At Home In The Woods

[TnWV]

Obed,

I have followed your thread from the very beginning, and just wanted say that you ave a absolutely beautiful home/property, and a remarkable take on life in general. I have learned a tremendous amount from this thread and thank you for taking the time to post all of it and for continuing it.

I believe you have mentioned before that your roof pitch is an 8/12. Is this for all your roof lines, or just the main? How wide is your main house? I ask this because the roof pitch and roof detail are the last items up for debate in my own house plans. Do you have upstairs space or are the dormers just decorative/skylights? I like the way your dormers look in your recent pictures, and originally didn't think dormers would look right on an 8/12 roof. Yours looks fantastic?

Tony

 

[clemsonfor]

I'm enjoying how green things are with all the rain we've had this spring.

View attachment 318006 View attachment 318008

I really like this view. The garden area can be seen in the background.

Last fall we poisoned and reseeded much of the lawn that had weeds in it that we suspect came from the straw we used when we first planted the grass. Now we have a bunch of clover in the grass. I suspect the grass seed we bought had lots of unwanted clover seeds in it. Can't win for loosin'! You cant really see the clover in these pictures because the grass was freshly cut. However, the clover is there and turns much of the lawn white as the clover flowers.

Dont forget the turkeys you have all over your yard!! They love clover, they could of brought the seed in and pooped it into your yard. Most of the ones i have seen cleaned or the 2 i have cleaned myself (not a good hunter or either i dont have good enough places) have the actual clovers in them not the flowers but the may eat flowers too? But they pick up seeds off the ground and have amazing eyes so i guess they can see the seeds which are the size of a seed tick.


But i agree 24d kills all broadleaf weeds and does not harm grass species. So it will kill your clover, dandilions and other weeds.

 

[jdonovan]

+1 on the 2,4d

I've been using it + a liquid fertilizer in the spring for a few years now, and its really helping to keep the clover problem in check.

 

[Obed]

you can always spray your lawn with 2-4-d to kill off the clover. I think that it takes at least two growing seasons to get a lawn looking nice. I redid half my lawn last spring, and this year, it looks better, but I still have some clover and other weeds that I'll be working on getting rid of through the year.

But i agree 24d kills all broadleaf weeds and does not harm grass species. So it will kill your clover, dandilions and other weeds.

+1 on the 2,4d

I've been using it + a liquid fertilizer in the spring for a few years now, and its really helping to keep the clover problem in check.

We may have to check out the 2-4-d. Thanks for the tip.

 

[Obed]

Obed,

I have followed your thread from the very beginning, and just wanted say that you ave a absolutely beautiful home/property, and a remarkable take on life in general. I have learned a tremendous amount from this thread and thank you for taking the time to post all of it and for continuing it.

I believe you have mentioned before that your roof pitch is an 8/12. Is this for all your roof lines, or just the main? How wide is your main house? I ask this because the roof pitch and roof detail are the last items up for debate in my own house plans. Do you have upstairs space or are the dormers just decorative/skylights? I like the way your dormers look in your recent pictures, and originally didn't think dormers would look right on an 8/12 roof. Yours looks fantastic?

Tony

Thanks for the kind words Tony. The main roof lines are 8/12 pitch. The dormers, front porch, and garage are 10/12. I don't ever have to walk on any of the 10/12 pitch roofs. I do need to go on the 8/12 pitch roof, for example when I clean the chimney and the dormer gutters on the back side.

When we were designing the house, the house designer was trying to get us to build at minimum a 10/12 roof or steeper. So we put some blocks under a piece of plywood on the grass and simulated 10/12 pitch. I could not walk on 10/12 pitch. I was able to walk on 8/12 pitch so thats what we went with. 8/12 pitch is still a steep roof.

The dormers are real. Our upstairs could be finished living space but we only plan to use it as an attic. Our house, including the garage, is approx. 75' x 40' give or take.

IMO, the roof lines on many newer houses these days are too steep, too complex, too expensive, and too hard to maintain. Asthetics have their benefits but they shouldn't completely ignore practicality.

Obed

 

[TnWV]

Thanks for the kind words Tony. The main roof lines are 8/12 pitch. The dormers, front porch, and garage are 10/12. I don't ever have to walk on any of the 10/12 pitch roofs. I do need to go on the 8/12 pitch roof, for example when I clean the chimney and the dormer gutters on the back side.

