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Ya'll like drainage challenges? I'm getting my driveway repaved and I have an ash cleanout for a fireplace which is extremely close to the surface on the uphill corner. This seems to be causing problems with water intrusion so the question is, what should I do to move water away? The general advice I'm seeing online is "regrade, don't pave", but I have extremely limited room so I'm struggling to figure out exactly what to do. I'd ideally like to keep the planter area under the window, so maybe something like a tiered concreted planter system into a french drain to pull any water that somehow does get in away?   
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Nov 6, 2023 01:44
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I shoveled a yard of top soil here because I was tired of hitting the concrete with my zero turn deck and having to come back with the string trimmer. If I want it to look nice, how far do I need to keep the dirt below the concrete to allow height for sod? How much should I compact the soil? I’ve never bought more than a few bags of dirt. 
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Nov 7, 2023 00:13
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eddiewalker posted:I shoveled a yard of top soil here because I was tired of hitting the concrete with my zero turn deck and having to come back with the string trimmer. If you want it to look nice you're still going to have to edge it with your string trimmer (or an edger I guess....). I'd plan to run soil to or about an inch below the concrete. How much you need to compact/home much you need to add is more art than science, and has everything to do with the soil you've brought in and how you're putting it down. A good starting point is that if your "lift" is 4" or so, which I assume it must be if you're barking your mower deck on it, fill to the concrete level or a bit higher. It should settle an inch or two. You may need to add more soil after a few good rainstorms, which is how you want it to compact (although I would absolutely just walk/foot compact right up against the concrete as a first step). It just takes time. And you may find you need to add some more next season anyway.
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Nov 7, 2023 00:25
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Does clover need water in winter? Zone 5b. Planted some seed last spring and it really took off. I’d like to keep it happy. Cursory web search just shows how to kill it. 
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Nov 7, 2023 18:30
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Ghost Cactus posted:Does clover need water in winter? Zone 5b. Planted some seed last spring and it really took off. I’d like to keep it happy. Cursory web search just shows how to kill it. You can only find information on how to kill it because it's basically unkillable outside of actively trying, especially in an area where its native like yours., So no, you don't need to do anything. This is the beauty of landscaping with native to your area plants.
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Nov 7, 2023 18:33
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Motronic posted:You can only find information on how to kill it because it's basically unkillable outside of actively trying, especially in an area where its native like yours., So no, you don't need to do anything. This is the beauty of landscaping with native to your area plants. Wonderful! Thanks for the info.
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Nov 7, 2023 18:37
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Motronic posted:You can only find information on how to kill it because it's basically unkillable outside of actively trying, especially in an area where its native like yours., So no, you don't need to do anything. This is the beauty of landscaping with native to your area plants. Sounds great now, but wait until it’s crawling through your house as you sleep, watching your wife shower, etc
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Nov 7, 2023 20:43
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Minor nit because I have no beef with clover and may seed some myself, but the most common clovers (i.e. white and red) are Old World plants that have become naturalized and are not US natives 
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Nov 7, 2023 23:37
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I’m trying to grade my backyard after I’ve cleared a bunch of brush and trees and rocks out of the way. I’m guessing I’ll need about 4 or 5 yards of topsoil to have enough. Initially I was thinking of getting the topsoil in the spring and overseeing then since I’m too late for the fall seeding. But then I’m thinking the topsoil might continue to settle and it will look hosed up. Think a better idea would to be to grab the topsoil now, let it settle over the winter, and then add more if needed during the spring before reseeding? Thoughts?
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Nov 11, 2023 13:34
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nwin posted:I’m trying to grade my backyard after I’ve cleared a bunch of brush and trees and rocks out of the way. I’m guessing I’ll need about 4 or 5 yards of topsoil to have enough. Nothing says you can't but if you get lots of snow, the melt might wash a lot of it away.
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Nov 11, 2023 14:52
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I’m trying to stop washout under my garage pad. I could stick half a hand under the concrete at this corner, so I paid a guy to build this wall, then I put down sod where he tore up. I’m really hoping the dirt behind the wall will eventually settle back under the concrete pad if I keep it built up a little. Is that overly optimistic? Do I need to be more pro-active? It’s not noticeably settling or cracking, so I don’t know if a mud jacker is answer yet. 
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Nov 11, 2023 15:09
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I'm not sure what you mean by settling back under the pad, but theres nothing stopping you from shoveling or otherwise pushing dirt underneath the pad yourself and trying to compact it. Depending on where and how, maybe shove a bunch under there then get a piece of 2x4 and a hammer and use that to bang it in there, put more, then hammer it in there again etc...
