Mow the first time? I think I've mowed 4 times already. Previous owner used to be a golf course groundskeeper. He said he fertilized 6 times last year.
They do flag it though when they come out.
26' Intex - Planning, Install, Upgrades, and Landscaping Thread
- Thread starter jseyfert3
- Start date
They do flag it though when they come out.
Sigh. Today was not a fun day. We started the fence build with a few friends. Wasn't long before a neighbor was over to "meet us" aka tell us we couldn't build a fence "unless we were putting up a pool." She was two doors down on the left.
Not long later a guy three doors down on the left came to warn us there were restrictive covenants, he seemed genuinely interested in just warning us, not to keep us from buulding. I told him I read all of them.
While I was talking to him a lady I later found was two doors to the right litterally stormed over and said she heard someone was building a fence and we couldn't. I replied fences weren't banned but required approval from the Architectural Control Committee, which no longer existed. She said there is verbage that it can be reinstated, and she would be contacting her lawyer. I told her okay, do that.
So, couple things: She can get the ACC reinstated, but it requires a majority of the current lot owners to approve (so 25 out of the total 48 lots, assuming they are all owned by different people).
Second thing is she's not even in OUR subdivision, the neighbors to our immediate right are the last house. She could get people in ours to reinstate the ACC, and if successful, even be on it, but still. Plus, they are selling their house, at least probably, so why would they care?
We decided we will continue unless they take us to court or otherwise manage to get the ACC reinstated and have it deny my fence. Plus if they sue and we have to stop building while it goes through court, we will:
There is a clause that says if any project is completed before a suit to stop it has been delivered (something like that) it is as if ALL covenants have been followed. So we were just going to get it up quick but we ran into roots and clay and tomorrow there is rain, so we only got two posts and a further one full hole and two half holes dug.
Oh, and then the neighbor to our left came over to tell us we couldn't build a fence, how he had wanted too but was told he couldn't by the city planning committee (which makes no sense). I think he doesn't want us to build a fence but doesn't want to tell us that directly.
We almost met more new neighbors today than we did at our open house housewarming party!
Oh, and I'm thinking of consulting with a property lawyer next week.
Not long later a guy three doors down on the left came to warn us there were restrictive covenants, he seemed genuinely interested in just warning us, not to keep us from buulding. I told him I read all of them.
While I was talking to him a lady I later found was two doors to the right litterally stormed over and said she heard someone was building a fence and we couldn't. I replied fences weren't banned but required approval from the Architectural Control Committee, which no longer existed. She said there is verbage that it can be reinstated, and she would be contacting her lawyer. I told her okay, do that.
So, couple things: She can get the ACC reinstated, but it requires a majority of the current lot owners to approve (so 25 out of the total 48 lots, assuming they are all owned by different people).
Second thing is she's not even in OUR subdivision, the neighbors to our immediate right are the last house. She could get people in ours to reinstate the ACC, and if successful, even be on it, but still. Plus, they are selling their house, at least probably, so why would they care?
We decided we will continue unless they take us to court or otherwise manage to get the ACC reinstated and have it deny my fence. Plus if they sue and we have to stop building while it goes through court, we will:
- Have a half completed fence they have to stare at.
- Change the pool permit to a pool with a top rail fence, and put that up without the yard fence. So they will have to stare at a pool they otherwise couldn't see, though a half completed fence!
There is a clause that says if any project is completed before a suit to stop it has been delivered (something like that) it is as if ALL covenants have been followed. So we were just going to get it up quick but we ran into roots and clay and tomorrow there is rain, so we only got two posts and a further one full hole and two half holes dug.
Oh, and then the neighbor to our left came over to tell us we couldn't build a fence, how he had wanted too but was told he couldn't by the city planning committee (which makes no sense). I think he doesn't want us to build a fence but doesn't want to tell us that directly.
We almost met more new neighbors today than we did at our open house housewarming party!
Oh, and I'm thinking of consulting with a property lawyer next week.
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Man, i dunno. I totally hope you dont and everything works in your favor. But from purely a spectators point of view, i kinda hope you have to spite them. You could point it out every few days how much prettier it would have been if they hadn't stopped you. With the same big smile as your profile pic.
Keep your post hole diggers going and a smile on your face. "Thank you for your input. I have read it all so it 's all good." then turn back to your diggers and keep going! GURRRRRRR
So, rain and work and all that and not a lot done, at least that's how it feels. I'm taking today off, and I called and hopefully an inspector can come out to do the pool site inspection today before the utility markings go away. I marked the pool location out just now.
