Otis in the Suburbs (3 Viewers)

[Cliff Clavin]

Current state of the yard which I plan to delve into with both hands and work on.

Immediate yard/"deck" behind the house

Yard further back with hill up to the right

The space in the back there up on the hill is decent sized, but the grade is pretty steep. At some point I would like to level that out, replant grass, maybe have a retaining wall/some plantings at the bottom of the grade, and put in some kind of small patio/fire pit/lounging area up there. Kind of have two different sitting sections -- one up in the back there for lounging, then the immediate deck area off the house with a table, BBQ, etc.

I can't believe I took this long to move to the suburbs. It seems totally awesome.

I had a deck like that in my yard......

A low level power washer and some stain should take a few hours and is the perfect "beer in hand, look at what a great job I did project" compared to the month long agony of laying bricks.....

Just wear shoes and don't power wash your toes.

Yeah I was thinking about taking it out and putting in a real nice patio. Maybe in the short term you're right, I can just wash and stain it, since the wood itself is in fairly decent shape.

Don't do a patio. Far more work, more expensive, don't look nearly as nice and look like complete #### if not done properly.

 

[Otis]

Man, I wish I had a good spot to put a fire pit at my house. I had one about 10 feet in diamter at my last house. It ruled.

Do it yourself?That sounds totally awesome. This is something I could imagine us using constantly. Go out there on a decent night in the spring/fall, fire it up, have a beer or ten or wine or beer or scotch, and kick back in a comfy chair. Sounds totally and completely awesome.

 

[JerseyToughGuys]

Current state of the yard which I plan to delve into with both hands and work on.

Immediate yard/"deck" behind the house

Yard further back with hill up to the right

The space in the back there up on the hill is decent sized, but the grade is pretty steep. At some point I would like to level that out, replant grass, maybe have a retaining wall/some plantings at the bottom of the grade, and put in some kind of small patio/fire pit/lounging area up there. Kind of have two different sitting sections -- one up in the back there for lounging, then the immediate deck area off the house with a table, BBQ, etc.

I can't believe I took this long to move to the suburbs. It seems totally awesome.

I had a deck like that in my yard......

A low level power washer and some stain should take a few hours and is the perfect "beer in hand, look at what a great job I did project" compared to the month long agony of laying bricks.....

Just wear shoes and don't power wash your toes.

Yeah I was thinking about taking it out and putting in a real nice patio. Maybe in the short term you're right, I can just wash and stain it, since the wood itself is in fairly decent shape.

Don't do a patio. Far more work, more expensive, don't look nearly as nice and look like complete #### if not done properly.

I disagree.

 

[Zow]

BTW, I agree with those saying you have a sweet patio setup. Looks great for grilling and beers during the summer. I'd suggest an outdoor hot tub or maybe enclose the patio to make it three seasonal. Firepits rule too.

For your kid(s), if you have a boy especially, I'd definitely say try to level some flat grass area for them to play in. Couldn't imagine being a kid without a backyard to play wiffle ball.

disregard this part. you won't use it.

Well, I was more thinking for the benefit of his son when he gets to high school age and wants to invite girls over. I had a buddy growing up whose parents had the sweetest setup ever - a three season covered porch with a hot tub, heated floor, and tv hook up. Sat in that thing nightly and, even with none of us having any game, still got the occasional chick in there. Also, with all the free time Otis is going to have to work out he'll take advantage of it to relax and reduce soreness. Personally, if I were making OtisBank I'd have a hot tub in a heartbeat, but I guess that means I'm cheesy.

 

[Exit 1]

 

[glock]

BTW, O- have you ever seen this classic?

 

[RudiStein]

BTW, I agree with those saying you have a sweet patio setup. Looks great for grilling and beers during the summer. I'd suggest an outdoor hot tub or maybe enclose the patio to make it three seasonal. Firepits rule too.

For your kid(s), if you have a boy especially, I'd definitely say try to level some flat grass area for them to play in. Couldn't imagine being a kid without a backyard to play wiffle ball.

disregard this part. you won't use it.

Well, I was more thinking for the benefit of his son when he gets to high school age and wants to invite girls over. I had a buddy growing up whose parents had the sweetest setup ever - a three season covered porch with a hot tub, heated floor, and tv hook up. Sat in that thing nightly and, even with none of us having any game, still got the occasional chick in there. Also, with all the free time Otis is going to have to work out he'll take advantage of it to relax and reduce soreness. Personally, if I were making OtisBank I'd have a hot tub in a heartbeat, but I guess that means I'm cheesy.

