Home Improvement

a c i d.f l y · Jun 24, 2018

Dandai said:
Haven't installed any, but I've repaired and cleaned plenty. I hate working over my head and/or on a ladder. That project would be a strong candidate for outsourcing, for me.

Likewise, my grandma always gave me $200 to clean her gutters and clear her roof about once a year when I was a teenager.

I just had 6" commercial gutters with leaf protection installed all around a 2 story for about $2100. The Home Depot folks did an amazing job, paint matched, and really made the house look better. How the water was funneling off my roof in certain areas was causing significant soil degradation or crevices. Very happy, even if I overpaid, unless someone comes out and is like "yeah I paid $800 for supreme extra deluxe awesomeness on a $4m mansion, you got raped"...

a c i d.f l y · Jun 24, 2018

Dandai said:
Pre-emergent in Feb (since you mentioned St. Augustine I assume you live in a warmer climate) and then again in May will keep your crab grass from coming up in dead spots. If you get a plugger like what Lanx linked earlier in the thread you should be able to transplant some of your own St. Aug and have modest success.

I missed the February treatment, but did hit May's. I'm in Texas, so yeah. Also had a good rainy season this year so it's been pretty healthy. Plugger? Haven't looked back, but assuming it's a kind of nutrient injection on the edges to root feed? If so, have considered but haven't researched heavily.

Lanx · Jun 24, 2018

So the tally is
irrigation system 59 nozzles

replaced 25, so, might need to replace one or two more depending on back yard (my zones are a mess, for instance my 1/2 front yard zone extends to the side of the house and into the backyard, however the back yard has the same nozzles being repeated).

with the new rotators the coverage is huge so i skip every other sprinkler (according to zone, coverage, etc).

on the capping, i found my (old) nozzles sell for like pennies, so i didn't give a fuck, messing w/ them, i epoxyed up the movable tops, caulked the holds and tighted it up w/ the screw. Also what really sealed it, is the filter. All nozzles have a plastic filter, i just put a bead of caulk in it.

It seems to work, the nozzles pop up and no water comes out, and its great cuz if i want to change the zones, i just gotta change the nozzle + filter.

I still have to dig up all my sprinkler heads tho, they're all below grade.

hunter mp vs. rainbird rvan. I have both spinning the hunter mps are more annoying in that you need a tool to adjust anything, the rainbird rvans don't. the rainbird spins like crazy tho, i actually don't like that.

in the wind they both don't mist (less water waste) and i don't actually notice the "bigger droplets" advertised in the rainbird rvans, i'll return whichever ones after a while.

Whats great is that before my driveway/sidewalk were soaking wet, now barely a few drops of water, also what i noticed is there are no more "puddles". Some areas cuz of the misting, just gets drenched and puddle up, i didn't notice this until i started just walking through my lawn with the sprinklers on doing adjustments/replacements.

I also have 20 toro precision rotory nozzles, i haven't put them in cuz the threads are male, i bought 12 toro canisters, i might try a few when i raise the spinklers to grade. The reason why i have so many is they're 10bucks but on clearance for 5bucks each w/ a 5$ rebate... so free at menards, also they stack a 11% rebate, so yea, thats weird.

Dandai said:
Pre-emergent in Feb (since you mentioned St. Augustine I assume you live in a warmer climate) and then again in May will keep your crab grass from coming up in dead spots. If you get a plugger like what Lanx linked earlier in the thread you should be able to transplant some of your own St. Aug and have modest success.

oh yea plugger update, the first week, the grass that was plugged didn't grow for shit, but now i see length in 90% of my plugs. some plugs just look like they didn't make it.

Dandai · Jun 24, 2018

a c i d.f l y said:
I missed the February treatment, but did hit May's. I'm in Texas, so yeah. Also had a good rainy season this year so it's been pretty healthy. Plugger? Haven't looked back, but assuming it's a kind of nutrient injection on the edges to root feed? If so, have considered but haven't researched heavily.

Nah, you literally pull a circle of St. Aug out of a spot in your yard and transplant it to your bare spot. Obviously make sure you pull the part of the plant with the crown and the roots. But the runners will spread out and fill in the bare spot a lot more quickly. Make sure you water the shit out of any newly plugged sod and it wouldn't hurt to drop some soil amendments into the hole before you fill it.

a c i d.f l y · Jun 24, 2018

Ah, word. That sounds like effort. No thanks. Lol. I'll see if I can steal leftover sod from new homes being built in my area. (again)

Lanx · Jun 24, 2018

Dandai said:
Nah, you literally pull a circle of St. Aug out of a spot in your yard and transplant it to your bare spot. Obviously make sure you pull the part of the plant with the crown and the roots. But the runners will spread out and fill in the bare spot a lot more quickly. Make sure you water the shit out of any newly plugged sod and it wouldn't hurt to drop some soil amendments into the hole before you fill it.

yea thats what i like about having been diligent w/ my compost since aug, i fill in all the extracted donor holes w/ compost, and i just spread a line of seed hoping it'll take, and it does. There's something magical about the backyard.

