Getting closer and closer. Last week they wrapped up the rest of the stone work. All stone is now done down to the ground level, new stone in the breezeway added, and the blue stone front porch is done.















Two potential problems we will have to wait and see what happens regarding. In the first picture and there is more on the front of the garage between the two windows not pictured but the stone is stained by the orange clay. They still have to come back for a final pressure wash of the site but I am not convinced it will come off. If so that stone will have to be replaced as I won't sign off on it before that.



The second issue is the picture above. We had chosen narrow mortar joints and when they came back and finished the stone apparently the crew was either not told, were not observant enough to notice, or didn't even bother to check in the first place and just did what they want. The rest of the building the stone is towards the ground and you don't notice much but in the breezeway where it is adjacent to an area that was done before to my eye it really stands out.



They did complete the blue stone front porch which I am really happy with how it came out.





On Friday I grabbed a sheet of OSB and put the track saw to work to get it cut for my table bottom shelf. Thinking of adding 1 or 2 wide drawers on the bottom as well to increase storage space for now. Sorry no picture completed.

 

Looking great bro!

 

In before Jason starts posting pics of stacked super cars.

 

Maybe in the 2050 update.

 

Another Home Depot hack showed up this week for a tool I have been keeping an eye out for a deal on. I didn't actually expect a deal so soon on this since it is so new. I need to get some attachments ordered for it but super happy to finally have one of these die grinders.







A huge priority in the new shop area is dust collection and just making it easier to keep things clean while working on projects. My miter saw is my largest dust/debris creator currently. The table saw, track saw and routing table already have pretty good dust management. Ideally, I could have 3d printed this once I buy a printer but that is far down the list and lots of stuff to make with the saw coming up in the coming weeks and month.



Instead, I bought this kit from Shop Nation. It works as advertised. I had swept up before testing it and there is next to no dust from the project I was working on. It works so well you can see the stream getting sucked up which is great.













The project I started this weekend was on the new cedar shutters for the house. The builder was required to build matching shutters to the house as part of the garage build. The issue is that I ended up changing the colors of things, so the reddish color of the original ones on the house was no longer the color I wanted. Didn't want a change order for something so simple.



Cedar was cut, and staining is underway

 

I also have the shop nation dust chute for my miter saw but don't have it connected to a shop vac. Instead it's hooked up to my main dust collector and that really doesn't work well, it absolutely needs the high pressure performance of a shop vac to work well so don't hook it up to a big collector in the future lol.

This just means I need yet another vacuum in my shop...le sigh.

 

Honestly I am really struggling to see beyond 3 tools I might eventually buy, what I would collect to a lower pressure big collector. A planner, a jointer, and potentiall router table if using it more so as a small shapper vs just small trim stuff. Otherwise I feel like everything would work better with high pressure. I have used my shop vac for the miter saw, router table, and table saw for years and it had been great. It should also be good for future drill press as well. I think I am going to end up doing 2 of the HF Hercules dust collectors, one on the outer wall tools and one on the center table tools. Just need to get them when there is an HF 20 or 25% coupon.

 

Aside from my miter saw, CNC machine, and hand tools (sander, track saw, domino, etc) all of my stuff is hooked up to the bigger dust collector. A table saw makes a crapload of sawdust over a big area (10" blade) so a shop vac is unlikely to do a good job keeping up. Also the suction for a router table is likely better with a big dust collector just because of the volume of air it moves and the large area it needs to capture dust from. Ditto for band saw and jointer. My planer is the DeWalt one that has a built in blower so I just have that blowing into a big dust bag and it works well that way, it's not connected to an active suction source.

 

Maybe it is just because I am using a 10in contractor saw, but since I added the zero tolerance plate for it with my shop vac, it is basically dustless when I use it.

I do like that the DeWalt has the blower and the bag system works really well with it.

 

Obviously, there is not a huge list left for the builder to complete, but there still is a list. Last week I met with them, and the final cleaning is supposed to be done today as well as for them to install the last door that was incorrect. Wednesday, the painter is supposed to be here to do all the remaining painting. Besides punch list items, that should finally wrap up my contact with the builder.



