Build thread: house of freedom

This stuff is hard for me. I'm perfectly capable of dealing with this but it'll take me weeks of evenings and weekends, which makes it tempting to pay somebody that can probably knock it out in a day.

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Of course then the problem is the time vs money thing...at most points in my life I've felt like I had clearly more of one than the other and right now I feel like I don't have excess of either. So i may just settle on seeding grass in the area that's already cleared and leave this problem for next fall. Sure would be nice to have all that firewood drying out for next winter though.
 
they left me with crap for space around the back corner of the patio behind our master bedroom. I found myself having to step up onto the patio and back down when I'd round the corner, otherwise the outside foot would slide down and collapse the topsoil.

I wasn't thinking about forum use so I didn't take a before photo. The slope got pretty steep just barely outside the edge of the sod.

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So I spent a lot of the past two weekends gathering rocks from around the property, ranging in size up to the biggest I could leverage into a wheelbarrow, building a slope that could actually support itself and backfilling with about 12 wheelbarrow loads of fill dirt and then topping off with 2 more of topsoil.

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I still may end up putting a little bit of railing right there around the corner just to keep people (including myself) from stepping off the edge in the dark after one too many beers.
 
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we didn't have sod in place before closing, due to builder scheduling it for the day before and then weather came in and it was too muddy to even cut the sod from the field. We were in a corner because our mortgage lock from last May was expiring and we couldn't afford the interest rate hike that would come with waiting.

After the weather, I told builder the grade past the side and back of the driveway was unacceptable and that needed to be fixed before sod goes down. For one it's too steep, also it's not compacted at all, it's like a soft dirt pile. She gives me the number to the guy that did the dirt work originally....like I want him back after doing such a half ass job. I go ahead and have him out and he quotes a $10k retaining wall. Ultimately, maybe that's the best solution but hell if I'm gonna hire HIM to do it. He was gonna throw some gravel down under it and some sort of mat behind it, no means for drainage.

So then we have a landscaper come and look at it and tell us what he thinks. He'll do a better retaining wall, for less, but also suggests we would save a lot of money just putting 2-3 loads more fill out there to smooth out the grade. I like this option.

problem is, we can't seem to get more than 2-3 days between precipitation, which means by the time things dry out enough to do anything, it's raining again. Last weekend I rigged up a drain (the concrete work isn't pretty) thinking it would buy us time, but the first rain brought a bunch of mud from the front yard and clogged it right up, so the water just ran over the sides, washed out underneath it, and then it sagged away from the driveway so the water just runs right over the edge as it was to start with.

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Now I've got all means of downspout catchers, tarps, lumber scraps, rocks and bricks to catch the water and direct it down the slope before it goes under the concrete. Also, a pair of very wet, muddy Dickie's and mud boots. I've got 36 tons of fill dirt and 12 tons of topsoil scheduled for delivery at noon on Friday but the rain has continued longer than forecast so I don't know if I'll even be able to get it by then. Guy we wanted is also noncommittal about getting it done, but we have another guy that can probably work us in and if all else fails, my father in law has a skid steer and we'll just do it ourselves.

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but at least the back yard is cool.

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The drainage saga continues. The pond liner and riprap was always intended to be temporary but we got a heavy rainstorm which washed it out, again. Fortunately it exposed the pipe I had buried months ago for the first attempt at the drain and I had plugged, for a rainy day (I crack myself up!).

So I bought a 6 to 4 eccentric reducer, notched it to fit the edge of the driveway and poured a curb over it.

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That turned out to be enough for about 95% of our storms, but occasionally we get these gullywashers that will dump 2 inches of rain in half an hour, and this happened.

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It exceeded the capacity of the drain and started running around the end of the curb and found the tiny trench my Internet company left when they buried the fiber...promptly washing it out. I piled some mulch bags at the end of the curb and it seemed to hold it back, or at least direct it farther up the hill where it wouldn't flow fast enough to cause any damage.

I added to it this week.

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I'm pretty pleased with myself over the level of improvement in concrete finishing between my second ever concrete job and my third. Its just one pipe but i doubled up on the entrances to get more cross section since the water depth won't get as high there. There's enough pitch that if the water reaches the end of the curb, it still won't overflow at the corner and should be about halfway up the overflow drains. By that point I have to think that what little water makes it around the curb would be small enough volume as not to cause significant erosion, but if it does, my next move will have to be cutting across the driveway and installing a channel drain to intercept everything coming off our front yard and our neighbor's driveway before it gets back here.
 
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working on getting the backyard to be usable, and by that I mean not overrun with ticks and copperheads. That means eliminating the places they like to hide.

