Help! Truck loads of dirt left from pool dig
10 years ago
Featured Answer
Sort by:Oldest
Comments (11)
10 years ago
10 years agoRelated Discussions
1950 red brick ranch with dead dirt yard--please help!
Comments (9)Identify how you want to use the yard. Some examples for a front yard include: somewhere to put stuff you are loading/unloading from car, a meet-and-greet, a place for the kids to bounce balls while you can see them/are washing the car. A place to watch your plants growing. I'd caution you against rebelling against grass for the sake of rebelling against grass. Think of it as negative, open space that happens to be green, and you can always change it in your head to decking or paving/flagstone. The beauty of being a homeowner/DIYer is that you don't always need to have the master plan finished in your head in order to get started. You sound sure of a number of things. Do those. Or at least draw them out. Sometimes step two is more clear from after step one. Experienced people have implemented enough plans to be able to see step 7 from before step 1, but DIYers may need to take it one step at a time. One way to design is to mock up in person. Say, you want to do a low barrier and a courtyard. OK. Put a row or garbage cans where you think the hedge could be, and drag some chairs into the area and sit there. How does it feel? What's missing? Should the hedge move? Do you need shade? Etc. You might have analysis paralysis too. Taking the first step, even if you just go out and plant a tree where you want some shade, can help get you past that too. You can always move it for a year or two if you got the placement wrong. KarinL...See MoreLoading Rocks onto a Truck or Trailer
Comments (8)Dude, great posting. We have mucho rocks in our shade garden as well. Now, however, I must suggest that you don't need to haul 400 #'ers all the way back from CT to MI! Wait, let's trade! I'm in NW MI and have that size and MUCH BIGGER, willing to trade for rare and unusual Hosta. I might even be persuaded to help with the load. I have an electric gearmotor device that attaches into the trailer receptacle on the back of my pickup truck. The load plate lowers right to the ground, roll, drag, or comealong the boulder on, then it swivels it right up to the back of the bed of the truck to be pushed, drug, or otherwise persuaded in so the door can be closed. This last step is needed as my driveway is very steep, so can't have boulders rolling out the back and on down the driveway. Wouldn't want to hurt the sugarbush down there at the end. Seriously, CT is a long way to haul boulders from. We have plenty right here in MI if ya know where to go, and I have them right here on the property. Some of my neighbors actually 'mine' them for sale!...See MoreStarting From Dirt - Tiling Kindergarten 101 - Floor version
Comments (30)Hmm. I suppose you could. Add a drain and a trap. Yes, that's what we did - 2in line & trap, shower drain on top. Where does your flood water discharge to? Do you have a sump with pump to make it go vertical? Or does it go to daylight? There are no drain tiles or sumps any place. I don't think the builders thought of it 130 yrs ago, and with our elevation, exterior flooding is extremely rare (other than the possible freak snowstorm and fast thaw causing really high hydrostatic pressure on the house). Before the river could reach my door downtown Omaha would be about 10 stories deep, I'm 150ft over the flood plain. This is really for "just-in-case of interior flooding". It's connected to the household drain waste. Will it be connected to the shower drain line? No. It's on its own wye. It's connected to the main line about 2 ft away on the 4in nearly horizontal run (1/4in per ft) that is on the way to exiting the house. If so, any chance of an overflow in one drain backing up through the other? Any chance of sewage back up, ie, will you need a check valve? I think a check valve isn't the worst idea - I asked about one at one time, but I might have been asking about one right at the zone where the 4in main leaves the house (as in a whole house protector at the entry point for any backflow from outside). But I didn't think about possible problems of back pressure from a slow inside line or again that freak exterior backup (everything that's horizontal in the basement is pitched is at least 1/4in per ft, but not much more - the main line is just barely under the bottom of the slab). He just glued up the last pipes yesterday and backfilled them all today - I am betting this might make him a wee bit cranky, but I'll bring it up! Better to be cranky now, than for both of us to be REALLY CRANKY when we have to tear out concrete and tile later. Quick update: Oh happy news! I just discovered Flood Guards! So he won't have to tear out his new pipes and we'll have a backflow protector on that line. Any other concerns? - I'll have 2 standpipes (one for the washer, and one for the water softener - obviously both of those are over the flood plain of the basement sinks & tub) and a bathtub. Do any of those need backflow protection? The tub? (I once lived in a house that had a backup into the tub - yuck.) The bathtub line is on a wye about 2ft off the main too - just a little downstream of the floor drain & on the other side on the main. This is why I ask so many questions. Always ;-) Hunzi Enjoy your weekend! I owe you another beverage....See MoreDigging out for an above-ground pool