Lanx · Jun 24, 2018

a c i d.f l y said:
Ah, word. That sounds like effort. No thanks. Lol. I'll see if I can steal leftover sod from new homes being built in my area. (again)

it does take effort i won't lie, i learned it's best to plug after you've "lightly" watered the area, too much and you're plug fall apart, no water and it's like digging in concrete.

i use 2, 5 gallon buckets, my donor area is smooth, takes no effort to get plugs, 30 fills up a bucket. i bring em over to the barren spots and start digging plugging holes... this is where it gets horrible, since the area can't grow grass, feels like i'm trying to plug in hard rock, so far it really depends on soil type imo, imma gonna do some soil tests soon.

Dandai · Jun 24, 2018

a c i d.f l y said:
Ah, word. That sounds like effort. No thanks. Lol. I'll see if I can steal leftover sod from new homes being built in my area. (again)

Yeah, it's a bit of effort depending on how large of an area you're talking about, but it's pretty minimal if you're looking at plugging 10 or so spots. A lot of folks don't water sod nearly enough to keep it alive and thriving. The native soil wicks the moisture away from the sod really quickly so you almost have to drown it to get it to take. A good rule of thumb is to not water to the point where it's pooling, but I would water right up to that point.

If you can choose when you're laying down the sod, the cooler the temps the better. This guy I watch on YouTube says the best sod jobs he's done have been in December when he's had to use a torch to thaw the sod enough to roll it out onto the lawn. The home owner doesn't need to do any maintenance at all until it comes out of dormancy in the spring lol.

Dandai · Jun 24, 2018

Lanx said:
it does take effort i won't lie, i learned it's best to plug after you've "lightly" watered the area, too much and you're plug fall apart, no water and it's like digging in concrete.

i use 2, 5 gallon buckets, my donor area is smooth, takes no effort to get plugs, 30 fills up a bucket. i bring em over to the barren spots and start digging plugging holes... this is where it gets horrible, since the area can't grow grass, feels like i'm trying to plug in hard rock, so far it really depends on soil type imo, imma gonna do some soil tests soon.

Get some humic acid or Air8 and apply it as frequently as you'd like (I think they recommend annually but I've heard it's effective if applied weekly for heavily compacted soil). The humic acid essentially fractures the soil and allows water to seep down deeper. Some guys claim it's as effective as manual aeration, but I haven't come across any hard evidence of that. The nice thing is it's safe in every way - pets, kids, established turf, etc. I wouldn't chug it or give yourself an eye wash with it, but it won't give you gonnasyphilitus.

a c i d.f l y · Jun 24, 2018

Dandai said:
Yeah, it's a bit of effort depending on how large of an area you're talking about, but it's pretty minimal if you're looking at plugging 10 or so spots. A lot of folks don't water sod nearly enough to keep it alive and thriving. The native soil wicks the moisture away from the sod really quickly so you almost have to drown it to get it to take. A good rule of thumb is to not water to the point where it's pooling, but I would water right up to that point.

If you can choose when you're laying down the sod, the cooler the temps the better. This guy I watch on YouTube says the best sod jobs he's done have been in December when he's had to use a torch to thaw the sod enough to roll it out onto the lawn. The home owner doesn't need to do any maintenance at all until it comes out of dormancy in the spring lol.

There was a huge dry spot around my back porch from the previous tenant's dog just tearing the yard up. My step-dad gave me a dozen or so leftover sod patches, and a year later the entire area was filled in better than most the rest of the yard. I have a moderate patch in the front yard that needs to grow in, but the crab grass keeps holding it back. I go out and pull about 4-5 times a year. Again, even the big patch that was in the front yard from the previous tenants trampling it is substantially reduced.

St augustine is a heavy root feeder, so I've been researching and considering implanting nutrients around the edges to assist in the runner growth to help fill in those areas. My soil isn't the best at this point, so I've also considered buying enough dillo dirt to add a layer or two of topsoil before I go the route of aerating by punching holes in the existing soil. But with the success I've had by simply dropping pieces of sod into areas I may end up going that route.

Not planning on moving anytime soon, so it's not like I'm in any rush. Just doing my best to avoid rabid weed growth and having my HOA yell at me while still having a yard that looks better than most on my street. At the same time, I can't really fight that hard if the guy two doors down has a yard full of fucking daisies.

