The main house: a cottage outside, a plan still forming inside

Read from five exterior photos only. The items tagged "Verify" need a close look in person.

Test before anything is scraped, cut or pressure-washed. The results decide how the siding work is done.

• Lead: a 1908 house has lead paint in its older layers, so treat all paint as lead. A test (3M LeadCheck swabs, about $30, or a lab chip test) only matters if you want to confirm a particular surface. Wet-scrape, put plastic under the work, use a P100 respirator, and only sand with HEPA extraction. These are the same rules as at 910.
• Asbestos: send one small chip each from the rear siding and the gable shingles to a lab (about $30–50 per sample). If it's cement-asbestos, it's safe left in place and painted. Don't sand, drill, break or pressure-wash it. Clean it with a soft brush and a garden hose, spot-prime it, and paint it with 100% acrylic.
• Electrical: look at the panel and wiring type before any interior work. The number of window units suggests the wiring may be limited. Wiring from the 1960s can be aluminum branch wiring (used about 1965–73; a fire risk at outlets unless repaired with approved connectors) or ungrounded two-prong circuits. The 1908 part was originally knob-and-tube and has had some upgrades, but it isn't known whether any knob-and-tube is still live.
• Knob-and-tube check:
  • Look in the attic and crawlspace for porcelain knobs and tubes and cloth-covered single wires. Follow each run to see where it goes.
  • With the power on, hold a non-contact voltage tester against each old wire you find. Then switch off breakers one at a time to see which circuit feeds it. An old fuse box or sub-panel anywhere in the house is a sign that some of it is still in use.
  • If any is live: have an electrician replace it, or at least evaluate it. Never bury live knob-and-tube in insulation, because it depends on open air to stay cool. That matters here if the attic or walls ever get blown-in insulation. Many insurers also won't cover a house with live knob-and-tube.
  • Dead runs can be cut back and removed, or left in place, labelled and disconnected at both ends.
• 1960s asbestos: besides the siding, materials from that decade that often contain asbestos include 9"×9" floor tiles and their black mastic, drywall joint compound, textured ("popcorn") ceilings, and pipe or duct insulation. Test before sanding, scraping or demolishing any of them.
• Gas: if the house has any gas appliance (range, water heater), put a CO alarm near it.

A lighter version of the 910 approach. The siding here is in better shape, except on the east wall, so this is mostly prep, prime and paint, plus trim, porch and site work.

Siding and paint

• East wall first: scrape to tight edges, remove grey wood, wash, and prime bare wood within about 2 weeks. Do this before winter if possible.
• Other walls: wash, scrape, spot-prime, fill holes (same filler table as the 910 plan), then two coats of 100% acrylic. Satin on the body, semi-gloss on the trim.
• Don't caulk the horizontal laps. Caulk the vertical joints, trim and casings.
• Replace the dark water table band and the brown fascia with white trim, as in the renderings.
• Sun by wall: the front faces south and gets full sun, which the porch shades partly. The west wall takes the hard afternoon sun, so repaint it and the south wall first in future cycles. The east wall gets morning sun only.

Washing (red dust)

• No power washer anywhere on this house. On the wood clapboard it drives water up under the laps, gouges the old wood, raises fibres and strips paint that's presumably lead. On the rear siding and gable shingles it can break up cement-asbestos and release fibres, so treat them as asbestos until the lab test comes back.
• Use a garden hose, or 500 psi or less on a wide fan tip held well back, on the clapboard only. Scrub with a soft brush on a pole and a mild house wash.
• Rear siding and gable shingles: a soft brush and a garden hose only, as in Safety first.
• Spray at the wall or downward, never upward into the laps. Keep the spray off the louvered windows, the electric meter, the gas regulator vent and the window AC units.
• East wall: the bare grey wood soaks up water. Wash it gently, let it dry 1–2 days, then scrape and prime within the same dry spell.
• Stubborn red clay stains on wood: oxalic-acid wood cleaner, tested on a small patch first.
• When: before priming and painting, then once a year or when it looks red, mostly the bottom 2–3 ft.
• Less dirt to begin with: beds and the brick bed pulled back 18–24", a gravel strip at the foundation, soil sloped away and drip irrigation all cut down the clay that rain splashes onto the bottom of the wall. Satin paint sheds dust better than flat.

