House Renovation Tips

Sod is a carpet of grass you unroll to create an instant lawn. You can lay sod in any month when the ground isn’t frozen. To purchase it, look under “Sod” in your Yellow Pages.
Order enough sod to cover your lawn, plus about 10 percent extra to allow for fitting. Sod deteriorates quickly if it sits around, so arrange to pick it up or have it delivered on the day you intend to lay it. Also plan to have help–sod rolls are heavy.

Step by Step: Laying Sod
1. Prepare the soil. If it is sticky wet, let it dry out.
2. Lay the first strip along a straight edge, such as a sidewalk. If your lawn shape is irregular, mark a line down the middle and lay sod along it.
3. Unroll the next strip tightly against the first, staggering the ends of each strip as if you were laying bricks. Place the edges tightly together, but don’t overlap them.
4. Use a turf edger or a heavy knife to cut sod to fit around curved edges or trees.
5. After laying all the sod, roll it with a half-filled roller to firmly connect its roots with the soil.
6. Water until moisture has penetrated the top 6 to 8 inches of soil. (Dig a narrow hole to test.) Water heavily for one to two weeks, then keep the soil lightly damp for a few weeks more.
7. Keep heavy traffic off of the lawn for the first five to six weeks, while the roots become established.

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Spring or fall is the best time to set new container plants into the ground. Starting from a fence corner or other reference point, measure off the planting distances indicated in your plan. Set each container in position, then adjust placement if it looks ungainly. Use tall stakes to represent plants you’ll be adding later.
Your new plantings may look sparse, but you should resist the urge to move plants closer together. Have patience. They will eventually fill in.
Even drought-tolerant plants need water while they are becoming established and their roots are growing into the surrounding soil. Water them through the first season’s dry spell.

Step by Step: Planting Trees and Shrubs
1. Dig a hole for each plant. Make it twice as wide as the rootball. (If planting trees or shrubs, dig the hole extra wide to help the plant’s roots grow.) To prevent settling later, leave a platform in the middle of the hole that is only as deep as the rootball. Then dig 2 to 3 inches deeper all around the platform to make space for the roots.
2. Tap sharply on the sides and bottom of the container to loosen the rootball. Turn smaller containers upside down and slide the plant out, supporting the top of the rootball with your hand. For a larger container, lay it on its side and slide the plant out. You may need a helper.
3. Gently loosen the roots with your fingers. Cut off roots that are too tightly coiled.
4. Set the plant on the mound and spread out its roots. (For balled and burlapped plants, untie the burlap and spread it out in the hole to decompose. Also spread out the roots.)
5. Backfill the hole with soil, firming around the roots with your hands. Soil around the root crown should be 1 inch above surrounding soil.

Professional tip
For a natural-looking hedge, space shrubs so they will barely touch at maturity. For a hedge that will be clipped, plant them closer together.

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Your plants and lawn will grow better if your soil is in top shape. Add organic matter to make your soil more workable and to help it hold water and nutrients. Lay it 2 inches deep around trees, shrubs and woody ground covers. For lawns and beds, use 3 to 6 inches.
If your soil has tested too acid or alkaline, adjust its pH by adding limestone, sulfur or an equivalent. A soil pH of 6.5 is the goal.
Remember, soil tends to return to its original pH. You’ll save work down the road by confining your pH changes to small areas. Better yet, choose plants that tolerate the existing pH in your yard.

Step by Step
1. If the soil is sticky wet, wait until it dries. If it’s bone dry, soak it and wait a few days. It’s just right when a handful feels crumbly and somewhat moist.
2. Rake the soil clear of weeds and debris.
3. Using a wheelbarrow, shovel and rake, spread organic matter evenly over the soil.
4. If you need to add limestone or sulfur, scatter it evenly.
5. Also scatter a 10-10-10 fertilizer at the rate of 20 pounds per 1,000 square feet.
6. With a spade or spading fork, mix all amendments into the top 8 inches or so of soil. For large areas, use a rotary tiller and make a second pass at right angles to the first.
7. Rake the soil until it is smooth, removing any rocks and breaking up any clods.

Tools
- shovel
- rake
- rotary tiller
- spade
- spading fork
- wheelbarrow

Safety
Soil sulfur can be caustic. Wear rubber gloves when applying it, and follow the directions on the label.