Speaking of the doors to change, they are an extreme thorn in my side. The doors that were installed in the breezeway were ordered either by the builder or the building supply store. I provided pictures and item numbers for those doors long ago. The original incorrect doors were delivered on Jan 31, 2024 [img alt=":oops:"]data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7[/img]. I was sold a story for a long time that they were aware but at this point would just use them and install the correct ones at the end, so they were not damaged. I don't know if they figured I would forget or what, but here we are.



Incorrect door





Correct door







Friday afternoon, I started on the project of the trash can panel in the breezeway. I figured it would be a good trial run before the rest of the fence and gate build on the back side. Installed and cedar cut to size.





Staining cedar to match the shutters and garage doors. Found this suggestion online that screws in the end of the boards make good hangers when needing to paint/stain both sides of a board. It did work really well.





Finished product. Fence and gate panels will match this.

 

This weekend then I needed to tend to some landscaping items.

Since the driveway went in, the lowness of the retaining wall has been a concern from both visibility and functional perspectives. I have some spare blocks left over from that and decided to play around with making it higher.


This is what I came up with so far. I think staring at it for a few days I want to keep going with raising it towards the driveway, maybe another 2-3 block. The other goal of this is to direct water run off on to the driveway so it can funnel down to the drain or to the colvert outfront vs standing behind the wall. I need to get a couple extra caps now though to cut up to fix the curve.


It is also time to get back to work on the yard. The front yard received its first mowing of the year. I then put down fertlizer


Dug out the tractor sprayer so I could put down a 7 month dose of pre-emergent for the rest of the year.


The regrowth of the backyard is coming along nicely. This is the third mow it has received this year now. It started growing again before the front yard did. Pup saying let me at it, I will tear it up

 

I was just down in Pinehurst last week for work and flew in/out of Charlotte. What beautiful weather and man are the roads nice compared here back at home! Was nice to see green grass again and have the windows down.

 

And you aren't kidding about the red clay. That shit is nasty!

 

It really is the worst.

 

Does the forestry dept down there do a lot of control burns to clean up the needles in the forests? I took 211 to 27 thru Uwharrie Forest and noticed a lot of the place was cleaned out. Looked really nice for hiking and what not.

 

Honestly, I am not really sure. I need to figure it out so I can clean out my backwoods though haha.

 

That grass 🤤

 

dat grass is dope. Super jealous of the weather you're getting!

 

Finally starting to look less like a construction site. The porta-potty is finally gone. I also mowed again last night and more than 60% of the yard already had another 1.5-2in of growth since Satuday. Probably the last lawn update until it has fully grown in and I stop bagging for the early spring weed pods. Operating lawn like golf course rough is well underway though.

 

DAAAANNNNNNNGGGG, that house! That Grass!!!

 

 

So sick

 

This past week, there was some more progress on some things.

I have been washing cars all week. The center drain is actually really nice for this. Pretty much prevents ever standing in puddles at all.


On Friday, the painters were here to do some of the remaining painting work. They were not able to finish though and will need to be back for another day to finish up.

Black for the upstairs storage room door to continue the black door on wood wall theme that is downstairs.



Went with a grayish navy to tie in with the stone work.





Over the weekend, I got to clearing out some things from out front. Finally took the two old posts from the front porch to the dump and moved half the pallets I was keeping to the back with the forks on the tractor.

Then, I moved onto the main piece of work which was grading the remaining ground area in the yard to the left of the driveway. The tractor with the load continues to prove its worth. Made great work of getting this graded out.




I wasn't completely happy with it on Saturday, so I worked it again on Sunday by adding two more blocks to the wall and back filling that additional area it created. I am considering just taking the wall the same height all the way to the end, or maybe doing a single step right at the beginning to help with the transition. The main issue is I am still worried about someone backing in and not seeing it. The other thought is to add a decorative boulder at the start of the wall that you can't miss.

My supervisor checking over my work. He is also still unsure how to proceed with the wall height.


Either way, it is finally starting to look complete.

