c/backyard-diy

Tried that cheap $20 paver base from Lowe's and it sank 2 inches in a month

I redid my patio in Phoenix back in February and used the store brand paver base to save some cash. After 30 days the whole thing was uneven and I had to tear it all up. Anyone else had bad luck with the cheaper gravel mixes holding up over time?

Unpopular opinion: raised garden beds are overrated for most backyards

I see everyone building these expensive wooden boxes that rot out in 3-4 years, but isn't it cheaper and easier to just till the ground and add compost? My neighbor spent $400 on lumber and hardware cloth, and my in-ground rows are producing twice the tomatoes for like $30 in soil amendments. Am I missing something or are people just following Instagram trends?

Debate: Is it worth building a paver patio yourself or just pay someone?

I spent like 6 weekends on a 12x16 paver patio in my backyard in Portland - thought it would take 2 weekends tops. The base prep was brutal, leveling that gravel took forever, and I still have a low spot near the corner. On one hand, I saved about $1,800 doing it myself but man the time lost sucked. Anyone else think DIY hardscaping is a false economy or am I just bad at this?

My neighbor Bob pointed out my deck boards were cupping from using screws wrong...

Measured my backyard slope wrong by 2 feet

I decided to build a retaining wall along the side of my property last month. Got all the blocks delivered, rented a plate compactor, the whole deal. I used one of those cheap laser levels from Harbor Freight to check the grade. Turns out I was reading it wrong the whole time. The ground drops about 2 feet more than I thought over the length of the wall. Found out when my neighbor came over and pointed out my string line was way off. Now I gotta either dig deeper or add extra drainage pipe to handle the water flow. Has anyone else messed up a grade measurement that bad and had to redo their whole plan?

Tried to build a raised garden bed using free pallets and it went sideways fast

Found a bunch of pallets behind the grocery store last month and thought I was being smart saving money on lumber. Spent a whole Saturday breaking them down and pulling nails with a pry bar, took me like 6 hours just to get the wood ready. Then I found out half the pallets had this chemical treatment stamp on them, so I couldn't use them for veggies anyway lol. Ended up tossing the whole pile and just buying cedar from the hardware store for $85. Has anyone else fallen for the 'free pallet' trap or just me?

Used to stain fences with those cheap foam brushes from the dollar store

Took me about 6 hours to do a 6 foot privacy fence that way. Switched to a Wagner sprayer two summers ago after my neighbor let me borrow his. Cut the time down to about 45 minutes. The cleanup is a pain though with the mineral spirits. Anyone else go back and forth on sprayers vs brushes for big fence jobs?

So I tried to build a simple garden trellis and ended up with a disaster

Last Saturday I figured I'd make a quick bean trellis out of some bamboo poles I had lying around. Tied them together with twine, stuck them in the ground, and walked away feeling pretty good about myself. About an hour later I heard this loud crash from the backyard and found the whole thing collapsed into my tomato plants. Turns out I didn't push the poles deep enough into the soil and the whole thing just tipped over. Has anyone else had a simple backyard project turn into a total mess like this?

Tried to build a birdhouse last Saturday and ended up with a squirrel mansion

I figured I'd finally use that scrap wood pile I've been ignoring for 2 years. Grabbed some cedar planks, a hammer, and nails. My goal was a simple wren house. Well, I measured wrong about 3 times, the roof slants like a funhouse mirror, and the entrance hole is big enough for a raccoon. Now there's a fat squirrel living in it eating all my sunflower seeds. Has anyone else's simple project turn into something ridiculous?

Heard my neighbor say 'I just use whatever soil is on sale' and finally understood my problem

Last Saturday I was out back repotting my tomatoes and my neighbor Steve from 3 doors down said that about his garden soil. I've been buying the cheap $3 bags at Home Depot for 2 years and wondered why my plants always look sad. Took his advice and spent $12 on a bag of Fox Farm and the difference in 2 weeks is wild. Anyone else have a 'duh' moment like that with something simple?

Built a raised garden bed from cedar, wasted $300 on the wrong wood

I decided to build a raised garden bed in my backyard last spring. I went to the lumber yard and bought what I thought was cedar, but it turned out to be some treated pine with a cedar stain on it. After 6 months the whole thing started rotting out and sagging. The plants looked nice for a few weeks, but now I have to tear the whole thing apart and start over. Has anyone else fallen for that fake cedar at the big box stores?

Finally figured out why my paver patio kept sinking

I built a paver patio in my backyard about 18 months ago and it looked great for maybe 4 months... then it started sinking in one corner. This spring I tore it all up to fix it and compared my old method (just sand and gravel) to adding a proper 6 inch compacted base. Man what a difference that base makes. I used a plate compactor this time and did 3 separate passes on each layer before laying the pavers. It's been through two big rainstorms so far and not a single paver has shifted. Has anyone else dealt with sinking pavers and found a good fix?

