Welp, I have an actual house now; Questions.

Dasfinc

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Sep 28, 2007
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Wheaton, IL
[MENTION=4700]Miss Esa[/MENTION] and I purchased our first single family home and moved in over the past 2 weeks basically from our Condo (which we are now selling).

We purchased the house because of prime location, layout, and most major items had been recently addressed (AC/Furnace 2011, Siding/Roof/Garage Door 2015, Flooring/Carpet 2014, Kitchen Cabinets and appliances 2015) all the while this was not a 'flip' (owner had the house since 1998, his wife passed and plans changed). However, the interior has hints of the 70's that I'm removing one room at a time, and the landscaping is pretty tired.

Moving On;

I'm 100% comfortable tackling interior projects (Minor electrical, setting up home automation, installing appliances, Painting, Etc, Etc).

I've MOWED yards before when I was renting and before that when I lived with my folks as its not rocket science, but now I'd like to really make our yard 'nice' as this year goes on and hardly know where to start, and am curious what everyone else does.

I am also looking to generally improve the exterior appearance as the house has a brand new garage door, roof, and siding which makes it look very bare with the sad state of the exterior vegetation especially in the front/sides.

I've asked a few folk the questions I have below, and get mixed results as few people I talk to frequently have the same setup as we do now (most of my friends have apartments/condo's, and my home owner friends properties are more hill-rod than suburban). Google has a billion opinions on all of these topics, curious to hear from people with actual hands-on experience over some random article though.

Onto my questions:

#1) So far I purchased the Scotts 4 step program and a spreader, and I'm going to simply follow the directions on the packaging. Any Tips/Tricks with this?

#2) There are some areas that are 'thin', or otherwise a little sad, I assume the lawn food in step 1 from scotts will help that, but I'm looking to what else I should tackle on that front.

#3) I have a pair of decent sized pines on my property (maybe 50 feet? they are taller than the house and I'm not good at gauging this, and about 20-25 feet apart). They've been kept up well, but they seem to obliterate the grass around them. It has Mulch on the dirt, but isn't exactly appealing. I plan on Edging the grass to make it look nicer, anyone else have pines? how do you landscape around them? Or do you just Edge and mulch it?

#4) I have another large tree with buck-thorn coming out the side of it at the base, I plan on just hacking off that part, but why does that happen, and any precautions I should take?

#5) The sides of my house are pretty barren (Facing North and South), and one side has my Radon Mitigation system which is a bit of an eye sore (Just a big white box hanging out on the side of my house out in the open). What have you guys done for Shrub coverage for things like this? Lower-Light due to the sides of the house, and 4-5 feet tall is how high I'd like to cover.

#6) The radon mitigation system's piping is White which is a bit contrasting against the side of our house even if we conceal the 'box' at the base. I've seen some people paint them to blend it in better, thoughts? My house is a light blue color.

#7) The house still has original windows (1973), which is the only significant item it really needs replaced in the not terribly distant future . I feel pretty confident in my trim work skills and have done some basic structural building/remodeling, how hard is it to replace windows yourself? Or is it not worth the trouble and I should just pay someone to tackle it? I have 4 windows on the main floor that are each almost floor to ceiling in height, and a fairly standard width. 3 'half' windows in the lower level (Split-level house), and maybe 5 'regular' windows in the upper level. No screen doors, Just a front and rear door, both with small glass panes in them that are newer and in good shape.

#8) Who has Doggie Doors? Pros/Cons? We have a pair of 50lb dogs that love roaming outside and our back yard is fenced in. We live in Wheaton, and since the doors have glass in them anyways, I'd imagine if someone wants to break in bad enough a doggie door isn't going to be any more attractive of a target than just punching out one of the small panes in the back door. That being said, I feel like this could have other issues like not sealing well, allowing in water? I don't know, but I'm curious who has real-life experience with having one.

#9) I'm slowly working on home automation via the Wink app, and compatible devices (as there is a huge number of them). Anyone else have experience with the Wink stuff specifically? I'm loving it so far, and looking for other things to do with it (Maybe the garage door next?).

I'm sure I'll have more, but that's just the start of the list :jg:
 

boostedguy05

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insure for higher than home value adn burn it down /thread




a lot of this really depends on the look you are going for as far as tree grooming and shrubs go.

for the pines you can do what [MENTION=19]Yaj Yak[/MENTION] did and remove all the lower branches going up ~5-7'
 

Dasfinc

Ready for the EVlution
Sep 28, 2007
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Wheaton, IL
This thread is worthless without pics

Working on it now.

for the pines you can do what [MENTION=19]Yaj Yak[/MENTION] did and remove all the lower branches going up ~5-7'

The pines are done exactly like that, but my understanding is that they kill the grass below them regardless?

Yes, take a selfie chugging a beer in your new backyard. It's celebration time!!!!

Congratulations on your purchase!

Thank you! I enjoyed my first summer shandy of the season outside on my patio the other day with the dogs, it was wonderful.
 

radioguy6

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Congrats on the house. ill chime in on 1-3.