Grander than 910

922 is the main house and should look grander than 910, as the renderings show. The same cottage family, but a step up in scale and detail:

• Porch: 10" square columns and a 1×12 beam (910 gets about 8" columns and a 1×10 beam), a full white railing, wide steps, and a white-painted skirt with trim.
• Trim: wider casings (about 5" versus about 4" at 910), a frieze board under the eaves, white corner boards and a white base band at the bottom of the walls.
• Gables: keep the shingle texture and add knee brackets under the rakes (as in the lot-side rendering).
• Details: window boxes, lantern lights by the doors, a proper front walk, and fuller planting beds.
• Height: the house already sits higher on its block foundation, and a white skirt with a base band makes that read as deliberate.

Colour

• Decided: pale yellow body with white trim, as in six of the seven renderings. This sets 922 apart from 910's sage. The one sage rendering left (a front view) is there for its details only.
• The plan: Sherwin-Williams Full Moon (SW 6679), LRV 75. A soft, buttery yellow, and the closest match to the renderings. Hex F4E3BC; fan-deck locator 295-C2. Mix it in SW exterior acrylic (Duration or Emerald) and order it by number.
• Backup: Benjamin Moore Hawthorne Yellow (HC-4), LRV 71. A classic historic yellow with a slight green lean, and a bit more colour. A paler option is SW Banana Cream (SW 6673, LRV 81), but in full sun it can read as cream.
• Trim, fascia, columns and the porch ceiling: a soft white such as Benjamin Moore White Dove (OC-17), not a stark white.
• Paint about 2 ft square sample boards and look at them on the sunny and shady walls, morning and late afternoon. Outdoors, colours look about a shade lighter than on the chip; if you're torn, go one step deeper. Avoid SW Creamy, which looks neither white nor yellow in bright sun.
• All of these are well above the LRV (light reflectance value) floor of about 45 that the sun calls for.

Windows and trim

• White casings with a sloped cap and flashing at every head, on the same pattern as 910.
• Gables: keep the shingle texture (if it isn't asbestos) and add simple knee brackets under the rakes, as in the lot-side rendering.
• Record the window type before deciding: original wood sash-cord double-hungs, or later replacements?
• Window boxes on brackets about 1" off the wall, with self-watering liners (as in the west and east renderings).
• East bump-out louver (for air circulation and protection only, with no gas appliance behind it):
  • The plan: a window, as in the rendering. Make it an operable double-hung, so the space still gets air when it's open. Frame the opening with a header, then flash and case it like the other windows: white casing and a sloped cap. Size and set it so its head lines up with the other east windows.
  • Backup: keep the louver. Repair it and paint it white. Add insect screen behind it if there isn't any.

Porch

• Decided: square white columns, like the 910 porch. The lacework columns are almost certainly holding up the porch roof, so this is a structural swap:
  • Shore the beam with temporary posts before taking out each lacework column.
  • New 6×6 pressure-treated post (or a doubled 2×6) on a standoff post base. Bolt the base through the new floor into solid blocking or a doubled joist, lined up over the skirt wall or a footing, so the roof load goes to the ground and not into the floorboards.
  • Wrap the post to about 10" square in cedar or PVC (the plan; about 8" is the backup, the same as 910), with a base band and a cap collar, held about ½" off the floor. Build it as two L-halves joined with Dominos, the same method as 910.
  • Beam: wrap it with a 1×12 face board (11¼" actual, a little wider than the 10" columns), plus a soffit board underneath with the face overlapping it by about ¼", returned ends, and a drip edge or flashing on top. Check the header under the existing trim first. Cedar or PVC, primed on all six faces, painted white with the trim.
  • Replace the scroll-panel railings with a white railing with square balusters. Railings must be 36" high if the floor is more than 30" above grade.
• Backup: keep the lacework. Don't scrap it. Take the columns and scroll panels out whole, label them, and store them dry. If the square columns turn out too costly, or the beam won't take the new bases, reinstall them: wire-brush, apply a rust-inhibiting primer, then paint white.
• Porch ceiling: not the wall yellow. Yellow overhead makes the porch dim and heavy. Use exterior 100% acrylic, satin or semi-gloss, so it washes easily and resists mildew.
  • The plan: white, same as the trim. Matches the beam, columns and railing, keeps the porch bright and makes it read deeper.
  • Backup: pale "haint" blue. The traditional Southern porch ceiling colour, and it goes well with pale yellow and white. Examples: Sherwin-Williams Tradewind or Benjamin Moore Palladian Blue. Try a sample board on the ceiling first.
• Check the column bases and the beam above for rust and rot. Check that the railing is solid; it has to meet code if the porch is more than 30" high.
• Paint the porch skirt white.

