Home Improvement
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Guest, it's time once again for the massively important and exciting FoH Asshat Tournament!
Go here and give us your nominations!Who's been the biggest Asshat in the last year? Give us your worst ones!
Lanx
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Depends how thicc and tall your grass is for maintenance, i rarely use over a battery, 1 battery will give you 60mins on a maintence mow , alot less if you didnt mow and your grass is thicc. I used a battey and half fir the first mow of this year, but that was cuz the back yard was over grown. Also i was still using a single blade when i heard hd now sells the crosscut blade i bought it and mows are alot better.
It has variable speed so once it detects thicc grass itll ramp up the rpm to cut more
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Intrinsic
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I went all Ego line for my blower, edger, trimmer, etc but stuck with a Craftsman gas mower. Even with a small yard it felt like electric wasn’t quite worth it. The Craftsman was $100 something and still uses the Briggs and Stratton engine. So far have been happy with it. I’m sure I would have been happy with the Ego also but now in have batteries ready to go for the trim work after mowing.
On another note, my season kick off project is to redo the playground in the back. I’m sure this has been covered in the thread but there’s many months I’ve skipped keeping up.
Soent this morning cleaning out the (barely) existstant mulch. What I’d like to do is change the perimeter from the odd polygon to a 18x24 or 24x24 rectangle. So am going to pull up the piers next then mark out the new border. My question though, and gap in any idea what to do, is what to do about the grade. From close to camera going away there’s a decent slope. If I level out the whole thing and stack piers on one end, what do I fill the playground with to to level everything out, prior to putting a landscape mat and mulch on top?
Does that make sense? This was all left over from the previous owners and when we bought last year there was too much going on to address it at the time. A lot of other stuff I need to do back here.
On another note, my season kick off project is to redo the playground in the back. I’m sure this has been covered in the thread but there’s many months I’ve skipped keeping up.
Soent this morning cleaning out the (barely) existstant mulch. What I’d like to do is change the perimeter from the odd polygon to a 18x24 or 24x24 rectangle. So am going to pull up the piers next then mark out the new border. My question though, and gap in any idea what to do, is what to do about the grade. From close to camera going away there’s a decent slope. If I level out the whole thing and stack piers on one end, what do I fill the playground with to to level everything out, prior to putting a landscape mat and mulch on top?
Does that make sense? This was all left over from the previous owners and when we bought last year there was too much going on to address it at the time. A lot of other stuff I need to do back here.
Lanx
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so my mow was thicc this week b/c i missed mowing b4 a 1week trip so 14days no mow, it used up a full battery and 25%, i have the ryobi attachment system so i still used that 75%battery to edge grass and trim hedges my acreage is .10 so about 4500sq/ft (you'll have to know your lawn sq/ft soon for seed/fertilizer etc, for that you can use)
Area Calculator - Outline a property on a google map and find its area
any modern electrical mower now will be more than enough for you...
while i have zero complaints w/ this ryobi mower realize that you'll be buying into that companies eco system cuz of the battery, i'd actually look at an ego lawn mower, they consistently get top 3 rankings on reviews vs other mowers and they lead the pack in innovation, ego will release a product and then everyone else will play catchup a year later. (altho i've heard that ego batteries in higher capacities are rare now)
again i have zero complaints w/ this mower and having used corded electric and a full awd gas mower, i hands down prefer this electric mower, everything is just better from storage (you can go vertical), to being light (compared to a full awd gas weight), to upkeep, spray the deck, sharpen the blades and charge the batteries, thats it.
Koushirou
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so my mow was thicc this week b/c i missed mowing b4 a 1week trip so 14days no mow, it used up a full battery and 25%, i have the ryobi attachment system so i still used that 75%battery to edge grass and trim hedges my acreage is .10 so about 4500sq/ft (you'll have to know your lawn sq/ft soon for seed/fertilizer etc, for that you can use)
it'll pull info from google maps and you should at least have your property lines, otherwise you can use google earth but you have to download itArea Calculator - Outline a property on a google map and find its area
www.mapdevelopers.com
any modern electrical mower now will be more than enough for you...
while i have zero complaints w/ this ryobi mower realize that you'll be buying into that companies eco system cuz of the battery, i'd actually look at an ego lawn mower, they consistently get top 3 rankings on reviews vs other mowers and they lead the pack in innovation, ego will release a product and then everyone else will play catchup a year later. (altho i've heard that ego batteries in higher capacities are rare now)
again i have zero complaints w/ this mower and having used corded electric and a full awd gas mower, i hands down prefer this electric mower, everything is just better from storage (you can go vertical), to being light (compared to a full awd gas weight), to upkeep, spray the deck, sharpen the blades and charge the batteries, thats it.
