How To Install and Fix a Retaining Wall?

Retaining a wall is a heavy job. You don’t want to lift it again in your life. However, retaining a wall keeps the soil firm on the ground, and it provides a beautiful feature to your house and yard. A well-built wall can give better features to your garden, especially when you have your home on a slope or in a hilly location. Let us learn to install and fix a retaining wall in this article. 

Few Things to Consider

Before you jump right into the action, you need to consider a few things such as- 

  • Based on the location you live and the height of the retaining wall, you may have to get a permit to install it. Check the local restrictions and codes and check with the rules of the Homeowner’s Association before you put your hands on the project. It’s best to consult Retaining Walls Ok service. Only professionals can give you better advice. 
  • Next, go for DIY materials. You can make retaining walls from concrete blocks, stones, bricks, and wood. If you are going for a DIY project, it’s best to opt for concrete blocks, which will stay without adhesive or cement. But if you are looking for other materials, go for a professional. 
  • When the soil behind the wall gets wet, it relieves more weight and pressure against the retaining wall. To avoid this, it’s important to install proper drainage. 
  • You must plan to fix the wall before the rainy months arrive. You need to keep the soil dry. 

Steps to install and fix a retaining wall

Check out the steps below to fix and install a retaining wall in your home. 

  1. Choose the Location

Use a tape measure, and fix the width and length of the wall. Mark the areas with mason’s line and garden stakes. If the wall has curves, mark the bends and location on the retaining wall. 

  1. Dig a Line and Level the Ground

Start digging a trench into the ground, and the line should be deep enough to install the first layer of bricks. Based on the size of the stone or concrete blocks, dig a 4 to 6 inches deep trench. 

  1. Apply the base

Select gravel with a size between half an inch to ¾ inches. Next, fill the line with two to three inches of gravel. Use a rake to level the stones. Now, tamp the ground using a tamper to make it compact. 

  1. Lay the first blocks

After you have filled the gravel, now it’s time to lay the first course of bricks. Lay them in the right line, and once you finish, cut the end blocks. After that, start with the additional blocks. Lay them accordingly, and use a tape measure to keep the line straight. 

  1. Backfill the area behind the wall

Once you have layered the blocks, now you can cover the backside of the wall with sand and gravel. After applying the materials, tamp the ground using a tamper to make it compact. 

You can also install a drain pipe if you live in a rainy area. For this, install the pipe behind the wall. 

Once you have backfilled the wall and installed the pipe, apply the finishing touches. Clean the debris, accentuate the wall with bushes, and add succulents or climbing plants and other decorations. The best thing you can do here is to contact a concrete overlay Oklahoma City service provider. Only professionals can give the special touch and there will be no faults in their work. 

Conclusion

When you are opting for a DIY installation, wear work clothes, wear protective boots, and eyewear. A retaining wall is an attractive and functional addition to your garden. You can always opt for DIY projects, but for a fine and long-lasting wall, it’s best to hire a professional. 

Resources – https://companylistingnyc.com/listings/bills-custom-concrete-yard-drainage/ 

Contact Us:

Bill’s Custom Concrete & Yard Drainage

Address:14609 Remington Way, Oklahoma City, OK
Phone: (405) 755-3975

What Is A Roofing Contractor & How To Choose A Roofing Contractor?

Are you looking for a roofing contractor? Do you want to know how this professional can protect your investment? Roofing contractors Midwest City will have specialties to perform different roofing jobs fast and seamlessly. They can install, repair, and replace your roof and protect your investment. However, you will need a skilled contractor to get fast and lasting solutions. You will need one who specializes in every roofing job. We will know more about the roofing services and contractors in the following. Also, we will cover the considerations you can go through when hiring a roofing contractor.

What Is a Roofing Contractor?

A roofing contractor is a tradesperson specializing in roof construction. The contractor can repair, replace, and install roofs of commercial and residential buildings. Moreover, these professionals know the usage and benefits of different materials and installations. Roofers can guide you to suitable roofing material and design depending on your budget and construction. They can suggest steel, shingles, wood, rubber, aluminum, and tile materials. 

A roofing edmond ok contractor can inspect your roof and plan the solution based on the severity of the damage. You can hire a contractor when you have leaking and other issues. Skilled professionals can help with fast, cost-effective, and lasting solutions.

