Yowzaa! I don't know if this is the year of bad weeds or the year of good photography!! First of all 5 hours is good for an oscillator. Mine takes 8 hours to get an inch. 1/8 inch per hour. Secondly, here is the consolidated wisdom of the ages on this forum: don't ever use weed-n-feed. You will not get the results you expect to get. It has such an appealing name and the concept is great, but the chemicals used just can't deliver. The problem is that weeds die best when they are the healthiest and sucking in all the soil has to offer. When you apply wnf, you get an immediate weed killing effect and a delayed fertilizer effect. By the time the fertilizer kicks in on the weeds, the herbicide is long gone. It is the worst of both worlds. It is much better to use a real fertilizer (but not in this heat) followed 2 weeks later by a real herbicide (but not in this heat). Your real problem now is you have grassy weeds. You cannot selectively kill grasses in among your real grass. Do you still have the bag of grass seed you used? I suspect it had a relatively high weed seed content. That's not necessarily so, but with the mix you have it is a good possibility. Really good grass seed is expensive. This is your hobby so you have to decide. The good news is that your coarse bladed weeds are crabgrass. Crabgrass is a hot season annual grass. It will die completely in the fall. Furthermore it will not come back in the spring except by new seed sprouting. Bad news there is you have puh-lenty of new seed. But the good news is you also have Kentucky bluegrass in your mix. Your job this fall is to get as much KBG spreading as you possibly can. If you can get 100% coverage with KBG and keep it mowed up to 3 inches, then you have an excellent shot at a weed free lawn all next season with minimal attention. Also, NEVER SEED IN THE SPRING OR SUMMER, unless you absolutely have no alternative. Your lawn is really not that unusual for a spring seeded lawn. We try to tell people this year after year but some still slip through. There should be a law against selling grass seed before late August. If you decide to do some thing really drastic like redo this lawn, my observation is that the soil level is higher than the bottom of the house. It is hard to see because of the shadow so it might be an illusion. If that is the case, then before you start a renovation on this lawn, soil should be removed, not brought in. This would normally be a job for a landscaper but you live in WV. You guys are animals and may prefer to do it yourself. All water should drain away from the buildings no matter what. If you develop a puddle next to the house when it rains, that is a serious problem. Any soil can be improved from the surface without plowing or rototilling, so when I see someone bringing in new topsoil, I start looking for known issues. Keep the water on it if you can. Let it grow up to 4 or even 5 inches before mowing. Summer heat is enough stress. Mowing it short causes much more stress. Wait until it cools off to the low 80s before mowing it back to 3 inches. It will be stressed but should be okay since the temps are cooler. If you cannot resist the temptation to do something good for the grass, then use organic fertilizer. You can get it cheap in the form of Purina Rabbit Chow at the feed store. Apply at 20 pound per 1,000 square feet every 3-4 weeks and you will be surprised how good it looks. Oh I can't resist the urge. Here is mrmumbles alfalfa test in his zoysia lawn from June this year. This shows what to expect from alfalfa pellets.