I dispensed $160 worth of Roundup a couple weeks ago, gave it a couple of weeks to do it's work and then mowed and bagged it with my push mower, to minimize the amount of poison ivy debris left on the ground. Then I pulled the rake behind the mower making several passes to pull most of the mulch into piles, spread grass seed, raked again, and let the rainstorm that night water it in.

The roundup seemed to kill a portion of it but there was still quite a bit that looked alive and well. I'm gonna give the grass (bermuda) a chance to choke out what's left.

Now to water and wait.

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working on getting the backyard to be usable, and by that I mean not overrun with ticks and copperheads. That means eliminating the places they like to hide.

I dispensed $160 worth of Roundup a couple weeks ago, gave it a couple of weeks to do it's work and then mowed and bagged it with my push mower, to minimize the amount of poison ivy debris left on the ground. Then I pulled the rake behind the mower making several passes to pull most of the mulch into piles, spread grass seed, raked again, and let the rainstorm that night water it in.

The roundup seemed to kill a portion of it but there was still quite a bit that looked alive and well. I'm gonna give the grass (bermuda) a chance to choke out what's left.

Now to water and wait.

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You willfully planted Bermuda grass? I have that shit in my yard and have been working at eradicating it for 5 years now. It really ruins a nice fescue/bluegrass mix.
 
You willfully planted Bermuda grass? I have that shit in my yard and have been working at eradicating it for 5 years now. It really ruins a nice fescue/bluegrass mix.

I hate it (and am actually allergic to it) but unfortunately it's the only thing that will survive the summer heat we get here. Fescues will do ok in the shade, but in the sun it takes more water than I can reliably supply without irrigation, and its too late this year for it to have a chance to get established before July scorches it.

The intent is once my wife gets out of school and some money frees up, we'll go back and install a sprinkler system and then I can either overseed with fescue or kill the bermuda and lay fescue sod.
 
You willfully planted Bermuda grass?

it's the only thing that will survive the summer heat we get here.

Bermuda grass is super common here, as it's one of the few that can take the heat in summer. Besides that, it's tough enough to drive on. I don't mind it. You just keep it short and it stays green. Overseed with a fescue blend for green into the cooler months.
 
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I hate it (and am actually allergic to it) but unfortunately it's the only thing that will survive the summer heat we get here. Fescues will do ok in the shade, but in the sun it takes more water than I can reliably supply without irrigation, and its too late this year for it to have a chance to get established before July scorches it.

The intent is once my wife gets out of school and some money frees up, we'll go back and install a sprinkler system and then I can either overseed with fescue or kill the bermuda and lay fescue sod.

The problem is that is very hard to get rid of. Round up won't do it. It will kill it for the season, but it will come back (trust me on that). Even though its a warm season grass and I live in a cool season zone, that shit seems to do OK here. Not good enough to make a yard...but good enough to ruin a yard of another species. A utility company absolutely destroyed my yard a few years ago, when they came through to upgrade their lines. I live on a corner lot and I guess there are two or three junctions in the easement. They "repaired" the area, but I think they had seeds on the equipment or something, and it took me a lot of time to restore it, up to and including rototilling 50% of the yard and scooping the organic material out. Its still not gone, but I have it beaten back to where its manageable. Every now and again, I go out and pull whats left.
 
Bermuda grass is super common here, as it's one of the few that can take the heat in summer. Besides that, it's tough enough to drive on. I don't mind it. You just keep it short and it stays green. Overseed with a fescue blend for green into the cooler months.

Yeah, I get that down south. If you want a green lawn, you have to use st Augustine, Burmuda, Zoyosia, or some other coarse blade, Warm season grass. Up here, we have the luxury of being able to plant the cool season grasses. In OK, where @freedom_in_4low in 4 low is, I think you could go either way.
 
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Yeah, I get that down south. If you want a green lawn, you have to use st Augustine, Burmuda, Zoyosia, or some other coarse blade, Warm season grass. Up here, we have the luxury of being able to plant the cool season grasses. In OK, where @freedom_in_4low in 4 low is, I think you could go either way.

I think climate plays a big role, cause Bermuda seems to act differently here than what you describe. It actually will die out and leave bald spots in areas with heavy shade, so we end up with Bermuda where it gets blasted by the sun and fescue filling in the shady patches. I have LOTS of shade. It's also not as hard to kill, even despite being a warm season grass it gets more sensitive to herbicides with temps consistently over 90. Some people use roundup as pre-emergent while the Bermuda is dormant and it doesn't die, but my parents had a friend who did it in February right before an unseasonably warm week, the Bermuda woke up and the roundup wiped it out.

