Jenkinstown Motors Inc.
37 South Ohioville Road, New Paltz, NY
(845) 255-2500

For April 2012, one of our local business associates, Jenkinstown Motors of New Paltz has graciously volunteered a $125 voucher for auto repair.

Jenkinstown Motors offers foreign and domestic car repair with an expertise in Japanese cars. All mechanics are dealer trained and they are highly focused on customer care.

Jenkinstown Motors Inc. – Auto repair in New Paltz, NY

When to Prune Your Trees

In the Hudson Valley, recommendations will vary on the best time of year to prune your trees. Much depends on the type of pruning you are doing and the species of tree. If you’re unsure, we suggest that you do a little home work online or call a local professional for some friendly advice.

For general light pruning, 10% or less of live growth, any time of year is considered acceptable as long as you are not in a period of draught. However, it’s always considered acceptable to prune dead, damaged and disease ridden limbs during any season.

Proper Tree Pruning Technique

Often times you will find what we call “suckers” or “water sprouts” which can appear all over a tree. For this demonstration, we’re bringing back the champaign glass shape of this columnar-style, Bradford Pear Tree. So we’re targeting the water sprouts appearing along the lower portion of the tree trunk.

Mark shows us the best pruning angle to use for optimal healing. Notice that the cut is made slightly above the branch collar or ridge. Inside this special ridged area, the tree produces a callus to cover the wounded area.

That’s why it’s critical not to cut the cut the collar ridge by pruning flush to the bark.

Mark Masseo, CNLP - Demonstrates the proper way to prune your tree.

Remember The One Third Rule For Pruning

When removing plant material always remember to prune down to an area where the closest leaflet or branch is approximately one third of the diameter of the pruned branch diameter.

The diameter of the growth after the pruning cut is about 1/3 of the diameter of the pruned branch.

Have a Question About Tree Pruning?

Leave a comment or ask us a question below, we’d love to hear from you.

Elena receives her huge voucher and graciously poses for the camera with her friend Jeanine.

How we Picked Our Winner

We have as super sophisticated way of choosing our monthly winners. It’s basically all left up to the random whims of a 3yr old. One of our staff member’s kids points to a name on the list, and there you have it… a random winner is chosen.

How They’re Going to Spend The Voucher

When asked how they planned on spending the $200 voucher, Elena thought she might use it towards some plantings around her house.

The Next Giveaway

A slightly wet or damp basement can all of a sudden turn into a flooded basement like this.

A short phone call with the client also revealed that they had a rotten retaining wall that needed to be replaced. So Mark went out to the client’s house to assess the entire situation.

Before excavation of retaining wall and driveway.

Initial Observations

After some poking around, we learned that the driveway was collecting water, partially due to roof run-off being dumped behind the rotting retaining wall, (pictured left).

There was also an existing brick patio. Traditional clay-brick holds a considerable amount of moisture as compared to a modern precast paver. These waterlogged clay-bricks tend to break apart when they freeze.

Our initial assessment led us to believe the footing drain which encircles the foundation was not functioning.

We knew the retaining wall had to be replaced and once we got in there, the footing drain outlet would be exposed.

So, that’s where we started digging and our assessment was spot-on.

 A Cracked Footing Drain Outlet Was Found

Demolition of the the retaining wall revealed that an old Orangeburg fiber pipe at the outlet of the footing drain was collapsed and deteriorating.

These old fiber pipes were used for water drains for about 100 years till about 1970. They’re no longer considered to be an acceptable building material by modern standards.

Demolition of the rotten retaining wall revealed this cracked footing drain outlet near the foundation.

How we Fixed the Footing Drain Outlet

Here’s a tip we’ve used many times in the past for shoring up an old Orangeburg fiber pipe. First we cut the old pipe back to a point where it’s in good condition.

Next we inserted a smaller diameter PVC pipe into the old Orangeburg pipe. Then we used a
Fernco fitting to join the now reinforced Orangeburg pipe with the new larger diameter drain pipe.

Notice the smaller diameter PVC pipe driven inside the old Orangeburg pipe to give it strength. The Fernco fitting will join this old pipe with the new larger diameter green colored drain pipe in the image below.

