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| What I did today; ...yard work | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: May 26 2008, 06:21 PM (166 Views) | |
| The 89th Key | May 26 2008, 06:21 PM Post #1 |
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Besides getting in an easy 15 mile bike ride in...from about 1pm-8pm I worked with my dad in the backyard. Basically most of the backyard is flat but it slopes down right before the back of the house....during heavy rain storms, this saturates the ground and puts basement flooding (rather, moisture on the floors and walls) as a risk. This has only happened once or twice, but it's something we can't just sit back and gamble on. There is an underground 4"-diameter plastic drainage system near the back of the house but it was put in a long time ago and we could tell it was broken given the recent saturation noticeable during heavy rains. So for most of today my dad and I pulled up the flagstone patio, dug out trenches (I'm guessing a 50-foot long trench at about 2-3 feet deep) to not only find the previous drainage system, but install new tubing that would collect water in two drains and lead it out to the side yard that slopes down to the street. While good weather was appreciated, this was very hard work...took about 6 hours to dig all the trenches, an hour or two to install the new plastic piping, and then a scary 10 minutes to fill up the trenches again. We're going to let the rain this week settle the newly placed dirt before we place the flagstone back. I wanted to share this since I know many folks here have some good home-maintenance empathy to share. ![]() Here is a before and after shot (taken a while ago, but just to give you reference to my story) of the main patio area that looked like a mini-grand canyon earlier today. ![]()
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| George K | May 26 2008, 06:24 PM Post #2 |
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Finally
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I hate yard work. I hate gardening. I hate mowing the lawn. If it were up to me, I'd pave the damn thing and paint it green. Oh, nice job, 89th. Show us some more pics. |
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A guide to GKSR: Click "Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08 Nothing is as effective as homeopathy. I'd rather listen to an hour of Abba than an hour of The Beatles. - Klaus, 4/29/18 | |
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| The 89th Key | May 26 2008, 06:28 PM Post #3 |
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I enjoy mild yard work...mowing the lawn, etc. I'm not much of a gardener though...but do enjoy having an overall healthy property. Thanks GK...I'll post some pictures of what the place looked like in the middle of our trench warfare as soon as I can upload them. Kinda surreal how much infrastructure is underground sometimes... Oh and the hoe (ho?) is the greatest tool ever invented. |
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| George K | May 26 2008, 06:34 PM Post #4 |
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Finally
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You just had to make a Crashtest reference, didn't you? |
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A guide to GKSR: Click "Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08 Nothing is as effective as homeopathy. I'd rather listen to an hour of Abba than an hour of The Beatles. - Klaus, 4/29/18 | |
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| The 89th Key | May 26 2008, 06:40 PM Post #5 |
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I posted these earlier...but here are some more before and after pics. The before pics have a green pool, old fence, scrubby side yards, no grass area near the pool, no flagstone patio or retaining wall around the ivy, old paint on deck, no new plants and flowers around the area and back behind the pool along another stone pathway.....gotta love the new makeover, although my dad constantly finds new things to improve or think about fixing/adding (just his personality). SIDE LEFT BEFORE: ![]() ![]() SIDE LEFT AFTER: ![]() SIDE RIGHT BEFORE: ![]() ![]() ![]() SIDE RIGHT AFTER: ![]() MAIN BACK BEFORE: ![]() ![]() ![]() MAIN BACK AFTER: ![]()
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| kenny | May 26 2008, 06:48 PM Post #6 |
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HOLY CARP!!!
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Dang, that's your house? Can I move in? |
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| George K | May 26 2008, 06:52 PM Post #7 |
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Finally
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Edit... |
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A guide to GKSR: Click "Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08 Nothing is as effective as homeopathy. I'd rather listen to an hour of Abba than an hour of The Beatles. - Klaus, 4/29/18 | |
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| The 89th Key | May 26 2008, 07:06 PM Post #8 |
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Well once I find and buy my own place...I guess there will be a spare bedroom open! :lol: Considering how hard my dad has worked in life (everything from having a rough childhood, to working his way through college on his own, to starting a family and working a 1-income modest job for a family of 5, then 6, then 7... (stopped at 7, thank goodness!), living the growing family in an apartment, then another apartment, then a small house for 20 years and somehow saving up money and being financially smart, to earning a masters degree, to now earing a doctorate (and my mom eventually got a masters in education and teaches as well)......all to finally be able to afford a pretty nice house with lots of room and a pool. So I'd say my parents have earned it. The ironic thing is once we moved out of the small house into a larger one, 3 of the 5 kids have left the nest! :lol: |
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