When we were designing the house, the house designer was trying to get us to build at minimum a 10/12 roof or steeper. So we put some blocks under a piece of plywood on the grass and simulated 10/12 pitch. I could not walk on 10/12 pitch. I was able to walk on 8/12 pitch so thats what we went with. 8/12 pitch is still a steep roof.

The dormers are real. Our upstairs could be finished living space but we only plan to use it as an attic. Our house, including the garage, is approx. 75' x 40' give or take.

IMO, the roof lines on many newer houses these days are too steep, too complex, too expensive, and too hard to maintain. Asthetics have their benefits but they shouldn't completely ignore practicality.

Obed

Thanks for such a detailed answer. I actually went back to the beginning of this thread and read the first 10 pages last night. I hope to break ground in the next month, but I am still waiting on material and sub pricing before finalizing my construction loan. The current cost of lumber is very discouraging!! It does seem to be dropping some though.

My original plan has a 12/12 roof (cape code with 3 dormers). I like the look, but the cost is just too much for nothing more than future space. We have three bedrooms on the main floor and a full basement. I talked to the truss company today about going with a 9/12 over the house and 10/12 over the garage, still giving a nice sized bonus room over the garage but only attic space over the main house. The overall cost difference should be substantial.

Sorry to derail your thread with my details, I'll start a new thread soon to share my building experience as so many others have been kind enough to do.

 

[Obed]

Thanks for such a detailed answer. I actually went back to the beginning of this thread and read the first 10 pages last night. I hope to break ground in the next month, but I am still waiting on material and sub pricing before finalizing my construction loan. The current cost of lumber is very discouraging!! It does seem to be dropping some though.

My original plan has a 12/12 roof (cape code with 3 dormers). I like the look, but the cost is just too much for nothing more than future space. We have three bedrooms on the main floor and a full basement. I talked to the truss company today about going with a 9/12 over the house and 10/12 over the garage, still giving a nice sized bonus room over the garage but only attic space over the main house. The overall cost difference should be substantial.

Sorry to derail your thread with my details, I'll start a new thread soon to share my building experience as so many others have been kind enough to do.

Tony,
Your future house sounds similar to ours. We did a 1 1/2 story with an unfinished upstairs to give us the option to add square footage if we ever wanted to sell the house. Otherwise, we would never be able to sell it for the building cost. Someone willing to pay for the 30 acres of woods would probably want a large house. We built the unfinished basement to provide the option for a mother-in-law suite. However, I doubt we'll ever use it for that so that was a big expense without a monitary payback. I do really enjoy having the basement as a shop but it is an expensive way to build a shop. Also having the "shop" in the basement limits when I can make noise down there due to waking people up.

I love our house and love living here. However, sometimes I question the wisdom of spending so much for a place to live. I'm sure we could have cut costs in several places.

Are you going to be the general contractor? Since you are going to build, there's some stuff in this thread that might help you not make some of the mistakes we made. I've been fairly open about showing the "oops" we encountered. You'll also get a good idea about what dealing with subs can be like.

I do have one suggestion before you hire any sub. Please don't miss this suggestion. During the bid process, ask every sub/owner what percentage of the time he will actually be on site and working with his hands. Don't hire the subs who give you a vague or unacceptable answer. With very few exceptions, the subs with owners that were never on site provided noticeably lower quality than the subs/owners who did the work themselves or were on site working with their employees.

Obed

 

[Obed]

You can buy new pins. A 4-1/2" angle grinder will cut the nut easily, if you don't have one, it's a great addition to the arsenal that will get used again.

Dave,
I have to say THANKS for suggesting the angle grinder. I didn't know anything about them until you suggested it. I wish I would have had one a long time ago.

Last night I sharpened my maul with the angle grinder.



Obed

 

[dave1949]

Dave,
I have to say THANKS for suggesting the angle grinder. I didn't know anything about them until you suggested it. I wish I would have had one a long time ago.

Last night I sharpened my maul with the angle grinder.

View attachment 318247 View attachment 318248

Obed

You are welcome. The maul looks ready for work.

 

[TnWV]

Tony,
Your future house sounds similar to ours. We did a 1 1/2 story with an unfinished upstairs to give us the option to add square footage if we ever wanted to sell the house. Otherwise, we would never be able to sell it for the building cost. Someone willing to pay for the 30 acres of woods would probably want a large house. We built the unfinished basement to provide the option for a mother-in-law suite. However, I doubt we'll ever use it for that so that was a big expense without a monitary payback. I do really enjoy having the basement as a shop but it is an expensive way to build a shop. Also having the "shop" in the basement limits when I can make noise down there due to waking people up.

