Enough of COVID...what are you doing to the house? | Page 107 | GTAMotorcycle.com

Enough of COVID...what are you doing to the house?

@mimico_polak for soil, there are big differences in quality depending source. For our area I will always buy from Petrie’s out in Milton. They have a high quality product that is weed free. They are a bit more expensive, but the effect is that your lawn or gardens will thrive and you will thank yourself. You have a large enough driveway that you can have them dump it direct on the pavement (I hate dumping in tarps) and it will be wheelbarrowed out in no time.

What are you getting it for? Gardens or grass?
How many yards in total?

I’m not a fan of the big yellow bags at all - it’s generally lower quality soil that people are buying for convenience than quality.
 
We need the soil for the garden and for the spot where the grass died. Petrie’s is cheaper than Cooksville Lumber from my calls yesterday. My cousin uses Petrie’s over the years and is happy with it.
 
We need the soil for the garden and for the spot where the grass died. Petrie’s is cheaper than Cooksville Lumber from my calls yesterday. My cousin uses Petrie’s over the years and is happy with it.
When I took up the grass, I put down 10yds of their triple mix and my plants took to it very well. Zero weeds and great composition for a fair price.
 
Did you roll it down (compact it) after laying it?
On any slopes, did you peg it in place?
No, just loosened the soil underneath and placed it. No slopes at a grade bad enough that it will slide.
 
So concrete pad guy may be too busy to do the job anytime soon….which is kind of what I thought might happen. So I’m back to looking at what I can do myself although he said he might know someone that could do it. Maybe deckblocks and a lumber frame or even concrete set 4x4 as posts with a lumber frame, timber frame with levelled gravel etc. Sigh. The catch 22 here is I‘m in a place where I can afford to pay someone to get this done, but everyone is solidly booked up or is only taking big jobs on.
 
No, just loosened the soil underneath and placed it. No slopes at a grade bad enough that it will slide.
FYI - One of the biggest things to help new sod get established, is compacting it properly to ensure a really good contact patch with the base soil underneath. In trials we did in school, it was shown to be more important than watering it!

For larger areas, the easiest way to do this is to use a roller that you fill 3/4 full with water. These roller can often be rented from home depot or local tool rental shops.

After rolling it, then water it in very well so that the soil underneath is drenched. Stay off it for a few weeks and check the moisture of it every few days. With the cooling temps coming this week, a good watering should easily last 3+ days, maybe as much as a week long.

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Just a simple shed and garage cleaning. Found we had some squirrels hiding there over last winter so been buying bins every few weeks at CT/HD whenever they went on sale.

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FYI - One of the biggest things to help new sod get established, is compacting it properly to ensure a really good contact patch with the base soil underneath. In trials we did in school, it was shown to be more important than watering it!

For larger areas, the easiest way to do this is to use a roller that you fill 3/4 full with water. These roller can often be rented from home depot or local tool rental shops.

After rolling it, then water it in very well so that the soil underneath is drenched. Stay off it for a few weeks and check the moisture of it every few days. With the cooling temps coming this week, a good watering should easily last 3+ days, maybe as much as a week long.

bf190784-678d-4684-a5ba-be91ac91b590_1.e796fbcbd0a1214ffb305e639e8d1eb9.jpeg
OK, how about driving over it with the lawn tractor tires now to compact it then? Renting a roller would take a while. Directions I researched online just said to loosen dirt, place sod, water well, stay off it for a while.
 
OK, how about driving over it with the lawn tractor tires now to compact it then? Renting a roller would take a while. Directions I researched online just said to loosen dirt, place sod, water well, stay off it for a while.
You could try that, but I would be hesitant to do that if you have recently watered it. Maybe let it dry a bit before trying that. The water rollers when 3/4 full are a great amount of weight to press the sod into the soil without compacting the soil so heavily that it has a hard time allowing water to infiltrate it and giving enough room for roots to breathe.
 
So concrete pad guy may be too busy to do the job anytime soon….which is kind of what I thought might happen. So I’m back to looking at what I can do myself although he said he might know someone that could do it. Maybe deckblocks and a lumber frame or even concrete set 4x4 as posts with a lumber frame, timber frame with levelled gravel etc. Sigh. The catch 22 here is I‘m in a place where I can afford to pay someone to get this done, but everyone is solidly booked up or is only taking big jobs on.
I prefer sono-tubes on the corners and PT wood framed floors for sheds. You can get a post hole digger company for $300-400 (whatever their min charge is). They dig, set, mix and fill concrete, all you supply is the sono tubes and beam saddles. http://www.postholediggers.ca/pricing.html. If you ever decide to remove or relocate, you can snap the footings off below grade.

A 10x12 you need 4 tubes at 8" and can frame the platform in 2x6.
 
I prefer sono-tubes on the corners and PT wood framed floors for sheds. You can get a post hole digger company for $300-400 (whatever their min charge is). They dig, set, mix and fill concrete, all you supply is the sono tubes and beam saddles. http://www.postholediggers.ca/pricing.html. If you ever decide to remove or relocate, you can snap the footings off below grade.

A 10x12 you need 4 tubes at 8" and can frame the platform in 2x6.

Thanks for that Mike. That’s an interesting alternative. I’m outside the GTA but there should be equivalents here. My issue is that I have bedrock not far under the surface. I don’t know if they could get 2-3ft down without hitting it in places but if the tubes are on that it shouldn’t be an issue for frost should it?
 
Thanks for that Mike. That’s an interesting alternative. I’m outside the GTA but there should be equivalents here. My issue is that I have bedrock not far under the surface. I don’t know if they could get 2-3ft down without hitting it in places but if the tubes are on that it shouldn’t be an issue for frost should it?
It you hit bedrock, that's awesome. That hole is done. If you're feeling extra thorough, drill a few holes in the bedrock and epoxy in pieces of rebar. It will never move.
 
It you hit bedrock, that's awesome. That hole is done. If you're feeling extra thorough, drill a few holes in the bedrock and epoxy in pieces of rebar. It will never move.

Would it matter if each sonotube is only 2ft buried with just a few inches above ground? Where the shed base would go is where my fence guys used a jackhammer to get poles for a chain link fence in years ago. That’s different though as for stability I understand the chain link poles would need to be pretty deep.
 
I prefer sono-tubes on the corners and PT wood framed floors for sheds. You can get a post hole digger company for $300-400 (whatever their min charge is). They dig, set, mix and fill concrete, all you supply is the sono tubes and beam saddles. http://www.postholediggers.ca/pricing.html. If you ever decide to remove or relocate, you can snap the footings off below grade.

A 10x12 you need 4 tubes at 8" and can frame the platform in 2x6.
Downside of this is now you have steps up into the shed. Need a ramp to get things like lawnmowers in.
 

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