Roofing Materials

In Eastern Pennsylvania farmers used to get up to milk the cows and due their chores early in the morning.. My, have things changed since was a boy. Not only are there very few of us left, but we have had to cope with urban sprawl. Our farm is in Bucks County. This county and Montgomery County are some of the fastest going suburban areas on the East Coast. In the morning I go downtown and take my father to breakfast at 6am. Yes, I can start the day at anytime but this is the best hour. This trip is not so much for the meal which I don't really need, but to check out route each day that the trash trucks will follow. I want to make sure I do my shopping early!!! This way I can check out the early morning trash routes for the free bargains that are set out during the night. I have come home many a time with a full load in my pickup truck. I even got a Frozen Purdue Chicken last month, boy was it tasty!!!

Yes, I am an urban farmer. Our farm is in the heart of Bucks County, just 25 miles north of Philadelphia. See http://www.seedlingsrus.com/Palocations.html The last dairy cows have been sold in our area, so you can imagine, fields and fields of houses surround our farm. But, our good neighbors do provide us with their discarded items. We have found this as our new resource. Thus we have come up with new ways to capitalize on being a suburban farmer. If there was ever a place where one can take a bull by the horns, its on a farm. There are many ways to operate a farm. Farmers can buy or build there own equipment. Farmers can collect what is junk to most people, but is inventory to the farmer. An old car to a farmer can become a mobile tool box, some old cars become shelters for farm pigs, or old cars become sources of needed parts for repair of other machinery. At Highland Hill Farm, we value items that most people would put out to the trash. This article is about us, and our collecting of used items for use on our properties.

Our nurseries, farms, and ranches are always in need of all sorts of used items. We are always looking to trade for items that we are able to use in our operations. We use steel, such as angle iron and metal rods. Old bed frames make a cheap substitute for angle iron. Old curtain rods are a great substitute for metal rods. Old hangers, well, we use them in place of welding rods.

We believe that the best way for us to obtain needed supplies is to have a hardware store approach to inventory for our operations. We want to have all sorts of materials on hand and at many of our locations to supply a lower cost source of materials for the operations. This means we buy in bulk, and accept used or items that need repairs. We have the ability to fabricate some of our own equipment so that means we will collect salvaged iron, metal pipe, and construction materials. We build our own additions and do our own renovations to our properties so used constructions materials are wanted. I am color blind so colors don't matter. Roofing shingles need not match, only protect.

We are always looking for used power equipment and tools. It is easier to have tools on site than to carry needed tools to some of our remote operations. Thus we want all types of machinery. We can modify and repair items and thus condition of the item may not be suitable for your needs but great for ours.

Do you have rolls or partial rolls of barbed wire or woven wire? Fence supplies, electric chargers, fencing tools, gate, posts.... We can trade. See http://www.seedlingsrus.com/TradesWanted.html

We are also interest in collecting rocks and boulders that we can sell at our nurseries. Wall stone and old building foundations are great sources of rock and stone. Why throw it out we may be able to recycle it? You may also have left over pavers and flagstone. We again are interested in them. In December of 2006 we began to sell hardscaping materials thru our web site http://www.digatree.com

We have a store in Milan Pa that sells used items from furniture to farm equipment. There is virtually no item that is reusable that we can't sell or recycle for you. See http://www.seedlingsrus.com/MilanHirst.html

We are not a one way street. We have thousands of plants from seedlings and liners to 20' trees. We grow trees, plants, and shrubs in Fountainville and Milan Pa. See our web site for details on plants that we carry. http://www.seedlingsrus.com Do you like to hunt? We have lots of recreational sites on our farms and ranches. See http://www.seedlingsrus.com/recreationalops2.html for information on hunting, fishing, camping, hiking, arrowhead hunting, bird watching, bone hunting and meteorite hunting on our ranches and farms. Maybe you could just help us by transporting items from one farm and ranch to another. Highland Hill Farm farm is located 1 mile west of Doylestown in Central Bucks County, Pennsylvania,( at 5275 W. Swamp Rd.) ( for our location near Doylestown see http://www.seedlingsrus.com/Palocations.html ) whose name is not at all derived from the many deer to be found (that would be too easy), was established, wa-a-a-y back in 1681 when the king of England, Charles II, owed one of his old admirals 16,000 pounds Sterling. (That's about 4 million of our 2006 dollars.) For payment of the debt, it became the admiral's son who was given a "tract" (a parcel, a piece) of land in "the New World," on the northern continent of the western hemisphere before it got the name America.

When William Penn saw just the eastern edge of the 40,000 square miles he had gotten he was most pleased, understandably so, with a forest that seemed to never end. Dad's woods, he thought, deciding to name the place where he would start a democratic sort of Quaker colony, Pennsylvania, Penn, -sylv (a Latin word root meaning "woods"), -ania (Latin suffix for "land"). So that's why our home sounds like Count Dracula's (Tran -sylv -ania, tran for "between," as in, between the Carpathian Mountains and the old Principality of Wallachia in what is today's Romania, there's a land which is woods. Maybe Newfoundland should have been named Newfoundania? Naah.

William Penn established just three counties at first, all in the southeastern corner of his wooded land, all with names from mother England. Philadelphia County surrounded the original village there, Chester County was to the south, and Bucks County to the north.

In England, Buckinghamshire was, and still is, a county just northwest of London that forms an irregular rectangle running from the southeast at the edge of London, northwesterly. BUCKinghamShire, was shortened to Bucks in conversation. So William Penn named his land's similarly sized, irregular rectangle county, which ran northwesterly from Philadelphia's edge, Bucks county. Of course when you come to our farm be prepared to visit our county and experience its diverse culture and history.

When you come to visit us at Highland Hill Farm in Fountainville, an interesting place to visit is Haycock Mountain. It is a cooled 130-million year old "almost a volcano" that didn't get to come out of the ground. It stayed below, but made the ground bulge upward, and the hot, liquid magma cooled to form coarse-grained "diabase" rock. Ayres' Rock in Australia and Wyoming's Devil's Tower are world-famous examples of what is called a "laccolith." Milk is "lacco" in Latin and "lith" means stone. Haycock Mountain is a laccolith, Buck's County's highest point at 959 feet above sea level.

Haycock Township surrounds the mountain. Haycock Elementary School is having their annual band concert at the nearby high school in the town of McLean on Tuesday, December 20, this year. You don't think that Bucks County has a town named McLean? You're absolutely right! Although there's the Haycock Elementary School we know on Old Bethlehem Road (Route 212), there's another one at the intersection of Haycock Road (Route 703) and Westmoreland Street, in McLean, Virginia just a few miles across the Potomac River west of Washington, D.C. Then, there's Haycock Mountain, in the southwestern part of the state of Utah, not to be confused with Haystack Mountain, Utah. Haycock Mountain, Alaska deserves mention, as well as Haycock Mound in Kansas. "What's in a name?," Shakespeare observed over 400 years ago.