My plan is to mow, then continue with the fence build. Due to rentals being in short supply I decided to buy one of the handheld two stroke gas powered post hole diggers...wish me luck!
Today is sunny and high of 73. Tomorrow is mostly sunny, high of 69. Rain starting tomorrow evening and going all day Sunday.
My plan is to mow, then continue with the fence build. Due to rentals being in short supply I decided to buy one of the handheld two stroke gas powered post hole diggers...wish me luck!
Today is sunny and high of 73. Tomorrow is mostly sunny, high of 69. Rain starting tomorrow evening and going all day Sunday.
Darn ol work!!! And rain thrown in to mess up your fence!!!
You will love having your own digger.........once you are done you can sell it to someone else to love it!
Kim
You will love having your own digger.........once you are done you can sell it to someone else to love it!
Kim
Okay, so I'm having some breakfast and coffee and figured I'd throw up an update.
Pool inspector came to do site inspection yesterday, everything is good. We can start digging dirt for the pool!
We already had gotten some concrete and 6x6 posts (for the corners), I needed more concrete. I took our brand new truck and loaded up 30, 60 pound bags of concrete and ten 4x4x10 posts and then looked at the truck and went "oops." Luckily we didn't have far to go.
A picture of the auger I bought. We tested it on only one hole so far and at least for dirt it works amazingly well. We will see how it does with clay later today.
Last weeked we had gotten these two posts up. The original intent was to have an 8' wide double gate. We accidentally measured 8' center to center and so the width is 7.5', not wide enough to get a truck (at least our truck) through. Oops. I wasn't planning on driving back here often, and it's still plenty big enough for all sorts of other things to get through.
This corner post had to be 100% hand dug as it wasn't 18" from underground line markings. That wasn't fun, but wasn't terrible either. I was aiming for 4' holes, started getting clay at 3', solid clay at 3.5' so I had to break out my homemade clay loosener (hard pipe with a few small holes drilled in the end hooked up to a garden hose). That allows the clay to be loosened, then you suck out the water with a shop vac and get the clay with a clamshell digger.
This hole, also visible in the above picture, is another "corner" post. We'll run the fence from here to the other corner post visible at the other side of the yard. This is ~11' from the rear property line. The original intent was to run the fence up to the rear property line but we tried a hole last weekend, instantly hit a 2" root, cut it out, and hit another 2" root, and decided putting a fence directly up against trees was no good. We do have some plans for this area so it won't be all wasted space, but I'll cover that later.
The other side of the house, showing a corner post. We'll also hang a 3' walking gate on that 6x6. The non corner/gate posts will have 4x4 posts, like the one shown here.
So, that's currently five of the six 6x6 posts, and one 4x4 post that's been set. The 4x4 posts should go better, an 8" auger will get through the clay much better than a 12" auger did. I've got a friend coming over around 10 this morning and the plan is to dig lots of holes with the two of us running the auger together.
Pool inspector came to do site inspection yesterday, everything is good. We can start digging dirt for the pool!
We already had gotten some concrete and 6x6 posts (for the corners), I needed more concrete. I took our brand new truck and loaded up 30, 60 pound bags of concrete and ten 4x4x10 posts and then looked at the truck and went "oops." Luckily we didn't have far to go.
A picture of the auger I bought. We tested it on only one hole so far and at least for dirt it works amazingly well. We will see how it does with clay later today.
Last weeked we had gotten these two posts up. The original intent was to have an 8' wide double gate. We accidentally measured 8' center to center and so the width is 7.5', not wide enough to get a truck (at least our truck) through. Oops. I wasn't planning on driving back here often, and it's still plenty big enough for all sorts of other things to get through.
This corner post had to be 100% hand dug as it wasn't 18" from underground line markings. That wasn't fun, but wasn't terrible either. I was aiming for 4' holes, started getting clay at 3', solid clay at 3.5' so I had to break out my homemade clay loosener (hard pipe with a few small holes drilled in the end hooked up to a garden hose). That allows the clay to be loosened, then you suck out the water with a shop vac and get the clay with a clamshell digger.
This hole, also visible in the above picture, is another "corner" post. We'll run the fence from here to the other corner post visible at the other side of the yard. This is ~11' from the rear property line. The original intent was to run the fence up to the rear property line but we tried a hole last weekend, instantly hit a 2" root, cut it out, and hit another 2" root, and decided putting a fence directly up against trees was no good. We do have some plans for this area so it won't be all wasted space, but I'll cover that later.