Pretty sure every decision I made as a homeowner was based on whether or not it would help my sons get laid.

 

[JerseyToughGuys]

BTW, I agree with those saying you have a sweet patio setup. Looks great for grilling and beers during the summer. I'd suggest an outdoor hot tub or maybe enclose the patio to make it three seasonal. Firepits rule too.

For your kid(s), if you have a boy especially, I'd definitely say try to level some flat grass area for them to play in. Couldn't imagine being a kid without a backyard to play wiffle ball.

disregard this part. you won't use it.

Well, I was more thinking for the benefit of his son when he gets to high school age and wants to invite girls over. I had a buddy growing up whose parents had the sweetest setup ever - a three season covered porch with a hot tub, heated floor, and tv hook up. Sat in that thing nightly and, even with none of us having any game, still got the occasional chick in there. Also, with all the free time Otis is going to have to work out he'll take advantage of it to relax and reduce soreness. Personally, if I were making OtisBank I'd have a hot tub in a heartbeat, but I guess that means I'm cheesy.

ya, cause 17 year old hot tubs are ####### KILLER!~@

 

[Drifter]

Have the lawn raked and aerated and put down some good shade grass seed and fertilizer this spring. Keep up your weed and feeds through the summer and you'll probably bring a lot of it back without having to completely seed or sod.

 

[TLEF316]

BTW, I agree with those saying you have a sweet patio setup. Looks great for grilling and beers during the summer. I'd suggest an outdoor hot tub or maybe enclose the patio to make it three seasonal. Firepits rule too.

For your kid(s), if you have a boy especially, I'd definitely say try to level some flat grass area for them to play in. Couldn't imagine being a kid without a backyard to play wiffle ball.

disregard this part. you won't use it.

Well, I was more thinking for the benefit of his son when he gets to high school age and wants to invite girls over. I had a buddy growing up whose parents had the sweetest setup ever - a three season covered porch with a hot tub, heated floor, and tv hook up. Sat in that thing nightly and, even with none of us having any game, still got the occasional chick in there. Also, with all the free time Otis is going to have to work out he'll take advantage of it to relax and reduce soreness. Personally, if I were making OtisBank I'd have a hot tub in a heartbeat, but I guess that means I'm cheesy.

ya, cause 17 year old hot tubs are ####### KILLER!~@

seriously, by 2028, we won't even need women. Pretty sure my kids (if i ever have any) will be having virtual reality sex with the Scarlett Johansen of their time by then.

 

[joffer]

BTW, I agree with those saying you have a sweet patio setup. Looks great for grilling and beers during the summer. I'd suggest an outdoor hot tub or maybe enclose the patio to make it three seasonal. Firepits rule too.

For your kid(s), if you have a boy especially, I'd definitely say try to level some flat grass area for them to play in. Couldn't imagine being a kid without a backyard to play wiffle ball.

disregard this part. you won't use it.

Well, I was more thinking for the benefit of his son when he gets to high school age and wants to invite girls over. I had a buddy growing up whose parents had the sweetest setup ever - a three season covered porch with a hot tub, heated floor, and tv hook up. Sat in that thing nightly and, even with none of us having any game, still got the occasional chick in there. Also, with all the free time Otis is going to have to work out he'll take advantage of it to relax and reduce soreness. Personally, if I were making OtisBank I'd have a hot tub in a heartbeat, but I guess that means I'm cheesy.

Pretty sure every decision I made as a homeowner was based on whether or not it would help my sons get laid.

fire pit

hot tub

 

[shuke]

Man, I wish I had a good spot to put a fire pit at my house. I had one about 10 feet in diamter at my last house. It ruled.

Do it yourself?That sounds totally awesome. This is something I could imagine us using constantly. Go out there on a decent night in the spring/fall, fire it up, have a beer or ten or wine or beer or scotch, and kick back in a comfy chair. Sounds totally and completely awesome.

It was there when I bought the house and nothing fancy, just a ring of stones. This was in rural Indiana and I lived out of the city limits, which meant no leaf pick up so I had to burn. I also burned an entire deck that I pulled up when I decided to rebuild it. It was also great for evenings when we had people over.

