BobVila.com

Here s another great tip from BobVila.com. Giving your pet a place of his own to take shelter from wind, rain and sun is a noble pursuit. Building a doghouse has long been a favorite do-it-yourself weekend project. Doghouses now come in all shapes and sizes, from cedar chalets to foam igloos. Whether you re building a pre-fab air-conditioned palace or designing a practical, no-frills model, make sure the house fits the dog. First, measure your dog. Her length, plus 3 or 4 inches, should be the length and width of the doghouse. Her standing height, plus 3 or 4 inches, should determine the interior height. And the doorway should be wide and high enough for her shoulders. While it s a departure from the Snoopy look, setting the door off-center will provide better shelter. A hinged or removable roof, window or wall panel allows for cross-ventilation in hot weather and easier cleaning. Build the floor frame of your doghouse from pressure-treated lumber to resist rot and set the corners on concrete blocks or stones to keep it above grade. You may even want to build the house on skids so you can move it if you need to. Doghouses are a great opportunity to recycle scrap materials such as 2x4-inch wall framing, plywood and a few roofing shingles. Design a good roof overhang on all sides and extend it even further over the entrance to shed rain and provide shade. The siting of your doghouse is as important as its construction. If you don t mean it to be a feature of the yard, tuck it behind some bushes or around the side of the house. Choose a shady, level spot away from any streams or badly drained areas. Keep the doghouse away from the fence as well so it doesn t become an escape route. Orient the doghouse with the door facing away from prevailing winds and bright lights at night so your dog can rest comfortably. And help him keep clean by providing mulch, gravel or pavers around his new digs. Find out more at BobVila.com: the ultimate home improvement web site! 2008 BobVila.com

Here's another great tip from BobVila.com. The old adage, what goes around comes around is especially true in your garden. Because plants aren t the only things living there, your garden should be a friendly place for children, pets and you. Blanketing it with petroleum-based pesticides and fertilizers is not only toxic, it kills the friendly insects, bacteria and fungus that are essential to a healthy garden. Fortunately, there are a lot of great natural options, like iron phosphate pellets for slugs, citrus oil-based weed killer and Pyola spray for pest insects. Products like these use naturally occurring chemicals to solve common garden problems, and they re worth a closer look. Probably the best thing you can do for your garden is to add organic material to the soil with compost. Unlike chemical additives, nutrients in compost are available to plants as they need them, making it very difficult to use too much. What you plant is even more important than how you plant it. If it s native to your area, it ll probably do better in your garden and require far less water, fertilizer and hassle than something exotic. Rather than coddling a vast expanse of lawn, design areas with mulch, low groundcover plants or even a rock garden. You ll use far fewer chemicals that can leach into the soil and the water supply, and you won t have to work as hard all season! Another way to be green in the garden is to use non-polluting garden tools. Instead of cranking out exhaust with the rototiller or tractor, pick up a shovel or a hand mower and save yourself a trip to the gym. Find out more at BobVila.com: The ultimate home improvement web site! BobVila.com 2008

Here's another great tip from BobVila.com. Deconstruction is the new demolition. Instead of gutting a project and sending the whole shebang to a landfill, more and more contractors and homeowners are getting savvy about recycling building materials. Deconstruction contractors can help homeowners auction off or donate the waste materials they don t want. Those old kitchen cabinets can be a tax deduction instead of a dumpster filler. And, on the other end, they can really help cut purchasing costs for new materials. Charities like Habitat for Humanity benefit from a lot of building material donations this way, and deconstruction has prevented thousands of tons of materials from entering landfills nationwide. The EPA and the Green Building Council support this reuse effort. They also encourage using materials that were manufactured by recycling other products. You can get composite decking made from plastic bags; insulation made of old blue jeans; and countertops made of recycled aluminum, glass, paper or hemp. There are cabinets made partly from wheat by-products, carpet from recycled nylon and mulch from recycled tires. Re-used and recycled materials are chic. Even broken tile can make a statement in a rubble tile counter or tabletop. So, check your local salvage yard or deconstruction contractor before you go shopping. With a little inspiration, materials that are secondhand can give you the upper hand on your next project! Find out more at BobVila.com: The ultimate home improvement web site! BobVila.com 2008