Otis in the Suburbs (4 Viewers)

[The_Man]

We have brand new neighbors next door. I was thrilled that they paid to have the huge and decaying tree overhanging our backyard taken down. But they also pulled out all the scrubby old trees that lined the other side of their yard, adjacent to the street. It is now a barren wasteland of nothingness that has left their yard totally exposed.

They are the talk of the neighborhood, and not in a good way. At the neighborhood party last Friday, all anyone asked them was what they were going to do to replace the greenery they had uprooted. I don't think they had plans, but then hustled to get someone in there this week after the barrage of criticism.

 

[Tiger Fan]

I'm in a completely different region than you, so take my advice with a grain of salt. I just moved into a new house and have 2 newborns as well. JMHO here - Any physical labor help you get from friends, use it indoors on stuff that you will be using right away. At the end of the day, over a Saturday, you might do some damage, but you're not going to turn your landscaping eyesore into something HGTV worthy in one day.However, there are tons of things that you will notice every single day while inside your house that you want to get done that you will just add to the list and eventually they'll never get done.Nobody expects you to have the perfectly landscaped house right away. Your neighbors will appreciate that you're helping to turn the eyesore into something worthwhile...but spend your time on the things that will impact YOU and make your life more efficient the most right away so you don't get down on the house. If getting rid of the trees really means that much to you over the other things than sobeit...but just reconsider while you have the help.

Fair points. We're working on those other things in tandem, mostly through paid labor. Painter is coming in. It will cost us north of $4k to do the whole downstairs, but when I tell you it looks bad, I mean it looks BAD. Even this nice old painter dude used the word "neglect" when describing it, and he's dead on. Will require a ton of prep work, spackling, crack fixing, etc. But when he's through, he'll have down the whole downstairs and up through the upstairs hallway, and it will look new and make a world of difference. So that's worth the expenditure.Had the plasma wall mounted today. Getting some furnishings lined up in a new bedroom set. Already got new appliances for the kitchen. There are a few inside projects beyond that that are immediate, but once these things are ironed out, we will be in decent shape inside. Nowhere near where we want to be long term, but liveable for now.

and GL

 

[Otis]

Can I install crown molding myself? This doesn't seem hard -- buy a few pieces of molding at home depot, cut it the proper length and at the right angle, and nail it in. Am I missing something here?

 

[belljr]

Why would you mount the plasma before painting... now you have to take it down and paint...

rook

 

[YSR]

Kinda hard to see from that picture, but IMO you are crazy to tear down a bunch of trees on that hill and try for grass. Clean it up, trimb some limbs, and do some nice mulched areas and call it a day.

This is exactly what I'd do. Have the really small trees removed. Prune the larger ones up pretty far and then create several planting beds with mulch etc. Trying to grow grass in that is going to be a nightmare. And he does get it to grow, then he'll have to mow it. Seems like a PITA to me.

All this advice is making sense, so maybe we'll give this a go first and see how it turns out. The yard hasn't been touched in at least 6 months, maybe longer, and it shows.

Another vote for the above. A few years ago my birthday present from my parents was a sketch from a professional landscaper (I had struggled with getting grass to grow due to two massive trees in my front yard. He drew out an awesome plan that required ZERO maintenance on my part. Mostly mulch and dwarf grass, but brightened up here and there with some flowering shrubs (can't remember what they were). With the new baby and the zillion other things you are going to want to do to the house in the coming months, you will want your yard to be the least of your concerns on a hot summer afternoon.

 

[belljr]

Can I install crown molding myself? This doesn't seem hard -- buy a few pieces of molding at home depot, cut it the proper length and at the right angle, and nail it in. Am I missing something here?

Yep they're not really right angles. They are coped or mitred.

 

[The Commish]

Kinda hard to see from that picture, but IMO you are crazy to tear down a bunch of trees on that hill and try for grass. Clean it up, trimb some limbs, and do some nice mulched areas and call it a day.

This is exactly what I'd do. Have the really small trees removed. Prune the larger ones up pretty far and then create several planting beds with mulch etc. Trying to grow grass in that is going to be a nightmare. And he does get it to grow, then he'll have to mow it. Seems like a PITA to me.

