Home Improvement

Big Phoenix

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So whats involved with going from grass to rock/desert landscaping? Is it as simple as digging up the old grass and laying out your rock? Seems like it would be a fairly cheap thing to due with all the free rock on craigslist.

Is there any type of cat repellent that you can spray to stop them from shitting everywhere? Come to the conclusion that the constant shitting in the grass side of my front yard is due to god damn cats, not dogs. Was in my backyard yesterday saw a pile of shit next to my orange tree and upon further inspection a few other places in the backyard.
 

Palum

what Suineg set it to
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So whats involved with going from grass to rock/desert landscaping? Is it as simple as digging up the old grass and laying out your rock? Seems like it would be a fairly cheap thing to due with all the free rock on craigslist.

Is there any type of cat repellent that you can spray to stop them from shitting everywhere? Come to the conclusion that the constant shitting in the grass side of my front yard is due to god damn cats, not dogs. Was in my backyard yesterday saw a pile of shit next to my orange tree and upon further inspection a few other places in the backyard.
What type of grass? Just kidding it's Bermuda. You will basically have to do this to kill it:

Wait until the blades grow at least 4-6" high. Spray it down with a heavier than normal mixture of Glyphosate (Roundup, but their patent is gone so a few brands are way cheaper like UltraKill). Wait a few days and it should begin to yellow. Once most of the green is gone, water the the area. This will force the seeds and any remaining survivors to perk up again. Repeat with Glyphosate soak.

Once it is 'dead' (usually 4-6 days later) you can begin excavation. You'll need to remove the top layer of sod (2-3" at least). Once you are down as far as the roots go (Bermuda tends to travel horizontally more than straight vertically, part of its resilience) you should be able to pull up most of it.

Water well and wait a few weeks at least and repeat your double-jeopardy glyphosate removal process. This should finally kill the rest of it.

Once you're done with this process you can grade the dirt as much as needed, place down weed barrier (if desired) and drop in decorative rock.
 

Picasso3

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Flexible ss or copper tubing otherwise no, because how the fuchsia do you slide it into place.
 

Big Phoenix

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Just realized the roof doesn't have turbines and I don't think there is any ventilation on the sides.
 

November

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Hey all,

I have a two part question regarding getting started finishing my basement.

1. My house had an exterior drain tile installed when it was built. I put an interior drain tile in as well around the perimeter as you can see in the photo. The top part of the channel sticks above the slab with a rubber lip that fits against the foundation wall that helps as a radon seal. I want to install 2" rigid close cell foam as insulation. One of the guys that finished the tile system said to run a poly sheet from the top of the ledge. It would overlap the lip of existing poly sheet (as seen), run down the wall and get tucked behind the seal, so if any moisture were to weep through the blocks, it would hit the poly and run down into the tiling system. Would this be the best course of action, or just install the foam directly to the block wall?

2. I'll be installing the short stud wall here. Since the insulation will give me the 2" of spacing I need, I can place the sill plate and stud wall out where the insulation ends. What's the best way to install the studs against the insulation?

Thank you for any insight.
rrr_img_131960.jpg
 

Picasso3

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1 Seems like a good idea on the poly sheet tucked into the drain lip, don't see how that can hurt.

2 You can use the studwall to hold the poly in place. You could use adhesive, too.
In my basement I recently had a similar scenario on a 10 ft ceiling. I had a 2x4 top and sill plate with 2x4 studs turned width ways in the middle so they're 1.5 deep and used the remaining 2" for 2" xps.
The xps is solid so no wood contact with the wall, no thermal bridging, no holes in the block wall, and saves 2". I could have also filled in between the remaining 1.5 inch cavity with xps to get like an r17 wall if i felt like cutting the pieces. I did run 2 outlets in this wall which i had to carve out of the foam a bit.
 

mkopec

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So I got a pretty sloped yard but want a shed to get rid of lawn and snow crap from my garage, what are my options? I would like to build one myself from scratch. about 8x8x8 Not concerned with the build, I already have ideas on how to do it on the cheap. But im concerned about the sloping yard. I would say from a general guess its probably a slope like for every 5 feet it drops a foot.
 

Picasso3

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You can use a shovel to make the area you would like the building not sloped. You can frame up a concrete slab that's flat on the top. You can build a wooden platform and use posts to hold it up on the low side
 

mkopec

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Well the shovel thing is out. I have like a 150 yr old maple there with roots and all, dont want to go there. concerete is out as well because of the slope. So I guess its building a wooden platform on stilts on one side, lol. What would you recommend stilt wise, size and how many for 8x8' ? Im thinking 3? 2@ corners and one center span?
 

Picasso3

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Depends on the slope and what i plan on putting in it. Prob 3x 4x4 all on low side with a 2x4 frame 16 inch centers with .75 plywood for my type bullshit. I'd want the posts to be bearing the frame instead of up inside and attached through a 2x4