How to Choose a Roofing Contractor 

While looking for a roofing contractor, your focus should be on expertise and experience. Skilled contractors will be capable of doing the job efficiently. However, the experience will ensure that the contractor will handle complexities effortlessly. Experienced roofers can suggest the best possible solution. 

In addition, you can ensure that the contractor has a license and insurance. Both these will prove the credibility of the professional. You can claim any damages when the contractor has insurance. Check all these factors before taking the next step. Also, you can go through these considerations.

Offered Services

Most roofing contractors offer repair, inspection, replacement, and installation services. However, you can inquire about the roofing services and the team before hiring any. All the team members should have the experience to handle roofing jobs efficiently. You can check if you have specific requirements, including weathering, shoveling, and ventilating. Find a contractor who has experience and skill in similar services.

Tools

You can ensure that the contractor uses advanced tools to complete the job fast and safely. Roofing is a time-consuming and risky job. But, reputed contractors use advanced tools to make it fast and more effective. You can ask about the materials, safety equipment, and tools before hiring any to ensure the best outcome.

Local Contractor 

You should always go with local contractors since they are easy to access and can suggest a solution based on the local condition. You can research local contractors, make a list of reputed names, contact each, compare the prices and other features, and find the best fit.

You can find a reliable and experienced roofing contractor with proper research. Consider the above factors and check the reviews of customers before making a decision. Customer reviews are worth visiting since they give an overall idea about the reliability and accessibility of the contractor.

Resources – https://startupxplore.com/en/services/services-providers/salazar-roofing-construction

Contact Us:

Salazar Roofing and Construction
Address: 209 E. Main Street, Yukon, OK
Phone: (405) 350-6558

Does Insurance Cover Wellness Or Maintenance Chiropractic Care?

Most insurance policies do not cover your maintenance and wellness care. However, you can get coverage for short-term or acute issues when the treatment improves the injury or specific condition. Chiropractic services will have different coinsurance accounts, copayments, deductibles, and coverage limits. Hence, you will have to inquire with your chiropractor to know about the coverage and requirements. The best chiropractor Plano Tx can guide you to the insurance and help you treat the conditions during financial hardship. You can get other assistance when your insurance does not cover your chiropractic treatment.

As mentioned above, many insurance policies will cover your acute treatments. However, some might exclude your wellness treatments and chiropractic care. You can check the agreement of your insurance company when you have chronic and long-term conditions. Most might not support a long-term treatment. However, you can get coverage for the treatments associated with treating an injury and alleviating pain. 

Here we can take the example of Medicare Part B. It will cover a percentage of spine manipulation treatment. However, auto insurance will cover the treatment for back and neck injuries caused by accidents. You can pay your bills with a Flexible Saving Account, Health Saving Account, or a medical card when your insurance does not include the associated costs. 

Which Insurance Policies Help with More Coverage

Major companies, including United Healthcare, Medicare, Humana, Blue Cross Blue Shield, and Aetna, help with more benefits. These plans are available for federal employees, eligible veterans, and the armed forces. All these cover chiropractic care, but the coverage will vary depending on the policy. Also, there might be some unique requirements. 

You will need a referral from your physician about your condition to get coverage. Also, there will be a limit on how many times you can get coverage a year. There might be some approved chiropractors to get the coverage benefit. However, most plans will cover only short-term care and exclude long-term care and maintenance visits.

Every insurance policy will have some terms and conditions and requirements. You will have to research your state to find more accurate information. You can get more benefits if you choose a policy that offers more coverage.

What To Do When My Insurance Does Not Cover Wellness 

You will find coverage in an active treatment plan. That means your insurance will cover your treatment when you have a specific injury, and the treatment can improve it fast. However, insurance companies do not offer coverage when your treatment has limitations and requires time. In that condition, your treatment will be supportive and requires maintenance care. Most insurance companies only include active care and exclude supportive care. Therefore, you can talk to your Wellness Care Chiropractic Frisco Tx to find a solution. The practitioner might reach out to the insurance company and explain the referral.

You can ask for discounted services and other offers from your chiropractors when your insurance does not cover the treatment. Many chiropractors offer discounted services for long-term treatments that your insurance will not cover. Discounts will enable you to continue your treatment with monthly payments.  You can find a suitable solution based on your condition.