 

[shuke]

Oh, you should also invest in a nice cornhole set for when you're entertaining on the weekends. Nothing better than drinking and cornhole all day while you bbq some stuff on the smoker, and then when it gets late, just dump the charcoal into your fire pit to get the fire going.

 

[The Big Guy]

My guess is with all those trees around is you're going to have trouble growing any type of grass.

I was assuming that is why they had that pebble/rock nonsense going on in the back. Then again, off to the side of the house in front there is a decent lawn, and there's also some grass on the hill in the back. In certain areas we have that nasty pachysandra weed stuff which I would love to pull out, but I fear it's there for this reason too.

there are a lot of people around my area who use the white rock in lieu of grass, because growing a real lawn is a royal pain with the soil in my area. It could be tied to that, or it could have been that they didn't want to deal with the lawn care aspect as well. If you want to put together a firepit, just make sure that you really want to pay that type of attention to detail in putting it together. Working with cement and rock is not as easy as it seems, or that is my bad experience with it.

 

[Otis]

Oh, you should also invest in a nice cornhole set for when you're entertaining on the weekends. Nothing better than drinking and cornhole all day while you bbq some stuff on the smoker, and then when it gets late, just dump the charcoal into your fire pit to get the fire going.

Was contemplating a cornhole set or horseshoes.

 

[ODoyleRules]

Our previous owners left a little plastic play slide in our backyard. We were this close to just tossing it, but our kids still love it 3 years later. So consider yourself lucky with that little eyesore they'll leave for you.

 

[Otis]

Our previous owners left a little plastic play slide in our backyard. We were this close to just tossing it, but our kids still love it 3 years later. So consider yourself lucky with that little eyesore they'll leave for you.

They've got that in the back yard and then one of those giant wooden jungle gym/slide/etc. play sets in the front yard. Those are items 1 and 2 on my hit list when we move in. If they're left behind, they're toast.Item 1 on the wife's hit list is the pole and basketball hoop out in the driveway. It looks like it was put up in the 60s.

 

[RudiStein]

Our previous owners left a little plastic play slide in our backyard. We were this close to just tossing it, but our kids still love it 3 years later. So consider yourself lucky with that little eyesore they'll leave for you.

They've got that in the back yard and then one of those giant wooden jungle gym/slide/etc. play sets in the front yard. Those are items 1 and 2 on my hit list when we move in. If they're left behind, they're toast.Item 1 on the wife's hit list is the pole and basketball hoop out in the driveway. It looks like it was put up in the 60s.

Yeah get rid of the playsets. Go out and buy your own in a couple of years. Every father should experience the joy of assembling a swingset/junglegym/vietcongtigertrap.

 

[Bring The Stink]

looking forward to having you post here more and more over the next few years.

 

[the moops]

Do it yourself?

Absolutely. And because you are being all noble and going the permit route, you may want to check local ordinances for the fire pit too. Mostly they have to be 20 feet or so away from any structure. Some have to be dug down below grade.

 

[GroveDiesel]

I think you should build your own, like this.

I am all over this.

My dad did it in their back yard. It's really nice. It wasn't that difficult design-wise, but it's a bit physically demanding. It's better to dig a pit and line it with gravel, and then build it up with the stone/bricks. Of course, that's the most physically demanding part, digging the hole. Also, I'm not sure why you would put a metal insert into it when you can just build a fire on the stone.

 

[St. Louis Bob]

Our previous owners left a little plastic play slide in our backyard. We were this close to just tossing it, but our kids still love it 3 years later. So consider yourself lucky with that little eyesore they'll leave for you.

They've got that in the back yard and then one of those giant wooden jungle gym/slide/etc. play sets in the front yard. Those are items 1 and 2 on my hit list when we move in. If they're left behind, they're toast.Item 1 on the wife's hit list is the pole and basketball hoop out in the driveway. It looks like it was put up in the 60s.

Yeah get rid of the playsets. Go out and buy your own in a couple of years. Every father should experience the joy of assembling a swingset/junglegym/vietcongtigertrap.

It's even more of a joyful experience when your will to live has been destroyed.

 

[Otis]

looking forward to having you post here more and more over the next few years.

