Lawn and garden products are among the best-selling household products on the market these days.

"People want to beautify their homes. They're kind of stuck at home because of [rising] gas costs and they want to have a beautiful home," says Ruth Goldman, Vice President Sales and Marketing, Argee Corporation.

Whether you are fixing up your home to sell or simply wanting to add a special touch to your yard, enhancing it with a well-planned patio is sure to bring some added value. All too often homeowners attempt to tackle a do-it-yourself project but without the right resources. Consequently, the project turns into a multiple weekend task that can end up never seeing completion. That's why Robert Goldman invented a do-it-yourself garden product that is simplifying a once laborious project and making laying a brick patio an easy job.

"Homeowners want to lay a brick patio and normally they don't have a clue on how to do it and to hire a bricklayer is expensive," says Goldman.

The Goldmans came up with a Patio Pal Brick Laying Guide that acts as a template to assure proper alignment of brick or block rows. As an added benefit it requires no mixing of cement. The plastic guides hold the bricks in place. They even help with drainage and warding off weeds from popping up between the bricks.

The product works like this. Homeowners decide where they're going to put a patio. They create a two-by-four frame out of cedar or redwood and then they pour sand in and make it completely level. The sand is then misted using a hose to compact it.

Then the Patio Pals are laid down. Patio Pals are rectangle-shaped plastic guides. "You lay them down and as fast as you lay them down you lay your bricks right on top. It fits right in and keeps the bricks perfectly aligned," says Goldman.

"When all your bricks are down, you then sweep in dry mortar or commercial sand in between the bricks -- not on top of the bricks but in between. Then you mist it with the hose and voilà you have a beautiful patio," explains Goldman.

She adds, "There's no hauling cement. There's no mixing cement. It's very easy and it does a perfect job every time."

Two Patio Pals side-by-side make the perfect walkway. The product works to create driveways or any size patio that's desired. There are 10 Patio Pals in a package which covers approximately 20 square feet.

The Goldmans also invented a product that helps you line and light water fountains, trees, or walkways with a product called Let's Edge It!

"These are plastic bricks that look like real bricks. Inside some of the bricks are solar lights. What you do is snap them together using a little connector that looks like mortar. The plastic bricks are designed to be able to curve around a tree or let the bricks meander down a path, both edging and lighting up the area with one product," says Goldman.

While some may feel like natural brick is more appealing, spending numerous weekends hauling and unloading bricks, mixing cement and, trying to lay them out straight could be enough reason to try the Goldman's inventions. For a detailed look at the systems and how they work visit argeecorp.com

Published: April 25, 2008

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Phoebe Chongchua is an award-winning journalist, an author, customer service trainer/speaker, and founder of Setting the Service Standard, a customer service training and consulting program offered by Live Fit Enterprises (LFE) based in San Diego, California. She is the publisher of Live Fit Magazine, an online publication that features information on real estate/finance, physical fitness, travel, and philanthropy. Her company, LFE, specializes in media services including marketing, PR, writing, commercials, corporate videos, customer service training, and keynotes & seminars. Visit her magazine website: www.LiveFitMagazine.com. Phoebe's articles, feature stories, and columns appear in various publications including The Coast News, Del Mar Village Voice, Rancho Santa Fe Review, and Today's Local News in San Diego, as well as numerous Internet sites. She holds a California real estate license. Phoebe worked for KGTV/10News in San Diego as a Newscaster, Reporter and Community Affairs Specialist for more than a decade. Phoebe's writing is also featured in Donald Trump's book: The Best Real Estate Advice I Ever Received and The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Buying Foreclosures. She is the author of If the Trash Stinks, TAKE IT OUT! 14 Worriless Principles for Your Success. Contact Phoebe at (858) 259-3646 or . Visit PhoebeChongchua.com for more information.