So you get the point; haycock is a common word, but just what is a "haycock?" Before the days of baling machines, cut grasses for "haying" were spread out in the sun to dry ("gotta make hay while the sun shines") and then collected to be taken to where it would be stored. That dome-shaped mound, that pile, that heap, that stack of hay, will have a rounded top exactly like our Haycock Mountain in Bucks County.

If there's no barn with a "mow" (pronounce it like Chairman Mao) to store the hay out of the rain and snow, an extra large haycock can be piled up and this "hayrick" will have a protective outer layer of hay that will be used for bedding the farm animals, or for composting, etc. If a roof set on poles can be created to cover the hayrick, much less of the hay will have to get wet and subsequently rot... So there's a Hayrick Mountain in Texas and another Hayrick Mountain in Oregon. What's in a name? Try, Highland Hill Farm? And guess what we Raise? Highland Cattle and Nursery stock. Our most popular tree is the Green Giant arborvitae.( see http://www.seedlingsrus.com/GreenGiant.html ) Here is why:

The hardiness zone the Green Giant Arborvita tolerates is from zone 5 to zone 8. That's where extreme cold temperatures get down to a temperate level of about 15 or 20 degrees in the winter (Zone 8), but also as low as a frigid level of 15 or 20 degrees BELOW zero (zone 5). Green giants are evergreens, being cedars. Their rapid growth rates can in ideal conditions reach 3 feet per year. Site requirements for the Green Giant Arborvita are sun to partial shade, moist well drained soil preferred (but still does well in clay), and protection from wind, at lest when young.

The Green Giant is a beautiful tree. It has an aesthetically fine form. It's conical, being narrow to broadly pyramidal, reaching from 50 feet to 80 feet in height in southeastern Pennsylvania. The width at the base of the cone is usually about 15 feet to 20 feet. The leaves are rich green making graceful foliage.

Green Giants make a superb privacy screen and living fences. They keep their foliage color year 'round, great for brightening bleak gray winter days with snow on the ground. The cinnamon bright red bark when young turn rich russet brown with time crating a strong contrast with the needle leaves.

Green Giants' flowers, their fruit are pretty little light brown half-inch female cones. (Just so you know, Green giants are females, so its okay to call the cones pretty.) The Green Giant is also a wonderful shade tree, casting a dark, dense shade. The wood is strong too, once the tree is beyond its youth.

This is an arborvita that should outlive even your grandchildren. There are Green Giants out west documented to be over 300 years old. Just don't plant these too close to the ocean, or roads in areas where there's a lot of salt used for snow removal. If you get over 100 inches of snowfall and more per year, no roadside Arborvita planting where salt is used, PLEASE. The greatest soldier of ancient Greece in the Trojan war had his one little weak spot, what proved to be a fatal flaw, and the "Achilles Heel" for Green Giant Arborvitae is hypersensitivity to salt. If you plants this Arborvitas just keep away from the splash of road salt and it will make a great living fence.

So when are you coming to visit us in Bucks County?

See our many web sites at:
http://www.zone5trees.com , http://www.highlandhillfarm and http://www.seedlingsrus.com and http://www.greengiantarbs.com http://www..HuntingRelics.com Delete Reply Forward Spam Move... Previous | Next | Back to Messages

Bill Hirst has been growing plants on his 200 acre farm in Bucks County for 30 years. His web sites are http://www.seedlingsrus.com and http://www.digatree.com You can see Bill's fossil hunting web site at http://www.huntingrelics.com Sign up for Bill's newsletter at http://www.seedlingsrus.com/123456signup.html

Roofing Materials Needed

In Eastern Pennsylvania farmers used to get up to milk the cows and due their chores early in the morning.. My, have things changed since was a boy. Not only are there very few of us left, but we have had to cope with urban sprawl. Our farm is in Bucks County. This county and Montgomery County are some of the fastest going suburban areas on the East Coast. In the morning I go downtown and take my father to breakfast at 6am. Yes, I can start the day at anytime but this is the best hour. This trip is not so much for the meal which I don't really need, but to check out route each day that the trash trucks will follow. I want to make sure I do my shopping early!!! This way I can check out the early morning trash routes for the free bargains that are set out during the night. I have come home many a time with a full load in my pickup truck. I even got a Frozen Purdue Chicken last month, boy was it tasty!!!

Yes, I am an urban farmer. Our farm is in the heart of Bucks County, just 25 miles north of Philadelphia. See http://www.seedlingsrus.com/Palocations.html The last dairy cows have been sold in our area, so you can imagine, fields and fields of houses surround our farm. But, our good neighbors do provide us with their discarded items. We have found this as our new resource. Thus we have come up with new ways to capitalize on being a suburban farmer. If there was ever a place where one can take a bull by the horns, its on a farm. There are many ways to operate a farm. Farmers can buy or build there own equipment. Farmers can collect what is junk to most people, but is inventory to the farmer. An old car to a farmer can become a mobile tool box, some old cars become shelters for farm pigs, or old cars become sources of needed parts for repair of other machinery. At Highland Hill Farm, we value items that most people would put out to the trash. This article is about us, and our collecting of used items for use on our properties.

Our nurseries, farms, and ranches are always in need of all sorts of used items. We are always looking to trade for items that we are able to use in our operations. We use steel, such as angle iron and metal rods. Old bed frames make a cheap substitute for angle iron. Old curtain rods are a great substitute for metal rods. Old hangers, well, we use them in place of welding rods.

We believe that the best way for us to obtain needed supplies is to have a hardware store approach to inventory for our operations. We want to have all sorts of materials on hand and at many of our locations to supply a lower cost source of materials for the operations. This means we buy in bulk, and accept used or items that need repairs. We have the ability to fabricate some of our own equipment so that means we will collect salvaged iron, metal pipe, and construction materials. We build our own additions and do our own renovations to our properties so used constructions materials are wanted. I am color blind so colors don't matter. Roofing shingles need not match, only protect.

We are always looking for used power equipment and tools. It is easier to have tools on site than to carry needed tools to some of our remote operations. Thus we want all types of machinery. We can modify and repair items and thus condition of the item may not be suitable for your needs but great for ours.