 

[Tiger Fan]

Oh, you should also invest in a nice cornhole set for when you're entertaining on the weekends. Nothing better than drinking and cornhole all day while you bbq some stuff on the smoker, and then when it gets late, just dump the charcoal into your fire pit to get the fire going.

Was contemplating a cornhole set or horseshoes.

Sam's club sells a combination cornhole/washers/ladder golf game that we have. We just moved into a place with a huge yard, so I can't wait to throw a few get togethers. We have that along with horseshoes, bocce ball and can jam

 

[nysportsfan]

Run a natural gas line outside for a grill. You can always do the smoker/charcoal thing as well, but a dedicated line to the grill is money.

Or, instead to spending time and money on this, you can do one of the best suburban shark moves. Own two propane tanks for your grill and immediate fill one when it goes empty. They always go empty in the middle of cooking.

My old man did this By the way, I'm assuming it's ok for me to own a propane grill? Does anyone bother getting messy with charcoal anymore?

http://biggreenegg.com/

In a similar boat as Otis and I spent 2+ hours reading some great grill threads on here. After thorough research, I am deciding between the BGE and the Weber Smoky Mountain. There were some great insights on Weber Smoky Mtn vs. the Kettle depending on how much you grill vs. smoke, but what about the BGE? If you are a 50% or more griller is it too much to be firing up a large or XL BGE to cook 4 burgers and a couple dogs?

The BGE things I saw online look like small round grills. I'm looking at one of those nice big rectangle Weber ones that seem to have a ton of grill space. Why would I want one of those little suckers?

Make a spatchcocked (chuckle) chicken on it once and you'll never go back to gas again. It's so much better than anything I've ever used it's not even funny. Ribs are in the fridge for tomorrow, and will smoke at 250 or so for 4 hours and fall off the bone. Then at night, if I wanted, I can get the temp up to about 1000 and sear a thick porter house. You can't really do this with Webbers, although they are easy to turn on to make a veggie burger

 

[Otis]

Make a spatchcocked (chuckle) chicken on it once and you'll never go back to gas again. It's so much better than anything I've ever used it's not even funny. Ribs are in the fridge for tomorrow, and will smoke at 250 or so for 4 hours and fall off the bone. Then at night, if I wanted, I can get the temp up to about 1000 and sear a thick porter house. You can't really do this with Webbers, although they are easy to turn on to make a veggie burger

Interesting.

 

[pokin]

Run a natural gas line outside for a grill. You can always do the smoker/charcoal thing as well, but a dedicated line to the grill is money.

Or, instead to spending time and money on this, you can do one of the best suburban shark moves. Own two propane tanks for your grill and immediate fill one when it goes empty. They always go empty in the middle of cooking.

My old man did this By the way, I'm assuming it's ok for me to own a propane grill? Does anyone bother getting messy with charcoal anymore?

http://biggreenegg.com/

In a similar boat as Otis and I spent 2+ hours reading some great grill threads on here. After thorough research, I am deciding between the BGE and the Weber Smoky Mountain. There were some great insights on Weber Smoky Mtn vs. the Kettle depending on how much you grill vs. smoke, but what about the BGE? If you are a 50% or more griller is it too much to be firing up a large or XL BGE to cook 4 burgers and a couple dogs?

The BGE things I saw online look like small round grills. I'm looking at one of those nice big rectangle Weber ones that seem to have a ton of grill space. Why would I want one of those little suckers?

Make a spatchcocked (chuckle) chicken on it once and you'll never go back to gas again. It's so much better than anything I've ever used it's not even funny. Ribs are in the fridge for tomorrow, and will smoke at 250 or so for 4 hours and fall off the bone. Then at night, if I wanted, I can get the temp up to about 1000 and sear a thick porter house. You can't really do this with Webbers, although they are easy to turn on to make a veggie burger

I've had a pork butt on since midnight. Should be ready right around 6 pm. 1 load of lump and a couple of times fiddling with the vents is all that it has taken. The green egg is awesome. By far my favorite purchase for my new house. Everything tastes better.

 

[bostonfred]

I've had a pork butt on since midnight. Should be ready right around 6 pm. 1 load of lump and a couple of times fiddling with the vents is all that it has taken. The green egg is awesome. By far my favorite purchase for my new house. Everything tastes better.