 

Yea, I don't know if I would ever leave the garage. Between yardwork and garage stuff, its a tough call.

Looks Great!

 

^ This.

Can you put a light post or something like that where the wall ends to help people see it?

 

I am not really a fan of post lighting. This weekend I am going to try building it to the end, almost with the step up being one foot from the end. This will allow me to put a light under the cap almost right under the start of the wall which will cast a light down on the driveway that you would see backing up. Then I think a roughly 24-36in landscape rock to start the area off and I will put a landscape light to light up that instead which should also cast some glow on the wall at night. I really should go back to sketchup and do the landscape design in there like I did the rest of this project design.

 

I finally solved a problem I have just dealt with over the years which is sun tripping garage door sensors. Bought these simple little pieces that bolt over to block the direct sun light. Hasn't been sunny enough to test them since I installed them.




It is hard to find good work, according to my builder. I question if he just doesn't want to pay for good work. It will cost him twice now. According to him the painters were instructed to remove all hardware before painting the doors. They decided to just tape things and do a bad job at that as well.






The stone discoloring issue from the clay is still an on going issue. I have not decided just yet if the most recent cleaning attempt is satisfactory or not. I feel it kind of is in certain areas and others it still seems very clear of the clay staining due to their neglence of ground cover during the build. The biggest problem is since they didn't keep it clean the stone that was finished after the driveway was installed is very obvious line of separation.


Stone prior to any cleaning attempts. Notice in the third picture how the area to the right of the garage door is fine because they had gravel on the ground in that area.








After the latest cleaning efforts. The large area under the windows I am fine with but the stone around the garage doors is still pretty obvious difference.








Made my final decision on the retaining wall. Extended it all the way. Just need to pick up two additional cap stones and make some cuts to get that curved.






I had taken a helper outside with me while I worked. I normally have one of the pups outside with me. Well, she hung around for about 15 minutes and then took a walk around the garage. Between the fence and where I was working, I knew she could not have left the property. A walk turned up nothing.


That was cause it never occurred to me at first to look up. She decided lounging on the deck was better than hanging with me.

 

Last night I started one of my least favorite projects. Irrigation repair for getting it ready for use this year. I knew I had 1 repair that needed to be made as I had a small leak, which I figured was a cracked elbow, as the area around that head stayed wet for a while more than normal towards the end of last year.

What I didn't expect was two more repairs, but not unexpected either with the driveway work. I found a head that looked like it was fine but it was completely broken off from the elbow line underground. Almost like someone knew they broke it off and then buried it back to look like it was fine.

The second was much less expected. Not one but two broken sections in a 3ft span on either side of a 45 coupler. I assume this happened while they were putting in the forms for the driveway. Was honestly impressed they managed to break it twice. Just unfortunate as this is the section I just installed with all new pipe last March when they were doing the garage septic connection at the same time.





This weather is making everything grow. My largest dogwood in the front yard has decided to bloom finally. The dogwoods in my front yard are my favorite part of my landscaping. They are both wild dogwoods and original to the house. I found another young one in the woods behind the house, and I am tempted to try to transplant it into the bed I will build by the retaining wall. I don't know much about transplanting trees, though, so I don't know if it would be a good idea.

 

I still haven't fixed our sprinklers since we had the pool put in. I know I have a cracked line, but it's also tied to the supply for the guest house, so if I turn on the sprinklers it pushes dirt into the plumbing of the tiny house. I need to plumb in a flush line somewhere before the tiny house so I can shut of the feed and flush any dirt from the line before it gets to the house fixtures.

 

How does your lawn survive in TX without irrigation working? Is there no way to split them so they are not tied together at all?

 

Surprisingly, not terribly. Lots of shade

 

I think the stone work looks fine. Not sure anyone would notice if you don't mention it. If anything spray the new stone with clay to even it out

 

One day I'm going to drive up just to charge my phone on your dime on that outside outlet.

 

Not sure if it looks any different in person but that stone looks fine in the pics. It might be worse to have them replace stuff as it might look even more out of place doing that.