1. Scotts 4 step is a great product. Rake/clean up the yard before putting it down. Get step 1 down ASAP since we are already approaching weed season (step 2). You may want to just skip and goto 2. If you plan to grow grass seed, make sure you substitute in Scotts step 1 for seeding. The regular step 1 will prevent new germination.

2. grass seed

3. I have 6 tall pine trees on my property. Nothing grows under them (even the weeds lol). The lower branches are trimmed off (~6 feet from the ground) and I just edged out around base about 3-4' and put down mulch.
 

Blownbyyou

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Working on it now.



The pines are done exactly like that, but my understanding is that they kill the grass below them regardless?




Thank you! I enjoyed my first summer shandy of the season outside on my patio the other day with the dogs, it was wonderful.


They do! I just put some red mulch down in about 10 foot circle and it looks good!
 

Dasfinc

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so when is the BBQ/kegger??

a3807e09afab6d37ff5352a270a467b4.jpg
 

Dasfinc

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openTCGinvite???

Gotta get fully situated first, and have some kitchen remodeling to tackle as well (putting a 'window' through to the dining room and doing counter tops) and then I'd probably be game for it if the misses is

Congrats. You still in Wheaton?

Yup, Casa Solana subdivision now by Hawkins Circle/Danada.
 

Dasfinc

Ready for the EVlution
Sep 28, 2007
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Wheaton, IL
Congrats on the house. ill chime in on 1-3.

1. Scotts 4 step is a great product. Rake/clean up the yard before putting it down. Get step 1 down ASAP since we are already approaching weed season (step 2). You may want to just skip and goto 2. If you plan to grow grass seed, make sure you substitute in Scotts step 1 for seeding. The regular step 1 will prevent new germination.

2. grass seed

3. I have 6 tall pine trees on my property. Nothing grows under them (even the weeds lol). The lower branches are trimmed off (~6 feet from the ground) and I just edged out around base about 3-4' and put down mulch.

I've read that I need to get it down ASAP basically, the freak weather has been holding that back obviously. And I think that's how I'll tackle the pines since its already not far off of that.

With Grass Seed, I've been told to not do that at the same time as the Step1? I'd imagine I could/should do it 4 weeks or so after?
 

syP

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May 24, 2007
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Gotta get fully situated first, and have some kitchen remodeling to tackle as well (putting a 'window' through to the dining room and doing counter tops) and then I'd probably be game for it if the misses is



Yup, Casa Solana subdivision now by Hawkins Circle/Danada.

no shit? I knew that looked familiar.. right by my old house.
 

FESTER665

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I've read that I need to get it down ASAP basically, the freak weather has been holding that back obviously. And I think that's how I'll tackle the pines since its already not far off of that.

With Grass Seed, I've been told to not do that at the same time as the Step1? I'd imagine I could/should do it 4 weeks or so after?

With grass seed I raked in a thin layer of lawn soil dirt, then a light application of starter fertilizer, then a ton of grass seed. All the areas were blocked off from the dogs for awhile.

Those of you with pets, do you worry about the granule fertilizer or are you mostly doing liquid so the dogs only have to be off the grass until it dries?
 

radioguy6

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I've read that I need to get it down ASAP basically, the freak weather has been holding that back obviously. And I think that's how I'll tackle the pines since its already not far off of that.

With Grass Seed, I've been told to not do that at the same time as the Step1? I'd imagine I could/should do it 4 weeks or so after?

you can put down grass seed at the same time, but with the step 1 for seeding. Spring/fall is the best time to grow seed.
 

Dasfinc

Ready for the EVlution
Sep 28, 2007
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Wheaton, IL
no shit? I knew that looked familiar.. right by my old house.

Yuppers :)

With grass seed I raked in a thin layer of lawn soil dirt, then a light application of starter fertilizer, then a ton of grass seed. All the areas were blocked off from the dogs for awhile.

Those of you with pets, do you worry about the granule fertilizer or are you mostly doing liquid so the dogs only have to be off the grass until it dries?

you can put down grass seed at the same time, but with the step 1 for seeding. Spring/fall is the best time to grow seed.

I didn't even think about the dogs to be honest, I'll have to figure something out on that front. Good to know about the seed though.

Side-note, My yard is a little 'lumpy' as well, thoughts on that?
 

bimmer4life

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Gotta get fully situated first, and have some kitchen remodeling to tackle as well (putting a 'window' through to the dining room and doing counter tops) and then I'd probably be game for it if the misses is



Yup, Casa Solana subdivision now by Hawkins Circle/Danada.

Nice. Love the area. I used to live in Briarcliffe South. Not have moved a little west of Naperville blvd. Drive past that sub div everyday on the way to St James.
 

RICH17

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With grass seed I raked in a thin layer of lawn soil dirt, then a light application of starter fertilizer, then a ton of grass seed. All the areas were blocked off from the dogs for awhile.

Those of you with pets, do you worry about the granule fertilizer or are you mostly doing liquid so the dogs only have to be off the grass until it dries?

I did the same two or three years ago. Looked great going into august. But never grew back after winter :(
 
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