All Backed Up and Nowhere to Go

Water needs a place to go. If you’re experiencing moderate basement seepage like our client, this could be a sign your foundation drainage is blocked. Sometimes this can go on for years, eroding your foundation underground.

Basement flooding usually occurs in the spring or after a huge rain event like we had with tropical storm Irene. When the ground is super saturated, the water table comes right up with no place to exit.  So it seeps through the slab of your foundation.

Often times a clogged exit pipe for the footing drain is the culprit.

Pictured here is the blocked exit pipe for the footing drain.

The blockage was many feet from the outlet consisting of about 20 feet of packed mud.

When footing drains fail, typically we find clogged exit pipes like this to be the culprit.

Sometimes you get lucky and the blockage is at the exit where you can see it. Clearing the obstruction fixes it.

Unfortunately for this client there were multiple foundation drainage problems needing attention. As is often the case, all of the problems were related to the exit pipes of the footing drain and not the footing drain itself. Replacing the footing drain would mean digging up the perimeter of the foundation. Not fun and much more costly.

Storm Water Management Done Correctly

When the storm water around your home is managed correctly you won’t have a wet leaky basement and the foundation of your home will not be compromised from water damage.

For this job, you will notice that there are two pipes running to a serviceable catch basin.

The pipe on your left will carry water from the foundation footing drain and the new retaining wall drain.

This water is filtered with drain stone. So we can expect it to be cleaned and relatively debris-free.

The pipe on the right with the “Tee”  is carrying “surface water” from the roof and the driveway trench drain.

Surface water from the roof usually has debris like leaves and grit from the roof, which is why we have this exit pipe isolated from the more important footing drain pipe.

The catch basin is where the two pipes meet and most of the debris will collect. The lid is removable so it can be easily cleaned of debris.

Drainage Work Completed & Stone Driveway Installed

Here’s what the driveway and patio looked like after the work was completed.

Cambridge Old English Paver XL - Chestnut Oynx

A Closer Look at the Driveway Trench Drain

A driveway trench drain was installed to eliminate potential driveway and garage flooding. Sometimes this style of drain is referred to as a “Channel Drain.” They are very affective at quickly moving large amounts of water. This Drain ties into the same underground pipe used for roof run-off.

The grade from garage door to trench drain is “back pitched” so no water can enter garage, a good fail safe against flooding due to heavy snow build up and potential late spring flooding.

Driveway trench drain installed to prevent garage and driveway flooding.

Got a Wet, Leaky Basement?

If you’re seeing the signs of water seepage in your basement, get it checked out by a professional. Having your foundation drainage repaired before foundation damage sets in will save you a ton of grief in the long run.

Please get in touch, we would be happy to have a no obligation chat with you at your property or over the phone.

These kits can be installed on a patio or in  somewhere in your backyard. They’re manufactured by Cambridge Pavingstones, a company we can’t say enough good things about.

Here’s an example of a Cambridge fire pit kit demo we put up for a fair in the Hudson Valley:

Demo for the Ulster County Fair in New Paltz, NY.

When a Prefab Fire Pit Doesn’t Make Sense

For the job below, the client wanted a fire pit in the woods that would blend with the natural surroundings, and seat about 20. The chosen site was also considerably wet as well.

So here’s what we did:

• Created an outdoor patio area using natural flagstone.
• Installed a subsurface drainage system under the patio and surrounding area to keep it dry.
• For fire safety, we ran ran a 180 foot underground cold water line to site.
• We also ran underground electric wiring to the site and installed outdoor landscape lighting.

A natural flagstone fire pit for a client in New Paltz.

When your home looks good, people notice, they talk – and that’s exactly how we landed this last job.

The client was admiring the walkway we did for his neighbor and we got the referral. And that’s the kind of work we love to get, referrals from happy customers.

We Also Added a Subsurface Drainage System

In addition to this walkway install, we also incorporated a subsurface drainage system that tied into the roof gutter downspouts. Excavation of the old asphalt walkway made it easy to add the underground drainage.