All this advice is making sense, so maybe we'll give this a go first and see how it turns out. The yard hasn't been touched in at least 6 months, maybe longer, and it shows.

Give it a little love and you'll be surprised what happens. I'd love to have all those trees in my yard. After seeing it though, there are clearly some that need to come out (and make sure you get the roots also if possible). None of them will fall UP the hill, so I don't think there is need to worry about putting a hole in the house

 

[Worm]

Can I install crown molding myself? This doesn't seem hard -- buy a few pieces of molding at home depot, cut it the proper length and at the right angle, and nail it in. Am I missing something here?

You need a miter saw, a compressor, a nail gun, and some home improvement savvy. If you have all those, you're good to go.Plain, square rooms aren't that hard. Get into angles and outside corners and it's a little harder to make it look perfect. But, there's always calk.

 

[The Commish]

Can I install crown molding myself? This doesn't seem hard -- buy a few pieces of molding at home depot, cut it the proper length and at the right angle, and nail it in. Am I missing something here?

This is relatively simple. Just have to keep in mind that everything is backwards and upside down. The first two rooms in my house I did, I actually labelled my mitre saw deck so I'd put the molding on the saw the correct way.

 

[BroncoFreak_2K3]

Can I install crown molding myself? This doesn't seem hard -- buy a few pieces of molding at home depot, cut it the proper length and at the right angle, and nail it in. Am I missing something here?

Yep they're not really right angles. They are coped or mitred.

Not easy if you've never used a coping/mitre saw....

 

[Otis]

Oh and the lightswitch for the basement light (singular, since it only turns on one bulb, and I have to go down and pull a drawstring on the others individually to turn them on) is a freaking pushbuttonswitch that looks like it is a hundred years old.

 

[Sarnoff]

Can I install crown molding myself? This doesn't seem hard -- buy a few pieces of molding at home depot, cut it the proper length and at the right angle, and nail it in. Am I missing something here?

As long as you know how to cut miters and how to cope a joint, you'll be fine

 

[Uruk-Hai]

Can I install crown molding myself? This doesn't seem hard -- buy a few pieces of molding at home depot, cut it the proper length and at the right angle, and nail it in. Am I missing something here?

Yep they're not really right angles. They are coped or mitred.

Some people have problems wrapping their minds around the cuts. Either buy extra to cover your screwups until you get it down or buy them pre-cut for the corners if your lumberyard sells them that way.

 

[belljr]

Can I install crown molding myself? This doesn't seem hard -- buy a few pieces of molding at home depot, cut it the proper length and at the right angle, and nail it in. Am I missing something here?

Yep they're not really right angles. They are coped or mitred.

Not easy if you've never used a coping/mitre saw....

I stink at it. I jsut can't get it right. Last time I put in a chair rail, I just gave up and cut at 45* In my defense it wasn't a plain rail, was all fancy and crap so the cut's always came out wrong :loser:

 

[JerseyToughGuys]

Can I install crown molding myself? This doesn't seem hard -- buy a few pieces of molding at home depot, cut it the proper length and at the right angle, and nail it in. Am I missing something here?

Yep they're not really right angles. They are coped or mitred.

coping sucks balls. You can buy cheap crap that covers the corners, but then everyone will know you're a slacker.

 

[Otis]

Can I install crown molding myself? This doesn't seem hard -- buy a few pieces of molding at home depot, cut it the proper length and at the right angle, and nail it in. Am I missing something here?

As long as you know how to cut miters and how to cope a joint, you'll be fine

Say what?

 

[Uruk-Hai]

Can I install crown molding myself? This doesn't seem hard -- buy a few pieces of molding at home depot, cut it the proper length and at the right angle, and nail it in. Am I missing something here?

As long as you know how to cut miters and how to cope a joint, you'll be fine

Say what?

Are you painting the crown?

 

[Otis]

Can I install crown molding myself? This doesn't seem hard -- buy a few pieces of molding at home depot, cut it the proper length and at the right angle, and nail it in. Am I missing something here?

As long as you know how to cut miters and how to cope a joint, you'll be fine

Say what?

