seeding company in your area. 

Remember safety always first.