Podcast Episode 123 — When Your Neighbor Hates the Mess in Your Yard
Fireplace surrounds, porch hardware, door frame rot, and when the neighbors have let things get "out of hand."
This is the usual Friday morning episode of the FHB podcast, number 123, and last week was 120. That jump is because episodes 121 and 122 were trade show specials, broadcast live from the floor at the Pacific Coast Builder Conference (PCBC 2018). For easy reference, here are links to the show notes for those episodes:
Fine Homebuilding Podcast Episode 122: Talking About New Product Creation at PCBC 2018.
For a lot more industry event news this week from the FHB team, scroll down to the links at the bottom of this page.
Anyway, for today’s new episode, recorded before this busy week began, Justin, Rob, and Brian tackle listener questions from the peaceful, quiet shelter of the Taunton Podcast Studio here at the home office in Newtown, Conn.
But first, Rob wants to ask when it’s okay for a neighbor to complain about the state of your yard. Brian starts off as a property-rights advocate, but he draws the line at leaving refrigerators lying on the lawn. Justin and Rob cannot imagine knocking on a neighbor’s door to suggest a tidying … unless things get “out of hand.” Brian admits he has had a problem with a barking dog. They guys end up talking about how to be just plain neighborly.
On to questions … starting with a good one from listener KJ. The issue is rotten exterior trim, with the rot extending to the bottom of a doorway. The guys say it depends on what’s rotten: the sill along the bottom, the jambs that the door leans against, or the casing, or trim, that spans the gap where the door meets the house. Step one: figure out why there is rot.
Aaron asks for advice on porch hardware. “We’re currently working on a wraparound porch for our RV ‘tiny house’ in sunny southwestern New Mexico. … What would you guys recommend for attaching the king, hip, and jack rafters?”
Here’s a picture of his house before the porch goes on:
Listener Jeff wants to replace an existing fireplace mantle shelf with a fireplace surround. He sends in three photos, and you can check those out in a slide show by clicking the button at the bottom of this post.
This episode of the podcast is brought to you by our sponsors, LP Shed and Marvin.
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We hope you will take advantage of a great offer for our podcast listeners: A special 20% off discounted rate to subscribe to the Fine Homebuilding print magazine. That link goes to finehomebuilding.com/podoffer.
The show is driven by our listeners, so please subscribe and rate us on iTunes or Google Play, and if you have any questions you would like us to dig into for a future show, shoot an email our way: fhbpodcast@taunton.com. Also, be sure to follow Justin Fink, Rob Yagid, and Fine Homebuilding on Instagram — and “like” the magazine on Facebook. Note that you can watch the show above, or on YouTube at the Fine Homebuilding YouTube Channel.
The Fine Homebuilding Podcast embodies Fine Homebuilding magazine’s commitment to the preservation of craftsmanship and the advancement of home performance in residential construction. The show is an informal but vigorous conversation about the techniques and principles that allow listeners to master their design and building challenges.
Links for this episode:
- NEWS: FHB Presents $70K in KCA Scholarships.
- NEWS: SkillsUSA National Championships 2018.
- NEWS: Scenes and Sounds from 2018 PCBC.
- NEWS: Fundraiser Kicks Off Next Year’s Scholarships.
- Andy Engel’s Repairing Rot with Epoxy.
- Fireplace Surrounds.
- Justin’s Easy, Elegant Mantel.
- Master Carpenter Video Series: Building a Modern Mantel.
- Great Tips for Building a Mantel.
- All FHB podcast show notes: FineHomebuilding.com/podcast.
- #KeepCraftAlive tee-shirts support scholarships for building trades students. So go order some shirts at KeepCraftAlive.org.
- The direct link to the online store is here.
And don’t forget to click the Launch Gallery button below to see listener Jeff’s fireplace project.
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Listener Jeff wants advice on how best to replace the mantel shelf with a surround.
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Jeff writes: "The issue lies in the bricks protruding out from the fireplace and how to build the surround around them while making the surround look good. I am NOT looking to grind the bricks way as that would cause a huge mess and issues with upper management, a.k.a. the wife."
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The existing mantel is 8"deep, 5" high, including crown. Seems to be built on 2x4s or 2x6s. The distance between the top of the firebox opening and the existing mantel is 20". The width of fireplace, not fire box, is 68". Protruding brings extend out 3", 2", and 1", respectively. The height of stacked protruding bricks is 8". And the distance between top of firebox and lowest protruding brick is 12".
View Comments
You were talking about neighbors with out of hand yards, and one example you gave was a lawn that got mowed only once per year. When I heard that, I felt like I had to say something.
I grew up in Linn County, Oregon, where people love to tout that they are the "Grass seed capitol of the world". It is a major crop in the area, which is why I can never live there again.
As a child, I displayed a severe case of seasonal hay fever. When I say severe, I am not exaggerating. My sinuses would be completely clogged, my entire face would be swollen, my eyes would become so red and swollen that it was not uncommon for the whites to start swelling over the irises. I was put on medication as soon as it was available to me (meaning I was old enough for it) I tried all the different kinds of allergy medicines as they were made available, and they helped some, meaning I could sort of breathe through half my nose at a time, and my eyes didn't get quite as swollen. That was while taking oral medication, using nasal spray, and prescription eye drops.
As an adult I moved away and my allergies seemed to mostly disappear, until I moved back to my home town and they came back as bad as ever. During the spring and summer months, I could not go outdoors for more then a few minutes, half an hour at the most with heavy medication, without experiencing a severe reaction and wishing I could pluck my eyes out of my head because they might hurt less then.
Perennial rye grass is the cause of my allergies, which is an extremely popular lawn grass. I have been helping an elderly lady with her yard this year, and her grass does not bother me, even though it has gone to seed, but it is an extremely unusual grass for a lawn, and a type that most people would eradicate.
If the neighbor who didn't mow their lawn lived next to me, and had perennial rye grass, they would definitely be hearing from me, because their lawn would severely impact my quality of life.
Seasonal allergies are nothing to joke about, and telling people who have them to "suck it up" may not be an option for them. If I had a neighbor who didn't mow their lawn, and I was allergic to it, my only options would be to buy a new house and move, or to take legal action against them if it was available. Otherwise, I would be spending six months of every year unable to do much besides lie on my couch or bed and hold a damp cloth to my face to try and keep from rubbing my eyes and making the pain worse.
Severe cases, such as what I have, are truly debilitating, and I think that there are far too few people who realize just how bad it is and far too many people who just think those who suffer are whiny and need to just deal with it.
If you have a tree that someone is allergic to, well, it was probably there before they moved in and they could have picked a different location, but if it's grass or a certain type of flower? That's just plain cruel.
So, the short of this long story is, MOW YOUR GRASS AND NEVER LET IT GO TO SEED, or you may literally be causing someone else to suffer debilitating effects from the pollen, and if you see a neighbor who never mows their grass, talk to them and find out why. If it's because they are unable to due to time or medical constraints, offer to do it for them, if they feel it's their right to be "natural" please refer them to this story, or introduce them to some poor child with a swollen face that could be due to their unkempt lawn, also, remind them that it's a huuuuge fire hazard, and if they don't take care of it, report it, there might actually be zoning regulations about the height of their grass, particularly in climates where it tends to dry out.
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