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Old 04-15-2015, 06:04 PM
 
16 posts, read 28,713 times
Reputation: 37

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Hi all,

I apologize if my question is a bit out of place, and more suitable for DIY Network, but i have nowhere to turn.
We have a front yard that is pretty much nothing but dirt and weeds, and on top of everything there is a guy from the city that is so on our case that he drives by daily and just waits for us to do something wrong. We mow the weeds down as often as we can, but in the last 3 weeks they exploded, and husband was sick so they got well over 6 inches. What do you know, city guy drove by, and issues a violation, that will now remain on our record for two years, and as soon as he finds something else wrong with our property he fill make us pay a fine. I tried to explain to him that my husband drives a city bus and he's pretty much working all the time, and i have a condition that doesn't allow me to do yard work, to what he suggested that we put the rocks down or pay someone to do it. I asked if there is any assistance for laying the rocks like they have in Nevada, apparently there is not, and our inability to have scheduled maintenance on our front yard is "not his problem".
So now we either have to sleep outside and watch the weeds grow with measuring tape in one hand and weed whacker in the other, or take out a loan which will send us deeper down into financial trouble and lay the rock down. Now mind you, everyone else on the street has a weed issue, but no one is doing anything, which means that we are the only ones getting these notes in the mail. Last one was a year ago, right after monsoon rain when weeds just exploded over night, and the one after that was for our empty pool that was absolutely dry (we have a pump that pumps out water after every drop of rain), but someone reported us for breeding mosquitoes in it.
Problem i am having is in the fact that i can't find anyone who will do our rocks at reasonable cost, i actually can't even find anyone to give us an estimate. I see these small 2-3 man crews with smaller trucks digging and preparing for the rocks in front of houses when we drive by, but i am not sure where homeowners find them. I tried Craigslist, looking for people who offer estimate, they all agree to give one, and they never reply again, so for about a year i was unable to even get an estimate on this kind of work. I know for sure we can't afford one of those bigger companies to do it, but i am wondering where people find those smaller operating business who do this kind of work. Any insight would be appreciated!
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Old 04-15-2015, 09:37 PM
 
Location: Amongst the AZ Cactus
7,068 posts, read 6,435,326 times
Reputation: 7730
I think Craigslist is probably your best option to get decent rates but be careful....scope the people out well, see if they're licensed, etc. Also if you have some neighbors or are driving around and see some people doing decent work, find out who they are and get an estimate. There are also many places that sell stone/crushed gravel in the valley like Pioneer stone. I'd start getting quotes/making some calls to get a feel of what it will cost.

Perhaps something you already thought of. The responsibility of owning a home is to take care of it and budget for having the money to do basic maintenance. If one isn't following the rules, they have to pay the price for not doing so. "The dog ate my homework" usually doesn't fly as you've discovered as city and HOA's don't want to hear those excuses and I can't say I blame them. Many of us bought a home and signed to play by the rules. I know for myself if I was having trouble doing basic maintenance on my home or couldn't afford to do so, I'd seriously consider a cheaper means of living/not owning my own home.
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Old 04-15-2015, 10:07 PM
 
1,774 posts, read 1,181,221 times
Reputation: 3910
"Problem i am having is in the fact that i can't find anyone who will do our rocks at reasonable cost, i actually can't even find anyone to give us an estimate."

Hello! I am surprised you are having trouble finding service people on Craig's List to give you a quote for having rocks installed in your front yard. Perhaps you are entering the information into the wrong section of Craig's List. I just now checked it out. Here is how you get to the right place: When you get to CL, choose the "Services" option from the list, next choose "Farm and Garden Services" and hit enter. This is the place the landscape services crews advertise --- on any given day you should find plenty of businesses to call. You can also narrow it down by the section of the valley, if you choose.....You may need to buy the rock and have it delivered to your driveway and then hire a separate crew to spread it. Hopefully you will be adding something else, perhaps some type of desert tree? A landscaped front yard will help maintain not only your own property values, but the values around you.
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Old 04-15-2015, 11:17 PM
 
16 posts, read 28,713 times
Reputation: 37
I was at the correct place when it comes to Craigslist, but my problem was in the fact that i would call or text asking for an estimate. Usual reply is "yes, we do give a free estimate, let me call you back", and then they either never do call or they never text. I am not a push over, so i never contact them again, so i am running out of options.

