Noodleface
A Mod Real Quick
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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!
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If you're looking for a blanket kill everything, it's hard to beat Round Up. Of course, that's made by Monsanto, and they're so blasted evil that it's hard to even believe, and I hate to support them, but there is no alternative that works as well.
If you can, there is a way around it, but it takes time. If you can, this fall cover all the area you want to kill with cardboard, and then put top soil or composted manure over it, and leave it for the winter. The cardboard will compost, but not before it kills what's below it by denying it sunlight. In the spring, once the snow is gone, you'll have a blank canvas, nicely fertilized, and ready for you to plant whatever. I did that when I put in my vegetable garden. Covered the whole area with cardboard and composted chicken manure in July. The following April, I tilled that shit up. It was perfect.
If you can, there is a way around it, but it takes time. If you can, this fall cover all the area you want to kill with cardboard, and then put top soil or composted manure over it, and leave it for the winter. The cardboard will compost, but not before it kills what's below it by denying it sunlight. In the spring, once the snow is gone, you'll have a blank canvas, nicely fertilized, and ready for you to plant whatever. I did that when I put in my vegetable garden. Covered the whole area with cardboard and composted chicken manure in July. The following April, I tilled that shit up. It was perfect.
Joeboo
Molten Core Raider
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Yeah, roundup kills EVERYTHING, its like the napalm of yard products. And while its some seriously harsh chemicals, I wouldn't really hesitate to use it in a yard. I'd never use it in a spot where I'd eventually be growing a garden or something, but it's not like you or your pets are going to be eating grass on a regular basis, so I wouldn't worry about it.
Most standard varieties of roundup would be safe to plant grass 14-30 days after roundup application(I'd probably wait for the 30 day mark just to be safe, but that may be overkill. The only exception being The Roundup Extended Control Weed & Grass killer, that shit lasts for MONTHS, I think they say not to plant anything for 3-4 months after using that, so basically don't use that, lol.
Id probably do something like:
Step 1 - Apply roundup to yard(probably buy the bulk product that you mix with water and use your own sprayer, using the little Roundup built-in sprayers will take FOREVER)
Step 2 - Wait 5-7 days, lots of stuff will be brown and dying by that point, but you'll probably still have green spots that you missed, Roundup the yard again, especially heavy on those green spots
Step 3 - Wait 2+ weeks, and rent an aerator and seed the lawn. You don't have to specifically aerate really, you just want to do something to the yard to where you arent throwing down seed on flat, compacted topsoil. You need to break up the dirt a bit to give the seed the ability to take root easier, and it also prevents as much runoff of seed from raining/watering. If I were doing a whole yard, I'd probably aerate as thats the quickest/easiest route. You could also till the yard, but that would be more work and take longer(but that would probably yield the best results, as you'd be loosening the dirt in the entire yard, not just in spots like an aerator), or you could also manually rake/hoe the dirt to break it up but that would be a HUGE bitch. I only go the manual route if I'm spot seeding a small bare spot or something.
Most standard varieties of roundup would be safe to plant grass 14-30 days after roundup application(I'd probably wait for the 30 day mark just to be safe, but that may be overkill. The only exception being The Roundup Extended Control Weed & Grass killer, that shit lasts for MONTHS, I think they say not to plant anything for 3-4 months after using that, so basically don't use that, lol.
Id probably do something like:
Step 1 - Apply roundup to yard(probably buy the bulk product that you mix with water and use your own sprayer, using the little Roundup built-in sprayers will take FOREVER)
Step 2 - Wait 5-7 days, lots of stuff will be brown and dying by that point, but you'll probably still have green spots that you missed, Roundup the yard again, especially heavy on those green spots
Step 3 - Wait 2+ weeks, and rent an aerator and seed the lawn. You don't have to specifically aerate really, you just want to do something to the yard to where you arent throwing down seed on flat, compacted topsoil. You need to break up the dirt a bit to give the seed the ability to take root easier, and it also prevents as much runoff of seed from raining/watering. If I were doing a whole yard, I'd probably aerate as thats the quickest/easiest route. You could also till the yard, but that would be more work and take longer(but that would probably yield the best results, as you'd be loosening the dirt in the entire yard, not just in spots like an aerator), or you could also manually rake/hoe the dirt to break it up but that would be a HUGE bitch. I only go the manual route if I'm spot seeding a small bare spot or something.
