Well sure, there’s barely any windows on that side of their house, they will never see or notice the new floor.
Correct, their house design has only some small windows set high in their staircase on the east side of the house
There’s some kind of den on the ground floor that I could look right into from…I think…the edge of the upstairs deck.
That’s their front door entry area on bottom floor in the back of the house. Access to that house is very puzzling. There are only 2pkg spots in a carport in back on the alley used by the owners. No parking in alley for guests but that’s where their “front door” is. Guests could park at bottom on cul de sac out front and go op the 40 stairs in the retaining wall but I could not find (the day I tried to go over once) anything resembling a front door. There’s a sliding door at kitchen there. It felt really odd approaching the house up those stairs
Oooooo, a showing at 10:00 AM – eager to know if you hear any more feedback. Showings are what you want!, even if they’re an inconvenience while you’re trying to finish up!
So what do people do about ground cover and landscaping in an area like the back yard if they can’t have grass and they want their kids to be able to play outdoors?
You can have a teeny amount of grass, right? My SIL has a small amount of grass in her yard but she also has a required irrigation system (which has had very restricted use). You don’t need a large area for a play scape. Also some parents are opting for the rubber type ground cover beneath those playscaoes for safety reasons.
A rubber yard? For safety?
The apocalypse is upon us.
It is OK to have grass if it is used as play space but the days and times you can run sprinklers are restricted. Twice a week on your designated day (based on odd or even address nbr) for x minutes only. Its not like the police will come arrest you but nosy neighbors can report you to water agency if your sprinklers are broken or something and you’re basically watering the street with tons of runoff.
It’s almost becoming an environmental status symbol if you’ve let your front yard go brown
On Friday a strange miracle happened. It was as if the City sewer contractor knew I was trying to sell my house. The contractor had cleared out all the bulldozers and everything about 4 weeks ago but then about 2 weeks ago a dumpster and misc crap showed up in the area again.
Suddenly there was a huge cleanup effort on Friday and they cleared everything, took all the trash and actually raked the whole area. Their contract was probably done and they were probably cleaning for a final inspection to get paid:)
@Consolation yes…there is a surface cover that is a LOT safer to fall on than a grass surface…and many parents opt for that now under their playscapes. Not sure why you think that is odd. It goes under the playscape only.
But most developers do NOT put that in…that would come when an owner purchases a playscape.
Purchases a playscape? Is that one of those wooden structures with slides and swings that I have never, not once, ever seen a child actually playing on when located in someone’s yard? (They do play on them in school and park playgrounds, though.)
I had more in mind kids going outside and kicking a ball around, playing tag, staging battles with plastic army men, that sort of thing.
@consolation we had a small playscape in our yard for years…and our kids and neighbor kids played on it every day when the weather was warm enough to do so. They are the new version of the swingset that we had when we were kids.
But I digress. You don’t have to have grass for kids to be able to play in the yard, or kick a ball around. Ask all of the folks in Phoenix. No grass in yards there very much…at all.
CB has a nice yard where kids could easily play. I don’t see grass as an issue at all in her area…where grass is not the preferred yard cover.
I’d agree that it doesn’t have to be grass, but it also can’t be plants and bushes that won’t survive being stepped on. I’m wondering what people in those arid areas do.
A sandbox would certainly fit the bill. 
Playground? That is easy - playchips. There are synthetic turf materials that can be used for playgrounds.
CB, glad everything is cleaned up by the city. It’s a good omen.
I disagree, we are outdoors all the time here in California. My kids play on the grass all the time. When we have parties the adults use the grass also. It looks weird to not have grass. You can keep your grass green by watering just twice a week, especially now that it’s wintertime… But there should also be some Hardscape in the large backyard. It looks unfinished. Also some large bushes by the exterior of the house would be nice, to keep the dirt from hitting stucco and just for aesthetic reasons
We just got a home pre-inspected - the inspector pointed to all the cutsey bushes next to the stucco and said that those are a big problem, because mice and other vermin love to nest in bushes next to walls. The bushes needed to go. Mr. felt vindicated - he always told me the same thing and I fought back, LOL.
I would hate to buy a house with a fully landscaped yard, because I would feel like I am paying for something I am not going to use - I like my landscape MY way. If the buyers want grass, they can get grass and can have it their way.
Yes, not good to have vegetation TOO close to a home because it can harbor rodents and when you water, you attract termites and ants.
DH made me rip out a mature rosemary hedge that was too close to the house because he said it was fire hazard to have woody plants near the house 