Dandai · Jun 24, 2018

a c i d.f l y said:
There was a huge dry spot around my back porch from the previous tenant's dog just tearing the yard up. My step-dad gave me a dozen or so leftover sod patches, and a year later the entire area was filled in better than most the rest of the yard. I have a moderate patch in the front yard that needs to grow in, but the crab grass keeps holding it back. I go out and pull about 4-5 times a year. Again, even the big patch that was in the front yard from the previous tenants trampling it is substantially reduced.

St augustine is a heavy root feeder, so I've been researching and considering implanting nutrients around the edges to assist in the runner growth to help fill in those areas. My soil isn't the best at this point, so I've also considered buying enough dillo dirt to add a layer or two of topsoil before I go the route of aerating by punching holes in the existing soil. But with the success I've had by simply dropping pieces of sod into areas I may end up going that route.

Not planning on moving anytime soon, so it's not like I'm in any rush. Just doing my best to avoid rabid weed growth and having my HOA yell at me while still having a yard that looks better than most on my street. At the same time, I can't really fight that hard if the guy two doors down has a yard full of fucking daisies.

Sounds like a good plan to me! It's definitely good vs. perfect at this point. I don't know about St. Aug, but it's recommended to aerate annually with cool season grasses, especially if your lawn gets a lot of traffic (kids, dogs, etc). If you're happy with how the rest of your yard looks then I'm sure it'll continue to do at least that well.

As far as I know, the only effective way to control crab grass is pre-emergents. There are post-emergents for crab grass, but they're not effective on mature plants (more than 2 tillers), and even after its dead it won't break up and disintegrate into the lawn until the spring anyway. The real pain in the ass is that the seeds survive for years and years in the soil so even if you didn't have a single one come up the year before you can sprout an entire field of them if you put your pre-emergent down late.

a c i d.f l y · Jun 24, 2018

I have a tool that I use that pulls them up from the roots and is very satisfying when I hit it just right and the entire umbrella comes up with its long roots. Has definitely helped significantly. But with having mowers and neighbors who don't take care of their yard, who let them grow, germinate and spray, they seed, root and grow fairly fervently. One crabgrass plant unchecked can wipe out a 3' circle in a week after a good rain. I'm just not as vigilant as I need to be. If the ground was properly covered 100% by st augustine, it would be a lot less of an issue, since the intended grass would prevent it from growing at all.

Lanx · Jun 24, 2018

a c i d.f l y said:
I have a tool that I use that pulls them up from the roots and is very satisfying when I hit it just right and the entire umbrella comes up with its long roots. Has definitely helped significantly. But with having mowers and neighbors who don't take care of their yard, who let them grow, germinate and spray, they seed, root and grow fairly fervently. One crabgrass plant unchecked can wipe out a 3' circle in a week after a good rain. I'm just not as vigilant as I need to be. If the ground was properly covered 100% by st augustine, it would be a lot less of an issue, since the intended grass would prevent it from growing at all.

yea when i moved in last year i bought this
Fiskars Deluxe Stand-up Weeder (4-claw) 39 Inch it's a fucking workhorse, i pulled weeds as wide as 4ft!!! all in one clump, the yard was super weedy when i moved in.

still a few barespots, but so much better.

Haus · Jun 24, 2018

On the topic of weeding... I live in Texas and have a solid St Augustine lawn in front and back. I throw down twice a year Scotts Weed'n'Feed and simply don't see weeds anymore.

Now for my remodeling quandary Du Jour....

I have a free standing 2 car garage behind my house. It was built in the early 80's. It has wood siding on it and some of the siding around the bottom as gotten moisture damage and rot. I figured on replacing all the siding, probably with Hardi-board or some equivalent as to make water something I stopped thinking about. I had noticed for a while that the old school garage door (one solid piece door) didn't shut well and seemed a little skewed. This weekend I started taking measurements, it's right at 24' to a side. But then upon further inspection I noticed why the garage door wasn't shutting flush.

The whole building is leaning around 2.5 degrees to the right (looking from the front). The slab looks level as best as I could measure. Now I have read the below article and since I'm redoing siding it doesn't sound like an impossible leap to do this :

Straightening A Leaning Garage - Fixing An Out-Of-Square Structure

But someone else also mentioned "It's only 2.5 degrees, just reframe the garage door and shim appropriately".

Which do you folks, in your unfathomable wisdom, think? And has anybody else around here tackled something like this? My wife likes spending my money so was trying to advocate "give up on it, level it and build a nice 2 story garage on the slab so you have a new workshop with more storage up top!"

lurker · Jun 25, 2018

a c i d.f l y said:
What's everyone's experience with gutter installation?