I used the hose attachment bottles of Othro Weed B Gon with Crabgrass Control as well as Spectracide Weed Stop. I think the Spectracide worked a little better for just weeds, but both worked really well and didnt kill my good grass.
opiate82
Bronze Squire
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So I have these garden beds that were overgrown with grass/weeds/etc when I bought the house. But there are some awesome rhododendrons, japanese maples and cherry trees in the garden as well. I was thinking of just nuking the entire bed with roundup then putting down some weed clothing then bark, but I'm worried about the roundup hurting the plants I want to keep. One buddy of mine said it should be find as the roundup won't hurt big established bushes/plants/trees like the ones I mentioned, but I'd hate to be wrong. Think I should be alright just spraying the fuck out of everything? These are pretty big garden beds and would be a nightmare to weed by hand...
Joeboo
Molten Core Raider
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Man I dont know, roundup definitely isn't going to take out a full grown tree or anything, but I threw a bunch on a ton of brush behind our fenceline(woods behind us) and it's scorched earth back there, took out many plants/weeds that were 3-4 feet tall, they were definitely well established. I think anything short of being a full-grown 10+ foot tree could possibly be effected by enough roundup.
Selix
Lord Nagafen Raider
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I don't think it kill a tree but like joeboo said I sprayed that out behind my fence on the other side of my garden to kill a large area of weeds and now there are green lush sections next to the "Deadlands". You could just mow it all down as low as you can get it then cover it with a tarp that totally blocks the light and stake it down hard enough no wind will blow it off and let it sit for a year.
Some weeds will still have seeds to sprout but so few it should be easily handled with spot spraying.
Some weeds will still have seeds to sprout but so few it should be easily handled with spot spraying.
Oldbased
> Than U
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Well done.Slap some shutters on those windows and call it done. I like the solid garage door choice and landscaping changes as well.
With the patio furniture in front you must live in the south. Northerners would never sit out front due to fear of godzilla or being gunned down.
Thanks! North Idaho actually, but I have more guns than most so no worries. Temporary location until we build a deck off the south side
Noodleface
A Mod Real Quick
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Fence company moved my fence install from "mid August" to setting a date in stone of July 17th to changing it to this Thursday. Fuck.
Selix
Lord Nagafen Raider
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Xarpolis
Life's a Dream
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So it looks like one of the 76ers is building a house about 2 miles away from mine. I was driving and saw this giant mansion so I had to stop and take a peak. Holy shit!
It's 25k sqr feet. Keep in mind the other houses in this area are no more than 3-4k (and those are the big ones). It has an indoor basketball court and a 4 car garage. I can't wait to see it when it's done. Checking it on google maps, I saw that they demo'd 2 older houses to build this monster.
Spoiler wall due to image size.
The basket ball court is in the section on the left of this pic. It actually goes straight back around 200 feet from there, but down a flight of steps about 20 feet through the door. The Garage is the smaller area on the right side. Drive through the archway and there are 4 doors on the inside of an ) 2 on each side. with an open area in the middle.
Here is the rear of the main house. You can see the edge of the garage through the columns in the rear of the picture. This is going to be a really nice patio. I can imagine steps going out to a nice pool, but this is as far as they've gone so far. Peeking through the windows, this house probably has another year of construction until it's done. There isn't a damn thing inside except for a few electrical outlets. I really wonder what this place is going to look like when it's finished. Stone exterior or do you think they'll go stucco? I wonder what the gardens will look like. Talk about a nice place.