Resources – https://trueen.com/business/listing/taylor-family-chiropractic/284532

Contact the US:

Taylor Family Chiropractic

Address:8501 Wade Blvd #240
Frisco, TX
Phone: 214-387-7883

What Does A Media Agency Do?

Marketing and advertising are important methods to enhance your sales and revenues and to build greater awareness about your brand and products/services. Media agencies not only satisfy the needs of the clients but also fulfill the requirements and wishes of the consumers. The agencies have professionals that possess practical skills and use data insights and knowledge to ensure that clients can connect to their prospective consumers. The media professionals identify the wishes of the consumers and help brands fulfill them precisely.

The Working Methodologies of Media Agencies

A leading hospitality media agency will figure out the needs and wishes of the customers and will find out the most appropriate meteor strategies and campaigns for the clients to reach out to the consumers. Media agencies help businesses gain a greater insight into the mindset of consumers, which benefits the businesses and the consumers alive. The important roles and responsibilities of media agencies include:

  • Creating appropriate marketing strategies for the client businesses based on the information gathered.
  • Conducting extensive research on the product/services, brand, and customer reactions.
  • Choosing the most appropriate and profitable media platforms and deciding on the best time for message delivery.
  • Obtaining feedback from the markets as well as from the clients to improve the campaigns and to make them even better in the future.

The expert and knowledgeable professionals from advertising agencies comprise the media agencies. These experts have the skills and knowledge to use different marketing platforms and channels (including online platforms) to generate the best results for their clients. Media agencies nowadays can use all kinds of media platforms (including online platforms such as search engines, paid ads, email marketing, display marketing, and online banners). They also make use of traditional platforms such as print, radio, and television. Media agencies may time the marketing strategies and advertisements as well to ensure that they make the most profitable impact on your business. These agencies help all kinds of businesses, even small businesses, grow and expand their business and serve customers in many different markets by building a positive online reputation.

The Benefits of Hiring Media Agencies

Media agencies not only formulate and implement the best marketing and advertising strategies for their clients but also time and launch the campaigns on the best and most appropriate platforms to reach the widest range of audiences. You can now also monitor your brand online when you hire a leading and futuristic media agency. The best media agencies nowadays have access to the latest resources and technologies to locate the “brand mentions” and to help a brand react to customer feedback in the best ways. Media agencies help brands follow market trends in real-time now. They help your business lead the competition by creating a favorable online and offline image and ensure that the online websites, forums, social media, and other digital and traditional channels support your brand and its offerings.

Conclusion

Media agencies can provide you with expert and specialized advice and help you improve your business in a brief period. The marketing strategies implemented by leading media agencies can bring you greater revenues, sales, and profits at the lowest investment. You can reach out to a leading media agency now to find out more about the programs and campaigns they offer to take your business to the Zenith

Resources – https://trueen.com/business/listing/beutler-ink/213395

Contact Us:

Beutler Ink

Address: D.C, Washington, DC 20009
Phone No.:405-464-5260

How Do SEO Companies Build Backlinks?

The internet and the world wide web are made up of links through which the websites may get discovered easily. These quality links are the interconnection between the different websites and web pages that help them gain more value. It is important to use unique and useful content for growing backlinks and to keep on building them consistently. A leading Seo Company Okc having expertise in building incoming links can ensure that the client’s website can feature high in the rankings of the search engine result pages.

Methods of Building Backlinks Being Utilized by SEO Companies

A leading SEO company may hold expertise in building quality backlinks through a variety of methods.

  • Backlinks Based on Content

Unique and quality content that is well-written, original, and informative and has a compelling title can be a quality backlink. The engagement levels improve further with videos and images. You can easily find that quality content on the web has many backlinks. It is a long-term strategy for organic link-building and search engine optimization.

  • Backlinks Based on Quantity

To be more popular and to be searched easily, a website needs to have as many quality backlinks as it can. Quality publications, guest blogging, keyword inclusion, and other methods can be used for building backlinks based on quantity. Websites that rank higher on Google are a better source of backlinks as they have greater search engine optimization power.

  • Backlinks Based on Industry News

Building backlinks and reference links from the news blog posts is a more recent strategy. These links are specially used for referring to the statistics and quantitative data. Such backlinks can impart greater credibility to a website and web page and earn the trust of the users and web visitors.