Are you painting the crown?

Painter is doing the painting

 

[belljr]

Can I install crown molding myself? This doesn't seem hard -- buy a few pieces of molding at home depot, cut it the proper length and at the right angle, and nail it in. Am I missing something here?

As long as you know how to cut miters and how to cope a joint, you'll be fine

Say what?

http://www.kelleher.com/documents/Coping.pdf

 

[Uruk-Hai]

Can I install crown molding myself? This doesn't seem hard -- buy a few pieces of molding at home depot, cut it the proper length and at the right angle, and nail it in. Am I missing something here?

As long as you know how to cut miters and how to cope a joint, you'll be fine

Say what?

Are you painting the crown?

Painter is doing the painting

Ok, but I meant "not staining, but actually using paint". If painting, it makes it much easier to hide the joints in the trim.

 

[Drifter]

Oh and the lightswitch for the basement light (singular, since it only turns on one bulb, and I have to go down and pull a drawstring on the others individually to turn them on) is a freaking pushbuttonswitch that looks like it is a hundred years old.

Smaller and in more disrepair than you thought? Wait until you start to fix stuff and you discover what's behind the walls, in the ceiling, under the floor, etc. You ain't seen nothing yet.

 

[BroncoFreak_2K3]

Can I install crown molding myself? This doesn't seem hard -- buy a few pieces of molding at home depot, cut it the proper length and at the right angle, and nail it in. Am I missing something here?

As long as you know how to cut miters and how to cope a joint, you'll be fine

Say what?

sorry man

 

[Drifter]

So... did your inspector check out the wiring? Are you dealing with cloth wrapped wiring?

 

[Sarnoff]

Oh and the lightswitch for the basement light (singular, since it only turns on one bulb, and I have to go down and pull a drawstring on the others individually to turn them on) is a freaking pushbuttonswitch that looks like it is a hundred years old.

Smaller and in more disrepair than you thought? Wait until you start to fix stuff and you discover what's behind the walls, in the ceiling, under the floor, etc. You ain't seen nothing yet.

 

[Worm]

So... did your inspector check out the wiring? Are you dealing with cloth wrapped wiring?

Gasoline-soaked newspaper wrapped.

 

[Sarnoff]

So... did your inspector check out the wiring? Are you dealing with cloth wrapped wiring?

I'm sure a guy's coming out the week after he paints.

 

[jestertj]

Can I install crown molding myself? This doesn't seem hard -- buy a few pieces of molding at home depot, cut it the proper length and at the right angle, and nail it in. Am I missing something here?

As long as you know how to cut miters and how to cope a joint, you'll be fine

Say what?

Are you painting the crown?

Mrs. Otis just had a little one IIRC, so Otis will be "painting the crown" for a few months at least...

 

[DA RAIDERS]

Oat - Maybe I missed this earlier in the thread, but what's the problem with the trees? Trees are pretty coveted where I am.

Trees in Brooklyn are great. Trees when you don't have them are amazing. But when you have dozens of them all over your not-all-that-big property, and you can't have things like a lawn, you sort of want to cut back a little. I'm not looking to eradicate all trees on our property -- I just would like to make them a little more sparse. The other homes down the hill from us all have beautiful manicured front lawns and gardens, and you can see the home, etc. Ours is obstructed by a crapload of trees, you can't really see the house from the street, and the trees make a lawn and gardening difficult. Instead of a lawn, they had planted a giant patch of pachysandra or some other weed at the bottom of the driveway, I presume because grass wouldn't grow there under the mish-mosh of trees.I'll post some pics when I can, you hicks can be the judge.

Keeping up with the Jones?

You're aware that this is Otis right?

It's bad to want your home to look nice now?

Lighten up Francis.

 

[DA RAIDERS]

It can be tough to keep grass properly irrigated on hills. Just somethign to keep in mind.

Place has in ground sprinkler systems so I'm hoping it will be a little easier.

have you run the sprinkler system yet?

Tested one zone, yes.

Test them all my brother. A broken sprinkler pipe a foot underground is no fun.

 

[Otis]

It can be tough to keep grass properly irrigated on hills. Just somethign to keep in mind.