Comments (8)No additional post you must be finished! Just in case your not, the liner tips I promised. Someone else may be putting up an AG pool and use them. First you will need a NEW liner. I have seen ppl move pools and try and use the old one. It didn't work. They get brittle in no time, and lining up the skimmer and return holes would be really hard. If you can afford to get some S-clip and hang a beaded liner. They are much easier and changing them later on is easier too. Put the liner in the pool, don't drag it accross the wall. At this point your wall is in and bolted up, and your uprights are secured to the bottom plates only. A small piece of duct tape can be used to hold them to the wall, so they don't flop around. They shouldn't but if it's windy or you have to stop for the night it's a good idea. Ok, unfold the liner and start pulling it over the wall. About two feet at first, this part you kinda have to eyeball. This where a beaded liner is nice, you just start putting the liner in the bead. Back to overlap liner. Again as many family friends and neighbors is good here. You will hold the part of the liner drapped over the wall, with coping strips. They are about 2 ft long and available at your local AG pool dealer. Get new ones, the old ones are prob cracked a brittle. Once the liner is over the wall all the way around, try and get it as even as possible. If you chose a liner with a print bottom, the print should be at the base of the pool wall. A note here about the bottom. It has been a while since I installed a AG. Order brick sand, or mortar sand from a local dealer. If they can get it inside the pool area that is GREAT! If not, it has to be hand moved via wheel barrow, unless you still have that bobcat around. Bottom should be about 2" deep,and we always built up a cove around the bottom track. Cove is sand at a 45 deg angle. Damp sand with garden hose, it trowels easier. If you have a shop vac, you can put a hose through the skimmer, where the lid goes, behind the liner. Duct tape around the hose to seal it off and turn on the shop vac. This pulls air from behind the liner. It takes a while, but if you get good suction you can get your wrinkles out of the liner before you start water. Once you start water you must stay with the pool until water is about 4" up the wall. Let slack out by pulling up on the coping strip where the stress is. The liner will slip down until the stress is relieved, put the coping strip back on. Go around the pool relieving stress on each coping strip untill the liner stays in place and no longer pulls on the wall. The water will be up on the wall by now. If there are any wrinkles you can work them out with a mop or broom. If you have to get inside the pool, make sure your barefoot. You can start topping off the pool when the water is up the wall. Don't cut in your skimmer and return until water is halfway up or better. Some people don't cut them in until water is up to the skimmer. We had other pools to get to so we did. You may wish to wait. Hope this helps, I have read the instructions that come with these pools and had a good laugh. If you can get past the broken english, many are made overseas, they give the impression one man, can put these up in one day, by himself. I'd like to see that. There are probably web pages now that show pictures, that would help. But I had fun writing this and seeing how much I remembered. Good luck again, and post some pics when your done. Colt...See More- 10 years ago
No hills. The pool builder plans to trench down the side of what was the wood fence-for drainage. This photo is from the back of the house facing the pool area. Next are photos from behind the pool.. Then there is a pix where the actual dig is-where the pool is going.
The lawn between the back of the house to the pool is the part they are building up with the dirt from the dig.
Thanks again for all your feedback and recommendations.
- 10 years ago
- 10 years ago
- 10 years ago
- 10 years ago
- 10 years ago
Related Stories
PETSHow to Help Your Dog Be a Good Neighbor
Good fences certainly help, but be sure to introduce your pup to the neighbors and check in from time to time
Full Story
REMODELING GUIDESWisdom to Help Your Relationship Survive a Remodel
Spend less time patching up partnerships and more time spackling and sanding with this insight from a Houzz remodeling survey
Full Story
PETS6 Ways to Help Your Dog and Landscape Play Nicely Together
Keep your prized plantings intact and your dog happy too, with this wisdom from an expert gardener and dog guardian
Full Story
MOST POPULAR15 Remodeling ‘Uh-Oh’ Moments to Learn From
The road to successful design is paved with disaster stories. What’s yours?
Full Story
EDIBLE GARDENSLessons From an Edible Garden on a City Roof
Reincarnation of New York City rooftop pool proves edible landscaping is possible just about anywhere
Full Story
UNIVERSAL DESIGNMy Houzz: Universal Design Helps an 8-Year-Old Feel at Home
An innovative sensory room, wide doors and hallways, and other thoughtful design moves make this Canadian home work for the whole family
Full Story
HOUSEKEEPINGThree More Magic Words to Help the Housekeeping Get Done
As a follow-up to "How about now?" these three words can help you check more chores off your list
Full Story
FUN HOUZZEverything I Need to Know About Decorating I Learned from Downton Abbey
Mind your manors with these 10 decorating tips from the PBS series, returning on January 5
Full Story
COLORFUL KITCHENSKitchen of the Week: From Style Mishmash to Streamlined Farmhouse
Vibrant colors and rustic materials give an 1800s Colorado kitchen a thoughtful contemporary update
Full Story
FUN HOUZZDon’t Be a Stickybeak — and Other Home-Related Lingo From Abroad
Need to hire a contractor or buy a certain piece of furniture in the U.K. or Australia? Keep this guide at hand
Full Story
andy10917