Do you have rolls or partial rolls of barbed wire or woven wire? Fence supplies, electric chargers, fencing tools, gate, posts.... We can trade. See http://www.seedlingsrus.com/TradesWanted.html

We are also interest in collecting rocks and boulders that we can sell at our nurseries. Wall stone and old building foundations are great sources of rock and stone. Why throw it out we may be able to recycle it? You may also have left over pavers and flagstone. We again are interested in them. In December of 2006 we began to sell hardscaping materials thru our web site http://www.digatree.com

We have a store in Milan Pa that sells used items from furniture to farm equipment. There is virtually no item that is reusable that we can't sell or recycle for you. See http://www.seedlingsrus.com/MilanHirst.html

We are not a one way street. We have thousands of plants from seedlings and liners to 20' trees. We grow trees, plants, and shrubs in Fountainville and Milan Pa. See our web site for details on plants that we carry. http://www.seedlingsrus.com Do you like to hunt? We have lots of recreational sites on our farms and ranches. See http://www.seedlingsrus.com/recreationalops2.html for information on hunting, fishing, camping, hiking, arrowhead hunting, bird watching, bone hunting and meteorite hunting on our ranches and farms. Maybe you could just help us by transporting items from one farm and ranch to another. Highland Hill Farm farm is located 1 mile west of Doylestown in Central Bucks County, Pennsylvania,( at 5275 W. Swamp Rd.) ( for our location near Doylestown see http://www.seedlingsrus.com/Palocations.html ) whose name is not at all derived from the many deer to be found (that would be too easy), was established, wa-a-a-y back in 1681 when the king of England, Charles II, owed one of his old admirals 16,000 pounds Sterling. (That's about 4 million of our 2006 dollars.) For payment of the debt, it became the admiral's son who was given a "tract" (a parcel, a piece) of land in "the New World," on the northern continent of the western hemisphere before it got the name America.

When William Penn saw just the eastern edge of the 40,000 square miles he had gotten he was most pleased, understandably so, with a forest that seemed to never end. Dad's woods, he thought, deciding to name the place where he would start a democratic sort of Quaker colony, Pennsylvania, Penn, -sylv (a Latin word root meaning "woods"), -ania (Latin suffix for "land"). So that's why our home sounds like Count Dracula's (Tran -sylv -ania, tran for "between," as in, between the Carpathian Mountains and the old Principality of Wallachia in what is today's Romania, there's a land which is woods. Maybe Newfoundland should have been named Newfoundania? Naah.

William Penn established just three counties at first, all in the southeastern corner of his wooded land, all with names from mother England. Philadelphia County surrounded the original village there, Chester County was to the south, and Bucks County to the north.

In England, Buckinghamshire was, and still is, a county just northwest of London that forms an irregular rectangle running from the southeast at the edge of London, northwesterly. BUCKinghamShire, was shortened to Bucks in conversation. So William Penn named his land's similarly sized, irregular rectangle county, which ran northwesterly from Philadelphia's edge, Bucks county. Of course when you come to our farm be prepared to visit our county and experience its diverse culture and history.

When you come to visit us at Highland Hill Farm in Fountainville, an interesting place to visit is Haycock Mountain. It is a cooled 130-million year old "almost a volcano" that didn't get to come out of the ground. It stayed below, but made the ground bulge upward, and the hot, liquid magma cooled to form coarse-grained "diabase" rock. Ayres' Rock in Australia and Wyoming's Devil's Tower are world-famous examples of what is called a "laccolith." Milk is "lacco" in Latin and "lith" means stone. Haycock Mountain is a laccolith, Buck's County's highest point at 959 feet above sea level.

Haycock Township surrounds the mountain. Haycock Elementary School is having their annual band concert at the nearby high school in the town of McLean on Tuesday, December 20, this year. You don't think that Bucks County has a town named McLean? You're absolutely right! Although there's the Haycock Elementary School we know on Old Bethlehem Road (Route 212), there's another one at the intersection of Haycock Road (Route 703) and Westmoreland Street, in McLean, Virginia just a few miles across the Potomac River west of Washington, D.C. Then, there's Haycock Mountain, in the southwestern part of the state of Utah, not to be confused with Haystack Mountain, Utah. Haycock Mountain, Alaska deserves mention, as well as Haycock Mound in Kansas. "What's in a name?," Shakespeare observed over 400 years ago.

So you get the point; haycock is a common word, but just what is a "haycock?" Before the days of baling machines, cut grasses for "haying" were spread out in the sun to dry ("gotta make hay while the sun shines") and then collected to be taken to where it would be stored. That dome-shaped mound, that pile, that heap, that stack of hay, will have a rounded top exactly like our Haycock Mountain in Bucks County.

If there's no barn with a "mow" (pronounce it like Chairman Mao) to store the hay out of the rain and snow, an extra large haycock can be piled up and this "hayrick" will have a protective outer layer of hay that will be used for bedding the farm animals, or for composting, etc. If a roof set on poles can be created to cover the hayrick, much less of the hay will have to get wet and subsequently rot... So there's a Hayrick Mountain in Texas and another Hayrick Mountain in Oregon. What's in a name? Try, Highland Hill Farm? And guess what we Raise? Highland Cattle and Nursery stock. Our most popular tree is the Green Giant arborvitae.( see http://www.seedlingsrus.com/GreenGiant.html ) Here is why:

The hardiness zone the Green Giant Arborvita tolerates is from zone 5 to zone 8. That's where extreme cold temperatures get down to a temperate level of about 15 or 20 degrees in the winter (Zone 8), but also as low as a frigid level of 15 or 20 degrees BELOW zero (zone 5). Green giants are evergreens, being cedars. Their rapid growth rates can in ideal conditions reach 3 feet per year. Site requirements for the Green Giant Arborvita are sun to partial shade, moist well drained soil preferred (but still does well in clay), and protection from wind, at lest when young.

The Green Giant is a beautiful tree. It has an aesthetically fine form. It's conical, being narrow to broadly pyramidal, reaching from 50 feet to 80 feet in height in southeastern Pennsylvania. The width at the base of the cone is usually about 15 feet to 20 feet. The leaves are rich green making graceful foliage.

Green Giants make a superb privacy screen and living fences. They keep their foliage color year 'round, great for brightening bleak gray winter days with snow on the ground. The cinnamon bright red bark when young turn rich russet brown with time crating a strong contrast with the needle leaves.

Green Giants' flowers, their fruit are pretty little light brown half-inch female cones. (Just so you know, Green giants are females, so its okay to call the cones pretty.) The Green Giant is also a wonderful shade tree, casting a dark, dense shade. The wood is strong too, once the tree is beyond its youth.

This is an arborvita that should outlive even your grandchildren. There are Green Giants out west documented to be over 300 years old. Just don't plant these too close to the ocean, or roads in areas where there's a lot of salt used for snow removal. If you get over 100 inches of snowfall and more per year, no roadside Arborvita planting where salt is used, PLEASE. The greatest soldier of ancient Greece in the Trojan war had his one little weak spot, what proved to be a fatal flaw, and the "Achilles Heel" for Green Giant Arborvitae is hypersensitivity to salt. If you plants this Arborvitas just keep away from the splash of road salt and it will make a great living fence.

So when are you coming to visit us in Bucks County?