Porch floor (replace)

The wood floor needs replacing. Do it together with the column swap: shore the beam, take out the lacework and the old floor, fix the framing, lay the new floor, then set the new columns.

• Framing first: with the boards off, probe every joist, the ledger at the house and the sill on the skirt wall for rot and termites. Replace soft pieces. Joists at 16" on centre or closer (12" is better for 1× flooring). Flash the ledger and bolt it to the house framing.
• Slope and direction: run the boards perpendicular to the house (out toward the street), so water drains off the board ends. Slope the floor about ⅛–¼" per foot away from the house.
• Airflow underneath: the enclosed skirt traps moisture, which is what rots porch floors. Add vents or a lattice panel in the skirt, and lay a plastic ground cover under the porch.
• The plan: PVC or composite tongue-and-groove porch flooring (Aeratis or TimberTech-type porch boards). It looks like a painted wood porch but doesn't rot, cup or need repainting. Follow the maker's joist spacing and slope. It costs roughly 2–3× as much as wood.
• Backup: painted wood tongue-and-groove (vertical-grain Douglas fir, or kiln-dried pressure-treated pine porch flooring), about ¾" × 3¼" face. Prime all four sides and every cut end before laying; don't glue the joints. Finish with porch and floor enamel. It'll need repainting every few years.
• Edges: a bullnose nosing at the front edge, overhanging the skirt by about 1". Leave about ¼" between the boards and the siding, uncaulked, with flashing behind it.
• Colour: a mid porch grey hides dirt better than white. Keep it off the wall yellow.
• Steps: rebuild the treads and risers to match the new floor (same nosing), with a graspable handrail.
• Old paint on the boards is presumably lead: pry the boards out whole, don't sand or burn them, and bag the debris.

Back of the house

• New wood deck with stairs, as in the rear rendering. It needs footings below the frost line, flashing at the ledger (or a freestanding deck), a gap of about ½" from the siding, and lattice skirting.
• Enclosed back porch: Decide keep it as a sunroom with better windows, or rebuild it. The lot-side rendering replaces the louvered windows with a pair of double-hungs, which makes it a proper room, and adds a small patio beside it.
• Move the east condenser off its stand onto a level ground pad, and screen it with a trellis or lattice (as in the east and back renderings), keeping the clearances the manufacturer requires.

Site

• Clear shrubs, weeds and the brick bed back 18–24" from the walls, with a gravel strip at the foundation. Grade the soil to fall about 6" over the first 10 ft.
• Arborist: look at the big tree by the porch (roots, how close it is to the foundation and porch, dead wood) and raise the limbs over the roof.
• Gutters and downspouts with extensions, or at least splash blocks. Leaf guards, because of the oaks.
• Termites: an inspection now, while the base is exposed, and a check of the crawlspace.
• Beds on the same palette as 910 (coneflower, black-eyed Susan, salvia). Lawn: zoysia, with Bermuda only on the lot (see Lawn). Water with drip irrigation from the shared well once it's in.

Structure: the block foundation

The house was raised onto concrete blocks more than 50 years ago. That leaves a good-height crawlspace for plumbing and wiring work, but the piers need a proper look:

• Piers: check whether they're mortared or dry-stacked, what footing they sit on, and whether any have cracked, leaned or sunk. Look for loose or rotted wood shims between the blocks and the beams.
• Level: run a long level or laser across the floors, especially where the 1908 house meets the 1960s north wing.
• Tie-down: Oklahoma gets strong winds and tornadoes. Check that the house is anchored to the piers and not just resting on them, and add straps or anchors where it isn't.
• Termites: hollow blocks give termites a hidden path up into the framing. Look for mud tubes on the piers and the inside of the skirt, and cap or fill the top course of block if it's open.
• Moisture: lay a plastic ground cover in the crawlspace, keep the skirt vents open, and send gutter water away from the foundation.

Heating and cooling

• List what's there now (the nameplate age on the condenser, the furnace type and location, the window units). A single heat pump, as in the rear rendering, would replace the window units. Decide after the inspection.

922 keeps city water for now. Its line from the shared well is sized so it can switch to well water later. The full well plan (records, drilling spec, quality testing, M&M estimate) is in the 910 plan.

