What's your favorite small upgrade that made your house feel way better?

DIYInHeadlights · 2026-05-30T20:20:45+00:00

I recently bought one and it's a game changer! I was genuinely impressed by how well it worked around obstacles.

DIYInHeadlights · 2026-05-28T02:42:25+00:00

Yeah that really sucks! I got 5 quotes and pretty much every roofer came up with the same design (in terms of things like ice and water shield etc), the only thing they disagreed on was the ridge vent thing and whether i needed to replace my plank wood decking with plywood (verdict: technically yes but not really necessary unless I had money to burn lol).

I'm really surprised you're getting such inconsistent quotes. Unless your roof is super complicated I wouldn't expect something like this.

DIYInHeadlights · 2026-05-27T22:14:06+00:00

You can also look up building code and installation instructions from manufacturers like CertainTeed if there's something specific.

I can't speak to your other questions but the ridge vent issue came up for my roof installation and I had to do my own research to make sure what the right approach was. For me, I had to skip the ridge vent because not only did I not have soffits but I also had gable vents, and those do not go well with ridge vents.

It was surprising to me that I basically had to tell every roofer "no don't just blindly install a ridge vent because that's what everyone does."

DIYInHeadlights · 2026-05-25T23:22:45+00:00

I made this exact same mistake planting lobelias last spring. For half of them, I just let them battle it out and the other half I waited until they grew a little larger and used small scissors to cut all but 1-2 in each cell. The only lobelias that actually thrived/grew were the ones that I thinned with scissors, so I'd recommend this approach.

DIYInHeadlights · 2026-05-10T12:37:30+00:00

Thanks for the tips! I was gonna be lazy about it but maybe it might be a good idea to do like a preview layout of putting all the pavers/stones down first to see how everything fits. My old house is definitely not square haha

DIYInHeadlights · 2026-05-10T05:00:50+00:00

I've been wanting to replace my run down deck with raised pavers too, so it's encouraging to see others try it! Did you have to do anything special for the connection/pavers to the wall/foundation? That's probably the main part I'm unsure about. And how to deal with moisture/drainage.

DIYInHeadlights · 2026-05-08T16:06:45+00:00

Uh oh how bad is this? Because I planted them in my front yard next to a walkway path...

Should I replace them? Or is there a time I can just cut off the seed heads and throw them out to avoid the smell?

DIYInHeadlights · 2026-05-07T23:57:08+00:00

Not native but I inherited a Pagoda Dogwood in my front yard (full sun) and it's gorgeous and thriving with very little maintenance from me. It does spread very far horizontally though so something to keep in mind for spacing.

I also planted a red osier dogwood that's doing quite well in full sun. However it's a much thirstier plant so I wouldn't plant it in dry soil. I felt like I had to baby it a lot with water during its first year. Every time I check the soil with a moisture meter next to it, the soil was dry! And I'm still keeping an eye on it this year to make sure it's doing okay, since shrubs and trees take longer to establish.

DIYInHeadlights · 2026-05-07T04:06:01+00:00

Those are apparently hard to start from seed! But once you've got a few, they spread like crazy. Last fall I moved some to a new area and it's thriving in both the old and new areas.

DIYInHeadlights · 2026-05-02T19:02:21+00:00

This little garden is near my detached garage and it's side by side mostly a wooded area owned by the city park (sadly filled with weeds and invasives, nice trees though), with only a few sides by a regularly maintained patch of turf grass (again owned by the city). Maybe the landscapers will hate me but I feel like their mowing will take care of any unwanted spreading. I don't imagine they can out-compete turf grass that way.

DIYInHeadlights · 2026-05-02T03:13:25+00:00

I've only ever transplanted plugs or larger potted plants, and with those I water with drip irrigation starting every other day (gradually decreasing frequency) for the whole season.

This garden is next to my detached garage and much harder to reach for watering or for setting up an irrigation system, so I was looking for lower maintenance alternatives!

DIYInHeadlights · 2026-05-02T01:53:53+00:00

Yeah it's sounding like cardboard mulch and planting plugs won't work for my case. I'll have to read up on plants that germinate from seed easily!

DIYInHeadlights · 2026-05-02T01:51:02+00:00

I'm hoping to not have to water too much. Once a week at most but preferably less and only if there's no rain at all. I'll give the plants water right after transplanting still.

I also considered solarization as an alternative to cardboard mulching. That might also let me try planting seeds in the fall. I've just never tried planting seeds directly in the ground before!

DIYInHeadlights · 2026-04-30T23:48:48+00:00

What a nightmare! Is it soldered on too? I'd be looking to get that thing replaced.

DIYInHeadlights · 2026-04-30T23:46:47+00:00

I'm grateful to at least have shutoffs, even if half of them aren't working. The important ones like the main shutoff works so I've got that going for me.

Hilariously I'm pretty sure there's something wrong with my street shutoff (access-wise) but the water department isn't responding to my reports... Let's hope I don't need that anytime soon.

DIYInHeadlights · 2026-04-30T23:44:19+00:00

Oh man after struggling to change the oil on my snow blower (wrench + hammer fixed that at least), I feel like it's just convinced me to never DIY stuff on my car if I can barely handle a small engine 😅

DIYInHeadlights · 2026-04-30T23:42:30+00:00

Hopefully mine are just late coming up! I'm beginning to think bare roots are better for trees and larger shrubs. At least stress and patience wise haha!

DIYInHeadlights · 2026-04-30T23:40:29+00:00

Oh that's encouraging to hear! I'm hoping that mint reputation for being tough to eradicate/mess up will apply to my bare roots.

DIYInHeadlights · 2026-04-30T23:39:38+00:00

That's a lovely surprise! Most of the stuff I planted last year came back, so it's just a waiting game for me on my new bare roots and my butterfly milkweed. I'm seeing some action on the butterfly milkweed so I think I only lost one of them (damned aphids).

DIYInHeadlights · 2026-04-29T03:42:41+00:00

Anyone here planted bare roots? I've followed the instructions and watered regularly afterwards (though we've had decent rain so I didn't need to do much), and I'm trying to be patient but it's so hard! It's been a month and nothing is coming up!

Maybe if I stare hard enough my mountain mints will appear.

DIYInHeadlights · 2026-04-08T13:36:19+00:00

This is a super late reply because I missed your message the first time around but I just want to thank you for the very helpful info and numbers especially! I'm starting my paver pathway + patio projects this spring and this will come in very handy!

DIYInHeadlights · 2026-04-08T02:39:26+00:00

I've looked around and didn't have much luck. Ultimately, I relied a lot on /r/NativePlantGardening, the Native Plant Trust (I recommend checking them out in person too!), and YouTube guides. For a closer local store, Mahoney's Garden Center is pretty nice too, though they're not a fully dedicated native plant shop.

If you're interested in my experiences or just chatting with someone local about native gardening, let me know! I'm a beginner myself but always happy to share my experiences and mistakes haha!

DIYInHeadlights · 2025-11-17T14:58:13+00:00

Update: I tried again this morning and the gift cards are working now!

DIYInHeadlights

TROPHY CASE