HOME & Real Estate Weekly February 6, 2010 Longmont Times-Call www.YourFrontRangeHome.com G G e e t t o o u u t t i i n n t t o o t t h h e e g g a a r r d d e e n n V V a a l l e e n n t t i i n n e e ’ ’ s s F F l l o o w w e e r r s s A A N N o o v v e e l l R R o o o o m m W W r r i i t t e e r r g g a a i i n n s s c c r r e e a a t t i i v v e e s s p p a a c c e e
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2 Times-Call / Home & Real Estate Weekly February 6, 2010
The recent lull in the weather has eager veg-etable gardeners planning to start early this year,with soil preparation on their mind. Plans are inorder to bring in manure, sheet compost or dig theground until it yields to the desire to turn it intochocolate cake, instead of Colorado clay.
But till too early and you could end up harmingyour garden instead of enhancing it. Despite thebalmy conditions through the past few weeks, oursoil needs this time to recharge moisture withouthaving it turned up by tilling. Let the garden lie alittle longer, and you’ll have an easier time of itwhen planting.
Turning the ground now will expose the soil todrying winds and sunlight; any available moisturenecessary for spring and early summer growth willbe wicked away. Allow the soil to rest and build upthe moisture charge until March or April.
Supersize this by gathering up the snow fromunsalted walks and drives during the next fewsnowstorms, and dump it on your garden – you’llbuild soil moisture as well as strong muscles. OnceMarch arrives, wait until the soil is somewhat drybefore working it. Tilling soggy soil will cause ce-ment-like clumps to form that are difficult to breakup.
If you feel the itch to get outside and putterabout the yard, consider pruning trees and shrubs.
Winter WeatherCarol O’Meara
Colorado StateUniversity Extension
Late winter, before bud-swell, is a perfect time toget out the loppers and shape your woody plants.Begin by checking the plant for any branches bro-ken by storms, nipping them off with a clean cut.
Next, look for branches that may be crossingeach other, rubbing the bark off and leaving openwounds. Once you’ve pruned these off, you canindulge in a little shaping, should the plant needit. Training or shaping should be done with aneye for beauty and form, without haphazardshearing.
Good pruning will take advantage of theplant’s natural shape and requires less work tomaintain. Before you begin, look at a pictureof the growth habit of the plant, and try to keepthat form as you remove branches. Some shrubsare compact, needing little pruning; others splayout like fountains, growing with exuberance butno control. These can be brought into line withjudicious snipping, but be careful not to overdothe pruning.
Stand back and look at the plant before starting,labeling each branch to be removed with a coloredstring or twist tie. After each branch is removed,step back and look at the result before continuingwith the pruning, to ensure that the form is beingpreser ved.
When pruning, remove up to but no more than
one-third of the plant. This applies to the plant as awhole or to individual branches if they are largerthan 2 inches around. Large branches on treesshould be removed over several seasons by cuttingback portions of the branch instead of loppingthem off in one fell swoop.
Winter watering is one of the best ways to keeptrees healthy throughout the year. Dry soil condi-tions kill off tender roots, which take up water andnutrients to support the tree. If, during summer,your trees have scorch, twig dieback or poor leafsize, chances are you need to give them a drinkduring winter.
February is a notoriously dry month for us, sowater once per month through March if we don’tget 1 inch of water from storms. Measure snowfallat your house with a ruler, then write each storm’samount on your calendar and add it up every fourweeks. If it’s less than 12 inches of snow, it’s timeto water. Choose a warm day when no snow is onthe ground and the soil isn’t frozen, then tricklethe water slowly into the soil.
Carol O’Meara is a horticulture entomologist with the Col-orado State University Extension office at the Boulder Coun-ty Fairgrounds in Longmont. Contact her by calling 303-678-6238 or e-mailing [email protected]. For moregardening tips, check out her blog at gardeningafterfive.wordpress.com.
Get a head start on springwith proper soil preparation
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February 6, 2010 Times-Call / Home & Real Estate Weekly 3
form the space into asophisticated and ro-mantic writing re-treat for Teresa.
The space hadgreat bones – highceilings, Palladianwindows, crownmoldings and hard-wood floors – butlacked the “wow”factor. To help
achieve this, I infused the room with abit of color. I put up silvery floral-patternedwallpaper in most of the space, andthen painted the rest in a serene shade ofc re a m .