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Testing the Soil
A soil test tells you what the soil needs for your plants to grow well. You may need to change the soil’s pH or add fertilizer or organic matter. Soil test kits, sold at nurseries and garden centers usually measure only pH. For a more complete diagnosis, have a professional lab test your soil - it’s inexpensive and worth it. Look in the Yellow Pages under “Soil testing,” or check with your County Cooperative Extension office. The lab will tell you how to take samples for testing.

Improving the Soil
Your plants and lawn will grow better if your soil is in top shape. Add organic matter to make your soil more workable and to help it hold water and nutrients. Lay it 2 inches deep around trees, shrubs and woody ground covers. For lawns and beds, use 3 to 6 inches.
If your soil has tested too acid or alkaline, adjust its pH by adding limestone, sulfur or an equivalent. A soil pH of 6.5 is the goal.
Soil tends to return to its original pH. You’ll save work down the road by confining your pH changes to small areas. Better yet, choose plants that tolerate the existing pH in your yard.

Buying Plants
Several weeks before planting, make a shopping list and take it to your nursery. You’ll see plants there in any of several forms, including: bare root, balled and burlapped or containerized. Your choice depends on the kind of plant, its size and the time of year.
Better nurseries can special-order any plants that aren’t in stock. Try to pick up your plants or have them delivered just before planting time, so they will be in top condition.

Money-Saving Tip
Buy plants in smaller sizes, such as 1-gallon rather than 5-gallon. They will catch up in size in a year or two. If you’re working with a landscape architect or designer, see if you can accompany them to a wholesale nursery. You could save as much as 50 percent.

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Plant Shapes
Professional landscapers choose plants by their shape first, to fulfill a particular function. Only then do they select the species. Here’s how to choose plant shapes.
For shade, select a broad-spreading or vase-shaped tree for lawns or a small round tree for patios. If you want sun to come through in winter, select a deciduous tree.
For a screen or windbreak, plant a group of pyramidal or columnar trees in a large yard, or choose shrubs with a horizontal form.
If you like the look of a sheared hedge, choose shrubs with an upright-vase shape.
You might choose a tree or shrub as an accent or specimen plant for its striking shape alone. If so, plant it where you can enjoy the view.

How Big Will it Get?
Before deciding on a plant, find out how big it will grow and how fast it will reach its mature size. Don’t plant a tree where you only want a shrub.
Think ahead. Will the tree you planted in the middle of your yard end up casting too much shade and destroying all sense of proportion? Will a shrub grow to block a view or require hours of pruning?
On the other hand, you may want shade or privacy in a hurry. If so, look for plants that mature rapidly.

Local Conditions
If you want your plants to live a long and healthy life, choose those already adapted to the conditions in your yard. For example, if you live in the Southwest, you’ll do best with plants that tolerate drought, bright sun, alkalinesoil, and–at higher elevations–cold winters. In the Northeast, plants that can withstand freezing winters and hot, humid summers will do best.

Minimizing Maintenance
Take a hard look at the plants you’ve chosen—and at how much effort they’ll take to maintain. Here are ways to cut maintenance time:
Select a slow-growing lawn grass so you won’t have to mow as often. Plant a smaller lawn to save on mowing, weeding, fertilizing and watering. Take out the lawn and plant a low-maintenance ground cover, right, cover the ground with mulch, or build a patio or deck.
If you don’t like to prune, plant a natural shrub border instead of a hedge. Or build a fence.
Plant trees that don’t drop lots of fruit or leaves. You’ll spend less time raking.
Choose healthy plants adapted to your environment. You’ll have fewer battles with pests and diseases.

Continual Color
The colors in your yard are like movements in a symphony, shifting in mood and tempo throughout the year. Orchestrating color can be fun as well as challenging.
When you’re choosing trees at the nursery, look at leaf color. Leaves are present for most or all of the year, whereas flowers and fruit are transitory. Plan color for each season. Think about fall foliage color and colorful stems, bark, or berries for winter. Use colors that harmonize with your house and its surroundings. Keep your palette simple, or the effect may be confusing.