• Main: 1¼" HDPE from the well manifold, up to about 100 ft (about 1.3 psi lost at 15 gpm). NSF-61, 200 psi, with tracer wire, buried 18–24" deep and about 10 ft from sewer lines.
• At the house: a shutoff and a hose bib where the main arrives, then ¾" inside and ½" to fixtures. 922 has 2 baths, so it's the larger of the two loads.
• Tie-in to the house (only if the house switches over): never two valves or a 3-way valve on their own. Choose one of these, and the city has to confirm it:
  • A removable spool (recommended). This is a short pipe section with unions that connects either the city side or the well side, never both.
  • An RP backflow assembly on the city side, tested every year.
  • Full disconnect from city water.
  Well-side order: shutoff, check valve, sediment filter, then the spool.
• Irrigation: 922's zones come off the irrigation branch, which has its own backflow preventer. Run zones of 8–10 gpm, one at a time, at night.
• The April 2026 M&M estimate was addressed to 922. It has expired and needs a new quote at 40–50 ft.

922 uses the same three-zone plan as 910: zoysia in the yards, Bermuda on the empty lot. Soil work happens this fall; planting is late May to July 2027, once the well and irrigation are running.

Zones

• Border between the Bermuda lot and the zoysia yards: steel edging 5–6" deep, or a 1–2 ft gravel or mulch strip, on each side where the lot meets a yard. Pull any Bermuda runners that cross it once or twice a season. Without it, Bermuda spreads into the zoysia and the yards turn patchy.
• Skip the winter rye overseed on the zoysia; it doesn't take it well.

922 front and west yards (measured, preliminary)

Measured from Google Earth's leaves-off views (March and November 2019, 10 m scale bar). That scale checks against the 910 front yard (34 ft deep there versus 33 ft from Google Maps). About ±10–15%; check with a tape measure.

• Ditch (D): treat it like 910's: Bermuda sod staked across the flow, or native wet-tolerant planting, to decide together.
• The shade is the deciding factor. Google Earth's summer imagery (Oct 2023) shows an almost solid oak canopy over the house and the front and west yards. No warm-season grass, zoysia included, holds up under that. Sodding it all now would mostly be money lost.
• 1. Arborist first (already in the Site list): raise the canopy to about 10–12 ft and selectively thin, taking no more than about 20–25% of the live crown at a time. Prune oaks only in winter (about December to January) to avoid spreading oak wilt, which is present in Oklahoma.
• 2. Map the sun next June, with the leaves out. Note which areas get direct sun in the morning, at midday and in the afternoon, or use a sun-hours app.
• 3. Match the planting to the sun:
  • 4–6+ hours: zoysia. Palisades, or fine-leaf Zeon, are the most shade-tolerant zoysias.
  • About 3–4 hours: tall fescue. It's the usual Oklahoma grass for shady lawns; seed it in September and overseed each fall. It grows in clumps, so it won't creep into the zoysia.
  • Under 3 hours: no lawn. Use mulch beds with native shade plants such as river oats, Texas sedge and coralberry, or a simple leaf-mulch woodland floor around the trunks.
• Irrigation helps, but light is the limit. Dave will irrigate as much as needed. That makes tall fescue realistic in dappled shade (about 3–4 hours of sun), though it still usually needs overseeding each fall. Zoysia still needs 4–6 hours of direct sun, and in deep shade (under about 2–3 hours) no grass holds up, however much it's watered. Thinning won't open much: on 100+-year-old oaks the arborist should only take a modest share of the crown.
• Fescue trial this fall: seed tall fescue in September–October (about 6–8 lb per 1,000 sq ft) on one patch at the canopy edge and one under the canopy, and water it like a lawn. Next August, set the lawn edge where the fescue still looks good. Beyond that: Texas or Cherokee sedge (a native, grass-like carpet for dry shade, planted as plugs about 12" apart and mowed a few times a year) or the woodland beds.
• Watering under old oaks, carefully: big Oklahoma oaks, post oaks especially, often decline after regular lawn watering starts under them; constantly wet soil invites root rot, and the damage can take years to show. Keep sprinkler spray off the trunks, keep a dry mulched ring several feet out from each trunk, and water deeply and infrequently, early in the morning. Morning watering also limits brown patch, a fungus that hits wet fescue in humid heat. Find out which oaks they are (post oak leaves are thick with cross-shaped lobes; red oaks have pointed, bristle-tipped lobes), and ask the arborist how much watering they'll tolerate.
• Protect the oaks' roots: no rotary plowing or deep tilling under the canopy, and no more than about 2" of soil or compost spread over the root zone. Hand-rake, top-dress lightly, and seed or plant into that.
• Cost: not priced yet, because how much becomes lawn depends on the sun map. For scale, if all about 5,700 sq ft of F + W (net) ended up as zoysia: sod about $2,600–5,100, seed about $300–700. The real number will be much lower once the deep-shade areas become beds.

