The Home Ownership Thread

[lefty]

Yep. As I thought, they refused our offer. I don't blame them, I would have done the same. Oh well, the dream lives on.

lefty

 

[PhilKenSebben]

Yep. As I thought, they refused our offer. I don't blame them, I would have done the same. Oh well, the dream lives on.

lefty

Wait and see what they relist it at, maybe buy it again if they lower it enough. Or see if it sits

 

[lefty]

I had considered that. If I really wanted I should have offered more but I was getting caught up in the game.

My guess is that they'll go to the offer that we beat, disclose the cesspool and propose a solid discount.

Though, if it is relisted, I might offer under an LLC so they don't know it's me. As I've already done an inspection and know the place well, I could offer cash and waive the inspection, which should get their interest.

And then show up at the close like Jesse in Breaking Bad.

lefty

 

[PhilKenSebben]

I had considered that. If I really wanted I should have offered more but I was getting caught up in the game.

My guess is that they'll go to the offer that we beat, disclose the cesspool and propose a solid discount.

Though, if it is relisted, I might offer under an LLC so they don't know it's me. As I've already done an inspection and know the place well, I could offer cash and waive the inspection, which should get their interest.

And then show up at the close like Jesse in Breaking Bad.

lefty

Do it.

 

[jcman311]

Who was talking about thatch? This was only half of my lawn.

 

[Lizard23]

“Dethatched” with a power rake and overseeded a few weeks ago. Hard work but so satisfying and necessary if you are compulsive about your lawn.

FWIW, that is not thatch, it is lawn debris… and more often than not its what actually causes problems.

 

[jcman311]

Correct as thatch is actually a oart of the soil layer. I am scarifying and overseeding once my lawn guy aerates and then spreading a peat moss layer. Hopefully things will hold till winter but hoping to have a better start next spring.

 

[Numbernine]

Weren't for debris I wouldn't have no lawn

 

[Lizard23]

Correct as thatch is actually a oart of the soil layer. I am scarifying and overseeding once my lawn guy aerates and then spreading a peat moss layer. Hopefully things will hold till winter but hoping to have a better start next spring.

where do you live and what type of seed are you planting?

Re: aeration, you sound knowledgable, but i find it to be a scam 9 times out of 10, if not more, unless you have had construction equipment on the lawn or something like that or are in a region that has constant heavy snow.

 

[Lizard23]

This was part of my, seemingly ok lawn, before and after a once over with the power rake. The second pass perpendicular to the first pulled up even more but i was too tired for pics at that point.

People, and most landscapers, seem to forget that a thick lawn for 3 seasons is a totally unnatural thing and grass is constantly dying and regrowing. Mother nature simply cannot break down the dead stuff below fast enough.

 

[jcman311]

where do you live and what type of seed are you planting?

Re: aeration, you sound knowledgable, but i find it to be a scam 9 times out of 10, if not more, unless you have had construction equipment on the lawn or something like that or are in a region that has constant heavy snow.

Midwest and planting a mix of KBG, rye and fescue. There is a lot of compaction in areas which is why I aerated this spring and again this fall. Walking around there are really a lot of hard areas and I don't want to till up whatever grass is there. After the aeration I am planning on scooping the plugs and using them to level some really bad areas. I really want to do a full level but I don't have the equipment to spread 2 truckloads of loam and run a drag, etc. Instead this fall I am experimenting with scarifying to cut some slits and then overseeding and seeing how things look in a month and early next spring. Worst case is I have a jump start on leveling with an already dead lawn. ?

 

[Lizard23]

The rye will do fine. It germinates quickly. Fescue wont be far behind. The KBG is iffy. Always takes the longest to germinate and then seems to take forever to grow.

 

[double00]

that's more what our thatch looked like last week , not too much green but then again i let the grass senesce in the summer .

the underlying soil senesces as well , we'd dug out a very large very old stump and repaired the grade last year , then rounded it all out with a compost / loam mix over seed (70% perennial rye and the rest fine fescue) , should be a pretty nice surface by spring . finished yesterday , just in time for the first rain event of the season .

i should post a before / after plan we really flipped over the front yard this past season

next stop : the backyard .

 

[ellsbebc]

Am I the only one with warm season grass? It’s my first year with a reel mower and been maintaining my 5k sqft side yard of common Bermuda at 1.25”.

Last month I scalped all 18k sqft down to 0.4”, aerated, and spread 19 yards (23 tons) of sand to help smooth out all the low spots. Hoping to keep the side yard at 0.75-1.0” next year. Produced at least 30 lawn bags of clippings.

Spoiler: Scalp & sand leveling

This was two weeks after the sand. Maintaining at 1.5” rotary until it goes dormant because I don’t want to dull my reel mower with all the loose sand.

 

[NorCal]

Rip it all out and plant native flowers and mixed grasses. Maybe a fruit tree or two.