#timberislandbuilders

TICKS 

They are everyone's mind. In the case of these insects, the old adage applies: knowledge is power.

As the snow melts, it is time to prepare yourself for tick season.

If you live in the southern coastal Maine area, you probably have at least a couple friends who have had Lyme disease. You may have had it yourself.  It’s a really awful thing to get. The tests can be inaccurate; the treatment is marginal. The best offense is a strong defense.

I live in the middle of a 7-acre field surrounded by woods.  The first year we built our home, I had Lyme twice in one summer.  I’ve done a lot of research and tried just about every product out there.  Its important to say that I am not an expert: this is only my experience. 

The first thing I did was mow my field as low as I could - ticks like tall grass.

Then I used a variety of different sprays through a local tick treatment company.  I had really mixed feelings about this as spraying a neurotoxin on my entire property. It made me question the long-term effects- both environmentally and human health effects. I then tried some of the “natural sprays” which primarily consist of lavender, garlic and marigold.

The system that I have found that works the best is:

1.) Spring time: I use a permethrin-based spray to kill any baby ticks. 

2.) Mid-summer and autumn:I wait until I see a tick then spray with the lavender treatments.  We use a tea tree/lavender as a bug spray.Ticks hate tea tree oil.

 3.) But lastly we do something you don’t hear about often:

Lyme disease is spread from mice and other small rodents….It is commonly thought that it is only spread from infected deer. The baby ticks come out in the spring and feed on mice, contract the disease and become nymphs. They then bite you or your children and give you lyme. 

One school of thought is eradicate your mice. Don’t do that. Mice are territorial and if you terminate them, new mice will move in. 

Keep the mice you have a make them happy.

I read about this mouse treatment and have been doing it for a full season, I’m still in the “theory stages” but this is the idea:

(This is best when done in early fall when the mice are getting ready for the winter.)

I bought a gallon jug of permethrin which is the chemical the “bad" spray is made out of. I diluted it to about 7% and dumped in a bunch of cotton balls and let them saturate. I then rung out the excess and laid the cotton balls out on a sheet of plastic to dry. I was wearing rubber gloves, and eye protection. You no not want this stuff on you.

Drawing from Damminix Tick Tubes.

Once the cotton balls were dry, I took a 16-inch long piece of 2-in pipe.  I put duct tape over one end.  I then put some yummy stuff inside for the mice. - peanut butter, crackers, cheese etc. I then filled the other end with cotton balls.  I placed these about every 75-feet around my property and in a few areas that seemed like "micey" places. What happens is the mice smell the food, they crawl through the cotton balls to get to the food, treating their fur with the permethrin.  Usually after there done eating, they take the cotton balls back to there home and make comfy beds out of them. In the spring when they have there babies they get treated also.

Ticks try to feed on these mice and then the ticks die.

I hate to use any chemicals at all, but when they spray my property it takes 300 gallons of chemical diluted to I think 10%,  For one of my mice treatments, I'm using about 1 gallon of diluted chemical.  

Again, I am not an expert of Lyme disease or all the properties or dangers of using chemicals.  I have done my own research and think I'm close to finding a solution that is the least harmful to my family and the environment. 

I’d love to hear of any one else's tick treatment ideas.

If making your own tubes seems like a tough project, you can buy them pre-made from sites like this: http://www.ticktubes.com

By Jake Gott of www.timberislandbuilders.com

What makes a home?

Can you tell us what makes your home special?

Is it the location?

The architecture?

The pictures on the wall?

The memories?

Most likely, it is a combination of all of these things.

For me, my home is the legacy of my life.

I started a family; Sara and I designed and built our own home; we filled it with our furniture and heirlooms; we put in a playground, built a garden and hen house and we clean and maintain our grounds.

Our home keeps us warm, dry and safe. It has begun to take on a personality of its own.

It is our house - We were able to decide on every single idea and plan what went in to the construction. (Of course, there are things that as the house ages, we wish we would have done it differently.) For me, the quirks are what makes my home unique and special - I had a part in every nail that went into it and every bit of the design.

  I recognize that most people do not have this same kind of opportunity that we had in building our house. The skilI-set have as a builder is unique and I had the desire to make the home completely my own.  

Many people still want to have the creative input and customization in the building process. A lot of people and home builders fall short on incorporating unique, one-of-a-kind living spaces designed around the homes occupants. This doesn't have to be expensive or over-complicated.

Here are a few things to consider that can help you make your project your own:

1.) What overall feeling are you trying to create? How will you house/project space be used? Try to imagine the holidays or family celebrations in the home:  Where will people congregate?

2.) How does your project fit in to your landscape?  How is it situated on your property?  This is important, as you want to maximize you enjoyment of both the inside and outside of your home.

3.) What are you goals?  Do you plan to live there long-term or sell the house?

Here is a thought provoking piece on the psychology of what make a house a home:

http://www.psychologies.co.uk/self/how-to-make-your-house-a-home.html

Jake Gott

Design to the Material Specifications: Minimizing waste and maximizing budget in your home project

by Jake Gott - CEO and owner at Timber Island Builders, Kennebunkport, Maine.

