Home Tips & Discussion

[Merusk]

I thought we had one of these, but I didn't see it through March 2011. Home buying tips, yeah.  I didn't want to derail the resolutions thread, so I started new.

Get my grass to grow. I suck at it. For all the landscaping equipment I've inherited from folks and inlaws downsizing, I owe it to them toi not pay someone else to do it for me. I need to learn this shit.

Step 1) Take a soil sample to the farmer's bureau and have it tested. They'll tell you what your soil is lacking so you can feed it properly.
Step 2) Don't just dump fertilizer. Do step 1.   You'll be acidic or basic and need to add gypsum or lime accordingly.
Step 3) Plug-aerate the lawn at least once a year.  Lets the dirt break up so the roots can push through the compacted soil.  I always do this just as the rainy part of the year happens in spring or fall.  It looks like crap all over the lawn, but the rain will break it up quick.  Rent this from Home Depot don't buy it.

Grass is pretty easy after that.  Keep it watered, use some weed control/ fertilizer in the spring, fertilize every 3 months and grub control in the fall. Voila.

If your house is <15 years or so you might just have shitty soil because the developer stripped it off and sold it. (Happened at this house)  It's possible it'll be YEARS of effort to get the soil in to decent shape.  Instead, you could just kill the current lawn and buy some sod and start anew.  You will need to prep the ground once the lawn is dead by shredding and such, but you'll be happier.

[Ingmar]

Alternative: fuck having a lawn and figure out something native and decent-looking to grow in that space instead. Done right, it should require a lot less maintenance and chemicals and such.

EDIT:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ecoregions_in_the_United_States_(WWF)

Something like this can probably help you track down stuff that should be appropriate for wherever it is that you are.

[schild]

Or sand and rocks. Looks nicer and has nearly zero upkeep. Arizona and Vegas are doing it right.

[Merusk]

Alternative: fuck having a lawn and figure out something native and decent-looking to grow in that space instead. Done right, it should require a lot less maintenance and chemicals and such.

Depends on the part of the country you're in and if you're part of an HOA, but yeah, I agree.  We grew bluegrass and fescue at this house because they're native.  Drove me up a wall seeing the same plants on lawns in Tucson because it would have taken a crapload more.

That said, letting most lawns go fallow means you get white clover all over. Which is non-native, invasive, and kills native plants.  It's the Kudzu of the 18th century.

Or sand and rocks. Looks nicer and has nearly zero upkeep. Arizona and Vegas are doing it right.

You saw different parts of Arizona than I did.  I saw tons of lawns in Tucson.  They were shit but they were there, using water and being wasteful.

[Father mike]

I am waiting to see if the crab grass or the clover will take over my yard.  My money's on the crab grass, but it might take a while.

As far as "real" yard advice goes, I'm putting monkey grass plugs under some trees where I haven't been able to get grass to grow for 5 years now.  I also know that this is a permanent step, because you NEVER get rid of it once it gets planted somewhere.

[Venkman]

Thanks Merusk. I've got almost full tree coverage. All my neighbors have the same, but they all have services that know their shit or something.

I would rather go to full sand/rocks/mulch/land-art whatever, but the wife won't go for it. Not until the kids outgrow running on the lawn. I'd go freakin' bamboo if my neighbors wouldn't pitchfork me for invading the neighborhood.

Thanks for the info on soil sample. Found a place that does it local. Will get on it when the ground thaws. Looks like the webs recommend doing it in the Fall, but I'm months late or early. House was built in the 60s. Pictures I've seen of the house from previous owners shows that the grass has never really been stellar. Happy to resurrect it as long as I don't need a PHd in grassology or anything

[Venkman]

Oh and since we have a thread for this:

I've google'd, but would prefer if someone here had direct experience with it:

I've got a big ass ride on lawnmower, snow thrower, regular lawn mower, push leaf blower/vac, and two-stroke weed whacker. With all these gas powered engines sitting around doing nothing most of the year, I've occasionally wondered if I could hook up an alternator and voltage regulator that would let me power something. Like charging cell phones or using a space heater or something small like, things I wouldn't care if they got fried.

I don't need to do a fridge or furnace or anything. If things ever got bad enough frequently enough, I'd just get a full generator. I also would prefer to not entirely destroy the whole piece of equipment just to hook it up; however, I could donate the push mower to the task because I never use it.

Anyone try this?