Then, because the space was originallyfashioned as two rooms and had columns
Candice Olson
H GT V
Direct press releases for Home & RealEstate Weekly to the editor. The deadlineis Monday at 5 p.m. the week of publica-tion.
The display advertising deadline isTuesday at 3 p.m., and the classified lineadvertising deadline is Thursday at 3 p.m.– both the week of publication. For ad-vertising information, call 303-776-2244.
On the CoverTulips are quicklybecoming a fa-vorite flower forVa l e n t i n e ’s Daybouquets.See page 4.(NetherlandsFlower Bulb Co.)
Kristi Ritter
Summer Stair
Nathalie Winch
For advertising information, call 720-494-5445
Teresa is a busy wife and mother, but atevery available opportunity, she escapes in-to a fantasy world. You see, Teresa is a ro-mance writer, and her active imagination ishelping write her third book.
But Teresa had a real-life problem. Shelacked an inspiring place where she couldcompose her novels. She spent most of herfree time writing in a local coffee shop, butshe wanted a space at home where shecould write and gather with fellow romanceauthors to work out ideas, celebratevictories and commiserate over rejectionletters.
She had an empty living/dining room inher large suburban home that suited thepurpose perfectly, but the cold, blank slateof the room lacked passion – and furniture.So I decided to bring in my team and trans-
that separated the two areas, I decided todivide it into two functional spaces, a writ-er’s retreat and meeting area.
In the writer’s retreat, I installed a newdesk that blends function and fancy. Thepiece is a combination desk and bookcasedone in a light cream with a beautiful dark-wood work surface.
I worked in a little seating area for Teresaand her friends, which includes an L-shaped sectional in subtle, silvery linen,and a gas fireplace surrounded with stoneand a stunning mirror above.
I hung soft and gauzy sheers with gold-satin trim that diffuse light softly throughthe large windows at the front of the room.
In the meeting area, I put in a woodentable where the romance writers can gather(and maybe Teresa’s family for the occa-
sional meal) and chairs in a green pat-terned fabric and velvet. Along the backwall, I placed a beautiful mirror-backhutch, which serves to reflect the windowsand detailing in the writer’s area.
After adding some final romantic details,area rugs, vases, pictures and books – theredesign was complete.
This space was crying out for a happyending. So I gave it a dreamy makeover fullof traditional details, cool colors and femi-nine inspirations. Now it’s the perfectblend of fantasy and reality. Now that’sdivine.
Interior decorator Candice Olson is host of HGTV’s“Divine Design.” For more ideas, information andshow times, go to www.HGTV.com or www.d i v i n e d e s i g n . t v.
Below: Before,romance novelist,wife and mother,Teresa had anempty living/diningroom in her largehome that was acold, blank slatethat lacked passionand furniture.Right: After addingfinal romanticdetails, such asarea rugs, vases,pictures and somebooks, theredesign wascomplete. (SHNS/H GT V )
Novel ideas create a romantic makeover
4 Times-Call / Home & Real Estate Weekly February 6, 2010
Tu l i p sA Valentine’s Favorite
One must admireflowers with
minds of theirown. Girls
apparently do, ascut tulips areedging up on
roses as aVa l e n t i n e ’s
favorite. This isgood news for
guys as Februaryis when cut tulips
are at peakavailability anda f f o r d a b i l i t y.
Netherlands Flower
Bulb Co.
This Valentine’s Day, buyher flowers and she willprobably be moved. Howmuch better would it be ifthe flowers moved too? Ifyou agree, then tulips arefor you. While most cutflowers are the definition ofstatic, just sitting there untilit’s time to retire, cut tulipscontinue to shimmy andshake in the vase.
That’s just one of the in-teresting tulip tips availableat w w w. s a v e d b y t h e b u d . c o m , a site designed toprovide clueless guys with all they need toknow concerning women and flowers. As towhy cut tulips move in the vase: unlike oth-er cut flowers, tulips keep growing taller af-ter being cut, plus their phototropic qualitiesmake them curve toward light, while gravitytugs at the large flowers. With all this goingon, tulips seem to dance. Once arranged,they are likely to rearrange themselves.
One must admire flowers with minds oftheir own. Girls apparently do, as cut tulipsare edging up on roses as a Valentine’s fa-vorite. This is good news for guys as Febru-ary is when cut tulips are at peak availabilityand affordability. Below are Valentine’s flow-er tips for men of all ages from savedbythe-bud.com and the experts at the NetherlandsFlower Bulb Information Center in Danby,Vt.
