Handyman: Front Porch Steps

AREA ADDRESS SELLER BUYER

SANTA MARIA 4364 RADCLIFF LN FLECK STUART EA MOLINA KRISTIE

1527 S CURRYER ST MPVT HOLDING TANG GILBERT

354 MACHADO AVE MAY RICHARD EU TAYLOR JOYCE

1180 VILLAGE DR STROHMAN BARBARA EA RUIZ EDWARD

PRICE DATE

$530,000 8/30/2022

$570,000 8/30/2022

$700,000 8/31/2022

$729,000 8/30/2022

2411 WEDGEWOOD DR NUNEZ HECTOR BRISENO ALEJANDRO EA $930,000 8/30/2022

309 W NEWLOVE DR SANDOVAL EDNA EA IWASKO STEVEN EA $956,000 8/31/2022

4664 APPALOOSA TRAIL SIGNORELLI DENEE BOTTOMS CHRISTOPHER EU $1,100,000 8/30/2022

1026 W BOONE ST PEOPLE’S SELF-HELP HOUSING LOS ADOBES DE MARIA $5,300,000 8/31/2022

UNICORP 3440 RUCKER RD WEBB JEWEL EA TORRES BULMARO EU $505,000 8/31/2022

1305 W LOQUAT AVE BRECKENRIDGE PROPERTY FUND TOWNSEND TANYA EA $508,000 8/30/2022

135 ALDEBARAN AVE CHRISTENSEN KERRY EA GAMBLIN NATHANIEL EU $560,000 8/31/2022

2415 S DEL SUR HUBBARD DUSTIN EU GLASGOW SHANE EU $625,000 8/30/2022

940 E BELLO RD CABE BRADY EU NICHOLS JOSHUA EU $699,000 8/30/2022

2185 CREEKSIDE DR KINDSCHY QUENTIN EA VOIGT SAVANNA EA $909,000 8/31/2022

1726 CAMBRIDGE WAY BIELY CHARLES EA CALDERON MARTHA EU $1,250,000 8/31/2022

2851 LEWIS DR HEATH DOUGLAS EU UNITED LIONS CORPORATION $1,350,000 8/31/2022

220 VALHALLA DR VAN GOEY BERYL EA YOUNG DONALD EA $1,800,000 8/31/2022

Continued from page 5 ANoteFrom The SBAOR President

landscaping. Strong sustained winds can rip smaller plants from the ground. After a windstorm, distribution of leaves, pine needles, and small branches, as well as large fallen trees, can make your yard look like a disaster zone. Even milder winds can accelerate soil erosion. That’s destructive to landscaping and brings slower growth.

Landscape experts urge several steps. Prune trees and bushes of loose or dead branches. Before an impending storm, tie down any other loose foliage, and secure furniture or decorations, which can be blown around your lot as well. Think about planting fewer ornamental shrubs or trees, and avoid trees that are easily uprooted by heavy winds. Even ponder cutting down a few trees and foliage vulnerable to high winds.

Prepare Your Yard for Extreme Heat

Statistics suggest the weather pattern most deadly for humans is extreme heat. It can be just as lethal to the yards of humans. This weather pattern can cause loss of foliage, dormant lawns, stressed shrubs and trees, and insect and disease infestations.

To keep your lawn green in spite of the summer heat, replacing some areas with water-wise plantings will make your yard more tolerant. Possibilities include Spanish lavender, African daisy, aloes, pride of Madeira, rockrose, and Juniper.

Pruning dead or infected limbs will keep plant diseases from spreading to the healthy parts of your yard. Detect infected plants by spotting abnormal growth or appearance of disease-causing organisms such as insect larvae or bacterial slime. Leaves are also visibly yellow leaves with white blotches, and the stems may become a bit mushy.

Bottom line? Make the time and money you spend on your yard a strong investment against severe weather. Preventive landscaping can help ensure your yard stays green. That could also save you some green by fixing problems that could have been avoided.

Your Handyman

By Mark Baird

Front Porch Steps

Question:

My wife and I are both now in our 80’s and are a little unsteady going up and down the steps to our front porch. The steps and walkway are concrete, and we didn’t have any handrails put in when they were originally made, but we sure need them now. Is it possible to have a handrail installed without going through all the expense of putting in new steps?

Your Handyman:

There are a couple of different possible options for safely installing a handrail on your concrete steps which will give you a sturdy handgrip while going up or down the steps. The easiest would be to have an ornamental iron handrail with posts welded together as a single unit and fastened to the steps with concrete anchors. A metal square of about 4” x 4” is welded to the bottom of each post, a hole is drilled in each corner of this base plate, and it is screwed down to the cement using expanding concrete anchors. Holes are drilled into the concrete using a rotary impact drill, the concrete anchors are inserted in the holes, and the base of the anchor mushrooms out when the nut on top is tightened, and when done correctly it is more than strong enough to support the post. A decorative metal “skirt” is then slid down the post to conceal the base plate and anchor heads. Usually a handrail is about 34” high and needs to be of a size that allows you to easily grip it when needed. There are many welding and wrought iron shops in Santa Barbara that can both design and install a handrail that will be an attractive addition to the front of your home

Mark Baird is a General Contractor & the Owner of “Your Handyman” servicing Santa Barbara since 2006. You can contact Mark at 805-968-1234 or email him at: mark.baird@sbcoxmail.com. Visit his website at: www.yourhandymansb.com.