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Nov 11, 2023 18:21
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wesleywillis posted:Nothing says you can't but if you get lots of snow, the melt might wash a lot of it away. I don’t think that will be an issue… where’s it going to run?   The back of the dirt/area by the fire pit is higher than the grass, so I’m trying to grade that a little better…at least smooth it out so my riding mower isn’t jumping all over the place once grass starts to grow.
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Nov 12, 2023 19:29
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I’m planning on installing underground pop-up drain emitters to get rid of the downspout extensions. Are the catch basins seen at the start and end of the run here absolutely necessary? Or could I just get away with a straight run of drain -> pipe -> pop up emitter? At $50+ for a goddamn plastic box, I’d rather forego them if possible The Top G fucked around with this message at 00:54 on Nov 13, 2023 |
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Nov 13, 2023 00:49
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That’s exactly what I did to get the water from the two rear downspouts all the way to the swale, been working just fine. I also have a good slope down with no chance of water backing up, so I don’t have to worry about water freezing inside.
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Nov 13, 2023 16:40
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We had those pop-up drain emitters installed and they did them as a single piece connected to the downspout but added a cleanout Y where the 90 is.
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Nov 13, 2023 17:21
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Any opinions on the best kind of cage/protection for a small sapling shrub? I planted a row of shrubs in my front yard but I think a dog leash/dog/strong wind snapped a few of them. So I'd like to give them some protection from that. I probably can't do much against rabbits/squirrels and there's no deer, so just something to prevent dogs from bowling them over. The shrubs are about 3 feet high and a single trunk.
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Dec 26, 2023 18:44
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The previous owner of this house was really proud that they had run a French drain along a low point at the edge of the garden, going back to a rainwater culvert. There was a ton of water pooling along the edge of the garden after 1" of rain, so I went back to see what was happening. I dug down and found the French drain, and found out that he had backfilled the entire length of the trench with clay-heavy dirt. Zero crushed stone. I guess I need to call 811 and get a locate done because I'm going to be digging that fucker back out again.
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Dec 28, 2023 17:46
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Lol imagine doing all that loving work only to do it wrong. Or worse yet, paying someone to do it wrong.
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Dec 28, 2023 19:59
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Verman posted:Lol imagine doing all that loving work only to do it wrong. Or worse yet, paying someone to do it wrong. But but, doing it right would have required another $400 worth of stone and $100 worth of filter fabric!
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Dec 28, 2023 20:10
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Oh, there was filter fabric... Wrapped directly around the perforated drain pipe. I had thought that the problem was root intrusion into the pipe clogging it so I cut a small access hole (there were no access points in the entire drain system) and let me tell you the inside of that pipe is loving immaculate. I'm figuring out that doing 95% of the work correctly then omitting a critical finishing detail that basically renders the entire effort meaningless was the previous owner's preferred way of doing things. For example there is a wonderful very well done gutter system installed with downspout extensions that drain away from the foundation, but then he decided to put a single 55 gallon rain barrel on one of the downspouts without any provision for overflow. Since that downspout is handling about 300 ft² of roof it takes less than 1/3 or an inch of rain before the barrel starts pouring water out the top where it flows directly against the foundation.
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Dec 28, 2023 21:10
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He also installed chicken wire fencing around the entire garden "to keep the rabbits out" (according to my neighbor). Again it is quite nicely done with the edges of the wire covered with trim pieces. He didn't bother to put any wire at the bottom of the gates or at a short segment of picket fence at the rear of the garden. You can literally see the scuff marks where the rabbits just go right under both of those spots.
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Dec 28, 2023 21:23
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"I tried ... lol" - Gary
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Dec 28, 2023 21:34
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And on the pedestal these words appear: "My name is Garymandias, king of kings: Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!" Nothing beside drains. Round the decay Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare The lone and level puddles stretch far away.
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Dec 28, 2023 22:21
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Shifty Pony posted:Oh, there was filter fabric... Wrapped directly around the perforated drain pipe. I had thought that the problem was root intrusion into the pipe clogging it so I cut a small access hole (there were no access points in the entire drain system) and let me tell you the inside of that pipe is loving immaculate. lol. I mean, you're supposed to put a sock over the pipe itself. Then backfill with 3/4" clean for an inch or two, then put the pipe+sock in the trench, then backfill to 1-2" over the pipe, then filter fabric on the stone, then some more stone (mostly to hold the fabric down for when you) then backfill with soil for the last couple inches. Or don't....you can bring the stone up to grade if that's your thing and you need more capacity.
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Dec 28, 2023 22:51
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Looked a bit more and it is actually one of those pre-fabricated "just toss it in a trench!" corrugated pipe French drains (but with the stingiest amount of the plastic aggregate I've ever seen). I'm sure it would work just fine when placed like 6-18" deep in decently sandy soils, but 36" deep and completely under a layer of soil with a permeability of ~0.1 inches per hour per usda measurements... not so much!