[Chimpy]

Does your riding mower have a PTO shaft on it?

[slog]

Oh and since we have a thread for this:

I've google'd, but would prefer if someone here had direct experience with it:

I've got a big ass ride on lawnmower, snow thrower, regular lawn mower, push leaf blower/vac, and two-stroke weed whacker. With all these gas powered engines sitting around doing nothing most of the year, I've occasionally wondered if I could hook up an alternator and voltage regulator that would let me power something. Like charging cell phones or using a space heater or something small like, things I wouldn't care if they got fried.

I don't need to do a fridge or furnace or anything. If things ever got bad enough frequently enough, I'd just get a full generator. I also would prefer to not entirely destroy the whole piece of equipment just to hook it up; however, I could donate the push mower to the task because I never use it.

Anyone try this?

They all run off Magetos, so you would have a hard time doing that.  Just buy an emergency generator.

Also, with the 10% ethanol shit gas that eats carbs, make sure to install fuel cut off valves and only turn the engines off buy cutting off the fuel by using the valve.  This will prevent the Ethanol from turn your carb into sludge.

[Merusk]

Thanks Merusk. I've got almost full tree coverage. All my neighbors have the same, but they all have services that know their shit or something.

With a shaded lawn it could also be a few different things:
  1) They have a different grass breed that's more shade tolerant.
  2) The trees could be toxic to your grass.  I'm pretty sure both Oak and Walnut have secretions that kill competing plant life in their drip line. That's one to bounce off the garden center or a botanist.

I wouldn't put any stock in it being the service, myself, unless it's some local business who knows his shit.  The big services like Chemlawn and Truegreen hire from the same pool as Dominoes drivers: "Must have license and be able to carry 25#"

[Draegan]

I battled my lawn this year and I lost to weeds. Completely replanted my front lawn this fall. Came in pretty good. Back yard is a mess. Having a kid this year took away from my lawn-war fund.

[Sky]

I've got a really nice mix of stuff on my lawn. A couple years ago I let the back go to seed for the summer and it was a beautiful meadow, tons of 'weeds' (flowers and berries). I don't sweat seeding it, I let the native life do its thing, though I do try to keep the dandelions down for the sake of neighborly harmony.

Speaking of services, Orkin is also a Dominoes driver style organization. I had to threaten them with legal action to keep the retards off my property after they completely pants their heads after I called them to deal with the massive citronella ant nest under my slab. Totally incompetent and they structure their 'money back guarantee' to screw you (obvious, but bears stating). They actually exacerbated the issue by laying down a barrier, so the ants had no place to escape except into my house. Citronella ants can't be treated like traditional ants, they're farmers (and I'm not looking forward to the next nest split as excavation is my only option).

And then the moron starts putting out cardboard glue traps. I have a barn door garage and back onto woods, I get some mice, no big deal. I put some of my own traps out. A few days later, I've got a snap and a couple glue traps with mice and three partial cardboard traps that have been eaten away as the mice escaped (and ran into my traps). Hilariously incompetent.

[Merusk]

Glue traps *shudder*

I get why people like them but it just seems more humane to break their backs/ split their skulls than let them starve to death.

I think the only way to deal with ants is fire.  I feel about them the way most feel about spiders.

[Sky]

Necessary evil. I go all Dungeon Keeper on mice, so by the time they get to the glue traps, they've evaded the two kinds of snap traps I lay out. I absolutely hate it and feel like shit every time I find one. I don't like poison because we have a lot of neighborhood cats I'd rather not kill or sicken; and they could also rot in the walls.

For chipmunks, I trap and release.

Fire is good...but not under my house. I love ants...but not under my house.

[rattran]

Aerate and seed spring and fall for a couple years, adding in whatever your local county extention office says you need in the way of ph and fertilizer. After 5 years you'll have a nice lawn.
Then go back out on the road for most of 2 years, have your housemate ignore the lawn, and come back to patchy shit again, and give up. Hopefully I can get a house in Colorado in the next year or two, and just have a prairie lawn.

The next thing that needs to be fixed in this house is the stairway, and that's a job I'd rather move than tackle.

[Samwise]

The next thing that needs to be fixed in this house is the stairway, and that's a job I'd rather move than tackle.

Smart man.

[Merusk]

Just have them custom built by a local craftsman. They all are great, right, Sam?!

[Sky]

Hopefully I can get a house in Colorado in the next year or two, and just have a prairie lawn.