Our winters are cold but our summers are HOT. Eastern Oklahoma is more similar to what people think of as "the south" but we are more like Texas. Highs for the next two weeks are floating around 100.

I miss the bluegrass we had in Colorado. Prettier shade of green, felt so much better under my feet, and only had to mow about twice a month. Don't miss the $300 water bills to keep it alive though.
 
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The problem is that is very hard to get rid of. Round up won't do it. It will kill it for the season, but it will come back (trust me on that). Even though its a warm season grass and I live in a cool season zone, that shit seems to do OK here. Not good enough to make a yard...but good enough to ruin a yard of another species. A utility company absolutely destroyed my yard a few years ago, when they came through to upgrade their lines. I live on a corner lot and I guess there are two or three junctions in the easement. They "repaired" the area, but I think they had seeds on the equipment or something, and it took me a lot of time to restore it, up to and including rototilling 50% of the yard and scooping the organic material out. Its still not gone, but I have it beaten back to where its manageable. Every now and again, I go out and pull whats left.

I have been reading a lot about "NoLawn" this past month. The idea is to not have a high water consumption monoculture lawn, but instead to carefully choose alternatives with a strong emphasis on native plants, conservation. rain gardens, xeriscaping etc. There is one house in my neighborhood that did that after covid and their front lawn looks amazing now after 3 years. It really sparked my interest this spring since everything seems to be nicely set now and it became very beautiful.

I will share some photos tomorrow .. I actually talked to the guy and they did the same in their backyard too. It's an absolute treats and it feels like a real garden instead of just a landscaped grass lawn. When I buy a house I am so doing something like this. He said that once you get them all planted the garden kinda takes care of itself for the most part and I believe that.

Found one from earlier in the year as things were just staring to come back to life, I would take this anyday over grass.

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I have been reading a lot about "NoLawn" this past month. The idea is to not have a high water consumption monoculture lawn, but instead to carefully choose alternatives with a strong emphasis on native plants, conservation. rain gardens, xeriscaping etc. There is one house in my neighborhood that did that after covid and their front lawn looks amazing now after 3 years. It really sparked my interest this spring since everything seems to be nicely set now and it became very beautiful.

I will share some photos tomorrow .. I actually talked to the guy and they did the same in their backyard too. It's an absolute treats and it feels like a real garden instead of just a landscaped grass lawn. When I buy a house I am so doing something like this. He said that once you get them all planted the garden kinda takes care of itself for the most part and I believe that.

Found one from earlier in the year as things were just staring to come back to life, I would take this anyday over grass.

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The whole "English Manor House" model is just wrong. Waste of land, waste of water, waste of money. I like the traditional houses found in Morocco and other places throughout the middle east - that often come right up to the street but face inward with a beautiful atrium. What with bullshit setback regulations in this country, you can't even use your front yard for much. Once in a while, you'll see a wall or fence built around a front yard in a locale that allows it - that's the most sensible thing to do with it if you can. The above picture is the next best, I like it for what it is.
 
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The whole "English Manor House" model is just wrong. Waste of land, waste of water, waste of money. I like the traditional houses found in Morocco and other places throughout the middle east - that often come right up to the street but face inward with a beautiful atrium. What with bullshit setback regulations in this country, you can't even use your front yard for much. Once in a while, you'll see a wall or fence built around a front yard in a locale that allows it - that's the most sensible thing to do with it if you can. The above picture is the next best, I like it for what it is.

This is also one of the many reasons why I will never buy in a HOA neighborhood.
 
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I have been reading a lot about "NoLawn" this past month. The idea is to not have a high water consumption monoculture lawn, but instead to carefully choose alternatives with a strong emphasis on native plants, conservation. rain gardens, xeriscaping etc. There is one house in my neighborhood that did that after covid and their front lawn looks amazing now after 3 years. It really sparked my interest this spring since everything seems to be nicely set now and it became very beautiful.

I will share some photos tomorrow .. I actually talked to the guy and they did the same in their backyard too. It's an absolute treats and it feels like a real garden instead of just a landscaped grass lawn. When I buy a house I am so doing something like this. He said that once you get them all planted the garden kinda takes care of itself for the most part and I believe that.

Found one from earlier in the year as things were just staring to come back to life, I would take this anyday over grass.

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I do have some areas that are unmowable due to the grade and/or terrain and with grass I'll have to do it with a line trimmer, which is super time consuming. I plan on doing something like this, though probably not this diverse at least to start.

The first area is a rocky slope from the grade where the house sits down to another level about 10-15' lower that comprises the main "back yard". It's kindof an arc shape that runs around 2 sides of the house. The terrain is completely natural but somehow somewhat terraced, but not evenly. Too many rocks and narrow spots to get a mower through it. Right now it's overgrown with oak saplings and brush, and had a lot of poison ivy/poison oak as well but I think I've successfully wiped that out. Once I get the rest of the brush taken care of I plan on seeding this with clover.