Vent: That guy at the hardware store told me to skip the gravel base for my patio

So I was pricing out materials for a small paver patio in my backyard, maybe 8x10 feet. This older dude at the local Ace in Austin overheard me asking about crushed stone and said I was OVERCOMPLICATING it. He swore up and down that just leveling the dirt and laying sand was fine for that size. I figured he's been doing this forever so he must know. Well, after three freeze thaw cycles this past winter, half my pavers are shifting and sinking like crazy. I'm looking at tearing the whole thing up this spring and redoing it PROPERLY with gravel and compacted base. Has anyone else gotten bad advice from random strangers at the store that cost you way more time and money in the end?

That neighbor was right about my raised bed soil mix

Old guy down the street told me to add perlite and compost instead of just bagged topsoil, I laughed it off. After two seasons of stunted tomatoes I finally tried his recipe and my peppers doubled in size - anyone else stubbornly refuse good advice for way too long?

My neighbor called my fence 'weekend warrior work' and he was right

After I put up that cedar fence last summer, old Mr. Jenkins across the alley said 'looks good from the road but those posts won't last two winters.' I was ticked off at first but he was nice enough to show me how he poured concrete footings below the frost line on his. Dug up my first post last Saturday and sure enough it was already shifting. Has anyone else had a random neighbor give harsh feedback that actually improved their project?

My neighbor showed me a trick for leveling pavers with just a long 2x4 and a rubber mallet

Old Mr. Garcia saw me struggling with my patio project last Saturday... he came over and grabbed a scrap 2x4 from my pile. Laid it across three pavers at once and gave it a couple taps. Everything sat flat after that. I'd been trying to level each one individually for an hour. Has anyone else picked up a simple method from an older DIYer that made you feel a little silly for overcomplicating it?

Messed up my raised beds for 3 seasons by ignoring one simple thing

Honestly, I spent like 2 years wondering why my tomato plants kept getting blight no matter what I did. Then last spring I had a buddy from Oregon come visit and he took one look at my garden layout and pointed out I was watering from overhead instead of using drip irrigation at the soil level. I switched to a $30 soaker hose setup from Home Depot and it cut down my plant loss by like 70% that summer. Has anyone else caught a basic gardening error that took way too long to notice?

My raised bed garden turned into a squirrel buffet overnight

I spent $80 on lumber and soil for a fancy raised bed last month in my backyard in Austin. Next morning I found 6 holes dug through the bottom and half my seeds scattered. Now I line every bed with hardware cloth before filling it. Anyone else fighting a losing battle with these little diggers?

My patio furniture build turned into an accidental bird hotel

So last Saturday I tried to build a simple bench for the backyard using some leftover cedar I had sitting in the garage. Got the frame all squared up and went inside for a drink, came back out and a sparrow had already started nesting in the open seat gap I left for the slats. Ended up having to wait 3 weeks before I could finish it because she laid eggs in there and I felt bad kicking her out. Has anyone else had a project get hijacked by wildlife like this?

Picked up a tip on crushed gravel for paths from an old timer at the lumber yard

Was grabbing some cedar mulch near Denver last weekend and this 70 year old guy loading pavers told me to skip the fancy path stuff and just use 3/4 inch crushed gravel with fines. He said it packs down so hard weeds barely come through and it drains way better than that decomposed granite I was gonna buy. I tried it on a 40 foot path behind my shed and after a week of rain its still solid. Anyone else use crushed gravel like this?

That $90 'premium' compost tumbler I bought last spring? Total junk after two months.

The plastic cracked on the second turn and now I'm back to just using a pile in the corner, has anyone else had better luck with the metal barrel style ones?

Finally got my raised beds leveled after a week of fighting with the ground

I finally hit 1000 boards cut on my table saw this morning

I was just cleaning up the shop after finishing a raised bed for my neighbor and realized I had filled up the little tally counter I taped to the side. Started it back in 2021 when I first got the saw and just kind of forgot about it for a while. Every time I made a cut I'd click it one more notch, never really thinking about the total. That little plastic thing hitting 1000 made me stop and look back at all the garden boxes, benches, and that wobbly birdhouse I built. Anyone else got a weird little milestone they track without meaning to?

Serious question, how do you deal with tree roots in a raised bed?

I built a 4x8 raised bed last spring and my tomato plants were half the size of my neighbor's who just plants in ground. Dug down 6 inches yesterday and found a thick network of maple roots that had pushed through the bottom. Anyone have luck with a root barrier or do I need to relocate the whole bed?

Picked gravel over pavers for my patio path last weekend

I was set on those nice pavers but after measuring out a 30 foot run to the shed, the cost was just too much. Laid down crushed gravel and some edging instead, saved about 200 bucks and it actually looks fine. Anyone else go with the cheaper material and end up liking it better?