The Basics• Be special, bring flowers. The act of
bringing cut flowers makes a certain state-ment. There’s just something about them. Ifyou know she’s the type to have a vasearound, no problem. If not, be prepared toi m p ro v i s e .
• Do not bring a vase. Why? Becausebringing her a vase would imply that youdidn’t think she’d have one. Even if shedoesn’t have one, the fact that you thoughtshe was the kind of girl who wouldn’t have a
vase might get you in trou-ble. Makes no sense? That’swhy real men (and manyothers) need Savedbythebud.com. Luckily a lot ofthings, from empty milkcartons to coffee cans, canserve as a vase in a pinch.Be creative.
• An exception to thevase rule. You can bring avase if it’s a neat vase,something you got especial-ly to go with the flowers.Want to look really suave?Take your nifty vase to the
florist and say, “fill ’er up.” Your friendlyflorist will be happy to oblige. Note: If youdo this, you’d better really like this girl. Notonly will this approach call for a significantcash outlay, it’s a particularly thoughtful gift.That’s right. A gift this thoughtful is sendinga positive signal. Make sure you’re ready be-fore you hit the transmit button.
• Back away from the flowers. Let her fussover the flowers. They’re hers now. You don’tneed to be involved unless you see her visi-bly floundering. Open the wine. That’s agood guy thing to do. You can always showher savedbythebud.com. Girls can use it,too.
The Mechanic’s Guide to Buying Tips• Buy at peak availability. When it comes
to flowers, it makes sense to choose what’sin season, just as when buying fruits andvegetables. (No, not the ones in a can.)When you choose what’s at peak, you get thebest quality, greatest range of types and col-ors, and best pricing, too.
• What’s at peak when? For every thingthere is a season. For Valentine’s Day, rosesand tulips reign supreme. As a bonus: Everyyear, January through April is also the actualreal season of peak abundance for cut tulips,daffodils and hyacinths.
• Take a tip from Goldilocks. Look forflowers that are “just right,” not too green ortoo fully open. You want flowers that are nottoo immature to ever open, nor ones that areso far gone that the show’s nearly over. Withtulips, choose flowers with buds that showsome color (ie they’re a flower color, not to-tally green) and still have the tulip’s familiarclassic egg shape.
Once the Tulip Has Landed: Care at Home• A quick strategic cut. If she confesses
flower ignorance, step in. Give the stem endsa fresh cut (cut off about one-half inch) to
basically ‘blow their valves’ so they can suckup water from the vase. Use a sharp knifeand a cutting board. Scissors are OK if youdon’t crush and mangle the stems as thatmesses up the water uptake.
• Cool clear water. What most flowersneed is a clean vase and plenty of cool clearwater. Top off water as needed and replaceit entirely with fresh water if it clouds up.Tulips are particularly heavy drinkers,check their water level daily. Most flowerslike those little packets of florist flowerfood, but not tulips. No flower food isneeded for tulips, they like their waterstraight. (By now, you’ve probably noticedthat tulips are real party animals. They’reheavy drinkers but don’t eat, they droop anddance, they shimmy and shake. Party, heartytulips!)
• Keep cool. Most flowers, potted or cut,last longer when the blooms are placed awayfrom direct sunlight, drafts and sources ofheat such as lamps, stoves and really old TVsets.
February 6, 2010 Times-Call / Home & Real Estate Weekly 5
By Helaine Fendelman
and Joe Rosson
Scripps Howard News Service
Dear Helaine and Joe: We recentlyfound a treasure in our basement.My husband’s aunt left him twohand-colored engravings of birds bythe artist Nodder. They are 4-by-6inches and have a letter of authentic-ity from a Chicago firm. – D.M.
Dear D.M.: Books on flora and faunawere popular during the 18th and early19th centuries. A number of naturalists,primarily in Europe butalso in the United States,published tomes on ex-otic (and domestic)birds, animals andflowers.
Illustrations fromthese books are nowwidely collected, al-though purists prefer tohave the entire volumeintact or a complete setof volumes that original-ly contained theseprints. It is important toremember that whilesome of these prints didnot make it into books, most of the il-lustrations from this time period wereonce contained in a publication of somesort. As a general rule, in order for a sin-gle image to exist, it had to be removedfrom a book – a desecration to manypeople.
There were actually two English flo-ra-and-fauna illustrators named Nodderwho made engravings such as those intoday’s question: Frederick P. Nodderand his son, Richard.