Here's a new way to look at home design. 

Design your building based on the common lengths that are available at your home building suppliers.  

This is a common practice that we use in order to minimize waste and maximize space.

Wall studs come in 8, 10, 12, 14, & 16 ft lengths.  If you design your ceiling height for 8’6",  you will need to cut 18 in off of a 10 ft piece. 

In this scenario, you end up wasting money twice. Your paying for the extra wood and your paying for somebody to measure and cut every piece. 

You could just use a stock 8 ft piece and move on.  This example can be applied to the entire home design

Here is a picture of the “waste pile" from a home we designed at Timber Island Builders. This pile constitutes the entire weather-proof shell of the building.

This pile got even smaller as we used a lot of it for miscellaneous parts and pieces.  Now this house isn’t a architectural wonder, but it is a very nice double-walled, super-insulated home. 

So if your thinking of building something, Think about it from two perspectives:

1.) Financially: We had minimal waste that translates into less labor costs, less material costs, and no waste disposal costs

2.) Environmentally: the less we waste the less that gets burned, trashed and the less we will need to put into landfills.

www.timberislandbuilders.com

Jake Gott, owner and CEO, grew up in the Kennebunks: the ocean and forest were his playground and inspiration.  From a young age, Jake was always creating: Legos to tree houses, sheds into forts- building has always been a passion. Jake's love for construction and business combined with an increasing customer demand for high quality craftsmanship, lead to the creation of Timber Island Builders, Inc. in 1999.

Jake Gott, with daughter Zoe at his home jobsite.                                                                   

Timber Island Builders has grown to represent fine craftsmanship, attention to detail and an environmentally conservative approach that maximizes client satisfaction throughout the project.  Each project is recognized as unique and all projects, great or small in scale, are treated with individualized recommendations based on the tastes and personal vision of the client.

Custom client staircase, cherry and wrought iron railings. Jake has found that a "one-size fits all" approach in building is impossible to implement, and he and his crew emphasize the importance of individual needs according to budget and use of space.

Timber Island Builders implements environmentally sensitive building practices whenever possible, so clients can feel good about the health of the building space, and most importantly those who will fill it.  Always looking ahead to trends, ideas and the future, Timber Island Builders is dedicated to the vision of clients, and the generation of those to come who will enjoy the spaces.

Safety.

I have to admit: I have done a lot of unsafe things in my building career.  You become very comfortable with your habits, and sometimes a little cavalier. As I, and my business have matured, so has my outlook on safety. 

Work is important, providing for my family is important, and hurting myself or having an associate hurt themselves is out of the question.

Today, we comply with all State and Federal Safety Laws. Through this process, I have found that communicating about safety and taking the time to implement and demonstrate "best practices", makes my employees and subcontractors much happier. 

(I also believe that in the back of their mind, they know that I actually care about them and their family’s well-being.)

There are a ton of other reasons for being compliant with safety such as; law suits, fines, prison, death, etc…. These are constantly on my radar.

A lot of builders don’t even realize how much risk they are putting themselves and their customers into. Yes, the customer could definitely be pulled into any legal considerations around an accident.  If the contractor is not compliant and there insurance is not comprehensive enough, the injured party could actually go after the home owners. This can be scary.

Make sure when looking for a potential contractor, that you educate yourself on the different levels of businesses out there, Talk to your insurance agent about recommendations for yourself and have them check your prospective contractor’s policy.

Yes, that low estimate you got from "Builder Bob" is appealing, but you need to ask yourself, "Why is he the lowest?" Are you putting your life’s investment at-risk by being too frugal?

One of our employees, fully harnessed for work.

We keep continuous guard rails up for safety.

Safe Workplace+Happy Employees=Satisfied Clients.

Jake Gott

Do you know what all those pipes, levers and buttons in your basement do?

Do you know where your propane shut of valve is?

Well you should before it’s too late.

If you have an unexpected emergency, the ability to shut off a malfunctioning system could potentially save you a huge insurance claim and the stress of your belongings being destroyed.

Here are a few places to start:

1.  Look at your electrical panel:

Each breaker should be neatly labeled for specific circuits. Circuits usually have multiple outlets and lights on them/ Major appliances and systems will have dedicated circuits.  Most new homes the electrician has already done this but you should make yourself familiar with it.  Ask your electrician, or builder for help if needed.

2. Your heat:

If you have forced hot water you’ll have a bunch of pipes going all over the place. Each “zone” will have two pipes: hot water in one, cooler water in the back. These should have shut off valves for both pipes.  Make sure there labeled in a way that makes sense to you. Ask you plumber for help if you need it.

Again, there are usually two pipes for all your plumbing fixtures. These need to be labeled and a “shut off” will need to be installed in a smart location.  There is usually a “trunk” line that will supply multiple fixtures. The main line should have an individual “shut off” and each individual fixture should also have a “shut off” knob.

These principles apply to all the systems in your home.  They need to be properly labeled, easily accessible. 

Remember:  It is your responsibility to understand what each thing is and how to access it in case of emergency. 

Jake Gott of Timber Island Builders