See our many web sites at:
http://www.zone5trees.com , http://www.highlandhillfarm and http://www.seedlingsrus.com and http://www.greengiantarbs.com http://www..HuntingRelics.com Delete Reply Forward Spam Move... Previous | Next | Back to Messages

Bill Hirst has been growing plants on his 200 acre farm in Bucks County for 30 years. His web sites are http://www.seedlingsrus.com and http://www.digatree.com You can see Bill's fossil hunting web site at http://www.huntingrelics.com Sign up for Bill's newsletter at http://www.seedlingsrus.com/123456signup.html

Roofing Materials Desired

In Eastern Pennsylvania farmers used to get up to milk the cows and due their chores early in the morning.. My, have things changed since was a boy. Not only are there very few of us left, but we have had to cope with urban sprawl. Our farm is in Bucks County. This county and Montgomery County are some of the fastest going suburban areas on the East Coast. In the morning I go downtown and take my father to breakfast at 6am. Yes, I can start the day at anytime but this is the best hour. This trip is not so much for the meal which I don't really need, but to check out route each day that the trash trucks will follow. I want to make sure I do my shopping early!!! This way I can check out the early morning trash routes for the free bargains that are set out during the night. I have come home many a time with a full load in my pickup truck. I even got a Frozen Purdue Chicken last month, boy was it tasty!!!

Yes, I am an urban farmer. Our farm is in the heart of Bucks County, just 25 miles north of Philadelphia. See http://www.seedlingsrus.com/Palocations.html The last dairy cows have been sold in our area, so you can imagine, fields and fields of houses surround our farm. But, our good neighbors do provide us with their discarded items. We have found this as our new resource. Thus we have come up with new ways to capitalize on being a suburban farmer. If there was ever a place where one can take a bull by the horns, its on a farm. There are many ways to operate a farm. Farmers can buy or build there own equipment. Farmers can collect what is junk to most people, but is inventory to the farmer. An old car to a farmer can become a mobile tool box, some old cars become shelters for farm pigs, or old cars become sources of needed parts for repair of other machinery. At Highland Hill Farm, we value items that most people would put out to the trash. This article is about us, and our collecting of used items for use on our properties.

Our nurseries, farms, and ranches are always in need of all sorts of used items. We are always looking to trade for items that we are able to use in our operations. We use steel, such as angle iron and metal rods. Old bed frames make a cheap substitute for angle iron. Old curtain rods are a great substitute for metal rods. Old hangers, well, we use them in place of welding rods.

We believe that the best way for us to obtain needed supplies is to have a hardware store approach to inventory for our operations. We want to have all sorts of materials on hand and at many of our locations to supply a lower cost source of materials for the operations. This means we buy in bulk, and accept used or items that need repairs. We have the ability to fabricate some of our own equipment so that means we will collect salvaged iron, metal pipe, and construction materials. We build our own additions and do our own renovations to our properties so used constructions materials are wanted. I am color blind so colors don't matter. Roofing shingles need not match, only protect.

We are always looking for used power equipment and tools. It is easier to have tools on site than to carry needed tools to some of our remote operations. Thus we want all types of machinery. We can modify and repair items and thus condition of the item may not be suitable for your needs but great for ours.

Do you have rolls or partial rolls of barbed wire or woven wire? Fence supplies, electric chargers, fencing tools, gate, posts.... We can trade. See http://www.seedlingsrus.com/TradesWanted.html

We are also interest in collecting rocks and boulders that we can sell at our nurseries. Wall stone and old building foundations are great sources of rock and stone. Why throw it out we may be able to recycle it? You may also have left over pavers and flagstone. We again are interested in them. In December of 2006 we began to sell hardscaping materials thru our web site http://www.digatree.com

We have a store in Milan Pa that sells used items from furniture to farm equipment. There is virtually no item that is reusable that we can't sell or recycle for you. See http://www.seedlingsrus.com/MilanHirst.html

We are not a one way street. We have thousands of plants from seedlings and liners to 20' trees. We grow trees, plants, and shrubs in Fountainville and Milan Pa. See our web site for details on plants that we carry. http://www.seedlingsrus.com Do you like to hunt? We have lots of recreational sites on our farms and ranches. See http://www.seedlingsrus.com/recreationalops2.html for information on hunting, fishing, camping, hiking, arrowhead hunting, bird watching, bone hunting and meteorite hunting on our ranches and farms. Maybe you could just help us by transporting items from one farm and ranch to another. Highland Hill Farm farm is located 1 mile west of Doylestown in Central Bucks County, Pennsylvania,( at 5275 W. Swamp Rd.) ( for our location near Doylestown see http://www.seedlingsrus.com/Palocations.html ) whose name is not at all derived from the many deer to be found (that would be too easy), was established, wa-a-a-y back in 1681 when the king of England, Charles II, owed one of his old admirals 16,000 pounds Sterling. (That's about 4 million of our 2006 dollars.) For payment of the debt, it became the admiral's son who was given a "tract" (a parcel, a piece) of land in "the New World," on the northern continent of the western hemisphere before it got the name America.

When William Penn saw just the eastern edge of the 40,000 square miles he had gotten he was most pleased, understandably so, with a forest that seemed to never end. Dad's woods, he thought, deciding to name the place where he would start a democratic sort of Quaker colony, Pennsylvania, Penn, -sylv (a Latin word root meaning "woods"), -ania (Latin suffix for "land"). So that's why our home sounds like Count Dracula's (Tran -sylv -ania, tran for "between," as in, between the Carpathian Mountains and the old Principality of Wallachia in what is today's Romania, there's a land which is woods. Maybe Newfoundland should have been named Newfoundania? Naah.

William Penn established just three counties at first, all in the southeastern corner of his wooded land, all with names from mother England. Philadelphia County surrounded the original village there, Chester County was to the south, and Bucks County to the north.

In England, Buckinghamshire was, and still is, a county just northwest of London that forms an irregular rectangle running from the southeast at the edge of London, northwesterly. BUCKinghamShire, was shortened to Bucks in conversation. So William Penn named his land's similarly sized, irregular rectangle county, which ran northwesterly from Philadelphia's edge, Bucks county. Of course when you come to our farm be prepared to visit our county and experience its diverse culture and history.

When you come to visit us at Highland Hill Farm in Fountainville, an interesting place to visit is Haycock Mountain. It is a cooled 130-million year old "almost a volcano" that didn't get to come out of the ground. It stayed below, but made the ground bulge upward, and the hot, liquid magma cooled to form coarse-grained "diabase" rock. Ayres' Rock in Australia and Wyoming's Devil's Tower are world-famous examples of what is called a "laccolith." Milk is "lacco" in Latin and "lith" means stone. Haycock Mountain is a laccolith, Buck's County's highest point at 959 feet above sea level.

