Hi bthombs, The caution flags are up. The base material should be granular so water can travel through. Water should be able get out from under the pavers via the granular material. Granular does not have to mean gravel(large granular pieces)but has very little fines(clay). Drain either by subdrain or sloping the base material. The 1" layer under the pavers should be screened sand (again granular material). Screening only removes organics and small clods and rocks to aid in leveling the pavers. If his screened material is not granular but clayey, you will have heaving when wet. The material should have a low expansion coefficient (again means granular). This is usually found on the contractor's ordering tickets. Is this a licensed contractor. He should hand you a copy of his insurance naming you as additionally insured for the policy. This is standard practiced for reputable licensed contractors. Any other questions or comments he makes let us know. We can help. Aloha.

The first comment person [ slavetograss] had it correct in my opinion right from the start.Pennington seed is the worst i ever used and their 60 day gaurantee is worthless but not for them.AFTER 60 days they dont want to know you.I bought 2 large bags of REBEL and used some in the shady areas and some in the sun areas even added seeds.watered took care and what happened Most areas started to grow like weak fuzz grass slowly and then stopped slowed and turned to haylike clogs.Cost me $ 150.Where my old grass is that still doing well All i got was a headache In my opinion the seed and the Company match. Not recommended!

Dear Rick, Thank you very much for your inquiry. Topdressing your lawn is certainly the way to go, short of a renovation. Where the septic lines are, you might have to physically add soil as the topdressing operation is designed to provide a small layer with each pass. The problem as I see it, is finding a topdressing machine to work with. I do not know if rental operations carry these per se, as they are normally reserved for golf courses and athletic fields. One thing running through my mind is a large type of manure spreader. However, the caution flag goes up in terms of the tires from the typical farm type and damage that could be done. I have seen large vehicles designed to distribute fertilizer and topdressing to golf course fairways that I believe could do your work as they are equipped with wide turf tires (this will not be cheap by any means, but it will be less work for you than a do-it-yourself renovation.) These vehicles are not owned by the golf course so they are for hire. Perhaps we can get some direction from our other readers if they know where these vehicles can be rented. Again, thanks for the question and let me know if you have more. Sorry I could not be of more specific help. Your question is a tough one with no easy solution. Respectfully Trey Rogers The Yard Doctor

I tend to (mistakenly, I think) focus on how much my mother and I are different, but I think it's because we live in the same city, so I am around her often. Sometimes I think absence with occasional visits would be better for my perspective of her. :-) Not that she's mean or anything, just because I tend to focus on the negatives. We don't have anywhere near the same taste in clothing or shoes, or home decor, for that matter. She's more "country/casual", and I prefer elegant and sophisticated. We both love color - I'm sure I inherited that from her, and I'm grateful everyday for that. Naturally though, we both love *different* colors. She goes for bright pinks, blues and wild patterns, I go more for greens, yellows and deep reds. It's hard to shop with her for anything, because odds are, what I like, she won't, and vice versa. She's a morning person - I'm a night person. If she didn't live with my father, she'd be a total neat freak, but there's no keeping things neat with him around. I'm more relaxed about clutter. I like things picked up, but a few things scattered here and there aren't going to send me running for the trash can. I do have an obsession/compulsion with drawers, cupboard/closet doors, and chairs or anything that belongs "pushed in" - I absolutely cannot *stand* to see them left open, and must close them immediately when they aren't in use. I probably get that from her as well. Sometimes it's a good thing (there are never any drawers or cupboard doors left open at my house, nor are chairs ever left pushed out from the table or desks), but sometimes it's a curse (I have to practically sit on my hands at my mother-in-law's house to keep from shutting her kitchen cupboard doors when she leaves them open, which is often). I think it amuses my co-workers that I always push in a certain drawer that has a tendancy to slide out just a little as I go past, and I have tape on a file drawer that won't stay closed behind my desk. :-) My mom loves to shop, loves a bargain, and is one of those people who will buy something just because it was "only two dollars!" I hate to shop, and do so as little as possible - when I need something, I am happy if there is a sale, but I don't worry about it if there's not (I just don't buy it if I can't afford it, making due with what I have). Mom loves clothes, and has three closets full - I have one closet full, and won't buy more until absolutely forced to. Mom loves people, and loves being in the thick of things. I hate crowds, and am much more introverted. Mom loves to be running all the time, I prefer to have some "down time" to watch TV, read, and just relax at home. Of course, there is the obvious - I *look* a lot like my mom, to the point that people always ask if we're sisters when we're out and about together. And we both love crafts (different ones, of course). We both love gardening. I love to cook, she cooks merely to eat. So no, I'm not really like my mother much at all, I just inherited some really good traits from her (probably some bad ones too, but no sense in dwelling on those!).