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This slope along the driveway already has grass because we had to sod it before spring to keep the erosion under control. This I plan to build terraced gardens on, where we'll probably plant vegetables or something. The areas nearest the basketball goal will be clover so we don't have the kids destroying our food.

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@Mike_H There are a couple of spots that I was ahead of the game for and seeded fescue back in late Februrary and now have healthy, established grass.

This is the first place I did because it was right off the back patio and looked like butt when the ran out of sod. Being well shaded, I bought a big bag of fescue and used part of it here (past the blue line). (the image also highlights how hard it has been to get the lawn mowed with all the rain we've gotten this week)

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I still had a bunch left so I put it where I knew it would get plenty of water with zero of my own intervention...because it's the spray area from the sprinkler heads for my aerobic/septic system. It's super thick and lush, especially since I haven't mowed it in a couple weeks after a close call with a copperhead just a few feet from the edge of the grass. I'm looking forward to burning that brush pile and having grass in places that aren't sprayed several times per week with what comes from our toilets.

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And last, the kids swingset - this was actually an experiment because I had just a little bit left in the bag and wanted softer grass for the kids to play on. I raked and seeded but completely neglected watering it at all to see if it would still come in with natural rainfall only because I was too busy with other stuff to drag 250' of hose down there on a daily basis. It took a while, but it did eventually, and a little sparse in spots. The key was seeding in late Feb or early March and we had an uncharacteristically cool start to summer. We've barely seen 90 until somebody flipped the switch this week.

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The whole "English Manor House" model is just wrong. Waste of land, waste of water, waste of money. I like the traditional houses found in Morocco and other places throughout the middle east - that often come right up to the street but face inward with a beautiful atrium. What with bullshit setback regulations in this country, you can't even use your front yard for much. Once in a while, you'll see a wall or fence built around a front yard in a locale that allows it - that's the most sensible thing to do with it if you can. The above picture is the next best, I like it for what it is.

I'm with you regarding typical suburbia where people have oversized yards and resource-hungry lawns that they rarely use, but I'm grateful for the option to have semi-rural living where I can go in my backyard and forget society exists without having to be a farmer. I have my front yard and patio if I'm feeling social, but from behind the house I can't even see another structure and I LOVE it. I have the space and terrain for a proper backstop on a 150yard shooting range, though I'll use a suppressor out of courtesy. Insects and frogs are the dominant source of ambient noise instead of traffic and music other people think I want to hear. It's on average ~8°F cooler here than in town 5 miles west because I have plant life absorbing solar energy instead of acres of pavement to radiate it back at me. I went out to take a leak off the back patio yesterday mid-morning just because I can, and made eye contact with a whitetail doe. It's not for everybody, and that's ok, but it's my happy place.
 
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I'm with you regarding typical suburbia where people have oversized yards and resource-hungry lawns that they rarely use, but I'm grateful for the option to have semi-rural living where I can go in my backyard and forget society exists without having to be a farmer. I have my front yard and patio if I'm feeling social, but from behind the house I can't even see another structure and I LOVE it. I have the space and terrain for a proper backstop on a 150yard shooting range, though I'll use a suppressor out of courtesy. Insects and frogs are the dominant source of ambient noise instead of traffic and music other people think I want to hear. It's on average ~8°F cooler here than in town 5 miles west because I have plant life absorbing solar energy instead of acres of pavement to radiate it back at me. I went out to take a leak off the back patio yesterday mid-morning just because I can, and made eye contact with a whitetail doe. It's not for everybody, and that's ok, but it's my happy place.

Yea - my comments are intended for suburbia. I grew up in the country, I know what its like. It has its good and bad points. Taking 30 minutes to get a gallon of milk isn't one of the the good points!
 
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Yea - my comments are intended for suburbia. I grew up in the country, I know what its like. It has its good and bad points. Taking 30 minutes to get a gallon of milk isn't one of the the good points!

valid. I grew up about 50/50 between country and suburbia. The way I see it is country life has peace and quiet and privacy in exchange for having to maintain it and drive everywhere you need to go, and European style city life has some bustle but you don't spend resources on a lawn and you can walk anywhere you need to go and save driving for pleasure. Suburbia combines the worst of both with the best of neither.

I should acknowledge though that I'm fortunate to have the opportunity to make that choice. One thing suburbia does have going for it is affordability compared to the other options, as well as generally better public schools. But I believe those to be circumstantial, de facto characteristics rather than an intended feature.
 
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