It's a couple decades out of date, but I have experience maintaining a garden. I can be your gardener. If you know what I mean.

[Samwise]

Just have them custom built by a local craftsman. They all are great, right, Sam?!

Alternatively, you can burn your house down and collect the insurance.

[Paelos]

Just have them custom built by a local craftsman. They all are great, right, Sam?!

Alternatively, you can burn your house down and collect the insurance.

This thread has now made me laugh out loud twice with this, and crabgrass line.

[Venkman]

Thanks Merusk. I've got almost full tree coverage. All my neighbors have the same, but they all have services that know their shit or something.

With a shaded lawn it could also be a few different things:
  1) They have a different grass breed that's more shade tolerant.
  2) The trees could be toxic to your grass.  I'm pretty sure both Oak and Walnut have secretions that kill competing plant life in their drip line. That's one to bounce off the garden center or a botanist.

I wouldn't put any stock in it being the service, myself, unless it's some local business who knows his shit.  The big services like Chemlawn and Truegreen hire from the same pool as Dominoes drivers: "Must have license and be able to carry 25#"

Thanks (again). I've added this to my growing FAQ to research in about 8 weeks. And yea, none of the services have anything like logos or trademarks around here. They're all a bunch of guys with big ass equipment but without the franchise fees

[Hawkbit]

So glad this could be posted today; sink drain pipe started leaking a few hours ago.  Fingers crossed the epoxy putty holds.

[Pennilenko]

So glad this could be posted today; sink drain pipe started leaking a few hours ago.  Fingers crossed the epoxy putty holds.

Post a couple of pictures.

[Hawkbit]

Looks like the epoxy held.  It's all 80yr old cast iron and a threaded adapter near the soil stack started leaking. 

The epoxy better hold.  We can't really put a bunch of money into any projects right now, as we're putting the Ohio house on the market in April.  I can't wait to have that monkey off our back.  We're hoping our current tenant wants to buy and we'd make her a sweet deal if so.  If not, blech... we'll be carrying two mortgages until it sells. 

[Venkman]

They all run off Magetos, so you would have a hard time doing that.  Just buy an emergency generator.
[/quote]

Thanks slog. What got me started on this was: http://theepicenter.com/tow082099.html

Seems like the component cost plus time would exceed just paying the generator cost. The current snowmeggedon didn't nuke our power (oddly). I figured last year if we lost power twice this winter I'd just make the plunge. Woulda been nice to remember that before buying the new video card and standing popcorn machine maybe

[Salamok]

Or sand and rocks. Looks nicer and has nearly zero upkeep. Arizona and Vegas are doing it right.

You do that in Austin and you end up with a weed garden (the non smoking kind) real fast.  I for one would much rather mow than weed.

[Trippy]

Put a weed barrier down and put dirt / sand over that?

[Lantyssa]

Water your rock garden with weed killer.

[rattran]

Learn to love the weeds.

[apocrypha]

Get a goat.

[Salamok]

Put a weed barrier down and put dirt / sand over that?

Nope, plenty of airborn crap that doesn't seem to give a crap what kind of ground it grabs onto.  On the other hand the weeds are really easy to pull since they can't dig real deep.

[Samwise]

Yeah, pulling weeds out of gravel or sand is way easier than pulling them out of dirt.  Even a layer of gravel over dirt without a weed barrier makes weeding easier as long as you get to them when they're small.

[Viin]

Or sand and rocks. Looks nicer and has nearly zero upkeep. Arizona and Vegas are doing it right.

You do that in Austin and you end up with a weed garden (the non smoking kind) real fast.  I for one would much rather mow than weed.

In Colorado we use mulch over our flower beds without any weed barriers and we hardly get any weeds - the ones we do get are easy to pull. We also have an area with gravel/small rocks over a weed barrier and we get weeds there all the time - liberal use of Weed B Gone and Roundup only sorta keeps it in check.

[Sky]

I think I mentioned this when I got my house, but it bears repeating: http://www.amazon.com/AVALANCHE-Original-Removal-AVA500-Fiberglass/dp/B002TLSTH4/

Just cleaned a foot of snow off my roof in about 45 minutes with almost no effort. Since it's going to rain tomorrow and then freeze to single digits for a week...nice to have in the arsenal. Not to mention saving my back.

[Merusk]

So how's that work.  Rolls up the roof and the sheeting slides under the snow, which then slips off the roof?