Frederick Nodder flourished fromabout 1770 to 1800. He is perhaps bestknown for his illustrations in “The Nat-uralist’s Miscellany,” a compilation of
birds, mammals, crustaceans, reptiles,insects and fish from around the worldbut with a focus on species from theSouth Seas.
The Nodders teamed with GeorgeShaw (1751-1813), the zoologist of theBritish Museum and a fellow of the Roy-al Society, to produce “The Naturalist’sM i s c e l l a n y, ” which was later assembledinto a 24-volume set after being serial-ized between 1790 and 1813. Shaw pro-vided the text and the scholarship forthis work, while Nodder and his soncontributed the superbly hand-colored
copperplate etch-ings.
“The Natural-ist’s Miscellany”was initially pub-lished in octavosize, approximate-ly 6-by-9.5 inch-es, and these di-mensions worryus in light ofD.M.’s report thathis or her exam-ples are a mere 4-by-6 inches.
We hope this isonly a measure-
ment of the image area because if this isthe size of the entire etching, it cannotbe from the first editions, which will di-minish their monetary value.
If the more typical examples belong-ing to D.M. are from the first editionand in good condition, the insurance-replacement value ranges from $150 to$250 for each.
Helaine Fendelman and Joe Rosson are the au-thors of “Price It Yourself” ( H a r p e r Re s o u r c e ,$19.95). Contact them at Treasures in YourAttic, P.O. Box 27540, Knoxville, TN 37927.E-mail them at [email protected].
Create awinter spa
at home
Illustration likely pulled from book
By Mary Carol Garrity
Scripps Howard News Service
For me, there’s nothing as good as step-ping into a steaming hot bath, slippingdown until the water is up to my chin, tochase away the deep-down-in-your-boneschill of deep winter. Since my bathtub iswhere I go to relax and rejuvenate, I’vemade my bathroom into a personal oasis.Why don’t you do the same?
Step One: Clean UpMost of us have a graveyard of toiletries
in our vanity. Remember those cosmeticsthat just weren’t the right color, that hairproduct that didn’t deliver on its promisesand those scented lotions that have turnedsour? Get a trash bag and excavate yourvanity, tossing anything you’ll never use andeverything that’s past its prime.
Step Two: Make RepairsIf you’re like me, you pretend not to see
all those repairs and improvements yourbathroom so desperately needs. Now it’stime for us to face facts and get the jobdone. If your tub looks dingy, consider hav-ing it resurfaced. Does your shower neednew grout? Do the light fixtures need to beupgraded? Is it time for a fresh coat ofpaint?
Step Three: Freshen Your LinensT h e re ’s nothing like wrapping yourself in
a soft, fluffy towel after a good soak in thetub. If your towels are past their prime, do-nate them to an animal shelter, hit the whitesales and restock your linen closet.
Shower curtains are the focal point inmany bathrooms, so be sure yours is a
s h o w - s t e a l e r.
Step Four: Design the SpaceDecorate your bathroom as beautifully as
you would any other room in the house. Ifspace allows, use regular furniture, not thekind specifically made for bathrooms.
Fill the room with great accessories, andbe sure to fill your wall space with wonder-ful artwork, especially if your bathroom isso small that you don’t have room for fur-nishings or accents. Create a tableau in abookcase out of your favorite things, like asmall clock, bud vase and a miniature paint-ing propped in an easel.
Mary Carol Garrity is the proprietor of three suc-cessful home-furnishings stores and is the author ofseveral best-selling books on home decorating.Write her at [email protected].
Turn your bathroom into a personal oasis thiswinter. (SHNS/Bob Greenspan from Nell Hill’sO Christmas Tree)
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6 Times-Call / Home & Real Estate Weekly February 6, 2010
One of the great joys of gardening issharing plants with friends. And manyplants can be reproduced without thelong process of cross pollination andseed production, simply by taking apart of the existing plant and tending ituntil new rootsor shoots form.
Quite a fewplants have theability to grownew roots frompieces of stemsthat have beenseparated fromthe parent.These are re-ferred to as stemcuttings. Anoth-er form of prop-agation, which is frequently used in thenursery industry but seldom practicedby home gardeners, is to take root cut-tings. The plant’s roots are cut intosmall pieces and placed in sealed plasticbags containing either sand or perlite.New shoots will sprout from the piecesof root within weeks to months.
A third method of propagation iscalled division. In this case, the plant isreproduced by separating a single clump,much like separating Siamese twins.