The other side of the house, showing a corner post. We'll also hang a 3' walking gate on that 6x6. The non corner/gate posts will have 4x4 posts, like the one shown here.
So, that's currently five of the six 6x6 posts, and one 4x4 post that's been set. The 4x4 posts should go better, an 8" auger will get through the clay much better than a 12" auger did. I've got a friend coming over around 10 this morning and the plan is to dig lots of holes with the two of us running the auger together.
It may be a little too late for you now, but when I was doing my deck and patio I discovered that lowes and home depot will deliver anything to your house within a day or two for a flat fee of $80. And if you get a lowes business credit card then the delivery fee is only $20. Obviously some things are just easier to throw on your truck, but spending $20 (or even $80) to avoid pulling 1800 pounds of concrete off of the shelf, then putting it into your truck, then unloading it from your truck at home is definitely worth it. You just go up to the pro desk and tell them what you want, then it will show up at your house within a day or so.
In my case I had a lot of lumber delivered for the deck, some sand to put under the pool and pavers, as well as 9000 pounds of pavers for the patio. It all came on a big truck with a forklift to unload them and they were even able to bring the pavers around to the back of the house and put them on the ground near the patio. It saved a lot of work.
This hit real close to home for me. I picked up 1200 lbs once. Then loaded it in the parking lot, And unloaded it at home. It was surprisingly quick all things considered and when I walked back in the house an hour later the Mrs asked why I looked so tired. Ummmmmmm....... just moved 3600 lbs. yeah.
Yeah delivery was my original plan, but I wasn't sure how much concrete I needed. I meant to try one post and see, then order, but Menard's was booked almost a week out last I checked. Too many people doing spring projects. So it ended up like this.
I will look into delivery for the rest, I'm going to need more concrete, lots of 2x4s, another 15-20 4x4s, and lots of pickets.
I will look into delivery for the rest, I'm going to need more concrete, lots of 2x4s, another 15-20 4x4s, and lots of pickets.
Well, that went surprisingly quick. I've heard horror stories of hand held gas powered post hole diggers, but this thing was awesome. We did hit some roots and clay but this model has a heavy duty spring in the shaft for that exact purpose so it yanks a little then stops and doesn't tear out of your hands. We're both tired, but we have 7 holes dug to 4' (one to 3.5 cause we hit a root and said it was deep enough), and the remaining three holes on the back property line are dug to ~2'. One we hit a root and forgot to come back and dig it out, the other two we have too many rocks at that depth and it jams up the auger. So I need to clear a root and finish the one hole at some point, and hand dig the other two holes. Also one of the holes is a corner post so I'll hand widen for a 6x6 but that won't be bad with an 8" hole already dug to 4' deep.
My friend left, it's his anniversary so he needed to spend time with his wife. Plus we were both shot, lifting the auger full of clay with an extension is a bit tiring. After a break and lunch I'm going to come out and put some gravel in the bottom of the holes, then I'll put a post in each and my wife will hold them vertical while I drop concrete mix.
I expect by the end of the day I'll have at least 7 more posts installed, hopefully more but we'll see how the hand digging goes. We were focusing on the back line as they will be running a new electric line Monday it appears so we wanted our holes dug before they put a new line and we had to shift our holes or couldn't power dig cause we were too close to the new line.
My friend left, it's his anniversary so he needed to spend time with his wife. Plus we were both shot, lifting the auger full of clay with an extension is a bit tiring. After a break and lunch I'm going to come out and put some gravel in the bottom of the holes, then I'll put a post in each and my wife will hold them vertical while I drop concrete mix.
I expect by the end of the day I'll have at least 7 more posts installed, hopefully more but we'll see how the hand digging goes. We were focusing on the back line as they will be running a new electric line Monday it appears so we wanted our holes dug before they put a new line and we had to shift our holes or couldn't power dig cause we were too close to the new line.
Nope. The lady who was super mad has been outside too, so she undoubtedly cannot miss us using a two stroke auger to dig holes. Haven't gotten any letters from lawyers either. I suspect she may have realized after talking with the other neighbor that there's nothing she can do to stop us.