  • Backlinks Based on Guest Posts

The Oklahoma City SEO experts may use many different methods to acquire links to the website of the client. One of the prone methods of increasing web traffic is guest posts. The business can start its blog section and can invite guests to post articles and blogs with relevant information. Such guest posts may easily get the client’s website more links. Guest posts are also good for building authority on a particular subject and in an industry.

  • Long-form Web Content

The long-form content can attract backlinks from many different websites. Long-form content is of excellent quality and contains more information and data on a particular subject. Therefore, such content is considered to have more value. It has a unique and interesting angle that can provide for building many more backlinks than you can imagine. When you are creating long-form web content, you should not only think of your audience but also of other websites that may try to link your genuine and informative content to their website.

Conclusion

The expert and leading SEO agencies in Oklahoma City can carry out a complete SEO audit to determine what your web presence and website need to rank higher in the search engine result pages. Backlink building is an affordable marketing strategy that can have immense returns on your investment. Reach out to a leading SEO expert services provider and know more about the benefits and costs involved.

Resource – https://www.fyple.com/company/modern-influence-iqus8yz/ 

Contact Us:

Modern Influence

Address: 10 N Broadway Edmond, OK 73034
Phone: 888-379-2604

Changing the Conversation on Climate Change

Q&A with evangelical organizer Tori Goebel on the difference 10 years makes and how a rising generation of Christians is looking for “avenues for action.”

More than one-third of American evangelicals believe that climate change is a pressing problem, according to a recent Pew Research Center survey. One of the groups mobilizing believers on this issue, Young Evangelicals for Climate Action (YECA), celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2022. National organizer and spokesperson Tori Goebel spoke to CT about what has changed in the last decade and how younger Christians are pursing activism as an expression of love and hope.

What was the evangelical conversation about climate change like in 2012 when Young Evangelicals for Climate Action started?

One of the reasons YECA was founded was that climate change was not really being discussed. Remember, 2012 was an election year and climate change wasn’t coming up in the campaigns and the debates.

We also weren’t talking about it in our churches. As an evangelical, I see how climate change activism connects to a core mandate of my faith: to love God and care for our neighbors. So why aren’t churches talking about it? Climate change seemed to be off-limits. But when our churches don’t seem to care that we are impacting our climate in a way that’s going to have a detrimental impact on our neighbors, that’s really frustrating.

So the motivation for starting YECA was to empower young people and equip young people to talk to their churches and have these conversations—start the conversation. We could help the church understand that this is a way to live our values, to care for our neighbors and God’s creation.

How has the conversation changed in the last 10 years?

At the beginning, a lot of the conversations were “What is climate change?” Climate science 101: “Is this even happening …

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AI Might Teach, But It Can’t Preach

No, our future children or grandchildren will not be evangelized by a robot.

This piece was adapted from Russell Moore’s newsletter. Subscribe here.

ChatGPT, the eerily accurate artificial intelligence (AI) information-gathering and writing chatbot that launched this past November, is worrying a growing number of people.

Teachers are wondering how a genuine high-school or college essay will be possible again when any student could produce, within minutes, a fully formed, original, footnoted paper. Some ask whether this or future AI could do job-performance reviews for employees. And some are starting to ponder whether the smart tech could be headed for another place: the pulpits of our churches.

Journalist Matt Labash, in a delightfully “neo-Luddite” rant in his newsletter, noted that New York rabbi Josh Franklin had the chatbot write an entire sermon for him. He didn’t tell his congregation until afterward that the sermon was written by someone else.

When he asked them to guess who wrote it, they identified the late rabbi Jonathan Sacks—perhaps the most renowned Jewish preacher of the past 20 years. Imagine the synagogue’s reaction when they were told that the sermon they liked so much was assembled with zero human contribution.

Is that the future of Christian preaching? You might respond, “Of course not.” Maybe you just can’t believe such a thing could happen. But imagine trying to explain Google or a smartphone Bible app to a person 30 years ago. What if everywhere-accessible AI could write completely orthodox, biblically anchored, and compellingly argued sermons for pastors every week?

Garrison Keillor told a story about a man whose pastor asked whether he believed in infant baptism. The man responded, “Believe in it? … I’ve seen …

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Put Not Your Trust in ChatGPT, for Now

Q&A with a veteran AI engineer and entrepreneur, Tom Kehler, about the limits of the popular chatbot and the wonders of the human brain.