I've done both metal and vinyl gutter installations on my homes over the years. Neither is as good as you will get by having a seamless guy come out and do it. Way too many joints when you DIY and each one will eventually leak because of the excursions the product will go through as it gets cold at night and hot during the day. If all you're doing is short under 10' runs, then go for it. But anything longer will require splicing sections together. That looks bad and will leak.

Lanx · Jun 25, 2018

Dandai said:
Get some humic acid or Air8 and apply it as frequently as you'd like (I think they recommend annually but I've heard it's effective if applied weekly for heavily compacted soil). The humic acid essentially fractures the soil and allows water to seep down deeper. Some guys claim it's as effective as manual aeration, but I haven't come across any hard evidence of that. The nice thing is it's safe in every way - pets, kids, established turf, etc. I wouldn't chug it or give yourself an eye wash with it, but it won't give you gonnasyphilitus.

just bought 5lbs of humic acid powder, when you think i'll see results?

also note, i've noticed my lawn is greening up, which is difficult since i'm green colorblind, must the ironite i dumped a month ago.

Dandai · Jun 25, 2018

Lanx said:
just bought 5lbs of humic acid powder, when you think i'll see results?

also note, i've noticed my lawn is greening up, which is difficult since i'm green colorblind, must the ironite i dumped a month ago.

There’s so many variables that it’s impossible to say for certain (soil compaction, turf maturity, watering methods/frequency to name a few). I doubt you’ll see significant changes after a single application, but I would expect to see some after the next one or two. Remember that the reason it’s effective is because it allows water to penetrate deeper into the soil. The roots of your turf will then follow the water and grow deeper as well; this allows your turf to better tolerate prolonged periods of drought and high temps. You’ll know it’s working when you notice water no longer pools or sheets down your lawn - when your neighbors yards get crispy and brown while yours experiences some slight stress and perk back up at the first sign of rain.

Lanx · Jun 25, 2018

Dandai said:
There’s so many variables that it’s impossible to say for certain (soil compaction, turf maturity, watering methods/frequency to name a few). I doubt you’ll see significant changes after a single application, but I would expect to see some after the next one or two. Remember that the reason it’s effective is because it allows water to penetrate deeper into the soil. The roots of your turf will then follow the water and grow deeper as well; this allows your turf to better tolerate prolonged periods of drought and high temps. You’ll know it’s working when you notice water no longer pools or sheets down your lawn - when your neighbors yards get crispy and brown while yours experiences some slight stress and perk back up at the first sign of rain.

so if i spray once or twice a week, don't matter (since it's organic anyway), i mean i'm getting 5lbs of this stuff, only need like 2TBS to mix heh.

Dandai · Jun 25, 2018

Lanx said:
so if i spray once or twice a week, don't matter (since it's organic anyway), i mean i'm getting 5lbs of this stuff, only need like 2TBS to mix heh.

Let me poke around and see what the max effective rate/frequency is. While I've heard anecdotally it's fine to apply it that often, I don't want you to waste your time if it can only absorb that much in a certain amount of time.

Dandai · Jun 25, 2018

Lanx said:
so if i spray once or twice a week, don't matter (since it's organic anyway), i mean i'm getting 5lbs of this stuff, only need like 2TBS to mix heh.

The short version is - if you’ve been fertilizing with any frequency and/or your lawn is old (even if not well maintained) then a couple applications of humic acid on its own will have a visible impact on turf growth and health. Beyond that though, you’ll really only benefit by applying the humic with or alongside whatever else you’re applying.

The longer version is that humic acid basically creates a weak molecular bond with nutrients (in your case, nutrients that are already existing in the soil) and this bond makes them bio-available to the plant. An oversimplified analogy is the difference between supplementing iron by eating iron shavings versus eating vegetables high in iron. Your body can’t do anything with the iron shavings because it’s not chelated (bio-available in that form). But the vegetable has already processed its iron and made it organic and bio-available so when you eat the vegetable you can actually absorb its iron and benefit from it.

It looks like humic acid alone isn’t nearly as effective as I originally thought, but that’s not to say it’s not effective. Keep doing the things that encourage your grass to grow (mow frequently, water regularly, and fertilize the soil) and the humic acid will allow for more robust and vigorous growth. This in turn will cause more frequent root cycling (where the plant’s roots die and it grows new roots), which leads to bio-available nutrients and carbon in the soil, which leads to increased microbiotic activity, which leads to more robust and vigorous plant growth, which leads to... you get the idea

This guy goes all in and says buying top soil is a waste of money because you can take any regular old soil and turn it into rich top soil in as little as two months by using humic acid and practicing the methods described above.

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