Who wants SOD? I wanted to share this video below of
my sod installation last summer. The sod is holding up pretty nicely. It's very
green and no weeds. So I'm extremely happy.
My brother and his family came over to help rotor till the front yard. This is definately not a one man job. So if your going to install sod, gather up the troops. Unfortunately we don't have pictures of this part.
I purchased my sod at Tabernacle Farm in Tabernacle, NJ and the price was good and delivery was fast! The price of the delivery was so cheap I could not pass it up. The delivery guy asked if I had ever laid sod and when I stated no, he happily started the flow for me. He said to stagger the sod and keep it going.
Before you are able to dig into your lawn you should make a call to
the Before You Dig number. I live in New Jersey so I'm not sure about the rules in other states, but here is the link: http://call811.com/ to enable safe digging. They
will come out and mark lines as to where hidden underground wires or lines are
placed. Sometimes flags are placed on the soil. This is a free service to home
owners who will be digging. So take advantage of the free service.
Unfortunately, Comcast did not come out to mark the cable so we mistakenly cut your
cable....sorry neighbor. They were really nice about what happened so we
quickly fixed the line, but it was only temporary. Because they never came out to
mark the yard, I was not responsible for the repair so it was repaired for free. Yay!
You should water the lawn immediately after installation but mother nature was so good to me that week that she rained constantly for two weeks which helped me out in two ways. Free water and it saved me money on my water bill. Double Whammy!
To date, the lawn is the greenest in my area. I love it and it was totally
worth manual labor.
Thank you to all the people who helping me. I truly appreciate it!! I am not in no way advertising for Tabernacle Farms but just sharing my personal experience with their product. Shoot me any questions you may have. I love talking about my sod :)
My
dog, Bear, passed away on June 5, 2014 from seizures. He was 14 years old. He was a
great boxer. Bear was the highlight of my evening. A purpose for me to be home.
He was such a smart animal. He loved to play freeze tag (yes he knew how to
play freeze tag), peek-a-boo, loved his walks, and he loved me. My protector
and baby. We tend to nurture our animals as if they are one of us; actually
they truly are, and sometimes they are better than human kind. He would get in
trouble, just at my kids and he would get punished, just as they would too. He
knew my routine and knew it well. Bear would wait at the window for me to come
home and gallop like a horse until I would pet him, squeeze his cheeks and sat
next to him for a few minutes. Through my diminishing relationships, Bear knew
my pain and he comforted me by just being next to me, sometimes on top of me;
because he wanted you to know that even though I'm hurting, he's there to
comfort me.
Bear was never sick. One day, he couldn't get up. I took him to the
animal hospital where he was diagnosed as having severe seizures from old age.
It never dawned on me that I would ever lose him. I felt he would be with me
forever. After 2 days of medications, the Dr.'s said if he has another attack
we have to put him to rest. As I sat next to him in the hospital, he tried his
best to get up. He picked up his paws and tried but he was too week and tired.
He had another attack and I had to do the most dreadful thing, to put him down.
The Dr. asked if I wanted to stay. I told her yes! I was his mommy and I was
going to be there with him to the end as he was always with me. Thru thick and
thin. I kissed him, hugged him, and told him how sorry I was that I couldn’t do
anything to help him. Then he was gone. As tears rolled down my eyes, I cried
uncontrollably, sobbing, all I felt was an overwhelming pain in my heart. I lost my child. My protector. My comforter. My pumpkin.
It’s
been a tough year without him. Things are not the same. A whole year has passed and my heart is still heavy with pain. I had him
cremated and placed him in his favorite spot in the house; for he was never an
outside dog. I kiss him every day, I hold him, and I cry with him. People look
at me like I'm crazy to cry for a "dog", but not everyone are dog
lovers. It takes a unique person with a huge heart for animals to love them.
