Questions tagged [landscaping]
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221
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Can I join multiple underground PVC drainage pipes to a common outlet?
As described in a previous post I've discovered that I have corrugated drainage pipes, many of which are chock full of silt. Most of them are nearly level as well, which isn't super great. I'm ...
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How should this underground down-spout-in-yard-drain be appropriately installed?
I noticed a few weeks ago during the rainy season that underground drainage from my downspout was flooded and not draining right. I purchased a pressure washer attachment that promised to unclog ...
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Reinforcing a Vertically Plumb Concrete Block Retaining Wall
I'm in the process of replacing a retaining wall that was supporting a small "flower bed" in the front of this house because it had started to lean to the point it was unsafe. Unfortunately, ...
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What is this cementacious vein running underground by my house in flower bed? Can I jackhammer? Can I plant?
1952 build Maryland house. My wife wants to landscape the area on the south side of our house. We were planning on putting Otto Luyken English Laurel next to the house. Upon digging I notice this ...
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Can I use logs and stumps as driveway fill?
I am making a drive in a lot with some low spots. I am curious if anyone has insight or experience using trees cut from a lot as fill for a driveway, to make a level drive.
The lot is all relatively ...
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Sprinkler system 1st zone just started to recycle when turned on all others work fine
1st zone just started to recycle ... pressure gauge is up and down quickly system is set to 50/30 cutoff. Yes all heads in zone 1 are working and putting out proper sprinkler spray however pump keeps ...
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Is it ok to sod or mulch over a leach field?
So we have nine people living in our house. Several teenagers means lots of showers and laundry. We have a pretty persistent wet spot at the end of our leach field but the system has been inspected ...
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How to solve the drain and sewerage issue along the street curb
Water always fills on our side of the street curb in front of my house. We have a curb drainage hole on this side, but water still fills up the curb on rainy days. During winter, water would freeze ...
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How should I adjust these sprinklers?
I have a sprinkler (#2) spraying water into the generator which could cause some problems. Should I turn down pressure on #2 and put an additional sprinkler at the generator edge with a 90 degree head ...
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5
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Rake handle screw keeps falling off
I keep having the same problem with leaf rakes. This screw works its way loose and it gets lost while raking. I have replaced it and kept going, but it is annoying. Is there any way to lock it in ...
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What type of drainage solution for water trapped between my walkway and foundation?
I have a walkway that runs 16 inches parallel to my foundation along the entire side of my house. The walkway elevation is also higher than the top of the foundation where it meets the brick. This ...
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Brick pavers with 25 - 35mm gaps - Any Issue?
Our landscaper has just finished laying about 35sqm of brick pavers. On inspection I noticed the majority are spaced with about a 20mm gap with some gaps as high as 35mm. Our driveway (which the ...
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How to protect Building foundation from Dry wells
We have installed 6 dry wells around the building as there was no empty space for drainage water.
We did this as per the engineer's advice.
Sand texture:
It's clay
Water table 2 ( During rainy season ...
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Do bin block (Mafia block) retaining walls need footing?
I may use mafia block for backyard retaining wall. Want to bring the wall up 2.5 feet then backfill with dirt.
Since the block is only 2' high, can 6" of shale be used as a base on top of dirt? ...
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How to Lay Concrete Slabs [900mm x 600mm x 50mm] [closed]
I have a bunch of these concrete slabs to make a patio outside my garden house roughly 6ft width x 10ft length area. Can these be set on top of a sand screed [Slabs]
Also what gap in between is ideal ...
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water drainage and fence building
I am a new homeowner and with the first summer coming up I am looking to do some renovation outside. The first thing I'd like to do is fence off my back yard so my dogs can roam instead of being ...
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Future Erosion Problem? Paver Patio
QUESTION: Is this paver patio a future erosion issue? Was this done properly?
DETAILS: Paver patio is elevated on 6"+ of base material at farthest point from the house. Paver edges are secured ...
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Yard floods - will replacing a floway drain with a rainwater drain resolve this
My yard is flooding!
It has floway pit that connects directly to a 90deg PVC bend, then that connects to the storm water pipe via another 90deg bend. So there are two 90 deg bends in the span of 500mm....
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Landscape lighting (24V) flickering
I have 5 24V DC landscape lights connected to a 150Wx2 transformer. All the lights were working fine and suddenly 3 of them (all connected to the same line on the transformer) started flickering.
...
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How to protect outdoor low-voltage cable over concrete walkway?
I'm considering Philips Hue low-voltage outdoor lighting for my front lawn. The challenge is the outdoor 120V outlet and the yard / landscaping is separated by a concrete walkway. How do I run the ...
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How can I patch low-voltage, landscape lighting cable underground?
We have some underground wires for low voltage lighting in our front yard. Note they are just wires buried in the ground and not inserted in tubes. I want to remove some of the lights and need to ...
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Can I use any mixed rubble for a patio sub base?
I've been speaking with contractors about laying a patio over what is essentially mud at the moment. The advice has been to put down Type 1 MOT hardcore and machine-compact it to form a good sub-base.
...
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Small-Scale Low Voltage Lighting Separated by 175'
I am looking to install a new, all-LED low voltage lighting system. Basically I want to illuminate the 2 edges of my lot with 100' of 12V up lights and a few path lights. It's a pretty small system, ...
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Is it okay to pour concrete over geotextile fabric?
I am installing artificial turf in my backyard. I would like to divide it with a path filled with decorative rocks.
The whole area was excavated 4" deep and I covered it with geotextile fabric ...