For non-barbecuers, the idea of starting tomorrow's dinner at midnight, cooking for eighteen hours, leaving something burning at my house while I sleep, all so I can enjoy a "pork butt" doesn't sound nearly as exciting as it does to you guys who are more serious about it.

 

[Koya]

Was round big O's new hood today shopping.

Only a matter of time before I see him checking out butts at Whole Foods.

 

[pokin]

I've had a pork butt on since midnight. Should be ready right around 6 pm. 1 load of lump and a couple of times fiddling with the vents is all that it has taken. The green egg is awesome. By far my favorite purchase for my new house. Everything tastes better.

For non-barbecuers, the idea of starting tomorrow's dinner at midnight, cooking for eighteen hours, leaving something burning at my house while I sleep, all so I can enjoy a "pork butt" doesn't sound nearly as exciting as it does to you guys who are more serious about it.

Fair point but honestly I never dreamed I would do that till I got the egg. It makes it so easy. Not to mention that you can do burgers in 25 minutes that taste twice as good as any I had ever made before. I think the versatility is a huge selling point.

 

[Britney Spears]

Just checking in to poach advice.

I'm about 10 weekends in on a big(for me) retaining wall/fire pit project myself.

 

[Otis]

Just checking in to poach advice. I'm about 10 weekends in on a big(for me) retaining wall/fire pit project myself.

wtf. Can we get some pics/context here? TIA

 

[Britney Spears]

Just checking in to poach advice. I'm about 10 weekends in on a big(for me) retaining wall/fire pit project myself.

wtf. Can we get some pics/context here? TIA

Seriously, I started this in the summer of 2009 and it's still in progress. bagI had the brilliant idea to build a retaining wall out of the cliff next to our house (~300 ft ravine/greenbelt) and put a campfire pit on top of it. Think like a "lookout" area. I also am on a very hilly area.I really only work on it in the weekends when the weather is decent. I took last summer off to go to Europe, so it's been very slow moving. I have had to do a lot of research for drainage and erosion control to make sure I don't collapse this thing into the ravine. Also, each of the blocks is 75 lbs, like the ones they use on the highway, and I'm a weakling, so it's slow for me to move these things around.I will post pics if you are interested.

 

[The Z Machine]

+1 Interested

 

[Otis]

Just checking in to poach advice.

I'm about 10 weekends in on a big(for me) retaining wall/fire pit project myself.

wtf. Can we get some pics/context here? TIA

Seriously, I started this in the summer of 2009 and it's still in progress. bagI had the brilliant idea to build a retaining wall out of the cliff next to our house (~300 ft ravine/greenbelt) and put a campfire pit on top of it. Think like a "lookout" area. I also am on a very hilly area.

I really only work on it in the weekends when the weather is decent. I took last summer off to go to Europe, so it's been very slow moving. I have had to do a lot of research for drainage and erosion control to make sure I don't collapse this thing into the ravine.

Also, each of the blocks is 75 lbs, like the ones they use on the highway, and I'm a weakling, so it's slow for me to move these things around.

I will post pics if you are interested.

 

[Britney Spears]

I started with this unused area where our yard runs to the edge of the ravine:

Start

This is where I'm at today:

Current

From the other side

The firepit will go right in the middle of the big area. I think I will plant something in the smaller areas. I have a lot of drainage built in and went through a lot of work to build underground so that everything stays settled.

Hoping to finish this summer and actually get to use it finally.

 

[Otis]

I started with this unused area where our yard runs to the edge of the ravine:

Start

This is where I'm at today:

Current

From the other side

The firepit will go right in the middle of the big area. I think I will plant something in the smaller areas. I have a lot of drainage built in and went through a lot of work to build underground so that everything stays settled.

Hoping to finish this summer and actually get to use it finally.

Dude. This looks totally awesome. Nice job. Exactly the kind of thing I'm hoping to do up on the hill in our yard (except we will be going up to the sitting spot rather than down as in yours).Nice job. All this stuff about drainage etc. sounds like a lot of work.

 

[Britney Spears]

I started with this unused area where our yard runs to the edge of the ravine:

Start

This is where I'm at today:

Current

From the other side

The firepit will go right in the middle of the big area. I think I will plant something in the smaller areas. I have a lot of drainage built in and went through a lot of work to build underground so that everything stays settled.

Hoping to finish this summer and actually get to use it finally.