Before digging

• Call OKIE811 at least two working days ahead. Gas service lines, sewer laterals and electric run to both houses.
• OSU soil test through the Jefferson County extension office: pH, phosphorus, potassium, organic matter, and sodium and salts. Don't add lime or sulfur without it.
• Trench the well mains and irrigation zones before final grading, so a new lawn doesn't get dug up.

Soil prep on the red clay (this fall)

• Work the clay only when it's moist, not wet. A handful should crumble when squeezed, not smear into a ribbon.
• Yards (zoysia): rotary plow 6–8" deep, spread 1–2" of compost (deepest where the sod goes), and till it into the top 4–6". Stop while it's still crumbly, before it turns to powder.
• Lot (Bermuda): rotary plow 4–6", one tiller pass, and little or no compost (½" only on the worst bare or packed spots). Fertilize per the soil test.
• Compost: about 3 cu yd per inch per 1,000 sq ft. Buy screened, finished compost; if it's manure-based, ask about salt and weed seed.
• Gypsum only if the soil test shows high sodium. No sand; a little sand in clay makes it harder.
• Grade so the soil falls about 6" over the first 10 ft from each house, and keep at least 6" of foundation showing. Don't build amended soil up against the walls.
• Rake out rocks and roots, then roll lightly with a water-filled roller.
• Keep the trees healthy: don't plow inside the drip line of the oaks or the big tree by the porch. Go shallow there, or just top-dress.
• Over the winter: sow cereal rye as a cover crop to hold the soil and keep red mud off the siding. Mow and till it in by about April, at least 3 weeks before planting.

Planting (late May to July 2027)

• Soil at 65°F or warmer, after the well is drilled and the zones work.
• Zoysia sod: water daily for 2–3 weeks until it roots, then deep watering 2–3 times a week. Mow at about 1½–2".
• Zoysia seed or plugs: keep seed moist (several light waterings a day) for 3–4 weeks. Plugs: 2" pieces cut from sod on 12" centres; 1 sq ft of sod makes about 36 plugs.
• Bermuda seed on the lot: about 1–2 lb per 1,000 sq ft, raked in ¼" or less and rolled. Keep it moist for 2–3 weeks. For fast fill, about 1 lb of nitrogen per 1,000 sq ft at about 4 weeks, then monthly through August. Mow at 1–1½" once it's about 2" tall.

Rough costs

Per 1,000 sq ft, materials only, rough ranges, not quotes. Call sod farms near Waurika.

Lawn areas aren't measured yet. Once they are, this becomes a pallet count and a compost order.

If the water or soil is salty

• Bermuda is the most salt-tolerant of these grasses; fine-leaf zoysia (Zeon) is close behind; Meyer and Palisades are moderate.
• If the well water tests over about 1,500 µS/cm (the OSU "Fair" range or worse), or the soil test shows salt or sodium, switch the sunny yard areas to Bermuda or Zeon, flush with an occasional deep watering, and add gypsum if sodium is high.
• Buy the zoysia only after both tests are back.

Under 922's oaks, beds instead of a struggling lawn: a woodland garden on the west, a foundation bed along the house, a bed around the evergreen, and lawn only where the sun map says it will grow. Native and Oklahoma-tough plants, built without digging up the oak roots.

Plants (dry shade, clay, Oklahoma heat)

Skip hostas (they burn in the summer heat). In the foundation bed, use the same plants as the woodland bed so the two read as one garden. For the grander look, edge the foundation bed with liriope and repeat the dwarf yaupon in an even row under the windows.

