Increasingly, homeowners looking for an inexpensive way to make their home more livable and increase curb appeal with an eye toward resale are embracing the nationwide trend of creating outdoor living spaces.
These areas usually feature spaces for entertaining friends and family while grilling, dining, eating and relaxing. That often means room for a patio, a grill, a sink or a fireplace. Some think of it as adding a family room without the roof. At times you would need to consider long term pest control to ensure insects don’t damage your property.
For many, the building technique of choice when creating these spaces calls for using segmental concrete paving. This technique employs interlocking units-called concrete pavers-that are strong, durable and are growing in popularity worldwide. In Germany, for instance, there are 15 square feet of pavers installed per person annually. In the Netherlands, most of the streets and sidewalks are made of pavers.
Often used in walkways, patios, plazas and historic restoration projects, pavers are manufactured in a variety of shapes, textures and colors and can be easily removed and reinstalled.
One kind of home-improvement project where pavers are increasingly being used is a raised patio. These patios are known for their durability and can create a new sense of space in a yard, particularly when extended to meet an existing deck. Such spaces can be used as an outdoor entertainment area, complete with hot tub or barbeque pit.
• Their uniform size and quality allow them to fit tightly together for a strong, interlocking surface.
• Paver joints allow for a small amount of movement without cracking. That means they won’t crack like asphalt or poured-in-place concrete.
One of the newest styles offers the high-end look of stone for a more modest price. Called “tumbled” or “antiqued” pavers, they can be used to add a stately look to a walkway, patio or driveway.
Thursday 19 May 2011 By Cynthia Dreyer, Madibeng Pulse editor. It’s a bad situation when police and Plotwatch members have to first unblock the roads before they can respond to incidents. This is what happened early on Saturday morning when a call was received from a plot dweller on the northern side of van der Hoff Road.
Chairman of the Hartbeespoort Community Policing Forum A woman was terrified when stones came crashing through her window at around 02:00 on Saturday morning and called for help from Plotwatch. Through the window she could see how robbers were attempting to break into her car to take the car radio out. It was discovered that a radio, bedding and a computer had been taken from the adjoining house and members of Plotwatch went searching in the bushes for the intruders. They found a crowbar, panga and long knife next to the woman’s car radio and a purselying in the bushes. Fifteen minutes later shots were hear d from a neighbouring plot which had also been burgled but when Plotwatch members tried to investigate, they were pelted with stones and found the road which is an access road from van der Hoff road, blocked with rocks! Mr Brian Smythe from Plotwatch told Madibeng Pulse they helped police who were responding to a call from a victim who had been hit over the head to unblock the road so that they could investigate the case. Mr Romano van der Spuy, Chairman of the Hartbeespoort Community Policing Forum says that blocking off a road is a regular ploy by criminals to hinder police and security companies from accessing crime scenes.A store room in Rietfontein was broken into on the same night after the fence was cut. It’s not known what was stolen.
Three armed suspects broke the window of a Rietfontein house on Thursday at 22:30 to gain entry where the residents were asleep. They went through to the bedroom where they threatened to shoot the occupants if they didn’t hand over money and weapons. The victims didn’t have anything to hand over, so the thieves left with a cell phone and R10 in cash but made up for their poor takings by dismantling the door and burglar bars on two windows.
The residents at another Rietfontein plot had their house ransacked on Friday night while they were out. But not only was the house cleaned out, but they also had items stolen from their vehicle, according to Romano van der Spuy Chair of the Hartbeespoort CPF.