Obed

My situation is very similar indeed. I am willing to give up the upstairs, but the basement is a must. This will be my forever home and I want the extra space for any future need that may come up.

 

[TnWV]

I love our house and love living here. However, sometimes I question the wisdom of spending so much for a place to live. I'm sure we could have cut costs in several places.
Obed

This is what I'm struggling with and the main reason we have not broke ground yet. The land is paid for as is the double wide we currently live in, and while I have a good income, the mortgage is hard to swallow. However, with a 2.5 year old and one on the way, we don't have the space we need, so something has to be done, and I really want a nice home for my children to grow up in.

 

[TnWV]

.

Are you going to be the general contractor? Since you are going to build, there's some stuff in this thread that might help you not make some of the mistakes we made. I've been fairly open about showing the "oops" we encountered. You'll also get a good idea about what dealing with subs can be like.

Obed

Yes I will be the general. I will also be doing a great deal of the work myself. I worked construction through college and my closest friends are in one trade or the other. My wife's family are all in one trade or the other as well. It will be a long project, but I can't afford to "turn key" it.

 

[TnWV]

I do have one suggestion before you hire any sub. Please don't miss this suggestion. During the bid process, ask every sub/owner what percentage of the time he will actually be on site and working with his hands. Don't hire the subs who give you a vague or unacceptable answer. With very few exceptions, the subs with owners that were never on site provided noticeably lower quality than the subs/owners who did the work themselves or were on site working with their employees.

Obed

I agree and have passed on a couple already for the excavation and block work. So far, all the subs I will use come highly recommended and I have seen their work. I do tax and bookkeeping work for my drywall/finish guy, and have been in many of his job sites, he is good, and I'm trading my time for his time.

 

[sld]

Obed, depending on how picky you are about your lawn, clover is not the worst "weed" to have. If mowed short, it pretty much blends in and won't produce the white flowers all summer.

Clover is good for bees and adds quite a bit of nitrogen to the soil. I have a lot of it in the part of the yard that I pretty much just mow to keep it looking good. I don't have any in the nice fescue by the house that I use chemicals on.

During hot dry summers it pretty much disappears too.

 

[dave1949]

How to Grow a Clover Lawn: 6 Steps - wikiHow

Clover becoming popular lawn choice - Chicago Tribune

I like clover, white, red, whatever. I've been known to mow around a fine stand of dandelions too. :laughing: Without complaints from the peanut gallery, I would mow once a year in the fall.

But, whether you appreciate the beauty and benefits of clover, or not, I would not apply poisons for purely aesthetic reasons. There are too many known and suspected human and animal health factors having environmental origins to use chemicals for non-essential reasons.

 

[MarkV]

As said clover adds nitrogen to the soil and is often mixed with "estate lawn blends" to minimize the amount of fertilizers needed annually. What is considered an estate yard I don't know. I always think of 4 acres plus of finish lawn. Once you get your new lawn and soil balanced with the right amount of fertilizer I'll bet your clover problem goes away. In the mean time it is adding good stuff rather than taking it away.

MarkV

 

[Ted Summey]

Mowing at the right height for your primary grass is very important to lawn health. Eventually with proper fertilization and mowing height, the primary grass will thrive. Once you have mowed fescue at 3.5" to 4" tall for several weeks, the grass will spread and shade out or out compete many of your weeds. After that point you can begin to consider the minimal allocation of broadleaf chemicals.

It is probably too late in the season for much lawn renovation. A good summer feeding and mowing height adjustment will be about all you can do between now and September. Then consider aerating/plugging, over seeding and fertilizing (based on soil testing).

How much lime have you applied? I bet a good wooden nickel that a soil test will suggest lime application.

 

[clemsonfor]

I don't see how you made it that long without one. That is an angle grinder.

 

[clemsonfor]

Clover is a legume and has nitrogen fixing rhizomes in the root system. This is one reason its included in many foodplot mixes, well that and deer love the stuf and turkey do too.

And being in the south I can guarantee that he needs lime. At least 1000lbs to 2000lbs per acre I bet. Everywhere does. No one ever puts enough lime and that can get expensive unless you can have a truck deliver it vs small bags.

 

[mkane09]

I live in Anderson County, TN near Obed and I was told that land cleared of trees here would need up to 6 (six) tons of lime per acre to start grass. That's a lot of lime...

mkane09