After purchasing my house five years ago, I have finally found the time to remodel my main bathroom. I live in a townhouse, big enough for the three of us; well ok we may have room for one more :) Get the hint; boyfriend? Any way when I bought this house, I knew eventually I would have to renovate the awful, crusty bathroom. The walls were green, the floor had old stick on floor tiles (not that there's anything wrong with using stick on tiles), the bathtub was a dingy yellow (builders grade) and the vanity was falling apart. I was dreading even going into the bathroom. So I started looking for some solutions to a few of my problems.
PROBLEM #1: I'm broke. I do no have the funds to spend thousands of dollars in redoing the bathroom with a contractor. I will have to do this project by my self with a budget of approximately $1,500; not much.
SOLUTION: Surf Craigslist, eBay, local thrift shops, dumpster diving, head first; (no sham in my game).
PROBLEM #2: I wanted to replace the old bathtub but my handy man estimated $1,700 just to remove and replace the tub, and that's a quote without actually buying the tub. His business card was introduced to the recycling bin fast. Someone stated to me if I had a low cut shirt, the price would have been dropped significantly. Not funny :) Well maybe a little.
SOLUTION: Good'ole Uncle Sam to the rescue. ($cha-ching$)
PROBLEM #3: How long will my bathroom be out of commission? How will we bathe?
SOLUTION: Well we do live next to a pond, skinny dipping after dark? Or, if we were desperate enough, we could always jump in the pool out back? Nope, my great girlfriend lives next door, she offered her home and bathroom to my kids and myself. I'm a lucky girl to have such special people in my life.
PROBLEM #4: I'm pretty handy but who will help me if something goes wrong; hence, plumbing?
SOLUTION: Well after talking to the BF he states he is very familiar with cleaning and laying pipes. Haha I said I don't need them cleaned, I need them fixed, he said all the same thing. I said that's debatable. Well; all kidding aside, he was an apprentice for the ship yard in Philadelphia so that's why he's skilled with plumbing.
PROBLEM #5: I'm a one WOMAN job! Caramba! (Latina coming out)
SOLUION: Lots of Union breaks. Suck it up Mama! You can do this!
SO....my journey began
Out with the OLD...and in with the NEW!
WOOHOO!!!
Well its brand new to me. I decided not to replace the bath tub, but instead to paint it. I did a lot of online blog reading and I found a site that totally helped me make my decision. The site was Addicted 2 Decorating. This site is a great site. Kristi is very talented and has a ton of DIY's, tutorials, inspirations; basically she is super amazing. She even has a video of her bath tub painted. So check out her site. So with that in mind I figured if she could make her tub look brand new, why wouldn't it work for me? I followed her instructions to the letter.
I began the bath tub in early March. There's a series of steps you must do BEFORE you begin to paint. I purchased two boxes of tub and tile paint (see description below). I applied two coats of paint, in which I allow the tub to dry very well in between. It takes approximately three days for the tub to cure. Don't take any shortcuts. You don't want to compromise your hard work you put fourth. I would strongly suggest you buy a respirator mask. I purchased mine at homedepot and it worked great. If you have a window in your bathroom, I would suggest you open it an place a fan in the window and have the air blow out. I couldn't smell anything except when I took my respirator off in between coats.
Model # 65021HA1-C Internet # 202080143 Store SKU # 275703 Household Multi-Purpose Respirator $29.97
MY MAIN SUPPLIES:
I'm a Amazon fanatic...AND Homedepot does not sell this item.
Rust-Olem Tub and Tile: Bought in Amazon click here
Shur-Line 03700C 4-Inch Foam Mini Roller with 12-Inch Handle click here
Here's a detailed video from Rust-Oleum showing you
the exact process yourself and the items items you will need.
Now all DIY'ers know that once you start a project, another magically appears. At first I just wanted to paint the tub but when the tub out shined everything else in the bathroom, I immediately knew this was not a small DIY project, this was a total bathroom overhaul project.....STAY TUNED!!!
Thank you for visiting my blog. Please leave your comments. Come back for more updates on my bathroom!