Building beds under oaks

• No tilling or rotary plowing under the canopy. Most oak feeder roots are in the top foot of soil, and cutting them can kill a tree years later. Keep equipment off the root zone too; compaction harms them as well.
• Sheet-mulch instead of digging: this fall, lay plain cardboard over the grass and weeds, overlap the edges, wet it, and cover with about 3" of shredded hardwood or wood-chip mulch. By spring the grass underneath is dead and the soil is softer.
• Plant in pockets: cut through the cardboard and dig a small hole for each plant, working between roots. Use small sizes (plugs, 1-gallon perennials, 3-gallon shrubs), which establish faster than big ones.
• No more than about 2" of new soil anywhere over the roots, and no raised beds over the root zone. Keep mulch 6–12" back from each trunk; no mulch volcanoes.
• Mulch: about 5,100 sq ft of beds at 3" is about 47 cu yd. Ask the arborist to leave the chips from this winter's pruning, or sign up for free arborist chips; bought in bulk it's very roughly $30–40 a yard.
• Water: a separate drip zone on the well's irrigation, watering deeply for the first two summers. After that, mostly only in drought.
• Edges: a spade-cut edge, or steel edging where the beds meet a lawn panel.

Timing

• This fall (Sep–Nov): seed the fescue trial patches, mark the bed edges with a hose, sheet-mulch, and plant daffodil bulbs. Fall is the best planting time in Oklahoma, so shrubs and small trees can go in now too.
• Winter (Dec–Jan): arborist pruning of the oaks; keep the chips.
• Spring: plant perennials, sedge and ferns into the mulch.
• June–August: map the sun and check the fescue trial, then set the lawn edge: fescue where it held, zoysia where there's 4+ hours of sun, sedge or beds under the deep canopy.
• Cost: phase it. Plugs run about $3–5 each, 1-gallon perennials about $10–15, 3-gallon shrubs about $25–40. Start with the foundation bed and the woodland bed's edge, then fill in the middle over a couple of seasons.

Since this is the house you'll live in, safety and systems come before looks. Suggested order:

1. Safety and testing: the knob-and-tube check, asbestos tests, and smoke and CO alarms.
2. Weather-tight: scrape and prime the east wall, check the roof and add gutters, and clear plants and soil away from the walls.
3. Systems: an electrical evaluation and any rewiring, plumbing (galvanized pipe, water heater), and heating and cooling. Decide on the heat pump before closing up any walls.
4. Structure: termites, the crawlspace, where the 1960s wing meets the 1908 house, and the porch floor framing.
5. Comfort: attic insulation (only after any live knob-and-tube is gone), weatherstripping and storm windows, and the back porch.
6. Looks: paint, porch columns and floor, window boxes, the rear deck and landscaping.

These are needed to plan the inside and to firm up the outside.

• Send interior and systems photos (rooms, kitchen, 2 baths, panel, water heater, HVAC, crawlspace, attic)
• Lab asbestos test on the rear siding and a gable shingle
• Knob-and-tube check in the attic and crawlspace (voltage tester, breaker by breaker); electrician to replace any live runs
• Gently wash the walls (hose and soft brush; no power washer), let them dry 1–2 days
• Scrape and prime the peeling white porch-side wall before winter
• Clear plants and the brick bed back 18–24" from the walls; regrade
• Termite inspection, including the crawlspace (can be the same visit as 910's)
• Crawlspace: check the block piers, shims, level and tie-downs; ground cover and vents
• Arborist: the tree at the porch steps and the limbs over the roof
• Check the roof age, gutters, the porch beam and the column bases
• Porch: shore the beam, pull the old floor, repair joists and ledger, add skirt vents and a ground cover
• Porch: new tongue-and-groove floor (PVC plan, painted fir backup) and matching steps
• Porch: square columns on post bases over solid blocking, new white railing; store the lacework as the backup
• Sample boards: Full Moon (plan) vs Hawthorne Yellow (backup), with White Dove trim; confirm the pick
• Record the HVAC equipment and ages; decide on a heat pump
• Design the rear deck (size, footings, freestanding or ledger)
• Fescue trial this fall: one patch at the canopy edge, one under it, watered like a lawn; check next August
• Identify the oaks (post oak or red oak) and ask the arborist how much irrigation they can take
• Shade beds this fall: mark edges with a hose, sheet-mulch with cardboard and chips, plant daffodils, shrubs and small trees
• Lawn: arborist this winter (raise and thin the oaks, prune only Dec–Jan); map sun hours in June; then zoysia, fescue or shade beds by area
• Lawn, May–July 2027: zoysia in the yards, edging along the Bermuda lot
• Shared well: see the 910 plan's next steps (M&M requote, city backflow rules, easement)