Dude. This looks totally awesome. Nice job. Exactly the kind of thing I'm hoping to do up on the hill in our yard (except we will be going up to the sitting spot rather than down as in yours).Nice job. All this stuff about drainage etc. sounds like a lot of work.

It's more planning than work. The last thing you want is a wall that is all crooked (I notice these everywhere since I took on this project) or something that slides around over time.Also, if this area was more accessible (it's not at all), I would have rented a little land mover from Sunbelt rentals and done the earth moving in about 1/100th of the time. Your area looks like you could get something back there.

I had to move all dirt/drainage gravel/sand by wheelbarrow, which sucks.

 

[the moops]

That does indeed look epic

 

[Otis]

That does indeed look epic

Meant to say that too

 

[ShaqAttaq]

managing the drainage is very important, O, if you want to take on a project such as this. Britney is right.

 

[Britney Spears]

That does indeed look epic

Meant to say that too

Someday, it will be epic.

 

[Drifter]

Just checking in to poach advice. I'm about 10 weekends in on a big(for me) retaining wall/fire pit project myself.

wtf. Can we get some pics/context here? TIA

Seriously, I started this in the summer of 2009 and it's still in progress. bagI had the brilliant idea to build a retaining wall out of the cliff next to our house (~300 ft ravine/greenbelt) and put a campfire pit on top of it. Think like a "lookout" area. I also am on a very hilly area.I really only work on it in the weekends when the weather is decent. I took last summer off to go to Europe, so it's been very slow moving. I have had to do a lot of research for drainage and erosion control to make sure I don't collapse this thing into the ravine. Also, each of the blocks is 75 lbs, like the ones they use on the highway, and I'm a weakling, so it's slow for me to move these things around.I will post pics if you are interested.

Having some people over next Friday. You and the Mrs are welcome. Nothing big - probably 8-12 people drinking from the kegerator and grilling up some surf and turf tacos. Any other FBGs also welcome.

 

[The Z Machine]

Having some people over next Friday. You and the Mrs are welcome. Nothing big - probably 8-12 people drinking from the kegerator and grilling up some surf and turf tacos. Any other FBGs also welcome.

Please move to Oakland.

 

[St. Louis Bob]

That does indeed look epic

Meant to say that too

Someday, it will be epic.

That is really awesome Brit. I tried to work with some pavers at my old house. I wanted to put a ring around a tree in my back yard but instead of meeting it made a spiral. I quickly gave up and hired a pro which is what I should have done in the first place.

 

[shuke]

I started with this unused area where our yard runs to the edge of the ravine:

Start

This is where I'm at today:

Current

From the other side

The firepit will go right in the middle of the big area. I think I will plant something in the smaller areas. I have a lot of drainage built in and went through a lot of work to build underground so that everything stays settled.

Hoping to finish this summer and actually get to use it finally.

Sweet.

 

[Britney Spears]

I started with this unused area where our yard runs to the edge of the ravine:

Start

This is where I'm at today:

Current

From the other side

The firepit will go right in the middle of the big area. I think I will plant something in the smaller areas. I have a lot of drainage built in and went through a lot of work to build underground so that everything stays settled.

Hoping to finish this summer and actually get to use it finally.

Sweet.

You would be proud of all the highlife points I've accumulated working down there.

 

[Britney Spears]

Having some people over next Friday. You and the Mrs are welcome. Nothing big - probably 8-12 people drinking from the kegerator and grilling up some surf and turf tacos. Any other FBGs also welcome.

What?! Which area did you end up moving to? (been out of FBG commission for a bit)Mrs Britney Spears is pregnant now, so I have a designated driver!

 

[Drifter]

Having some people over next Friday. You and the Mrs are welcome. Nothing big - probably 8-12 people drinking from the kegerator and grilling up some surf and turf tacos. Any other FBGs also welcome.

What?! Which area did you end up moving to? (been out of FBG commission for a bit)Mrs Britney Spears is pregnant now, so I have a designated driver!

West SeattleIf you're coming let me know what things you guys aren't eating these days.Congats on the pregger wife! The period before the crazy sets in when you can have her chauffeur your drunk ### around is the best part.

 

[Rohn Jambo]

This is where I'm at today:

Current

The shape of the fire pit and retaining walls looked somewhat familiar but I couldn't put my finger on it.