Building a stick frame house in the woods in 90 days

[pacerron]

I really like the stepping stones in image 181-5.
Are you putting some between the parking area and the sidewalk from the driveway to the front enclosed garden?
I can't imagine a customer, if your mom is going to continue her flower arrangement business, or anyone for that matter getting out on the stone lot, walking to the paved driveway, and back in the paved sidewalk.
Ron

 

[FairfaxStu]

For the security of the gates, so that someone does not steal them, couldn't Peter just weld a washer or something on top of the pins? Just looking to give Peter an excuse to go out and buy a new toy because he does not currently have a welder:cool2:

 

[pacerron]

For the security of the gates, so that someone does not steal them, couldn't Peter just weld a washer or something on top of the pins? Just looking to give Peter an excuse to go out and buy a new toy because he does not currently have a welder:cool2:

Stu,
Do you really want him to learn to weld that close to the expensive new aluminum gate?:confused2:
The suggestion was just to deter any guys that are riding around in a PU looking for something to grab to make a quick buck.
As you know, the little hairpin clips that hold the closer pivot pins to the gates and the posts are an instant removal so
add the gates and the closer operators to the truck in a few seconds and they are off with about 3k replacement cost.
If they see they have to spend time with wrenches on bolts where perhaps the threads have been messed up so they won't come off they usually
won't take the risk.
His mom's homeowner insurance would probably cover the loss after a deductible but who wants the hassle and crap to get the
replacement and the work to put it in.
Peter isn't concerned about the gates and probably wants them to remain easier to remove in case they get frozen in place by a Virginia winter snowstorm in the future.

 

[s219]

For my gate, I put the top mount upside down, but then also put red loctite on the bolt that holds the bracket to the gate, and stripped the head of the nut and bolt, since that is the next weakest point. In reality, if someone wants the gate they will take it, but the more inconvenient the process, the better. Of course, it will suck if I ever need to take the gate off -- will need a cutting wheel.

 

[FairfaxStu]

Stu,
Do you really want him to learn to weld that close to the expensive new aluminum gate?:confused2:

Yeah, why not? Worst case he could always call the Fat Bastard over from Waynesworld to help him out. Gotta learn sometime and I know he has looked into welders in the past.
-Stu

Again, us posters tend to speculate like crazy when left to our own devices...

 

[pacerron]

For my gate, I put the top mount upside down, but then also put red loctite on the bolt that holds the bracket to the gate, and stripped the head of the nut and bolt, since that is the next weakest point. In reality, if someone wants the gate they will take it, but the more inconvenient the process, the better. Of course, it will suck if I ever need to take the gate off -- will need a cutting wheel.

Same here. Putting the top mount upside down is how I started the suggestion. Peter responded that he thought about it but decided not to based on other property intrusion points rather than the gate protection that I had in mind.
We had an incident many years ago when we lived 20 miles from here and had put up a steel farm gate to keep spot-and-stealers out during our house construction. We arrived one morning to let the outside framing crew in and found them already at work up at the house location 1/4 mile inside the gate.
When I asked them how they got in with their trucks, one guy laughed and said, " this must be your first experience of living in the country."
I said yes, and he said, " we just lifted the gate off the pins and moved it over.
He suggested turning the top pin upside down and putting a chain and lock around the gate and post on the hinge side about 4 feet off the ground as well so even if the pin brackets were removed a vehicle could not drive over or under the gate. Made sense to me.
Securing a gate on the hinge side, by turning the top pin down is a good idea, even in regards to keeping cows and horses in.

 

[pclausen]

It is a very safe neighborhood with mostly retired families. There are 6 other houses before you get to my mother's house, and they are home mos of the time. They all have this homeowner's association mailing list, and believe me, they catch anything that's going on. A few months ago, a while van drove down the road a few times times and appeared to be lost. I happened to run into them on my road as well, and they were looking for direction to a house down the street from mine. I told them where it was, and they thanked me and went about their business. I saw them down there working on putting up a new deck for the week or so.

Anyway, no less then 2 neighbors raised concerns about spotting that white van on mom's road and were about the call the police if they saw it a 3rd time.

The other day we had a good bit of rain, and mom had been complaining about drainage issues since she moved in. So I went over there to have a look. And there does seem to be an issue.

Here's the beginning of the driveway. Water is coming down the street from the houses past mothers.

Here's another shot showing it collecting in front of the driveway

It then runs past the left column

And at the low point of the driveway, it passes across it

Going back up to the beginning of the driveway, there is also runoff coming from the main road entrance, and it all runs down behind the garden shed along the tractor path

It then spreads out and continues down into the woods

There is also runoff coming down the hill that collects at the parking area

It continues and comes down the backside of the house

We'll probably need to get a landscaper out to look at installing single point drains, french drains, etc, and divert all the runoff through pipes down past the backside of the house. Will also need to look into adding some dirt banks or something at the driveway entrance to divert the water away from coming down the left side of the driveway and down behind the shed.

 

[pacerron]

Peter,
Looks like around here. We have had so much rain this July that our pond was already full. Wednesday evening we had a big downpour and we were sure the pond was going to go over the top of the dam. The water was way beyond the 18" overflow pipe. But we were lucky, although I still have a .25 mile driveway that I need to regrade/rebuild.

Does your mom's township grade her road and have drainage ditches along the sides?
If not, it may be time to have a meeting with them and show these pictures of the road area.
Normally, here, our township grades the road, cleans out the ditches, and mows them a couple times a year but the homeowners
are responsible for installing a pipe under the driveway entrance at the road so the water can continue on.

It looks like the swale you created along the left of the house is working, just needs to be a little deeper or wider and continue to the woods.
Ron

 

[wmonroe]

I guess one of the benefits of the constant rain we all seem to be getting is you can get the drainage taken care of right away instead of finding some of this stuff a few years down the road. The place is looking good.

 

[sixdogs]

[QUOTE=pclausen;3402403....

...We'll probably need to get a landscaper out to look at installing single point drains, french drains, etc, and divert all the runoff through pipes down past the backside of the house. Will also need to look into adding some dirt banks or something at the driveway entrance to divert the water away from coming down the left side of the driveway and down behind the shed.[/QUOTE]



I haven't seen the driveway but I'll bet you can get a small--450--dozer w/ skilled operator and change the dynamics of the drainage in about an hour or so. I've done it lots of times and almost certainly no need for all this talk of French drains--at least for now. While not certain, I have not seen a landscape problem that a smart guy with a dozer and level could not fix.

Shoot some grades and before he starts rototill the areas he will be working. It will be shovel-smooth when he's done. Forget about the grass. Get the water working the right way, re-rototill everything, pack it and seed with tall turf fescue and maybe 20% perennial ryegrass. Maybe 350-375-400 lbs + per acre. If anything runs, re-till it and seed that runoff area again. And get cracking, dozer guys get real busy in a few weeks.

Kick back, open brewski and wait for the grass to grow.