Place has in ground sprinkler systems so I'm hoping it will be a little easier.

have you run the sprinkler system yet?

Tested one zone, yes.

Test them all my brother. A broken sprinkler pipe a foot underground is no fun.

####!Also one of the backyard lights/motion detector things doesn't turn on at all. No doubt this will be a three day weekend at home depot for me. And the good news is since the light doesn't work, I have no idea what circuit it's on, so I can't throw the breaker, so I'll likely kill myself too.I guess I need an electrician. ####!

 

[belljr]

It can be tough to keep grass properly irrigated on hills. Just somethign to keep in mind.

Place has in ground sprinkler systems so I'm hoping it will be a little easier.

have you run the sprinkler system yet?

Tested one zone, yes.

Test them all my brother. A broken sprinkler pipe a foot underground is no fun.

####!Also one of the backyard lights/motion detector things doesn't turn on at all. No doubt this will be a three day weekend at home depot for me. And the good news is since the light doesn't work, I have no idea what circuit it's on, so I can't throw the breaker, so I'll likely kill myself too.I guess I need an electrician. ####!

Um did you check the light bulb...

 

[JerseyToughGuys]

new favorite thread. easily.

 

[Otis]

It can be tough to keep grass properly irrigated on hills. Just somethign to keep in mind.

Place has in ground sprinkler systems so I'm hoping it will be a little easier.

have you run the sprinkler system yet?

Tested one zone, yes.

Test them all my brother. A broken sprinkler pipe a foot underground is no fun.

####!Also one of the backyard lights/motion detector things doesn't turn on at all. No doubt this will be a three day weekend at home depot for me. And the good news is since the light doesn't work, I have no idea what circuit it's on, so I can't throw the breaker, so I'll likely kill myself too.I guess I need an electrician. ####!

Um did you check the light bulb...

Changed it last night, still no dice. WE HAVE LIGHTS IN THE CITY TOO.

 

[DA RAIDERS]

new favorite thread. easily.

 

[Otis]

So... did your inspector check out the wiring? Are you dealing with cloth wrapped wiring?

He did inspect the wiring. Why the hell would someone wrap the wiring in cloth? ####.

 

[Sconch]

It can be tough to keep grass properly irrigated on hills. Just somethign to keep in mind.

Place has in ground sprinkler systems so I'm hoping it will be a little easier.

have you run the sprinkler system yet?

Tested one zone, yes.

Test them all my brother. A broken sprinkler pipe a foot underground is no fun.

####!Also one of the backyard lights/motion detector things doesn't turn on at all. No doubt this will be a three day weekend at home depot for me. And the good news is since the light doesn't work, I have no idea what circuit it's on, so I can't throw the breaker, so I'll likely kill myself too.I guess I need an electrician. ####!

Um did you check the light bulb...

Changed it last night, still no dice. WE HAVE LIGHTS IN THE CITY TOO.

I thought the only lights in the city were from the flashing neon outside the windows...HOTELHOTELHOTEL

 

[DA RAIDERS]

Another sprinkler note, be careful when you destroy freds ecosystem, that you don't tear up, cut through, or otherwise destroy the existing pipes. This is very easy to do.

Gggggglllllllllll. Peeeeeeaaaaaaassssss

 

[Otis]

Guys from the Geek Squad came by to mount the TV today. First off, I got screwed with a Best Buy bait n' switch, because the stupid geek squad install supposedly included the wall mount, except that was only the crappy store brand wall mount that comes out from the wall as far as a school bus, so I had to shell out like 150 bucks for the good wallmount. But I digress. The Geeks roll in and mount the thing, and the wife tells me it looks good. But that stupid 30 dollar wire cover I also bought? Well, they didn't bother using it, because they said it would look crappy because I want the wires run out to the side of the TV and around a corner, so they suggested I go to home depot this weekend instead and get one of the ones that are specially designed for a corner. GREAT ANOTHER PROJECT. THANKS GEEK SQUAD.

And of course I spent 15 minutes searching the web and can't find anything like what they're talking about.