Haycock Township surrounds the mountain. Haycock Elementary School is having their annual band concert at the nearby high school in the town of McLean on Tuesday, December 20, this year. You don't think that Bucks County has a town named McLean? You're absolutely right! Although there's the Haycock Elementary School we know on Old Bethlehem Road (Route 212), there's another one at the intersection of Haycock Road (Route 703) and Westmoreland Street, in McLean, Virginia just a few miles across the Potomac River west of Washington, D.C. Then, there's Haycock Mountain, in the southwestern part of the state of Utah, not to be confused with Haystack Mountain, Utah. Haycock Mountain, Alaska deserves mention, as well as Haycock Mound in Kansas. "What's in a name?," Shakespeare observed over 400 years ago.

So you get the point; haycock is a common word, but just what is a "haycock?" Before the days of baling machines, cut grasses for "haying" were spread out in the sun to dry ("gotta make hay while the sun shines") and then collected to be taken to where it would be stored. That dome-shaped mound, that pile, that heap, that stack of hay, will have a rounded top exactly like our Haycock Mountain in Bucks County.

If there's no barn with a "mow" (pronounce it like Chairman Mao) to store the hay out of the rain and snow, an extra large haycock can be piled up and this "hayrick" will have a protective outer layer of hay that will be used for bedding the farm animals, or for composting, etc. If a roof set on poles can be created to cover the hayrick, much less of the hay will have to get wet and subsequently rot... So there's a Hayrick Mountain in Texas and another Hayrick Mountain in Oregon. What's in a name? Try, Highland Hill Farm? And guess what we Raise? Highland Cattle and Nursery stock. Our most popular tree is the Green Giant arborvitae.( see http://www.seedlingsrus.com/GreenGiant.html ) Here is why:

The hardiness zone the Green Giant Arborvita tolerates is from zone 5 to zone 8. That's where extreme cold temperatures get down to a temperate level of about 15 or 20 degrees in the winter (Zone 8), but also as low as a frigid level of 15 or 20 degrees BELOW zero (zone 5). Green giants are evergreens, being cedars. Their rapid growth rates can in ideal conditions reach 3 feet per year. Site requirements for the Green Giant Arborvita are sun to partial shade, moist well drained soil preferred (but still does well in clay), and protection from wind, at lest when young.

The Green Giant is a beautiful tree. It has an aesthetically fine form. It's conical, being narrow to broadly pyramidal, reaching from 50 feet to 80 feet in height in southeastern Pennsylvania. The width at the base of the cone is usually about 15 feet to 20 feet. The leaves are rich green making graceful foliage.

Green Giants make a superb privacy screen and living fences. They keep their foliage color year 'round, great for brightening bleak gray winter days with snow on the ground. The cinnamon bright red bark when young turn rich russet brown with time crating a strong contrast with the needle leaves.

Green Giants' flowers, their fruit are pretty little light brown half-inch female cones. (Just so you know, Green giants are females, so its okay to call the cones pretty.) The Green Giant is also a wonderful shade tree, casting a dark, dense shade. The wood is strong too, once the tree is beyond its youth.

This is an arborvita that should outlive even your grandchildren. There are Green Giants out west documented to be over 300 years old. Just don't plant these too close to the ocean, or roads in areas where there's a lot of salt used for snow removal. If you get over 100 inches of snowfall and more per year, no roadside Arborvita planting where salt is used, PLEASE. The greatest soldier of ancient Greece in the Trojan war had his one little weak spot, what proved to be a fatal flaw, and the "Achilles Heel" for Green Giant Arborvitae is hypersensitivity to salt. If you plants this Arborvitas just keep away from the splash of road salt and it will make a great living fence.

So when are you coming to visit us in Bucks County?

See our many web sites at:
http://www.zone5trees.com , http://www.highlandhillfarm and http://www.seedlingsrus.com and http://www.greengiantarbs.com http://www..HuntingRelics.com Delete Reply Forward Spam Move... Previous | Next | Back to Messages

Bill Hirst has been growing plants on his 200 acre farm in Bucks County for 30 years. His web sites are http://www.seedlingsrus.com and http://www.digatree.com You can see Bill's fossil hunting web site at http://www.huntingrelics.com Sign up for Bill's newsletter at http://www.seedlingsrus.com/123456signup.html

Waterproofing While Camping

The leather kind of shoes is much more comfortable and flexible, especially at lower altitudes. There are commercial waterproofing confounds. There should be at least two layers of protection between the boots and your feet. You may consider use a synthetic sock for carrying moisture away from my feet and a synthetic/wool mixture for the outer sock for warmth and cushioning. You may want to add another sock the outer layer for additional warmth. It is recommended some form of waterproofing but I don't think plastic boots are necessary at 6000 meters.

People have been walking in leather shoes on the snow. The only safety and health considerations would be if the boots are waterproofed (waxes or oils will keep your feet from getting wet and exacerbating hypothermia), or the tred is sufficient to prevent slips and falls (the number-one cause of death and injury in the outdoors - bar none).

There is an old recipe for waterproofing using bees wax and petroleum jelly melted together in equal parts and rubbed vigorously into a warmed shoe or boot (it softens the hands at the same time). You will need to dry and heat shoes and boots on the open door of an oven, heated to about 200 degrees. When the boots were dry and hot, they would brush Neat's-foot Oil into the pores of the leather. It is called the weekly shoe-bake.

There are a lot of good commercial waterproofs for boots that work as well. Snow Seal is one that was produced out west in the U.S. and works pretty well waterproofing they advise. It's be either silicone, a polymer, or some sort of organic oil or wax. Clean the boots, let them dry, and apply the waterproofing according to instructions provided with the product.

There are important advices on products & methods of waterproofing a tent. The best suggestion is to go to a camping store and buy commercial seam sealer and waterproofing supplies. A lot can depend on the type of fabric and where it is leaking.

If your tent is leaking around the seams, this is because there are tiny pin holes in and around the seam created by the sowing process. If this is the case, seam sealer alone will probably do the trick. Seam sealer can come in two types, seam tape or liquid seam sealer. A urethane-based seam sealer is better because it is more flexible in cold temperatures and creates a better bond with the tent fabric. A disadvantage is that it is messier to use than tape.

If the fabric itself is leaking you can get a silicone-based water repellent treatment for all kinds of tent and tarp fabrics. Most pretreated tents come from the factory with the coating on the inside. If you touch the inside of the tent with your fingers, the oils on your fingers can react with the treatment causing it to become less effective. Spraying it on the outside can help by preventing the material from absorbing water, causing it to be lighter when carrying a wet tent. Products with UV treatment can slow fading and reduce fabric degradation from harmful UV rays.

Just make sure that you get the right product for the fabric of your tent. If you wanted to make your own you just need a substance that doesn't mix with water. Some items that you could use includes...

Lanolin - boil some sheep's wool and scrape the oil of the top. Do you have any sheep? This is flammable.

Coal Tar - Heat powered coal over a fire in a metal container and collect the liquid evaporating from the heated coal with a pipe leading from the container into a series of bottles. This is creosote and is used to waterproof railroad ties. This is very flammable.