Since I was looking at the Ryobi line you'd linked, anyone know how the pushable snow blower/shovels fare? Definitely not expecting as much snow as up here in NY or at my parents' old house in the Appalachians, so I'm hoping this'll be enough to just get enough of our driveway done to get in and out.
Daidraco
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If you're intent on ignoring the main problem and just concentrating on the play pit - level off the area, comparatively to the rest of the yard, and get rid of all that old mulch etc. (can probably fill some common puddle spots with the debri and be better off for it). After its down to the base layer, put a 2-3 inch layer of gravel down, then put your weed/fabric layer, then put some nice mulch down. That'll at LEAST allow the rain to drain off into the low spots of the yard and keep your new mulch from rotting that much quicker.
Your main problem however, is that the yard appears to have no drainage to combat the over abundance of shade. If you post some more pictures that highlights the elevation better, some pictures of the yards on the other side of the fences etc. I/we can probably help you have a yard thats green and not some mosquito infested hell hole. Just from this one pic, it looks like the ground rises up at the perimeter fence and thats keeping all the run off in your yard.
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Intrinsic
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Thanks. I'll get a couple more pics and details tomorrow. Don't want to segment the conversation too much without answers to your questions.
Erronius
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I have a cousin who used to mow patterns into peoples yards for rich people who had too much money. Some of the stuff he did was pretty cool, don’t have any pics of his stuff anymore. Stuff like the images below. Complete waste of money but he had plenty of business, I think he did it full time during the summer for a while.
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Daidraco
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I'm just amazed at how many different "companies" (like 1 dude each) that cuts grass in my neighborhood. Truck, Trailer, Zero Turn Mower, Weed Eater and Leaf Blower - one stop shop for 60/70 bucks in 10-15 minutes. I bet that price is going to keep creeping up with fuel, too.
Some of the houses on the other side of the lake in the "Water's Edge" community have fantastic patterns. From what I understand, the crew that does the golf course does their yards, too. Even if I was filthy rich, I'd never buy a house like this - but it is a beautiful area.
Some of the houses on the other side of the lake in the "Water's Edge" community have fantastic patterns. From what I understand, the crew that does the golf course does their yards, too. Even if I was filthy rich, I'd never buy a house like this - but it is a beautiful area.
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Will spoiler these for size and try to answer. Not sure how to break up your quote to specific points.
To address your last paragraph: Yeah, there is a big drain problem here for sure. My previous house's yard wasn't laid out anything like this. Was barely a yard since I was on the side of a hill overlooking the neighborhood / city. So looking at this is new to me. I cleaned out that back corner where the three properties meet. That wasn't debris washed there from rain or drainage, it was 90% just what I shoved there after cleaning out the backyard when the previous owners gave up during selling the house. During all our large rains I've never witnessed standing water or moving water back there. That isn't to at all to try discount what you're saying about the main problem, just me putting it in perspective in my head.
I cannot get to my neighbors yard and they weren't out to talk to. I can get a better picture of that area. The below picture is from the furthest opposite corner of the yard. The yard is about 100' on the long side and 70' on the short, just for a little reference. Which all obviously slopes down towards that back corner.
My immediate priority is to redo the play area, which I would like to do myself. The long term goal would be to fix the rest of the issues and redo the landscaping in the area between the deck and the play area and that back area. Looking at one thing at a time the play area is higher on my list b/c we're getting married in July and will be having the family reception at the house with about 6 kids.
Another shot of the existing play area and the rough staking I did to get an idea of dimensions. Also did a quick sketch up . That should allow for rotating the swings to be parallel with the house / fence and allow some clearance on the front back of the set. Originally I was going to move the slide in to the area as well but looking at the size that would require would be huge to fit comfortably. The swing set itself is about 15' if I remember from last time measuring it.
