Around your house 6/28

Gardening

This week:

Trees and shrubs may still be fertilized before July 4th. Tired of the same old foundation plantings? Find fresh ideas among the evergreens planted in the Dwarf Conifer collection. Pruning of spring flowering trees and shrubs should be completed before the month's end. Softwood cuttings can be taken from trees and shrubs as the spring flush of growth is beginning to mature. Continue spraying roses with a fungicide to prevent black spot disease. -- www.mobot.org

Decorating

One-day bath remodeling

On a tight budget? Want a new bathroom in a hurry? Do what hotels and motels do: drop one in.

Complete bathtubs, wall-surrounds and shower stalls that just drop into place right over the old ones were first made for the hotel and motel industry to quickly replace a damaged bath with minimal and costly downtime.

New acrylic bathtub liners, molded to fit snugly over most standard brands of tubs, first are slipped into place. One-piece panels, covering each wall top to bottom, are then installed, with molded surfaces that imitate a variety of popular wall coverings -- from ceramic tile to marble and granite. New fixtures and a new shower door follow.

In a matter of hours, a waterproof and leakproof bath can be remodeled, with a gleaming tub, luxury walls and new hardware. -- AP

Home improvement

Choosing a new roof

Q: I have an old tar-and-gravel shingled roof that I am getting redone. My contractor is suggesting a "modified bitumen" roof. What is this?

A: The modified bitumen roofing is made of asphalt that has been modified with polyester. Regular, old-fashioned tar and gravel roofing is brittle and can tear as your home shifts with temperature and weather changes.

Modified bitumen is more pliable than tar and gravel and is much lighter in weight. We have a flat roof on our home and when we re-roofed, we changed from tar and gravel to modified bitumen because it is lighter in weight (less stress on the roof) and longer-lasting.

If you decide to do a modified bitumen roof, keep in mind that there are single-ply and two-ply systems. The two-ply system is far superior. -- AP