De-Mystifying Garden Path Materials And Terms
When people start to read or listen to a
straightforward set of instructions for creating a simple
Garden Path, often what throws them for an unexpected loop are the
garden path materials and
terminology.
“Lay in a line of limestone screenings…”
Your Home Improvement or Building Supply professional rattles this
off as easily as if he was
telling you, “Turn left at the next lights”. But if you’ve never
before done this type of Home
Improvement project, he’s probably left you floundering in a
stagnant pool of uncertainty.
So let’s de-mystify those terms and go into a little more depth.
Once you’ve read this post, you
can print out “How To Construct A Garden Path” without tripping over
a single word.
Materials
Sand
A good alternative to fine sand, when you’re at the point of filling
in the cracks on your
finished path, is a polymerized sand. One readily available U.S.
brand is Joint-Lock Polymeric
Finishing Sand. Another is Magic Sand. This product has a glue in it
which sets up after
soaking with a hose. (And the hose pressure helps it go down into
the cracks, too.)
Limestone Screenings
Your Home Improvement store will most likely not have this very fine
form of gravel in stock.
You can use the in-store gravel they’ll try to sell you – but I
wouldn’t recommend it. The gravel
will end up being too big and round, difficult to compact. If your
store doesn’t carry limestone
screenings, get them from a Gravel/Sand retailer directly.
Terms
Tamp
Thumping a heavy object on ground surface to compact it.
Work piece
Whatever object you are handling, with the intention of working on
it (cutting, sanding, etc.)
Setting up
Hardening and setting (wet cement drying, glues drying, polymerized
sand drying, etc.)
When undertaking any Home Improvement job, a major portion of
eliminating confusion is
making sure you understand the terminology. If you don’t know what a
tool is, ask the store
professional to take you to one, and show you the features. If you
don’t know what a process,
don’t be afraid to stop him right there and say: “Could you please
explain what you mean by
that term? I’m not familiar with it.”
Don’t let ego or timidity keep you silent. It’s your home. It’s
their job to tell you how. The
truth is, most Home Improvement professionals will cheerfully do
what you may be hesitant to
do.
And that is, “When in doubt – ask.”
About the Author: D. Benjamin is the owner of
iapsales.com LLC - a family business specializing in HVAC products. We
are distributors of
Qmark Heaters,
electric tankless water heaters,
bathroom heaters,
patio heaters, electric heaters,
portable air
conditioners & electric towel warmers. Shop on line at
www.heateroutlet.com for these great home improvement products.
Iapsales.com LLC was established in 2003 and is the sister company to
Innovative Air Products located in historical Exeter, NH. We are a 2nd
generation manufacturers’ rep firm dedicated to providing residential &
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