The best way for novice gardeners totry their hand at propagation is to dostem cuttings. Many types of gardenplants can be propagated this way, but Irecommend practicing on houseplantsas a great way to learn the technique.
Start by filling a small pot with ster-ile, porous medium such as perlite orsand. Choose a plant such as a begoniathat has soft, succulent stems, and use a
Q: My husband and I have decided to stay inour present home after considering a move.We ’re doing this under the condition that weremodel our master bathroom. Because ofthe savings of staying where we are, my hus-band said I could go “crazy” and pick out anyfixtures I want for the remodel job. I alreadyhave my toilet and tub picked out, but I needhelp thinking outside the box for my bath-room sinks. Can you suggest some exotic ornonstandard materials available for bathroomsinks that I can choose from? – Judy
A: I can tell that even though your husband saidyou can go “crazy” picking out the new bathroomfixtures, you’re being very cautious in making yourdecisions so that you’ll end up with your dreambathroom. Here are my three choices for nonstan-dard materials for a bathroom sink that you maywant to consider.
• Glass – Yes, high-density glass sinks are in greatdemand for many high-end bathrooms. Glass lava-tories are translucent in appearance and featurehandcrafted quality, making them surprisinglystronger than expected.
• Marble – For a natural look, it’s tough to beat astone sink. Marble sinks are cut and polished fromactual marble slabs, and their look and feel are thereal deal. As far as styling, the stone designs areusually best suited for vessel-type sinks that sitabove the counter, which allows viewing of bothsides of the sink.
• Stainless steel – Yes, good old stainless steel,which is usually found in kitchens, is also availablefor the bathroom. Styles include self-rimming topmounts, under-mounts and even vessel-type sinks.
– Ed Del Grande,
H G T V Pr o . c o m
Sean Conway
Cultivating Life
sharp instrument such as an X-Actoknife to cut a 1- to 2-inch piece of stemjust below a leaf.
Next, dip the cut end of the stem in-to a rooting powder. Rooting powdercontains root-stimulating hormonesand can be purchased online or at yourlocal garden center.
Using a pencil, make a small hole in-to the moist sand or perlite, and placethe cutting into it. Repeat the process,and then gently water the mediumagain to firm it up around the cutting,removing excess air pockets around thestems in the process.
Next, place a plastic bag over the pot
to create a humid environment for thecuttings. This will mitigate moistureloss and encourage roots to form.
Place the cuttings in bright light butout of direct sun. Remove the bag forabout a half hour each day, and keepthe medium moist.
Roots should begin forming within aweek to 10 days. Gently lift the cuttingswith a fork to inspect for roots. Oncethey form, move the newly rootedplants into pots of their own with soil.
Sean Conway’s television series, “CultivatingLife,” airs Saturdays at 12:30 p.m. ET on WGNAmerica. His new book, “Sean Conway’s Culti-vating Life,” describes 125 projects for backyardliving. www.cultivatinglife.com.
A new green,powerful laundry method
Maybe lugging huge jugs of laundry detergent is part of your fitnessregime, building up your biceps hauling around those bulky bottles.
But if you’d rather travel light, check out new Method Laundry Deter-gent. A 20-ounce bottle of the ultra-concentrated detergent, which is 95percent plant-based, can do 50 loads.
Pump just four to six squirts from the bottle and the laundry getsclean. An extra squirt or two does the trick on a tough stain, too.
People always say that good things come in small packages, and in thiscase, they’re right. Producing Method Laundry’s compact recyclablebottle requires less plastic, and that means less energy, as well.
Method Laundry Detergent comes in three varieties – Free + Clear,Peony Blossom and Fresh Air – and in 20-ounce and 10-ounce sizes,priced at $15 and $8. They’re just hitting the shelves in some areas atWhole Foods, Lowe’s and other grocery and drug stores and will beavailable at Target by mid-February. For more, visit www.methodl a u n d r y. c o m .
– Nancy Schoeffler, The Hartford Courant
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Directions: Airport Rd to west on Glenneyre, right on Heatherhill Cir; then right on Hollyhock and Calico.
February 6, 2010 Times-Call / Home & Real Estate Weekly 7
“Slider windows glide effortlessly from side toside, so there’s no strain on arms or back musclesto operate them,” Burk says. “The Slider windowsprovide great views with either 2- or 3-lite config-urations and allow for maximum ventilation inthe home.”
