Did I miss something....did the writer say she lived in the Frisco area and did the writer also say she has Bermuda grass. If this is so, before you do anything, read material on the different grasses whose mowing height is different. Usually leaving grass higher....3" to 3 1/2" can shade out thatch, clippings can be left on the lawn to act as fertilizer, and what's more important, higher grass shades out weed seeds. Soil in this question is neither here nor there....soil is soil. As far as making the soil want to grow what you put into it, then if you are completely fed up and can entertain the idea of digging it up totally and starting anew, then do that. A good deep digging rototiller is gone over it, then lots of organic matter...peat moss, compost, triple mix, loam, and other organic material....you can find a list of all what that term is on the internet....and this then is incorporated into the soil which then is one that will help hold moisture and enrich what is planted. Sand is often used when aerating to open up the clay so that better drainage is achieved. But it has to be coarse sand....not beach sand, not the sand that is used in play boxes....that stuff just holds water...coarse sand, or builders' sand can be bought at any quarry or soil dealer. How is Bermuda mowed....from what I read, mowing at such a low height as 1" - 1 1/2" is what will surely kill the lawn because it then has no protection from the hot sun. Leave the grass high....3" at least, then it has protection from loss of moisture. Fertilizer and deep watering is what I've seen said about Bermuda. As far as levelling, that can be a matter of digging...actually removing hills, levelling, then return the sod. Rolling such a clay soil lawn is a sure-fire way to add compaction....and increased drainage problems. The only way to level a hilly terrain is to remove the hills and level the ground. But, you could live with it. Hills on lawns are not all that bad if they are not what kids sleigh down in winter.

I have the same rain barrels that greenleaf has, from AustinGreenWater. They are great! They have a mesh screen over the hole in the top where the water goes in. the screen holes are like screen door screen, VERY tiny. Thus, mosquitoes can't get inside to breed. However, the company said that it may be possible for some eggs to be washed into the barrel with the water, but the screen is so tiny that if a mosquito hatches in the barrel, it can't get out. Sounds reasonable to me. The barrels work great!

The MN requirement for sprinklers in residences comes from the 2012 International Residential Code (IRC). Since this code is the basis for most state building codes in the US, each of those states will eventually be forced to accept the sprinkler requirement or pass legislation to amend the code if it hasn't already done so (the requirement was also in the 2009 IRC) Currently I believe only California, Maryland and DC have allowed the sprinkler requirement to become law unmodified. MN adopts the IRC after review and amendment and it has recently amended the 2012 IRC to exempt houses smaller than 4,500 s.f. Since the average size of a single family home in the US is 2,700 s.f. the rule appears to allow most single family homes in MN to be built without sprinklers. However, the building area includes all "conditioned space" so it can include conditioned lower levels and bonus rooms even if those spaces are unfinished. Even so, it seems easy enough to avoid the requirement if you really don't want sprinklers. The ICC has strongly advocated home sprinklers since 2006 when the requirement was included as an option to be adopted locally. The fight over including the requirement in the IRC has always been between home building associations (and the NHAB) and fire fighter associations (and the NFPA). A very small percentage of homeowners die in fires each year so the home buying public understandably cares more about price than sprinklers but about 45% of firefighter deaths occur in those home fires so the sprinkler code fight is basically between homebuilders and firefighters.

GFCIs do not generate voltage, they just turn off the circuit when a current imbalance is detected. If they can harm your timer, a switch or even the turning off (manual or triping) of the circuit breaker would do the same thing.