Designing for Texture
The distinctive textures of leaves, stems, buds and bark will add variety and contrast to your landscape. Textures can range from fine and airy to coarse and dense. Some design tips:
Don’t alternate abruptly between coarse and fine. Shift gradually to maintain continuity.
Think about how plant textures will combine with the textures of building materials, decking, and paving.
Keep in mind that deciduous plants change in texture as their leaves come and go.
Remember that the farther a plant is from you, the finer its texture appears.

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Marking Easements and Utility Lines
Before breaking ground on your project, use special landscape paint (or powdered chalk, sprinkled flour, flags, or stakes and string) to mark the locations of all utility lines. If you don’t, you may cause damage or accidents.
Underground utilities lie at different depths, from a few inches to several feet. Ask your utility company about the depths as well as the locations of buried lines–otherwise simple landscaping tasks, like trenchdigging, may prove hazardous.

Protecting Plants and Structures
Fence off everything you want to keep intact–including trees and shrubs, structures, pathways and surfaces. Use plastic fencing (lower right), hay bales or colorful tape–anything that will keep equipment or vehicles away.
Protect the root systems of trees by fencing around their driplines or farther out if possible. If you’ll be disturbing the ground inside a dripline, consult a certified arborist for ways to safeguard the tree.

Controlling Weeds
You’ll avoid problems later if you eliminate tough perennial weeds like Bermuda grass and quack grass.
Spray them with a systemic herbicide. It will be most effective in warm weather and when the weeds are growing actively. To eliminate weed seeds that will sprout later, water the area to make them germinate. Once they sprout, in a week or two, remove them with a hoe or spray them with herbicide.
Repeat the cycle until no more weeds grow. The entire process may take 8 to 12 weeks.

Rough Grading
If your yard slopes, creating a flat space can require a lot of earth moving. Use the calculator (right) to determine how much dirt you’ll be moving.
Enter the length and width of the flat space you want. Next, enter the depth of soil to cut (a retaining wall over 3 feet may require a permit). Finally, enter the total rise of the section you’ll be working on.
Ideally, the volume you cut will equal the volume you fill so you won’t need to buy or dispose of extra soil.
Rough grading creates the basic contours of your landscape. You can do it with just a shovel or with a landscape contractor and a bulldozer. Follow these steps:
1. Mark out features on the ground. Use landscape paint, sprinkled flour, or stakes and string. At high and low points, place stakes marked with the number of feet to cut or fill.
2. Create terraces by cutting and filling.
3. Make cuts for footings. The footing depth depends on what you’re building and how deeply the soil freezes in your area. Consult your local building department.
4. Grade for walkways, patios, lawns and plant beds. Soil under these features should slope at ¼ inch per foot to guide rainwater away from your house or toward catch basins. Mark the grade with stakes, string and a line level, then dig and rake accordingly, removing enough to allow for the thickness of the pavement.

Improving Drainage
A properly draining yard is critical to a good landscape. Make a mistake here, and you could flood your house or wash away parts of your yard.
Check to be sure that the ground around your house–including paving–slopes away at a minimum of ¼ inch per foot, for a distance of at least 6 feet from the foundation. If you suspect a problem, call a landscape contractor or soils engineer.
Also provide drainage at the bottom of hillsides, from behind retaining walls, and away from low spots.
If you live on a steep slope or if your home is lower than other parts of your property, have a landscape contractor or soils engineer design your drainage system.

Controlling Erosion
Water gushing from downspouts can damage your foundation and erode soil from around plants. If downspouts empty too close to your house, try placing splash blocks beneath them, or lead downspouts into tight-line drains or catch basins.
On gentle slopes, cut lengths of landscape fabric and pin them to the ground to keep soil from washing away, or use mulch or soil-holding plants.
On steep or terraced slopes, get help from a landscape architect or soils engineer.

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Check local ordinances and building codes and obtain permits
These projects are often governed by local ordinances or require building permits: grading, erosion control, spas and swimming pools, fences, retaining walls, sprinklers, lighting and electrical systems, patio roofs, gas piping, and off-grade or cantilevered decks. Getting a building permit can be as simple as a one-time visit to your local planning department. Or you may need detailed drawings and lengthy design review. Fees vary, depending on location and complexity. An inspector may visit the construction site to make sure everything is being done properly. Your local planning department can advise you of the requirements.