Beeswax - You can buy this or raise bees. This is quite flammable.

Flax - Can be taken from the fleshy flax leaves, just underneath the tough skin. Not real flammable but will burn.

Victor Epand is an expert consultant for http://www.CombatCloth.info/. CombatCloth.info carries the best selection of combat clothing, gear, and accessories on the market.

Roofing Room Additions With A Low Pitch Roof

A popular way to increase your living space is to add on a room. Most often these rooms have little or no pitch to allow water to run off of them. Special consideration therefore on the roofing materials used should be given.

The best way to insure no leaks is to apply a roof covering barrier that will not allow water that has accumulated on top to seep inside. Modified Bitumen is a great roof covering for low pitched roofs. Bitumen is modified by adding one or more polymers, and the sheets are typically reinforced with various types of mats or films. The sheets can be either smooth or have mineral granules on the surface, similar to the normal composition shingles you see. Modified Bitumen looks similar to 90lb roll roofing but it is very different. It is thicker and much, much stronger.

They will start with the bare roof sheathing (plywood decking) and first apply a layer of asphalt saturated felt usually 15lb, and then mop over this with hot tar. Then they will add a second layer of felt 30lb and mop again. Then they will apply the modified on top.

Modified comes in a 39?? wide role and it will be overlapped 4?? and sealed with a tar adhesive. At the junction point of the flat roof and the pitched roof it is attaching to, the roofers should remove the lower 3 rows of comp shingles and run the modified bitumen up to the lower edge of the fourth row. Then the 3 rows should be placed back into position over the bitumen.

It is never a good idea to have regular roofing shingles such as 3 tab or architectural shingles applied on a flat or low pitch less than 4/12. This is because water cannot run off as readily and the roof will stay wet longer or water will pool. This will allow water to seep under the shingle and begin to destroy the underlayment (felt ), and then the roof sheathing itself. Also high winds can cause the shingle tabs to blow up allowing water under the shingle with the same results of damage.

The proper roof covering will protect your investment and your wonderful new addition.

Cindy Jones is an Independent Catastrophe Claims Adjuster. She has been working in the construction field in one way or another for more than 18 years. She is also the author of manuals and courses for Independent Claims Adjusters. Find out more about her at http://www.adjustercindy.com

Roofing Contractors

A solid roof over your head brings comfort, safety and protection. When your roof isn?t secure, you don?t really feel secure yourself. Roofing repair, restoration and remodel can restore your sense of security in no time. Professional roofing contractors are at your service.

Residential roof repair for homeowners

Residential roofing gets families out of the cold. Whether you live in a newly built home or a charming vintage cottage, you could experience a leak in your roof. If you?re getting out buckets every time it rains, it is time for roofing repair. A qualified roofing contractor will asses and mend your roof with little or no hassle for you. With a new roof over your head, you?ll be happier and healthier.

Commercial roofing professionals

Good commercial roofing is essential. Keeping employees and customers comfortable is important when doing business. If you need commercial roof restoration, then a licensed roofing contractor is to your rescue. A contractor who specializes in roofing will be more qualified and skillful. Don?t leave it up to anyone but a trained and experienced professional.

Update the look of your home's exterior with a new roof

When you are thinking about a new roofing design, skilled roofing contractors should be the first you call. Perhaps you would like to update your home with elegant tile roofing. Or maybe you are interested in solar power and other energy saving roofing methods. Whatever your desire, a roofing contractor can help you get exactly what you want.

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Soundproofing a shooting or firing range

Many cities and municipalities are looking for state of the art soundproofing products and procedures for soundproofing a public, private, or and even home shooting ranges. The soundproofing materials used must be impervious to smoke and gunpowder residue and must be resilient (able to take a round without disintegrating) and easy to clean. Some folks feel that convoluted foam mat (bedding or egg crate foam) will work in such applications. This is a completely wrong assumption because convoluted foam is an open celled foam and has no soundproofing qualities whatsoever.

So how do you get both absorption and sound blocking from one product, that is impervious to moisture and will stand up the rigors of a live firing range? Many large cities have contacted me desperately looking for just such a material and believe it or not we have exactly what they are looking for. It's the closed cell vinyl nitrile America mat and it has been used in many different ranges throughout the country. It is extremely flame retardant and only absorbs water into the first 6% to 8% of the mat. We have found through real life experience that this absorbed moisture dissipates rapidly and never causes mold, mildew, or deterioration.

America mat is both a blocker and absorber that is extremely resilient and versatile in the shooting environment. The mat comes in thick nesses of ?" all the way up to 2" thick, but we have found that in most instances the ?" America mat does the job. This foam mat would be adhered directly to the walls and ceiling of the range tunnel and in some cases it would even be adhered to the floor. This will provide complete coverage thus forcing the sound to be absorbed into the mat and with no way out it dissipates rapidly. Major shooting ranges have used this foam mat even on outdoor ranges where the material is exposed to the elements.

Now we really don't recommend direct exposure of this material to the elements (especially in the snow), but the feedback we have received in such applications has been favorable indeed. This material has been used in the cities of Boston, New York, Oceanside California, and Kansas City and all the feedback was positive. The thicker the foam, the better the results, but for a basic handgun range, the ?" America mat should be sufficient. There are many other applications for America mat, but one of the most popular is for shooting ranges. It is a phenomenal product.

There is now a new product that is also used extensively in firing ranges and police training facilities. This new product is called Silent panel. I will talk more about Silent panels in my next article. Thanks for reading and learning about soundproofing a firing range.

To learn more about Soundproofing and soundproofing materials visit our site http://www.soundproofingamerica.com/

To order Mass Loaded Vinyl see our site.

You can read more http://www.soundproofingamerica.com/mass-loaded-vinyl.asp

Childproofing Your Home

One of the most important steps you can take to prepare for a baby is childproofing your home. Little hands will get into things you never even thought of, so being prepared is critical to your child?s safety. Here are some areas of your home that need attention to get you started on your childproofing project.

? Electrical Outlets ? You can buy inexpensive covers to keep little fingers out of your outlets, or simply put a piece of furniture in front of them.

? Cords ? Be they electrical cords or cords for blinds or draperies, they are a risk. Cords from blinds or draperies are a choking hazard, and electrical cords can cause a shock, or can cause baby to pull something heavy (such as the lamp at the other end of that cord) down on top of them

? Rickety furniture ? Be certain that you don?t have unstable furniture around. When your baby begins pulling up, he could pull the furniture right down on top of him. Sometimes it?s necessary to attach furniture, such as top heavy bookcases to the wall.

? Plants ? Some houseplants are poisonous, so be certain to keep plants out of baby?s reach.

? Radiators ? If you live in an older home with radiators, you will need to put barriers in front of them or radiator covers over them during winter months.