Oh and before someone tells me this, no, we couldn't run it in the wall, because it's a brick wall (back of the chimney) covered in stucco.

 

[BroncoFreak_2K3]

So... did your inspector check out the wiring? Are you dealing with cloth wrapped wiring?

He did inspect the wiring. Why the hell would someone wrap the wiring in cloth? ####.

just wait until you start looking over the wiring in the light switches..

 

[DA RAIDERS]

So... did your inspector check out the wiring? Are you dealing with cloth wrapped wiring?

He did inspect the wiring. Why the hell would someone wrap the wiring in cloth? ####.

Copper piping? Doesn't sound like it.

 

[belljr]

It can be tough to keep grass properly irrigated on hills. Just somethign to keep in mind.

Place has in ground sprinkler systems so I'm hoping it will be a little easier.

have you run the sprinkler system yet?

Tested one zone, yes.

Test them all my brother. A broken sprinkler pipe a foot underground is no fun.

####!Also one of the backyard lights/motion detector things doesn't turn on at all. No doubt this will be a three day weekend at home depot for me. And the good news is since the light doesn't work, I have no idea what circuit it's on, so I can't throw the breaker, so I'll likely kill myself too.I guess I need an electrician. ####!

Um did you check the light bulb...

Changed it last night, still no dice. WE HAVE LIGHTS IN THE CITY TOO.

Did you turn the unit to "on or test mode"? This way the light will come on without motion and you can determine if the motion sensor is bad, the light casing, or the wiring, possibly a GFI is tripped and you need to reset somewhere in the house.But I'm sure a bright city fella already knew that

 

[squidrope]

Can I install crown molding myself? This doesn't seem hard -- buy a few pieces of molding at home depot, cut it the proper length and at the right angle, and nail it in. Am I missing something here?

Your new chainsaw will work great for that type of work.

 

[Worm]

I think I could probably move to NYC and live off the money that Oat overpays for things.

 

[ODoyleRules]

So... did your inspector check out the wiring? Are you dealing with cloth wrapped wiring?

He did inspect the wiring. Why the hell would someone wrap the wiring in cloth? ####.

just wait until you start looking over the wiring in the light switches..

I've lived in an old house before. I can't wait for the first 'Home Depot doesn't even make ____ anymore' update.

 

[Sconch]

So... did your inspector check out the wiring? Are you dealing with cloth wrapped wiring?

He did inspect the wiring. Why the hell would someone wrap the wiring in cloth? ####.

just wait until you start looking over the wiring in the light switches..

I've lived in an old house before. I can't wait for the first 'Home Depot doesn't even make ____ anymore' update.

I used to live in an old house where the plumbing fixtures dated back to the 1940s. There was one shower in the house that we could never find the right parts for. Replacing the valves/cartridges/pipes etc for it would have been a huge job and very expensive. Vice grip pliers worked well enough to turn the water on and off.

 

[bostonfred]

Maybe you should write down a list of all the projects you think you need to do, and we can help figure out the order you want to do them in. Maybe "chop down an entire forest and pull up all of the landscaping with a chain on my friend's pickup truck" will end up lower on the list than "inspect wiring".

 

[BroncoFreak_2K3]

So... did your inspector check out the wiring? Are you dealing with cloth wrapped wiring?

He did inspect the wiring. Why the hell would someone wrap the wiring in cloth? ####.

just wait until you start looking over the wiring in the light switches..

I've lived in an old house before. I can't wait for the first 'Home Depot doesn't even make ____ anymore' update.

yep..doesnt even have to be that old ...my 1st house was built in 1955 and when I went to rewire a 2-way switch in our dining room, there was so much extra stuff wired into that damn box....LOL...what a nightmare.

 

[BroncoFreak_2K3]

Maybe you should write down a list of all the projects you think you need to do, and we can help figure out the order you want to do them in. Maybe "chop down an entire forest and pull up all of the landscaping with a chain on my friend's pickup truck" will end up lower on the list than "inspect wiring".

Top thread for 2011 IMO...

 

[Giant Wooden Badger]

Did Otis even see this house before closing? Serious question.

 

[BroncoFreak_2K3]

at least the plasma is up...