Yeah, I know the feeling, can't see the forest through the trees. Well, my first recommendation is to plow up any remaining lawn, because you've got Bean Fever. (lol) "Carolina Red" & "Seiva" (white-seeded) are both small-seeded limas. I haven't tried the "Red" (yet), but have often grown "Seiva"... it is the most prolific lima I've grown, and is nearly fool-proof. Not my favorite for flavor, though; good for soups & succotash, not great eaten alone as butterbeans. "King of the Garden" & "Christmas" are large-seeded limas, and I grew both when I lived in a warmer climate. "Christmas" is huge when harvested in the green shell; some as wide as a dollar coin. The cooked flavor & texture are potato-like. KOG was my favorite, and is still the standard against which I judge butterbeans. Harvested as shellies, the very fat beans have have a rich, honey-like flavor & a fine texture. They are easy to shell, very prolific, and freeze exceptionally well... freezing actually improves their tenderness. All the varieties you list should do well in Virginia, but "Seiva" is adapted to your area, and would be very reliable... plus, you already have the seed. ;-) Your choice of lima, Rick, would depend upon how you plan to use them. I grow common beans for shellies because the large-seeded limas are unreliable this far North. If I could grow KOG, I wouldn't need them... but I would have missed out on experiencing many other beans that also make good shellies. "Chinese Red Noodle" is in a class by itself, since it is actually a pole cowpea (yardlong) rather than a snap bean. I grow them every year, and really like them... but they are not for everyone. If you enjoy Asian cooking, then I highly recommend them... "Chinese Red Noodle" is probably the best yardlong available commercially. If you intend to save your own seed, remember that "Chinese Red Noodle" can cross with field peas, so avoid planting them adjacent to each other. Of the other snap candidates, "Garafal Oro" may have been dropped commercially, or it would be my best recommendation. Its flavor is very distinctive, it has good disease resistance, and it is highly prolific. If you have your heart set on it, I have plenty of seed available for a SASE bubble mailer. "Emerite" is a fine bean, even better frozen quality than "Fortex"... but since they are both the same type (filet beans) I would only grow one or the other. Can't help you with the wax. All the varieties I grow are unavailable commercially. I've been wanting to try the two you list, so if you grow one of them, please post your observations. For shellies, as I've stated above, if you grow either of the large limas, you might not need a common bean as a shelly. "Ma Williams" is among my favorite shell beans, and I have shared it widely... but it is not available commercially. It has several aliases, however; one of them is "Goose", which is available from several sources. The "cranberry", "horticultural" and "borlotto" beans also make good shellies. There are numerous great heirlooms, many of them former commercial varieties that were dropped. While I grow a lot of field peas, only one of them is sold commercially, "Pinkeye Purple Hull". There are many here who could better advise you on the merits of commercial varieties. There are a few good threads about cowpeas on this forum.

I have rentals from college students to retirees. I agree with lazygardens that hardwood in the kitchen is fine if you have a great finish and the right tenants (never college students). It appears it can take more abuse than the laminate in my rentals. Laminate tiles are cheap and quick too but can look worn in a few years (again, depending on the tenant). Tile flooring for me can take the most abuse and not show it. As someone previously said, determine your target rental group and set the kitchen tone with that. Check out a few other rental houses in the area. Now I only list on craigslist. 10 times more responses and better quality tenants than from the local paper. It's free and easy. You can see the other local rentals there too with pics. Since this is not a high end market laminate countgertops (Wilson Art at HD) is great and cheap. Get something with a few colors in it so you can't see cuts, etc. I have white cabinets in one apartment and I would never do that again. Yes, it's low end HD but it always looks dirty and worn (vs. darker or stained cabinets). Darker cabinets and appliances will make it look darker but go with light laminate flooring, light paint color, light countertops and good lighting and it will make a difference. And remember - don't go too crazy since this is a rental (and you're going to charge below market rent) Also, MA state law says you cannot take a security deposit more than one months's rent. Not sure of the laws in your state.

You've been watching too much HGTV. Your expectations aren't realistic. No one does free work. If you do, then let us know where you work and you'll do a lot more of that. You doing some of the work, or hiring some of the trades, leaves you as the responsible party for coordinating everything. YOU are acting as the GC on the job. You may not realize that it will be up to you to catch all of the ''gotcha'', but that's what role you've taken on by trying to piece the job out. Demo is the worst thing to even think about DIYing unless you are extremely experienced. It ain't sledgehammer fun like TV shows. I guarantee you will end up with leaking shut off valves, because no one ever maintains them. If you don't know how to deal with a mini flood in the kitchen, you are beyond over your head in this project. You need to stop. You're wasting a bunch of people's time. Start wasting your own time. If you're gonna be the GC on the job and can't do a measured layout to twiddle around with, then you aren't ready to do a kitchen project. If you don't understand the (massive) electrical requirements that a new kitchen has, then you are not ready to move forward. If you do not understand how and when to design a properly supported overhang in stone, you are not ready to move forward. If you do not understand the proper support and substrate, and layout pattern of tile, and how to not tile in your appliances, then you are not ready to move forward. If you don't understand the chicken and egg conundrum of timing for a construction project, then you are not ready to move forward. Or, double your budget and hire a KD who works directly with a contractor. Or a design build firm. But, if you can't even develop enough trust with a good KD, then you need to go back to the drawing board for the entire project. It's doomed. You either have to man up and do ALL OF THE WORK, including design, or let go and trust.