It's 25k sqr feet. Keep in mind the other houses in this area are no more than 3-4k (and those are the big ones). It has an indoor basketball court and a 4 car garage. I can't wait to see it when it's done. Checking it on google maps, I saw that they demo'd 2 older houses to build this monster.
Spoiler wall due to image size.
The basket ball court is in the section on the left of this pic. It actually goes straight back around 200 feet from there, but down a flight of steps about 20 feet through the door. The Garage is the smaller area on the right side. Drive through the archway and there are 4 doors on the inside of an ) 2 on each side. with an open area in the middle.
Here is the rear of the main house. You can see the edge of the garage through the columns in the rear of the picture. This is going to be a really nice patio. I can imagine steps going out to a nice pool, but this is as far as they've gone so far. Peeking through the windows, this house probably has another year of construction until it's done. There isn't a damn thing inside except for a few electrical outlets. I really wonder what this place is going to look like when it's finished. Stone exterior or do you think they'll go stucco? I wonder what the gardens will look like. Talk about a nice place.
Oldbased
> Than U
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My guess would be stack and rubble stone with stucco on the upper parts/arch. After about 5-10 years sometimes those stones fall off and it would kill ya to be under them if it does. The sides of the house not so much a issue with that.
I priced some columns like that not long ago. Small fortune in just those alone.
I priced some columns like that not long ago. Small fortune in just those alone.
Noodleface
A Mod Real Quick
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Unconfirmed, but I'd rather be there anyways so I'm working from home for it.
I hadn't had a chance to even talk to our neighbor about it since originally they told me August. Had to rush over there after work and meet the entire family that I've never said a word too. Completely awkward.
Fence company told me 6 feet from the road, neighbor said he had the yard surveyed and they told him 9 feet. Not really sure what's going to happen.. I might just tell them 9 feet to be safe, but if they go 6 am I still to blame or do they need to take the fall on that one?
Falstaff
Ahn'Qiraj Raider
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This is a (hopefully) small project that I have been putting off and need advice as to the best way to tackle it. Previous owners of our house must have put in a ceiling fan in the bedroom at one point, and they either cut the hole too big, or the hole from the previous light was already too big, because there is a small hole in the ceiling that just goes directly into our attic. How can I patch this? Do I have to do drywall? I can try to get a pic tonight when I get home to show you what I am talking about.
Joeboo
Molten Core Raider
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That seems really odd that he would build that monstrosity in a "normal" neighborhood. That's going to really hurt the value of his home someday when he goes to sell. Of course, being a young millionaire athlete I'm sure he isn't really looking at the long term, big picture of his financial situation.
Selix
Lord Nagafen Raider
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Good rule of thumb when it comes to home projects is the final blame always rests on you.
Oldbased
> Than U
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Ya post a pic, but from not seeing it, insulate around the box, put in a ceiling medallion spray painted to color of choice and a new light/fan over medallion.
Westinghouse 10 in. Ceiling Medallion-7703700 at The Home Depot
Hole be gone
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Had the weirdest thing happening. My air conditioning wasn't shutting off when it should. My thermostat would read about 76 in the room, but the other thermometers I brought to the same spot (multiple) would read in the high 60s. So, I pull the thermostat off the wall, and the hole behind that bitch is almost 2 inches, and I can feel warm air pouring out of it. Hot air from my attic was coming down the stud bay and keeping the thermostat warm. I filled the stud bay at the top (from the attic) with spray insulation, and was able to fill it more from the thermostat hole, and now there doesn't seem to be any air flow coming from that hole any more. Thermostat seems much more accurate, too.
I recommend you all check the air temp behind your thermostats. Could be costing you money, bros.
I recommend you all check the air temp behind your thermostats. Could be costing you money, bros.
Oldbased
> Than U
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Very good advice. When doing remodels I often take the thermostat off and check this very thing. Also switching from the old mercury to a digital or more accurate control mechanism can save you twice again( plus you can control the swing temp which is at what point it kicks on and kicks off much better.).