We always recommend diverting water runoff a safe distance from the house.  Excessive water near the home foundation can result in a damp basement. With older block foundations, water can even weep through creating a flooding situation.

Lisa & Keith Lewis

“We chose Masseo Landscape for a number of reasons. First, because they worked on our neighbor’s property and we were impressed with the outcome. Also, because we’ve heard good things about them and Mark seemed really professional.

We were really happy with how quickly Mark came to our property and gave us a quote. When we explained the type of walkway we wanted, Mark listened to our needs and understood immediately. He knew what products to use and offered helpful suggestions. We love the blue stone he suggested for our walkway because it goes so well with our existing stonework.

We learned a lot from Mark during this process and felt he had our best interest at heart. For example, we thought we would need to add stairs to meet our new walkway from the lawn. Mark explained that he could accomplish the same result by easily regrading an area of the lawn. He was so right, no stairs needed.

Throughout the project, Mark and his crew were available and generous with their knowledge. They addressed all of our concerns and his crew worked fast. They completed the project in only 2 days!

We would recommend Mark and his company to anyone who cares about attention to detail; their work speaks for itself. This company and its crew know what they’re doing and they know how to make your home look great. And Mark’s sense of humor and unconditional assistance throughout the process was invaluable.”

- Lisa & Keith Lewis – Rifton, NY

 

Masseo Landscape is located in Tillson NY, Just outside of New Paltz. Tell us about your project, we’d love to hear from you.

ClearLane Environmentally Friendly Ice Melt - Our lot & driveway deicer of choice. We use it for all of our New Paltz area customers.

Why we Think You’ll Love ClearLane® Enhanced Deicer

• Effectively melts snow in sub-zero temps. Straight road salt just doesn’t work below 15 degrees.
• Lasts much longer per application, so it’s more cost effective for you.
• There’s less run-off because it really sticks to the pavement where it belongs.
• It’s sticky so there’s less scatter. It won’t bounce all over your lawn and burnout your grass.
• Less product on your driveway or parking lot means, fewer chlorides released into the environment.
• When used as pre-storm treatment, anti-icing properties provide advance protection .
• It’s an ice melt that’s green in concept and in color. Yes, it’s colored green so you know where it is.

What is ClearLane® Enhanced Deicer?

It’s basically your traditional sodium chloride rock salt (table salt) that’s been pretreated with corrosion inhibitors and a patented mixture of liquid magnesium chloride, a product of the sea.

Interestingly, magnesium chloride also has culinary applications and is used in the production of tofu and soy milk.

Magnesium chloride has long been touted as the compound of choice for it’s anti-icing properties and lower impact on plant life, concrete and the environment.

You can find out more about ClearLane® and how it’s been classified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) by visiting ClearLane® website.

Mark has been an active member of the New Paltz Rotary Club for nine years. He was President in 2005 and continues to serve as a board member today.  His latest fund raising success was the Annual Win-a-Bundle which brought in over 230 people and a grand prize of $10,000.  In addition to organizing fund raisers, he also helps to arrange most of the Rotary functions and major events.

Rotary Club Holiday Party With Santa at Gateway

Rotary Club Centennial Project Outside of La Stazione

2010 Win-a-Bundle

SnowCare for Troops is an outreach program coordinated by Project EverGreen and The BOSS Snowplow that connects local snow removal professionals with men and women serving our country in the armed forces away from home.

Masseo Landscape, Inc. has joined the ranks with Project Evergreen’s SnowCare for Troops program, a new community-based program to provide free snow removal services for military families with a spouse or family member serving in the armed forces.  Masseo Landscape will participate with snowplow and landscape professionals from across the country that donate their services and time to ease the burden on military families seeking help on the home front.  SnowCare for Troops is a national program underwritten by THE BOSS Snowplow.

Before the first snow flies, Masseo Landscape, Inc. is urging interested military families to register for participation in the SnowCare for Troops program by calling them at 845.658.9148. They can visit the Project Evergreen website at projectevergreen.com or call toll free at 1-888-611-2956.  Participation is limited.