My first thought is to start from the back lower point and remove what I can working towards the high spot to get it somewhat level while keeping a small grade. I don't have the exact elevation change. This morning was the first chance I've had to step back there again. There are a lot of roots from the two large trees providing shade. So not sure what I'll run in to. Hopefully I don't have to go down too much. I could always stack piers for the border. Come up 1.5" on the low side and down 1.5" on the high side to maybe meet in the middle. Not sure if that is a thing.
Collecting stuff to move to the dump and doing other cleaning around the beds to prep for that work also.
Appreciate any ideas. I don't have any budget issues or concerns, or hiring it out. I just like working in the yard and would like to be able to say I did this for our kid(s). Knock this out over the next couple weeks, then pay someone to address the drainage issues maybe. We don't have any huge fly issues that I'm aware of, no more so than anyone else's yard I've been in. It could be better for sure. Don't really have high hopes for that 1/3 of the yard to ever have grass, but the shade is nice and there all day long.
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Daidraco
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The image with the house off on the right invalidates a lot of what I said about standing water/run off issues. So I apologize for basing an assumption off that one picture. Run off from the house and the higher part of the yard (appears to be where the play area is) all seem to go into that lower middle part of the yard (left side on that same picture.)
The heavily shaded areas that lack grass look as though they just havent been well cared for (The rest of the yard could be better, too). You can refer to Scotts youtube channel for all the how to's on that. Im in Virginia so the biggest hurdle here is getting the right type of grass for the situation. Some basic grass seed spread over the red clay here just isnt going to grow. But I bet if you clean the yard up well, and listen to the advice on that channel - you can have a nice bit of grass by July in those areas.
Some of the rentals Ive bought in the past have had some serious yard problems and ya, it does instill some pride in yourself when you fix the yard and you see the yard slowly turn into a well manicured masterpiece.
As far as the mulch/play pit goes, since irrigation isnt a problem - scratch putting the gravel down. Just put two sheets of geo fabric or w/e its called and then load it down with some nice mulch that doesnt have some funky color in contrast to your houses color. The depth of the Mulch is up to you - I dont think it needs to be as thick as some city owned play ground. But it shouldnt be so shallow that when the kids come off the slide after about 30 times, the mulch has been moved away and their just tearing up the fabric layers.
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Lanx
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yea when i moved into my cul desac the lawns were attrocious, so was mine, this season mine is the 4th best... cuz the other 3 moved in after me and all from cali and just get a yard service, which is cool cuz now us other neighbors hate em cuz they are so loud. (the lawn service guys use those huge 42in zero turn mowers)
we give em shit all the time,
learn to mow your own lawn, youre fucking up the noise levels
youre from california and you all have teslas, these lawn guys are using gas and serious chemicals, don't you guys care about the environment? go get an electric mower...
thats what i did this week, everyone likes to gather in the middle and chat and thats what they said to the cali guys that came over.
you know what the cali guy said? electric mowers are weak. i said oh wtf went to my garage took out my mower and said "gracie you wanna ride this?" gracie hopped on and i pushed her w/ one finger (i didn't turn the blades on of course)
Intrinsic
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Thanks for the input. It’ll be a process but yeah I’d like to get that area a little more grassy. I think for the play area rather than trying to dig all that whole area out and remove a metric half ton of earth I’ll build my perimeter with stacked / recessed landscape piers. Do a layer of the landscape fabric. A see where the mulch takes me. I could conceivably do some gravel between the earth and fabric to help level a little before putting on the mulch.
Lanx
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It is both.
But that is the reason I don't want to dig too much up and risk damaging the surface roots and further down any other. Building "up" may not be ideal but hopefully even with felt and mulch on top would allow them to get rain and not kill the soil beneath, etc. I'm not worried about it being safe for the kid or winning any landscaping awards, I just don't want to do more damage than already exists!
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I finally got a break in kids sports to mow. Lanx will hate this image, but this is what my mower at 6”, with a little closer to the house at 4” looks like. It was way overgrown, knee height in most areas. First time it’s all been a uniform height this spring - usually only have an hour to mow, and at that height it’s 3 hours worth of work.
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Lanx
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i'm rehabbing my backyard, the best tool i found is a dethatcher w/ twines, it just brings up all the twigs and thatch up and wrecks moss
is that what you got a lot of creeping moss just spread out and hidden in there?