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What is the best way to remove large amounts of rubble from a backyard with narrow access (1.2 m wide) and a steep (30 degree) driveway?
I have been removing around 30 cubic meters of dirt and broken rock that I have excavated manually from our backyard using a jackhammer. The access to the backyard is limited through a narrow corridor ...
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Stabilizing a Decorative Garden Wall
I am planning out a zen garden, and wanted something to block the view of our elevated patio, so if you are sitting out in the garden it will really be like being in a different world. I saw this ...
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291
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Maximum rise on outdoor steps
I am working with a contractor to build stone/cinder block steps on a 30 to 35 degree slope. He is thinking to put 10 inch risers. Although that is above the level I am seeing in my cursory search (...
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Non-contact voltage testing on 12vac landscape lighting
I have 12V AC landscape lighting. Some of the lights are not turning on, so I got one of these 12v AC non-contact testers to try to determine if the cables have been chewed through, etc.: https://www....
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What order to install landscaping, sprinkling for new house?
What is the best order / project plan to install landscaping for a new home?
I will be starting with a rough graded lot and rain gutters with downspouts. I need to do the following things, what is ...
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Building a block wall up a steep slope
I would like to build a block wall up a steep slope, maybe 30%, and I don’t want to “stair step” the top, keeping it level, because it would render the wall nearly useless at the low points. If I have ...
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Finished grade in my yard is pure clay. How much topsoil should I add?
Ever since we moved into our home, the backyard grading has needed work. It basically slopes right into the back of the house. I put in a small trench a few feet away from the foundation to divert ...
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What is the purpose of a 6" base gravel layer in patio installation?
All standard drawings for patio installation show a base gravel layer. What is the purpose of this layer? Depending on the answer, I am curious what this forum feels about this product as replacement ...
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Purpose of the wooden board in the ground
Close to the foundation, there is a wooden board, I assume pressure-treated, in the ground. It looks pretty old and started to rot. I can't think of anything it is attached to. What purpose could it ...
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How to hide HVAC compressor? [closed]
We are trying to make our side yard look aesthetically pleasing. The HVAC compressor cage is an eyesore, as shown in pic below (the gutter were only temporarily removed for painting). What can we do ...
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What sheeting thickness for water barrier on landscape?
I had a structural engineer come out today who said I'm borderline needing to stabilize my foundation. He said, if I can manage the water outside my house better, I would be very much likely to need ...
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Matching style of joints between Belgium blocks
I'm looking to lay a new section of Belgium blocks to border a new flower bed. However, the existing Belgium blocks have a joint connecting each block that protrudes outward. It is not clear to me ...
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Could hedges help in reducing noise?
We live on a busy street with sound of tires and revving engines. We were wondering if hedges could help reduce the sound that comes into the house? if not, what other alternatives can we try? We ...
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What Are the Percentage Markings on this Stormwater Management Drawing?
We purchased a house in Arlington Co, Virginia, and there is a "Micro-bioretention facility" in the middle of the backyard, making the back yard almost useless for enjoyment. In order to ...
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Landscape lighting wire rough in for future, what wire, how deep? Other things to consider?
I am currently working on my landscaping and I have a concrete pour planned for the front paths.
I'd like to rough in landscape wire for future lighting. What kind of wire should I use, how deep ...
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386
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How to get retaining blocks with a set end angle
I am trying to section off hexagonal areas in my yard. My initial thought was to get those trapezoidal blocks you can use to build retaining walls (Home Depot refers to them as Retaining Wall Blocks), ...
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Quarry block sunken firepit
I want to put limestone blocks 2x2x5’ for seats in a 10x12, 4’ deep fireplace area, I rented a digger and dig a good amount and plan to put 6” of bass or minus then the blocks around the pit.. will it ...
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Can I make a raised flowerbed against my siding?
I want to make a slightly raised flowerbed at the front of my house. The flowerbed would be about 9 inches high and made out of landscaping blocks for the front edge/wall. The issue is that it would ...
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Help Identifying hose [closed]
So in the back of the property i'm currently running direct burial cable to the shed,, while digging the trench i came across the hose pictured.
I know for a fact it has nothing to do with us,and ...
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How to prevent outdoor landscape light water leaks?
I installed low voltage landscape lights on our fencing around the perimeter of our backyard in September. The lights are supposed to be IP66 waterproof, but within a month of installing, I found ...
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Proper way to lay gravel around garage
I have a garage that has had quite a weed problem around the side and back of it. I decided to go for it and lay some gravel down, following this "This Old House" how to:
Seems pretty ...
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What does "adjacent to water pipes within 3 feet of grade" mean?
Looking to see if I need to be careful using Termidor around water pipes and it says
Treatment of soil adjacent to water pipes within 3 feet of grade should only be done by the backfill method.
What ...
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Dealing with incline from back door to fence
We have plans for a new house build - see my attached crude mockup where the front of the house is on the left and the backyard is the green shaded area.
The land has up to 1.8m incline from front to ...
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What's the best way to connect up the outlet of a plastic tube so it doesn't clog?
I have a fountain/stream setup in my front yard. Water comes out of the bottom of the fountain, goes through a stream, and at the end of the stream is a pump that sends the water back to the fountain ...
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Footing required for a low garden wall?
Location is Northern New Jersey.
I'm looking to build a low garden wall; approx. 18 inches high. Current plan is cinder block faced with thin brick and capped with real brick.
It isn't a true ...
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How can I protect existing fence pickets/rails from raised garden/lawn soil rot
I have an existing fence which goes some way into the soil and we are cleaning and painting it then we plan on further raising the garden and lawn.
What are the best ways to protect the partially ...
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