Home Improvements

[Diomedes]

Those openings are in a tough spot.  It's too bad the siding ends so far above them.  See the small strip of flashing over each opening?  That might have worked when there was a deck there, by diverting the sheet of water rolling down the face of the siding onto the deck, but now it doesn't do dick.

The first thing I'd try would be to replace that with a much taller piece of flashing that tucks under the siding, drops all the way down onto the door/window trim and breaks over them.  This will force water that runs down the face of the wall over the doorway/window trim.  Of course, that will be ugly because you've got such a large distance between where the siding ends and the openings begins, so you'll have a tall-ass piece of trim coil visible, but I don't see an easier or cheaper option at the moment.  Might want to glue the flashing to the wall pretty well to prevent wind from driving water  behind it from the sides, or worse, blowing the whole thing off entirely.

Other things to try in addition to this:  pull the trim and wrap the openings with Protecto Wrap or some similiar product, then reinstall and caulk the hell out of the trim with a heavy exterior caulk like OSI Quad.

Longer term solution:  Install a feature/detail band along the entire wall where the ledger board of the deck used to be.  Use a PVC product if you don't want to ever worry about rot.  Otherwise, whatever you use, prime and paint the entire piece before you install it, front and back.  Also, make sure it has enough section so that when it's laid flat against the concrete, it stands proud of the siding.  This will give a satisfying impression that the siding is sitting on a base, but more importantly it will serve as a solid ledge to install flashing.  And speaking of, flashing is the critical part:  Flash the entire run between the siding and the new band board and then flash on the bottom edge of the board above all the openings.

Another idea:  Build small shed roofs over each opening.



T1-11 isn't bad stuff, IF it's installed properly.  Horizontal joints between sheets must be flashed...if they aren't that's bad news.

[Seabiscuit36]

I never thought about putting a ledger board in, but thats a great idea.  Our eventual plan is to have a screened in porch off that area, getting the ledger would help both short term and long term.  Thanks Dio

[Diomedes]

enjoy this photo gallery of WIN

http://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/7646979/1

[Sgt PSN]

Wow. 

[Eagaholic]

Looks like he took measurements by walking it off.

[General_Failure]

That was painful to look through.

[hbionic]

By far, my favorite one.

[SD]

Took off today to pull some weeds and plant some trees. My buddy works at Lowe's so I can get 10% off anything in the store (I get a Veteran discount as well). I went to a local produce store on Sunday and they had plants/trees/flowers etc. for half off what they were selling it at Lowe's. I bought two habiscus trees with the twisted stem for $30. They were $30 a piece at Lowe's. I'm going to get a few more today.

[SunMo]

i ripped out a bunch of dead bushes and three trees from my front yard gardens but now i don't know what to do.  i'm thinking just some simple flowers but i've never planted shtein before.  i'm assuming is should get some planting topsoil to put down over the regular dirt in the garden?  just plant the flowers and mulch around it?

[Diomedes]

Sun: Sort of.  Planting soil is generally for indoor use.  Purchase some 100% organic compost, like Leafgrow.  Dig a hole twce the size of the plug you'll be planting, and mix the leaf grow half and half with the dirt you just took out.  Then put the new plant into that mix in the ground.  If you do this, the plant will be much happier than if you just plug a hole in the ground with the new plant.  The aeration provided by the mixing combined with the rich nutrients of the compost make an excellent starting environment for new plants/trees.  It's not a bad idea to fill the hole with water right before you set the plant into it, either.  Make sure to keep the soil well watered.  Not soggy, but do give them some water once a day if Mother Nature doesn't help out.

Also, when you dump the plant out of the pot it came in, be sure to crush the soil plug out of shape..break it up a bit so that the roots aren't all packed into that cube shape.  They will find their way into the earth much easier if you rough them up a bit.

[reese125]

dio--i put a deck on my house and the contractor layed a bunch of lumber down in my backyard. it caused long dead spots of grass and just brown dirt patches.

i tried using Scotts seeding twice with no luck over a period of 3 weeks---still looks the same. what do you suggest?

[rjs246]

Just move.

[Diomedes]

You mean a contractor put a deck on your house for you?  Yeah.

Anyway...Did you just throw down seed and that's it?   That won't work.

Here's what I would do: 

buy:
seed...I don't know exactly which kind, I'd ask a landscaper friend and get whatever he says, but I know for a fact that he doesn't use fancy schmancy stuff with coatings and trademarks and all that crap.
tierra negra/Leafgro as mentioned above.  something rich and organic, not loaded up with expensive chemicals.  don't know how big the area is you want to repair, but you won't need a lot of this, you'll just want enough to give the entire area a dusting (see below)

aerate the the soil around the dead grass.  manual aerators can be had cheap at Lowe's or Home Depot.  It's just a pair of hollow 4" spikes on a stick that you drive into the ground every six inches or so.  each penetration shoves the core made on the previous thrust out onto the ground so you end up with a bunch of goose turd-looking cylinders of dirt.  leave them where they fall.  they will dry out and crumble in time, producing a small but important layer of fluffy soil.  Seeds need fluffy soil to nest in before they take and grow.  The cavities left behind by these plugs also give room for grass roots to spread, and allow water to soak into the soil better.  If you just put seed on a hard packed area (like one that was compacted by the weight of a deck's worth of lumber being stored) they can't get under the dirt to put down roots.  [Incidentally, I never put lumber directly onto the ground.  I always use dunnage strips to protect the lawn and keep the material dry.  Your contractor should do the same.  I'm sure he'll enjoy it when you tell him how to do his job.]
take the tierra negra and throw/spray it across the area.  the idea is to spread it evenly.  try not to trample the area too much after you do these things.
spread seed.
go over the area lightly with a leaf or spring rake.  just enough to mix some seed into the fluffy soil you've developed on top of the grade
cover (not bury) with straw

water water water.  don't flood it, you don't want rivulets of runoff carrying your seed away.  you want to keep the new seed damp and cool as best as possible as it germinates.  once you have new grass poking up, it will be thirsty.  stay off of it.  let it get tall and then set your mower as high as possible before you mow.  You don't want to stress the grass so don't chop it all the way down.  keep this regimen up for as long as you can.

that's what I'd do anyway.  there are other methods and people who know better than me.  I'm a no-chem, high labor kind of guy...willing to suffer slow improvement and even setbacks but over the long run, I get good results

[SD]

Sun: Sort of.  Planting soil is generally for indoor use.  Purchase some 100% organic compost, like Leafgrow.  Dig a hole twce the size of the plug you'll be planting, and mix the leaf grow half and half with the dirt you just took out.  Then put the new plant into that mix in the ground.  If you do this, the plant will be much happier than if you just plug a hole in the ground with the new plant.  The aeration provided by the mixing combined with the rich nutrients of the compost make an excellent starting environment for new plants/trees.  It's not a bad idea to fill the hole with water right before you set the plant into it, either.  Make sure to keep the soil well watered.  Not soggy, but do give them some water once a day if Mother Nature doesn't help out.

Also, when you dump the plant out of the pot it came in, be sure to crush the soil plug out of shape..break it up a bit so that the roots aren't all packed into that cube shape.  They will find their way into the earth much easier if you rough them up a bit.

This is some great knowledge and anyone thinking about planting should follow it verbatim.

Last year I pulled all the weeds by hand. This year I bought a hoe and it took me half the time and was a million times easier. Doing yard work like this is really one of the most rewarding experiences in life. I feel bad for people who hire a gardener. What a waste.

Here's what I started with:

[SD]

Here's the aftermath:






The habiscus will last until October/November and I'll have to replant new ones next year, but I love the way they look and 4 only cost $60.