Tom Kehler has worked in artificial intelligence for more than 40 years, as a coder and a CEO. He grew up a preacher’s kid and got into mathematical linguistics in high school. After earning a PhD in physics, he wanted to do linguistics with Wycliffe Bible Translators, but “God kept closing that door,” he says, and instead he found himself working with natural language processing in computing.

He had a stint in academia before joining Texas Instruments in 1980, where he began working with top AI researchers. He ended up in Silicon Valley, founding and leading several startups involving AI, including IntelliCorp and CrowdSmart.

Developments in AI appear to be speeding along: This week Microsoft announced that it is investing $10 billion in OpenAI, which created the popular chatbot ChatGPT. One of OpenAI’s top researchers described current neural networks as “slightly conscious.” Kehler has his doubts.

What were the questions about AI in the 1980s when you were first working on it?

“Is it going to replace my job?” In many cases, the answer is yes. We need to be thinking about continuous education—you may not be doing the assembly line, but you may be operating the machinery that does the assembly line. The other question that comes up is this notion of the singularity [when AI outstrips humans]. The sentient question comes up. But I think we’re a very long way from that.

Why is there an obsession with sentient AI?

If you are a person of nonbelief, you want to create something that gives you hope in the future. On the AI side, we want something that will cause us to have eternal life—my consciousness is going to go into eternity because it’s in a machine. I think …

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Should Christians Support Making Birth Free?

In the wake of Roe’s 50th anniversary, four believing experts discuss the merits and challenges of the Make Birth Free proposal.

Last week marked 50 years since the monumental Roe v. Wade case legalized abortion in our country—and seven months since it was overturned.

Amid the articles discussing implications for the pro-life movement, one argument in Compact Magazine sparked a ripple of related headlines. In it, Catherine Glenn Foster with Americans United for Life and Kristen Day with Democrats for Life of America proposed that to address the financial motives for abortion, giving birth should be made free in the United States.

This proposal isn’t new—Elizabeth Bruenig penned an op-ed with the same title for The Atlantic last year—but the Make Birth Free movement seems to be gaining greater traction in recent days, as people of faith and folks on both sides of the political aisle are lining up to share their thoughts on the subject.

One response for the Institute for Family Studies explains that “making it easier to have a child doesn’t require making birth free”—arguing instead that existing resources should be made easier to access. Another piece for the National Review lists other objections and ultimately argues that the same ends could be achieved through private rather than governmental support.

But what are some other views on the matter? Four pro-life Christian thinkers with a background in politics and family advocacy weigh in on the merits and challenges of the Make Birth Free proposal.

Daniel Bennett, politics professor at John Brown University:

The end of Roe v. Wade was a necessary result for the American pro-life movement, but it was far from sufficient in its fight against abortion. Pro-life Americans—including many Christians—now find themselves in new territory, no longer fighting …

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Libraries Aren’t Safe, But They Are Good

Amid controversies and threats of defunding, Christian public librarians work for the good of their communities.

In a field in Missouri outside a public library, a few teenagers stood with homemade rockets they’d made alongside a librarian in a white lab coat leading a countdown. It was a warm fall day, with the smell of prairie grass baking in the sunshine. Tyler Clark, a recent physics graduate volunteering for the library’s first rocket launch, was working a bike pump to generate compressed air to shoot the rockets. Clark and Shawnna Thompson, the librarian, had built a launch tube out of PVC pipes and bike valves donated from a local bike shop.

“Everyone run in opposite directions if I yell, ‘Scatter,’” Clark joked.

This Saturday at Nixa Public Library, the teens had learned how to build and launch rockets using just cardboard tubes and compressed air. With paper and tape they made fins and a nose. Clark explained how to make their rockets aerodynamic and fly high. As they set up a launch outside in the field, other kids and library patrons stopped in the parking lot to watch.

“Can I get a countdown?” Thompson said, holding the pipe at launch angle.

“Three hundred seventy-six … seven … one … go,” one of the teenagers said.

With a whoosh, one of the teen’s rockets shot up about 80 feet into the sky, farther than expected. She had designed the nose with more weight as Clark had taught them. The teens launched the rockets over and over, trying to go higher and farther, then went running and slipping and falling in excitement across the field to retrieve their rockets for another launch.

Clark applauded the beginning of the Christian County Space Program and had all the kids sign the PVC launcher for its inauguration. As they packed up, one teenager turned …

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