To reply to the first post, and finding a cheaper way of living, well i am not sure if that was an adequate advice here. Thousands of people in the Valley and entire states own homes, but that doesn't mean that they can afford to have scheduled monthly and weekly maintenance on every single thing. That also means that not everyone is sitting on 10-20 K available to them to do a pro landscaping. To advise someone to leave their home because they are looking for cheaper way to lay down to rock is not fair. We take good care of our home. Dog didn't at my homework. Two bike gangs, however, did. We are not from USA originally and weren't accepted well into this neighborhood. I share back yard fence with a biker who at all times has 20 of his Hoodlum buddies in the yard. as soon as we enter our back yard we are bullied, screamed at, and some years ago a gun was pulled at my husband and our Bulgarian neighbor. We pretty much lost our back yard, when we moved in we invested thousands to have it redone. Pool is empty and destroyed, since we couldn't swim in peace or be in the yard we emptied it. Our beautiful rock that we paid a lot for is eaten by grass and weeds, and yard is a jungle.
Front yard, same story, member of the same biker gang lives right across, we can't be outside without having them reving their bikes, and yelling comments, so we pretty much gave up on trying to be outside. In efforts to prevent foreclosure, we are prisoners in our own home. To call police is not an option, we gave up on that as well.
I never said we are broke and can't take care of our house, but don't most middle class people look for the cheapest and best way to do repairs? I am sorry for the rant, i thought there was nothing wrong with asking a question like this.
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Old 04-15-2015, 11:51 PM
 
Location: Rural Michigan
6,343 posts, read 14,625,979 times
Reputation: 10548
Pramitol® 25E Herbicide, 2-1/2 gal. - Tractor Supply Co.

Available at tractor supply company - about 16 oz goes into a two-gallon weed sprayer & then fill the sprayer with diesel fuel. Apply to the weedy area until you get a nice even sheen. You'll get about 95% control of new weeds for over a year. Weed-whip one last time, because it doesnt do much for existing weeds.

Keep it well away from any plants you like.
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Old 04-16-2015, 12:29 AM
 
Location: Amongst the AZ Cactus
7,068 posts, read 6,435,326 times
Reputation: 7730
Quote:
Originally Posted by ArizonaRain View Post
To reply to the first post, and finding a cheaper way of living, well i am not sure if that was an adequate advice here. Thousands of people in the Valley and entire states own homes, but that doesn't mean that they can afford to have scheduled monthly and weekly maintenance on every single thing.

You posted a great deal of information than beyond asking about where to get landscape rock and I was simply responding to what you provided as I figured since you provided such information, it was relevant to the situation and you were looking for a response to it. Otherwise, why include such information on a forum that is about sharing opinions/views? I was simply replying to your post as much of it sounded like you didn't have any time to do basic yard work as you posted in your opening message:


Quote:
Originally Posted by ArizonaRain View Post
What do you know, city guy drove by, and issues a violation, that will now remain on our record for two years, and as soon as he finds something else wrong with our property he fill make us pay a fine. I tried to explain to him that my husband drives a city bus and he's pretty much working all the time, and i have a condition that doesn't allow me to do yard work

Quote:
Originally Posted by ArizonaRain View Post
That also means that not everyone is sitting on 10-20 K available to them to do a pro landscaping. To advise someone to leave their home because they are looking for cheaper way to lay down to rock is not fair.
You are taking me way out of context. I never implied to get "10-20k" to do pro landscaping. As I homeowner, I do my own landscape work and enjoy it also. Again, I was responding to you saying your husband works all he time and you can't do yard work which is part of what comes along with owning a home. And I simply stated if I(me) couldn't take care of the home I live in:

Quote:
Originally Posted by stevek64 View Post
I know for myself if I was having trouble doing basic maintenance on my home or couldn't afford to do so, I'd seriously consider a cheaper means of living/not owning my own home.
And I didn't "advise" anyone to "leave their home". Again, I was simply stating my opinion on what I might seriously consider doing if I couldn't afford nor do my own home maintenance. I chose my words carefully.

Quote:
Originally Posted by ArizonaRain View Post
I never said we are broke and can't take care of our house, but don't most middle class people look for the cheapest and best way to do repairs? I am sorry for the rant, i thought there was nothing wrong with asking a question like this.
When you stated this in your original post, I found it hard to think otherwise:

Quote:
Originally Posted by ArizonaRain View Post
So now we either have to sleep outside and watch the weeds grow with measuring tape in one hand and weed whacker in the other, or take out a loan which will send us deeper down into financial trouble and lay the rock down.
In any case, I offered you some advice in my post that I thought might help that I hope you also read in terms of finding crushed rock.

I wish you the best on your home maintenance.
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Old 04-16-2015, 06:11 AM
 
16 posts, read 28,713 times
Reputation: 37
Quote:
Originally Posted by stevek64 View Post
I know for myself if I was having trouble doing basic maintenance on my home or couldn't afford to do so, I'd seriously consider a cheaper means of living/not owning my own home.
No matter how many times i read this sentence, it always comes out sounding like you suggesting that we leave our house.
I appreciate the rest of replies, i ordered some herbicide and a sprayer, and also managed to get one guy to come out on Saturday and give us an estimate on the rock. He actually offers two trees for free, and if we also plant some desert plants it could come out looking quite nice.
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