Archive for the ‘Summer House’ Category

Tempe Arizona: A Great Place To Visit

Saturday, January 23rd, 2010

Thinking about where to take your next vacation? Tempe Arizona just may be what you’re looking for. It offers lots to do in sports and outdoor recreation as well as nightlife, performance arts and shopping. And the state capital of Phoenix is less than 15 miles away.

If golf is your thing, Tempe has 2 public courses that offer lessons and practice facilities. Or you simply can just play a few rounds with friends or by yourself. Kids and adults alike may enjoy any of the various public pools including the full water park with slides. Other outdoor activities include tennis, batting cages, fishing and boating to name a few.

The town lake offer boating and fishing classes or you can just rent a boat. If you have your own boat, a permit is easy to get so you can ride along carefree. In addition to the lake, there are many public parks that are nice for picnics, playing with your dogs or letting the kids have a ball on the playgrounds.

Tempe houses lots of shopping including 2 big malls and the famous Mill Avenue district where you can find pretty much anything you are looking for. In addition to all the shops, the district also contains bars, nightclubs and a sporting arena where you can catch some good college games.

Tempe is also the location of The Los Angeles Angels’ spring training baseball camp. If you’re there in February or March you can catch an inexpensive baseball game. The weather is generally very nice during that time.

Actually, the weather is pretty nice year round. Arizona is known for being dry so even when it is hotter, the air will be more breathable and you will sweat less. That’s important if you’re planning to do all those fun outdoor activities! It is a desert location so the chances of your fun being rained out are slim. That being said, temperatures from May to September will likely be over 100 degrees most days. If that doesn’t sound so good to you, think about a fall or winter vacation when an average day will have lows in the 40’s and highs in the 80’s.

For culture, don’t forget to catch a performance at the arts center. From ballet to musicals to concerts featuring the orchestra, there is something for everyone. After a day of sun and action, it’s nice to relax and see a show. Of course there are many restaurants ranging from diners to upscale bistros.

Want to find out more about Tempe, then visit Sean Elstins’s site on how to choose the best Tempe Locksmith for your needs.

Buying a Home Log Cabin – What you need to know

Saturday, December 12th, 2009

The cost of log cabins varies greatly depending on the kinds of logs which have been used and the size of the property. You will find that those cabins that have been built using handcrafted logs will cost much more than those where the logs have been milled.

It is important therefore before you actually decide on getting such a cabin built you know the difference between milled and handcrafted logs. Generally, those that are milled have been prepared using either a sawmill, a lathe or a planer. This then ensures that each log will be cut to a specific profile or shape. As you will soon discover milled logs have a far more uniformed shape and size to them compared to handcrafted ones.

Logs, which are milled to help extract moisture from them, will either be allowed to dry in the air or be placed in a kiln. The time it takes for the exact amounts of moisture to be removed depends on the size of the log and the method of drying used. But by extracting moisture from the wood helps to prevent too much shrinkage occurring once, the cabin has been constructed.

Because the wood will have been either planed, sawn or lathed the surface of the logs will be smooth. Plus in many cases, they will also have a tongue and groove joints so actually putting the logs together is much easier. This means that building the cabin is a lot easier and will often take a lot less time to complete. However, if you want to retain that rustic look to your cabin the outer face of the log can retain its rough bark coating.

In most cases, the trees from which the wood for these types of logs used are pines, spruces, firs as well as cedars. For a cheap but well built milled cabin, buy one made from either pine or spruce. However, if you have a little more money in your budget then consider getting one made using cedar instead.

Now let us look at a cabin that is made using handcrafted logs. These will have been prepared by either being hand peeled with a drawknife or water peeled. The logs used are only a matter of days or weeks old after being cut down so will still be green. Because of the size of the logs this ones are usually allowed to dry in the air as kiln drying is a very expensive process. Also there are not many kilns are available that these sizes of logs would be able to fit into.

Just like with milled log cabins those who make handcrafted ones like to use pine and spruce trees. However, there are some log cabin manufacturers who prefer to use either Douglas fir, Oak, Juniper, Cyprus or Alpine Fir (True Firs) instead.

We mentioned previously that what you pay for having log cabins built not only depends on the types of logs used. But will also depend on the size of the cabin that is being built. A much larger cabin will cost far more simply because it needs to have more time spent built constructing it, plus more logs will also need to build it. If you do intend to have a large log cabin built, then go for milled rather than handcrafted logs if you also want to save money.

As one of the leading builders of wood garden buildings in the United Kingdom, Waltons stock a huge range of garden sheds, log cabins, playhouses and summerhouses, as well as a selection of excellent greenhouses constructed from different materials such as polycarb, aluminium and wood.