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Dec 29, 2023 00:10
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I have a small area In my yard that is currently sort of grass (really its too shady and high-traffic to really grow grass)that I would like to put gravel down in. But I hate how gravel moves everywhere. Is there some way to lock the gravel in place? Mix polymeric sand in with it or something? Or should I just resign myself to the extra work/cost and do brick pavers or something?
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Dec 31, 2023 18:16
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Kaiser Schnitzel posted:I have a small area In my yard that is currently sort of grass (really its too shady and high-traffic to really grow grass)that I would like to put gravel down in. But I hate how gravel moves everywhere. Is there some way to lock the gravel in place? Mix polymeric sand in with it or something? Or should I just resign myself to the extra work/cost and do brick pavers or something? Would putting down some edging, either plastic or metal work or otherwise maintain the aesthetic?
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Dec 31, 2023 18:48
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wesleywillis posted:Would putting down some edging, either plastic or metal work or otherwise maintain the aesthetic? Yeah I will definitely edge it in something (probably brick) but I still feel like gravel always gets everywhere.
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Dec 31, 2023 19:39
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Kaiser Schnitzel posted:Yeah I will definitely edge it in something (probably brick) but I still feel like gravel always gets everywhere. What do you mean by gravel? If it’s tailings off a screener or peastone that’s one thing, but if you get something with a shape like washed 3/4” trap rock (or even 1 1/2”) and compact it, it will tighten up.
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Jan 2, 2024 03:45
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Drainage chat?!?! Here is the side view of my terraced (front?) yard. I've been digging out a lot of english ivy which is why you kinda can't see the bottom terrace  This is the view facing the front. You can see the retaining wall on the right is leaning: that's getting fixed soon. What I'm interested in is that space in the middle. Theres a ton of stones here, all covered in dirt and underbrush. No idea if this was originally a decorative stream or just rocks or whatever. This house was designed in the 1980s for two things: cocaine and swinger parties   I want to build a path straight across the top to the deck. Unfortunately I've got that downspout and that extension. Right now it just kinda points into my driveway that goes down. It's....steep.  Not sure what to do with this. A. Bury it so I can build a path over it? Where does it go? Figure I need to avoid the rest of the terrace levels because they'd flood B. Blow my budget to pieces and build a koi pond in the middle level and set up some irrigation system? C. Embrace Asheville and install a rainwater catch right there and use it to water all the various things I'm going to grow in those terraces actually as I'm writing this down that's probably what I'm going to do but I'm still open to suggestions.
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Jan 14, 2024 22:15
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FizFashizzle posted:Drainage chat?!?! I’d do C
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Jan 15, 2024 13:16
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How long does granular Pendimethalin remain active? I usually apply pre-emergent to my lawn a couple of times late winter/late spring, and then overseed in autumn using Tenacity with a starter fert. But this spring I want to spot-seed some troublesome areas (fescue). I can't do both, can I? I either pre-em crabgrass or I seed some bare spots, correct?
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Jan 23, 2024 00:29
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Lincoln posted:How long does granular Pendimethalin remain active? I usually apply pre-emergent to my lawn a couple of times late winter/late spring, and then overseed in autumn using Tenacity with a starter fert. But this spring I want to spot-seed some troublesome areas (fescue). 4 months minimum, but if you want to over seed patches you can just rake the areas thoroughly. Preemergents create a thin soil barrier at the surface that can be mechanically disturbed. As long as it's been down/rained on long enough that it's no longer granular and sloshing around/creating a new barrier raking should work fine.
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Jan 23, 2024 16:31
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Behold, the hideous overgrown juniper patch and snake habitat on the side of my driveway has been removed and will no longer curse the appearance of my house.   Now I have a big patch of nothing that's going to get very good sun. I've wanted to terrace it since I moved in and dagnabbit that's what I'm going to do. By my calculations (geometry!) I'm going to have three levels approximately five feet deep, and each wall will need to be approximately 30 inches high. I am planning to use retaining wall blocks and someday (lol) apply a facade of some kind. I plan on putting some planter boxes on the levels and do cow trellis vertical growing. My question is do I need to worry about drainage on this? I'm building this wall around existing (lovely) structures that will have to be replaced some day. You can't see it but there are draining pipes built into that thing already. I'm finding mixed information about this online. Thanks!