Casement windows help aging peopleBankruptcy requireswait before refinancing
Q: My daughter and her ex-husbandbought a house in 2000 with a variableloan. They were planning to refinance to aconventional loan, but never did.
They ended up filing for bankruptcy andwere paying off what they owed on thehouse. They were divorced two years agoand she got the house. Her payments in-creased approximately $250 per monthwhen the loan adjusted.
The bankruptcy was paid off and satisfiedin October 2009. Can she now get her
house refinanced with a conventional loan, and how should shego about it?
A: Conventional lenders today require borrowers who have had abankruptcy to wait two to five years after the date the bankruptcy isdischarged before being able to qualify for a loan.
Since the housing and credit crisis, lenders have significantly tight-ened their credit standards. Your daughter will need credit of at least580 to 620 just to qualify for an FHA loan. And, she will need “sea-soning,” which is a nice way of saying she needs at least two to fiveyears to allow her credit history and score to recover.
She should speak with a lender to get an idea of what she needs todo in order to get her finances into shape. But she should be preparedto continue to pay on this loan for some time to come.
H e re ’s another thought: With interest rates as low as they are today,your daughter should look at her loan documents and understandhow her monthly payment is computed. If her loan payments initiallywere set too low to pay off the amount that was actually owed on theloan, the amount she now sees may actually reflect what it takes topay a mortgage – even at these low interest rates – on her house.
The interest rate on her loan may have come way down, but sheneeds to pay for real estate taxes, insurance and the principal and in-terest payments on her loan may now be reflected in her new pay-ment. It’s possible that no new loan will give your daughter a lowerinterest payment. If her loan recently adjusted and she didn’t obtain aloan that was targeted to people with bad credit, she should benefitfrom the current drop in short term interest rates.
When your daughter looks over her loan documents, she mightwant to have a conversation with a good and reputable mortgagelender to determine how her interest rate is set, how her monthlypayment is computed and what her real estate taxes and insurancepayments are on a monthly basis.
Once she understands that information, she will be in a better posi-tion to determine what to do going forward.
Ilyce R. Glink’s latest eBooks are “Save Your House From Foreclosure” and “Di-vorce and Your Finances,” which can be purchased at www.thinkglink.com. If youhave questions, you can call her radio show at 800-972-8255 any Sunday, from 11a.m. to 1 p.m. EST or contact her through her Web site, www.thinkglink.com.
Ilyce Glink
Tribune Media Services
Metro Services
Let’s face it. As the body gets older, it can’teasily perform the same day-to-day tasks that itcould when it was younger. That includesopening, closing and caring for windows in thehome.
“When you’re in your 30s or 40s, opening aDouble Hung window requires no specialthought,” says Christopher Burk, product manag-er with Simonton Windows. “However, as you getolder, your back and hands may feel the strainmore of operating these ‘lift-style’ windows. By thetime you’re in your 50s, it makes sense to thinkabout installing easy-to-operate windows in thehome, such as Casement windows that require nolifting action.”
Casement windows, which operate on a crank-out system with a side-hinged sash that opens out-ward for ventilation (up to a full 90 degrees withmost windows), can be used in all areas of thehome. Casement windows are especially appealingwhen combined into large bay or bow windowconfigurations because they allow a maximumamount of light and airflow into the home.
For those senior homeowners looking for asmaller crank-out window style option, Simontonoffers both Awning and Hopper windows. WithAwning windows, the sash is hinged on top andthe window cranks out and upward. A pull-outHopper window is easy to operate and the sash ishinged on the bottom of the window. A specialpanel insert, made to resemble acrylic block, is al-so available as a privacy feature on a Hopper win-d o w.
Finally, Burk recommends Slider windows.
AARP RecommendationsAccording to a checklist of home safety
aspects available from the AARP, ease ofoperation is tops on their list for windowconsiderations for seniors. Another item toconsider is the availability of sturdy, easy tooperate locks to secure windows in the home.
“While locking systems are important, we’re al-so seeing an increasing number of homeownersordering windows featuring impact-resistant glassto enhance security in the home,” says
Christopher Burk, product manager withSimonton Windows.
Another consideration of window selection forseniors should be long-term maintenance andcare. Burk stresses that vinyl-framed windows re-quire only minimal cleaning.
“With vinyl window frames you never need toworry about upkeep such as the scraping and re-painting required with wood frames,” Burk says.
Two-Lite Slider windows are easy for older people tooperate without straining back or arm muscles. (GeorgeRemington/Metro Services)
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