 

I spent a bunch of time on my sprinkler system last year. Our well water is full of rust and silt, which clogs up the inlet filters on the rotary heads and gums up the seals and rotation on the rotors. I also had a few cracked risers (all lines seem to be OK). Also had problems with water pressure -- it would drop too low for the pump and pressure vessel to maintain > 35 psi to keep the heads up. And then I have a slope to the yard and there was enough static pressure that after a few years of aging some of the heads wouldn't completely close. So I found every head on my system, replaced all of the rotors with models that have a check valve, replaced all of the nozzles with 1.5 CFM instead of 2.0 CFM and just extended the watering time. Some of the stations have six heads on them so the system was trying to supply 12 CFM, that's now down to 9 CFM. No more supply pressure problems. I also got a tool to cut the grass away from the heads and put a couple of them on slightly higher risers because they had sunk into the dirt.

By the end of the season everything was working great and the whole yard looked amazing. And I can now change out a sprinkler head in just a few minutes without digging (I have a tool that helps with this immensely) and set the rotation just about perfectly without even turning on the water.

Ccolts -- your house is absolutely gorgeous, but man that red clay is worse than the brown clay we suffer with here.

 

I'm thinking my system, at leat half of the backyard, needs a full overhaul. Pretty sure they dug out or damaged a solenoid controller & numerous lines/heads, when we had the pool put in.

 

I forgot I also replaced the diaphragms in every single one of my valves, and had to replace one valve because the solenoid was no longer working.

I can't imagine the nightmare if the wiring got damaged. I don't even know how my sprinkler control wires are routed... the controller is in the garage at the front of the house and all of the control valves/solenoids are in three different pits in the back yard. I have to assume the wires go through the house through conduit but I don't know where they exit in the back because everything is buried.

 

Thank you. The red clay is definitely the devil. Slowly getting it all covered up though which is nice. The last bit will happen when I get to reseed the other half of the backyard this fall. Can't wait to be rid of it on the main property on a daily basis.

I have gone down the rabbit hole of irrigation this weekend with some more reading while trying to run output tests. I guess I am going to go through the process soon of calibrating each zone based on head rotation amount vs nozzle gpm to try and equal them out. Some areas are getting too wet and some not enough water since I have just been blanket swapping out heads with the default nozzle they come with when heads have failed. Should be a fun or awful process with around 25-30 heads. Not even sure right now the total for the yard.

 

I tried doing that. I put nozzles in the heads based on the degrees of rotation (1.5 cfm for 90 degrees, 3 cfm for 180, etc.) and quickly overran my water supply with all of the 360-degree heads I have.

With the lowest flow 1.5 CFM heads all around, I just vary the station watering times and don't fret the corners / half circles. With the slower watering it seems the water soaks in better instead of running off on the slopes. I think I have a total of like 55 heads between rotors and nozzles. Definitely a time-consuming process to get it all balanced. I assess watering times by looks -- if the zone looks good and is not saturated, I leave it alone. If it is wetter or dryer than I like, I adjust the total weekly watering time down or up to correct.

If you are on city water and don't have to worry about pressure, you can ignore this advice -- though it still might be advantageous from a water consumption point of view to not water too fast so that you don't waste money creating runoff.

 

Thankfully, my entire system is rotors, so not as many heads. I have 7 zones but one is only one head in the backyard, as I need to redo it now that construction is finished. Once I figure out how much grass I will grow in that area, it will likely be 3 or 4 heads. I think I have an average of 5 rotors per zone but some with only 4. Finding really dry areas is what I am trying to combat to help the grass survive the summer heat down here. Half of my zones have similar sweep patterns so not an issue, but I have 2 that have are getting less water than the rest of the zone at one head and another that ends up with 3 different sweeps for 4 different heads. That zone has 90, 180, 180, and a 270. I want to do what you did and cut back on the water so I can leave the zone on longer, but with a 3.0 at the locations that get more and turn it down elsewhere. There is an 8th zone labeled drip on the wiring, but I have never found the valve or the start of the zone, so I have just never used it.