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Feb 16, 2024 23:18
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My household is desperate to convert some shaded parking spots that are unsupported lawn to grid-supported lawn. I've put together a proposal that we dig in the grid pavers and fill them with seed/existing dirt / topsoil / manure -- a typical lawn restoration job with some light excavation, leveling, and compacting of subgrade included in the middle. Where I come to you for advice concerns about half of the household desiring to grow clover in these spots, rather than using grass. I don't know whether clover can survive being parked on by *checks notes* cars, which are notorious for weighing more than a dog or humans. A car also loiters longer than a car or dog, but it has been surprising how well unsupported grass has been surviving with only a few hours of direct sun each day. Go figure. Okay, so I've computed the nominal ground pressure of cars in my multifamily household with posterboard and a sharpie. The 4Runner exerts 26psi, my Clarity EV 35ish. Prius wasn't around but with its narrow tires, its probably on the higher end of the scale. The Outback isn't going to be back for a while, and the Accord 2003 is probably near the nominal 30psi for automobiles. A subgrade of dirt (Georgia red clay) compressed beyond 100psi ought to support the grid, even with pressure concentrated 2x-3x on them per the size of the holes cut in various brands of geostabilizing hexagonal paving grids sold (supposedly, at least) for the purpose of driveways and parking spots. The ease with which I can crush a clover's stem with my fingers has me concerned about filling the plastic grids to the top -- it would probably be best that I leave them underfilled by a quarter inch, just so the clover doesn't get ultrasquished when parked upon. I am about to purchase some sample grids from various vendors so I can test driving and parking on them with various amount of fill -- see which I can beat the poo poo out of without breaking them. I would personally prefer to install grass, but (1) I do kinda want to see if clover works (2) its a shaded area that already has a bunch of clover. Every time I leave something on the ground over there for a few days, the clover doesn't give a poo poo about the total darkness it has been subjected to. I think my challenge is mostly a structural one. I can default to grass, but exploring clover seems interesting, especially if I can structurally support a car above it on hard grid without commuting much pressure into the topsoil itself. I suppose I'm committing the very scary act of opening myself up to goons on feedback on a potential home-related project, but it is probably best to get that out of the way NOW rather than do whatever the lawncare equivalent of cutting into my bathroom's floor joists or insulating my staircase might be. There are technical specs and cad files for my likeliest candidate for the web pavers here: https://vodaland-usa.com/products/grass-driveway-grid?variant=39987555467353 Going through these specs....I mean, poo poo, if these are anywhere close to accurate, I should be able to do this by treating the pavers as unfilled for the purpose of the subgrade design for the medium-weight dirt installation specification provided.  Dig down a bit, check leveling and depth with a grid of stakes and lines, compress the everliving gently caress out of the subgrade, make sure it tests to 100psi -- poo poo why not 150 psi -- install a gravel base, compact the everliving gently caress out of that too, place the grid, add dirt/topsoil/manure/seed mix, straw it and wait a month Potato Salad fucked around with this message at 19:59 on Mar 12, 2024 |
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Mar 12, 2024 19:50
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The Top G posted:I’m planning on installing underground pop-up drain emitters to get rid of the downspout extensions. Are the catch basins seen at the start and end of the run here absolutely necessary? Oh poo poo, I can actually contribute. I know this was an old post and the poster is banned for whatever reason, but the catch basins are important for giving the water a chance to utilize the pipe to the rated flow at whatever grade you installed it. Specifically, they prevent air from trying to flow up the pipe grade while it is at or near highest rated flow, which would reduce the cross section of flow and also produce gurgling that may interrupt flow. Its about whether you compute that the pipe will need its full rated flow at your installed grade in your worst storms, or if you're happy with 1/2 - 2/3s of that amount, depending on your grade.
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Mar 12, 2024 20:05
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I have a blue spruce in my back yard that always has stuff growing under it. It's hard to get in there and weed. I was thinking of removing a foot or two from the bottom. Is this a good idea in that it'll be easier to weed? Or a bad idea in that now all the weeds have access to sunlight? I've got invasive things in my yard, such as Tree of Heaven.
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Mar 13, 2024 14:52
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MrChrome posted:I have a blue spruce in my back yard that always has stuff growing under it. It's hard to get in there and weed. I was thinking of removing a foot or two from the bottom.
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Mar 13, 2024 19:11
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MrChrome posted:I have a blue spruce in my back yard that always has stuff growing under it. It's hard to get in there and weed. I was thinking of removing a foot or two from the bottom. If you decide to trim the base of the tree, I would recommend raking and cleaning out anything thats currently above the soil and putting down some landscape fabric or some cardboard and put down a bunch of bark/mulch. Be careful not to stack it up against the tree like a volcano though, leave the base of the tree exposed. Imagine putting a donut of bark around the base of the tree.
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Mar 13, 2024 23:48
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