? Fireplace ? Be certain your fireplace is equipped with a grill or glass doors to protect your child?s little fingers.

? Stairs ? Install baby gates to keep your little one from tumbling down the stairs.

? Cabinet doors and drawers ? Install childproof latches so that your baby is unable to open drawers and doors, particularly those where you store sharp objects or cleaning supplies.

? Railings ? Be certain that any railings in your home, such as those on your stairs, have no more than a five inch gap between any vertical posts. You?d be amazed at how easily a baby?s head can get stuck.

All of these are important steps to readying your home for those days when baby starts crawling around. But, probably the most important thing you can do is to learn to keep your everyday things put away. Items that adults use regularly, like scissors, pins, coins, buttons and letter openers can all be very hazardous to a baby. It?s going to take some getting used to, but with some preparation, you can organize your life so that your everyday activities don?t put your baby at risk.

Sarah Veda is a 41 year old wife and mother of two boys and one girl. She spent many years as a manager in the corporate world, and gave it up to be a stay at home mom. Go to http://www.infantresources.com now and get her incredible baby minicourse ? absolutely free.

More Tips on Puppy Proofing Your Home and Making It Safe for Your Puppy

As with toddlers, puppies seem to put everything into their mouths. This is due to that insatiable curiosity and boundless energy they seem to have. Just as with toddlers, you must remove small objects from your puppy's reach as you puppy proof your home. Think of all the things you would not want a toddler getting and move it higher or into storage.

The trick for toddlers is anything that can fit down the cardboard tube of a toilet paper roll is too small and that can be a good rule of thumb for your puppy as well. Things like loose change on the table, too small toys, jewelry, needles, marbles, etc. must be removed. And remember your puppy keeps growing so what is a safe location one day might not be next week.

In your effort to puppy proof your home, think of things you do not want your puppy chewing on and remove those. It is almost proverbial that a puppy will chew on your shoes and socks. You might think it's funny or cute now, but you won't be thinking that when he is a full-grown adult. Not only is chewing your shoes and socks a potential health hazard to your puppy, it can get expensive replacing the chewed up items. Remove the temptation now as you puppy proof your home.

Think of the rooms in your home from your puppy's perspective. The bathroom may not seem so dangerous to you, but that trash may hold some items that will put his health into danger such as dental floss, cleaning rags or even feminine products. Keep the toilet lid shut. You wouldn't have that potential drowning hazard available to a toddler, so don't leave it available to your puppy. Best to keep that door shut.

And keep this danger in mind when surveying your kitchen. The kitchen trash can pose such a hazard as well not to mention the mess your puppy can make. Be sure your trashcan is substantial enough when you are making your home puppy proof that your puppy can't knock it over.

Another hazard to consider when looking to puppy proof your home is an open window. If you have windows you keep open that somehow your puppy can get to, you can see that he might easily fall out that window. If it is a high placed window, if might suffer severe injury or even death. A low window could let him get out into the great outdoors where he might get lost, be run over or run into something much bigger than him.

Yet another thing to consider when you puppy proof your home is things your puppy can ingest that might be harmful to him. Too much candy and certain houseplants can make your puppy very sick. Remove the candy dish from the coffee table and move the houseplants where he can't reach.

When you puppy proof your home, remember to take a look around from your puppy's perspective. Things that are "just there" for you can be dangerous for your puppy both from a health standpoint as well as from a training aspect. Don't set your puppy up for bad habits simply because you didn't take the time to puppy proof your home.

Visit our Puppy Training website at http://ezpuppytraining.com/ for a free course on "Welcoming Your New Puppy Home and Puppy Training". Find more puppy training and care tips at our website ezpuppytraining.com.

Waterproofing Your Foundation? What Is The Right Choice?

What is foundation waterproofing?

Waterproofing is Protecting your property foundation be it residential or commercial from cracks due to natural processes such as water damage, thermal movement, shrinking, settlement and other causes.

Think of foundation waterproofing as a long term solution for protection of your property.

Did you know that 44% of new homes have leaking basements without 3 years of completion? And the warranty on dry basement on a new home in USA and Canada is only 1 or 2 years?

Think of what can happen if you dont pay attention to properly seal your house foundation.

It not only causes countless damage to your property it also decreases value of your house, costs money to repair, wastes time, not to mention various health and life hazards.

So what is the Solution to this problem?

Waterproof your property the right way as you build it!

There are many products on the market and it is difficult to choose at times, but not all are the same quality.

The easiest, simplest and smartest way is to apply rubberized liquid membrane. Liquid rubber membranes are elastomeric polymerized coatings made from liquid rubber the same quality tough material your car tires are made from.

Advantages: They are easiest to apply, quick to dry, cold applied. You can do it by yourself, by using sprayer, roller or trowel. The liquid cures into an elastic rubber coating on the wall, able to fill up eventual cracks in foundation wall because of its flexibility. They also come with a long warranty and are very cost effective.

If you want the best ones you should aim at the ones which are environmentally friendly, non-toxic, non-flammable, also VOC compliant, offer superior vapor and water barrier protection, and no priming is required before installation.

Disadvantages: Possibility of inconsistency in coverage, but the newest liquid rubber foundation waterproofing membranes will help you to determine the "right" thickness by intensity of color f.e. the Gray Coat All Seasons Formula from Aquasealusa.com blends in with the concrete foundation, so over-spraying is no longer a problem, making it much easier for the applicator to apply.

There are of course other products on the market like sheet membranes, cementitous waterproofing, hot tar or bentonite, but they either dont offer such a long warranty, are labor intensive or low quality, or you have to use company employees/certified technicians who are the only ones allowed to apply their product which will cost extra money.

Basically it comes what your needs are and how much money your are willing to invest to protect your property properly.
Waterproofing-foundation-guaranteed.com

Dagmar Rakos is the site Administrator for Waterproofing-Foundation-guaranteed.com

Highly effective, easy to apply foundation, basement and specialty waterproofing products for ICF and standard construction. For home builders and waterproofing contractors.

Available at http://www.waterproofing-foundation-guaranteed.com.com.Organic Roses in the Flower Garden Part 1Sandra Dinkins-Wilson

Many people believe growing their flowers and vegetables organically is healthier for them and their environment. It is natural that you may wish to grow your roses this way also. Using the pesticides and insecticides that are usually considered to go along with growing roses and keeping them healthy can cause many people have to health problems . Maybe you just don't want those kind of chemicals in your garden and around your children. This article will give some pointers in using more natural methods of growing your roses.

1. First do your homework and find out what type of roses grow well in your area. Buy disease resistant varieties. If you live in an area that has problems with a certain disease, look for a variety that is resistant to it. If you can, purchase organic roses. As they have already been growing with organic methods, this supposes they are "healthier". and not already loaded with chemicals. Thus they have a stronger immune system. Of course, buy roses with no blemishes on them.