Luckily with Menard's I could just drive my truck up to the pallets of concrete in the back yard and load them straight into the truck. I had a friend helping, and at home I unloaded into a wheelbarrow right behind my truck as needed. I've used about half, as the 12" holes with 6x6 sucked up almost 5 bags each. The rest I left in the truck bed and I'll continue pulling as needed.
Oh, and forgot to mention tomorrow is rain all day so I'm going to plan how much material I still need, see about getting that ordered for delivery, then go buy some air nailers (Ridgid from Home Depot, as I think most of Menard's tool brands suck).
Getting excited, cause the holes are the labor intensive, sucky part. Cutting and nailing on 2x4s and pickets will take some time but with air nailers it'll be rather fun, and certainly is not a labor intensive process.
Look at you go!!! yeah on the poor truck but it is not the first one that has been so well used aka loved and it will not be the last. Just ask my poor trucks!!!
Dang it. So I keep waiting too long. Posts went from $11.70 to $13.59 from when I bought the ten shown in the overloaded truck picture above two days ago. Guess it's building season so they jack the prices up.
I've calculated I need an additional:
I'm thinking I'll just take the truck to work and stop by Menard's on my way home this week since I drive right by it. I'll just start grabbing stuff each night. By the weekend I'd easily have all the concrete and posts we'd need for the weekend. And 2x4s, since this is a three day weekend if the weather is good we'd go straight from setting posts to attaching 2x4s. I'd hold off on attaching pickets right away till the concrete had time to set for wind loading but 2x4's could be done soon after setting the posts.
Ah well. Guess more self pickup is the way to go. Should have planned better. In any case, I think it's about time to head off to the Home Depot and check out air nailers!
I've calculated I need an additional:
- 18 posts (includes two extra in case some twist)
- 40 bags of concrete
- ~570 pickets
- ~93 2x4x8s
I'm thinking I'll just take the truck to work and stop by Menard's on my way home this week since I drive right by it. I'll just start grabbing stuff each night. By the weekend I'd easily have all the concrete and posts we'd need for the weekend. And 2x4s, since this is a three day weekend if the weather is good we'd go straight from setting posts to attaching 2x4s. I'd hold off on attaching pickets right away till the concrete had time to set for wind loading but 2x4's could be done soon after setting the posts.
Ah well. Guess more self pickup is the way to go. Should have planned better. In any case, I think it's about time to head off to the Home Depot and check out air nailers!
Do you have a Harbor Freight? That is where my husband got his and he loves it!
Yeah pick up as you go buy is the best way to do it if they are that backed up
Yeah pick up as you go buy is the best way to do it if they are that backed up
The city emailed me to say that someone called them yesterday to say I could not build a fence OR a pool due to restrictive covenants. The city said they explained to the caller that restrictive covenants, while legal, have to be resolved privately and the city only issues permits based on city ordinances. The city added they cannot give legal advise and recommended I may want to talk to my lawyer, and where I could get a copy of the covenants (I've had that since January, as I read it before starting this project).
I hadn't heard back from a law firm I contacted, I contacted a lawyer at a different firm who was recommended by a coworker of mine. I'm pretty sure I'm good (legally), but I'm not a lawyer and would like some official legal advise on the situation.
As to working on the fence itself, I was suppose to have some friends come this weekend, but of course now it looks like it will rain, at least on and off, all weekend, including Memorial Day. While we could fairly easily nail 2x4s and pickets between rain, the rain will likely make digging new holes (which I hoped to get done with the help) very difficult and messy.
I hadn't heard back from a law firm I contacted, I contacted a lawyer at a different firm who was recommended by a coworker of mine. I'm pretty sure I'm good (legally), but I'm not a lawyer and would like some official legal advise on the situation.
As to working on the fence itself, I was suppose to have some friends come this weekend, but of course now it looks like it will rain, at least on and off, all weekend, including Memorial Day. While we could fairly easily nail 2x4s and pickets between rain, the rain will likely make digging new holes (which I hoped to get done with the help) very difficult and messy.
sigh..................well at least you won't have see them once the fence is done.
boooooooooo on the rain
boooooooooo on the rain
Wow, that's a lot of work you've got done! I rented a hydraulic one man post hole digger when I built since I knew an auger like you're using would break my arms! The pickets will go up fast with a nail gun. I screwed in about 7 of them before decided to pull out the compressor and nail gun...I don't know what I was thinking! Sorry you have such a grumpy neighbor. Glad you're on top of things legally, and I bet you can't wait to get that fence up! Are you planning to put up your pool after the fence it finished?