Tell your neighbors about your plans
Fences, trees, or other features you modify may adversely affect your neighbors’ homes and yards. The landscaping process may also inconvenience them. Explain what you’re planning and what impact it will have.

Consider how long the project will take
A muddy, torn-up yard or a driveway blocked by building materials will be hard to take for long. If the project is extensive, tackle it in stages.

Have the right materials and equipment on hand
You may be forced to halt work if you don’t have the tools and supplies you need. Double-check your plan to be sure. If in doubt, consult your supplier.

Determine if you can do the job yourself, or if you need help
Many landscaping projects involve heavy lifting that may require helpers. Some jobs, such as complex bricklaying, call for skills you may lack. To find qualified professionals, check the classified ads of your newspaper or phone book. Or ask a nursery for recommendations.

Make arrangements to haul away debris
Your garbage-disposal company may rent you a debris box. Or you can re-use some materials, such as broken concrete, in your building projects.

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Position the new glass in the opening. Lay glazing points about 6 inches apart against the glass. Use a putty knife to wiggle them into the frame. Knead glazing compound to make it warm and pliable. Then roll it into a snake shape and press it in place. To smooth the compound, start at one corner and, holding your knife at about a 60° angle, try to make a single pass.

Tips from pros
Prime any bare wood before replacing glass. Lay a bead of acrylic caulk in the frame to seal the glass.

Safety
Always wear heavy gloves and eye protection when you handle glass. For more safety instructions please visit National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

Money-saving tips
Glass can’t easily be re-cut if you order or cut it slightly too large. Don’t measure for the new pane until you’ve removed the old putty from the sash. Then, cut or order glass 1/8 inch smaller than the rabbet (a rectangular groove in the edge of the sash)

Tools and materials
Putty knife or Glazing tool
Glazing compound
Acrylic latex caulk
Caulking gun
Primer
Small paint brush

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Wearing gloves, pull out the glass shards. Remove the old glazing compound (soft, putty-like material that seals glass to window sash and sometimes to doors) one of these ways:
Rolling: Ease the corner of a scraper between the putty and the sash. Gradually roll the blade deeper till the putty gives way.
Scoring: Run a utility knife along a metal straight-edge to separate the compound from the wood.
Chiseling: If the first two methods fail, you can always chisel out the compound. Take care not to gouge the wood.
Pull out the old glazing points (metal fasteners that are used to hold glass in wood sash. May be triangular, diamond or arrow shaped).
Professional glaziers often use special, very expensive heating irons. Consumer alternatives such as heat guns and propane torches can do the job, but they are tough to control and can burn the wooden frame or crack the glass.

Safety tips
Patience and care are critical or you can damage the window or injure yourself. Always wear gloves and eye protection when there’s a risk of glass breakage. For more safety instructions please visit National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

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Leaking or poorly insulated ducts are a common and serious problem in forced air systems, affecting comfort, health, and economy.
Start by inspecting all of the ductwork in your system. If you find places where the duct was never installed or connected, or has broken free from the adjoining duct or register, call a competent contractor immediately. Such failures are murder on system performance and can pose a health hazard. If you find a seam where the duct tape has peeled away, strip off the old piece and reseal it with duct-sealing mastic, a sticky compound you apply with a putty knife.
Any duct that runs through unconditioned space, such as an attic or garage, should be wrapped with a blanket of fiberglass that has an insulation rating of R-11 or better. If you plan to have your system pressure-tested and sealed by a professional, wait till that work is completed before you insulate the ducts.
Seal the ductwork with caulk at any points where it penetrates an exterior wall, floor, or ceiling.
Remove each supply register and vacuum out the inside of the duct. You can hire a pro to do a more thorough cleaning, but avoid firms that use glue-like materials to “seal” dust inside the ducts. These products may contain formaldehyde or other harmful air pollutants.
If your system has an air filtration device and/or humidifier built into the ductwork, take special care to follow the manufacturer’s cleaning and maintenance instructions.

Money-saving tip
For $200 to $400, you can hire a contractor to do a flow hood or blower door test on your ductwork. The test will reveal the total amount of leakage in the system and pinpoint where the leaks are. Once the system is professionally sealed and balanced, you’ll enjoy better comfort and economy.

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