2. Roses like full sun. Make sure they are placed so as to get 6 to 8 hours of sunlight a day.

3. Do not crowd your roses together. Ensure that stress is reduced by providing lots of space for air to circulate around the bush. Take growth of the rose bush into account.

4. Plant your roses in good loamy soil. If your soil is not ideal, then amend it with organic material such as from your compost pile. You do have a compost pile, don't you? Roses like well draining soil but they don't want it draining as fast as you might get with sand, so amend your sandy soil. If you have clay soil, an alternative requiring a bit of work is to build a raised bed for your roses much like vegetable gardeners use. It should be at least a foot deep but more is better. Fill it with will amended soil.

5. Keep your watering consistent. Don't allow your plants to dry out and suffer stress before watering. Roses can need up to 2 inches of water a week. Water every two to three days. This, of course, depends on your area and the type of weather (how much rainfall) you are getting. Also, be careful not to stress the plant by overwatering and depriving the roots of oxgen.

6. Mulch, mulch, mulch! Mulching can reduce the stress on your rose in several ways. It helps to hold in moisture which can be very good in a hot, dry climate. It helps maintain a more even temperature in the root zone. And mulch can smother weeds that could be competition for your lovely roses. As the mulch decomposes, it adds more nutrients to the soil around your plant. Lastly, it can cut down on some of your work. ;-)

7. Roses are, what could be considered, heavy feeders. They respond well to fertilizer and should be fertilized on a consistent schedule. Most organic fertilizers are slow-acting and may produce less spectacular results of a non-organic fertilizer. Some organic fertilizers to consider are composted manure, fish emulsion, alfalfa meal, blood meal, and cottonseed meal. If you wish to have a truly organic rose garden, you should ensure that your fertilizer is also organic. Of all these the only one you can be sure is truly organic would be your composted manure if you know exactly where it comes from and how the animals are raised. Perhaps you should consider your own animals raised organically. Chicken manure is very high in nitrogen and some localities allow a small backyard flock. Make sure it is composted thoroughly as chicken manure is very "hot" and will burn your plants.

8. Prune your roses in the early spring. To keep your roses healthy, get out the dead wood, damaged wood and anything that starts to look diseased (and don't compost these trimmings). Thin out your plant to keep it from being crowded. Don't allow branches to rub against each other. This will allow air and sunlight to get to the whole plant keeping it healthier.

In part 2 later this week, we will discuss some organic methods of combating specific diseases and pests. http://flowergardenlovers.com.

Metal Roofing 101

Today I received a phone call from a nationally published and recognized remodeling magazine in regards to their future article on metal roofing. It turns out that one of their editors tasked with writing an article about metal roofing decided to consult with me after looking at one of the metal roof guides on my metal roofing resource and information library.

Our conversation involve many different aspects of metal roofing and it was what prompted me to publish this metal roofing article, which will hopefully answer a lot of questions that you may have. I believe you will find this guide especially useful if you are considering a re roofing job.

First of all let's address some of the things that you probably already heard about before:

Metal Roofing costs significantly more than regular roofing. Answer to this question is both yes and no.

It turns out that although, initially you will probably pay higher amount for metal roofing than you would with regular roofing material, in the long run metal roofing will pay for itself making a it a no nonsense investment for somebody who is looking for longevity of their roof, its durability, great looks, and energy savings.

What happens is that the higher price you pay for metal roofing initially gets off set by the increased value of the house, or building where metal roofing is installed. In addition to the increased value of your home you will also gain the following benefits:

Long lasting Roof Hopefully you did your homework when selecting a metal roofing contractor, and you chose the knowledgeable and skillful metal roof installers performing the installation of your metal roof. Modern residential metal roofs come with up to 50 years material and labor warranty. Thus you can set it and forget it, figuratively speaking! Thin about how much money you will be saving considering that the average asphalt roof lasts only 17 years.

Beautiful Metal Roof We all love our homes, and with metal roofing our house can attain very desirable and sophisticated looks that could be the envy of the neighborhood! A great variety of metal roofing styles and choices will ensure that every homeowner can find something that they want in residential metal roofing.

Energy Savings Did you know that meta roof can greatly decrease your air conditioning bill during the hot months of summer? One of the significant benefits of metal roofing is that metal has sun reflectivity properties, which allow it to reflect the heat radiation away from your roof keeping your house cool and your energy bill low. That is just one of the ways that metal roof will pay for itself. After all, our monthly air conditioning costs can add up to a big chunk of money during the summer time.

Metal roof Government Tax credit Even the U.S government will provide you with a tax credit incentives if you install the approved select energy star rated metal roof.

Now information above is just common knowledge in regards to metal roofing. Hopefully it has cleared up and answered some of the general questions that you may have had.

Now going back to my todays conversation, I would like to talk about more in depths metal roofing concepts.

Many homeowners have heard about metal roofing before, but have very little idea as to what are the choices and options available to them.

So, I thought it would be a good idea to list three main metal roofing materials used in the industry, as well as touch up on the available metal roofing choices and styles.

Residential Metal Roofing Materials:

Steel: This is the most frequently used metal roofing material today. Steel offers a great degree of durability in metal roofing. It is usually protected by a layer of zinc and aluminum alloy, which protects it from rust and corrosion. Most commonly used steel shingles would be galvanized steel such as G-90, which is sprayed over with Kynar 500, or Hylar 5000.

This type of galvanized steel offers a great degree of protection from corrosion and is known to last over 30 years, in fact Tamko galvanized steel shingles, slates, and tiles come with 50 years material warranty, which shows a great confidence this manufacturer has in their product.

Galvalume steel is another common type of steel metal roofing, it is commonly used in standing seam metal roofing panels that go over many commercial and residential roofs.

Steel has deserved its good reputation as a metal roofing material of choice because of its excellent corrosion resistance and relative affordability.

Aluminum is another popular metal roofing material, which is corrosion resistant and is known to last over 50 years in professionally performed metal roofing applications. It is more expensive than steel, but it is very light weight and very popular among the homeowners.

Copper is perhaps the oldest type of metal roofing material that has been in use for a very long time and is known to last for over 70 years. In fact it is said that copper is getting better as it ages. Copper is highly expensive and that's why it is usually used in limited applications such as the the facial coverings of the windows. There are however complete copper roof systems that are available to be installed over residential properties. They come with a great premium, but there are people who want the best and are willing to pay for it.

Finally, keep in mind that even the best metal roofing system is worthless if it is not installed professionally, so make sure that you do your homework and carefully investigate the prospective metal roofing contractors in your area.

Good luck

Aleksandr Biyevetskiy has been involved with metal roofing installations for many years, and now co owns a Massachusetts based metal roofing company http://www.newenglandmetalroof.com Quality of metal roof installation, and customer satisfaction are the main objectives of new england metal roof. Our website features helpful information about metal roofing, roof prices, and how to guides on roof estimating and measuring.