[toby]

It’s not that you won’t get an answer, but I honestly don’t think of Land8 as the place to get cad help.  Go to CADTutor and research this.  There are tutorials that may explain what you want to know.  Heck, post your question (let them know it’s for landscape) in the forums and you’ll get solid replies.  Someone already posted the question, “I know all about layers but i dont know what is layer states manager can any body explain about this.”

In my office (just me), everything is in one file and layers are frozen in viewports.  The plans are never so complicated that I use all the features available with Layer States.  Your posting the question about it however has piqued my curiosity that I’ll look at implementing it within the workflow.

Also, ACAD 2000 is so…yesterday.  There are a number of free and low cost ACAD alternatives that save to .dwg and have the look and feel of Autocad.  Getting the office to one platform and beginning a CAD management program (IIRC, you all are “separate” from each other in terms of clients right now) can go a long way towards the growth of office in the future.

[toby]

do you know which piece of the grading test you are failing ?

[toby]

CLARB doesn’t make it very affordable either.

[toby]

I’m not sure there is much of a difference between the two.  And IIRC, RB marketed Netafim for a while way back and then Netafim managed to establish a niche market in the US.  Both use a variety of barbed fittings to make the network in any layout imaginable.  

Netafim I installed in middle 90s is still in use at many clients houses.  One has 17yo netafim in his veg garden and it gets moved around every year.  It’s tough if you take care of it.   Many times the selling point was stopping the damaging overspray on house walls.

I have a contractor that installs it regularly, preferring it in plant beds over sprinklers because of shadow problems.  He typically buries it an inch below the soil surface even if using a mulch cover.

The biggest problem is not accounting for low spots or sloped terrain by either the designer or the contractor.  Just like every other irrigation system, when the valve is off, it will drain at the low point(s).  I’ve used low psi check-valves both inline and to make smaller layouts in a single bed to reduce the draining at one location.

Spec the tube on center spacing and stagger the outlets when installing.  

What is also nice is being able to add the 1/4″ inline drip tube at any location for things like pots or the one plant that might have higher water needs than surrounding plants.  Both drip tubes are compatible and the only issue is accounting for the difference in gph.

Also, consider who the end user is.  Clients and maintenance needs to know it exists, and to scrape the area back a bit if they go to plant something.  The stuff is easily cut by a sharp shovel or pick.  Make sure they have a few straight couplings on hand to make repairs.  

[toby]

DG with a binder is both permeable and not; water slowly seeps in but will otherwise stand/puddle or runoff.

The surface will erode slowly with foot traffic.  Some maintenance is required.  DG is a good paving material on top of roots.  It has none of the caustic properties that concrete does.

If you are installing treewell irrigation (RB RWS or similar), then it should be flush with the top of the DG to not create tripping hazards.

Trees and shrubs do fine with DG around the base.  Keep the DG thin right around the crown and then make it thicker as you go out – up to 3″.

And what ever you do, DO NOT dig the tree hole any deeper than the root ball or put any amended soil below the root ball !  When it decays to nothing after a year, the tree will sink and you’ll have another problem to deal with.  And once it does sink, you can fill in the hole with DG only so high on a root crown before it begins to kill the tree.  Eventually, filling in that hole surrounding the tree will be impossible except with things like cigarette butts.

I’ve seen more problems with tree grates that never get cut larger as the tree grows.  I’ve seen them lifted as the crown grew to create tripping hazards.  Maintenance is required to cut the hole larger to prevent this and girdling.

I’ve done a rubber sidewalk paver project around Sycamore street trees (~78 locations), and they are slowly being lifted too.  Maintenance is required for this too.

What trees are you considering for your project ?

[toby]

And I too knew how to do grading before the test.  What I lacked was knowing what was going to be tested.  

I did not want to use a test for practice and have no feedback about where I went wrong, only to have to do it again six months later.  The cost of the test was close to the cost of the review, so why not.

What it did was teach to the test, which does not reflect real life in any way.

[toby]

Denise,

Go to the UCLA Extension website and look at the LARE Review classes.  Here’s the Section 4 link https://www.uclaextension.edu/pages/Course.aspx?reg=Z4538.

I spent the money for the review classes and it was worth every penny.  The review classes clear up a lot of confusion that persists around each test, and helps you focus on what is important.  At $530 for last year’s 2 day class, it seems expensive, but it’s less crazy than using the actual LARE as a practice the first time through.

I passed A through E the first time I sat for them over a 5-6 month period.  I took and passed both C and E on the consecutive test days back in Dec 2010 after studying my ass off every day for 3-5 hours.

[toby]

As someone who works for a DOT (microstation) and has a side biz (autocad), I’m not seeing what the problem is with either handing over the cad files or matching the muni’s cad standard.  The project you’re designing is a public facility.  Different rules regarding ownership of project documents, including cad files apply.

Imagine the muni needs to modify the project you designed after it’s completed.  Are they supposed to backwards engineer the project from the field measurements and paper plans?  No. They open your cad files, strip your signature off, and will make changes as necessary.  And because of this you have to conform to their cad standards.   I’ve done this a few times at work for major $$ CCOs.

Rarely with public funded projects are you the owner what you produce.  And the theft of intellectual property is not a serious issue.  

Do ask if there is a template available with the all the layers.  Also, if they have standard symbols, details, and legends, use them instead of your own and you’ll get through the redline reviews waaaay faster than using your own.  The worst that can happen is there isn’t anything available.

[toby]

How accurate is the etrex?  Just as AG has posted above, I’m now wondering if she could add two or three more gps points to her own data set [with the etrex] that appear on the survey and then use the acad align command to get her data points aligned to the survey.

I would turn the survey file into a template after erasing all the data, then ref the survey file in and draft the project.  A quick ref of her drawing into the survey would show if she continues to be in the correct space.

FYI, questions with a lack of pertinent info are typical around here.  I was guessing she needs the nad83 in Texas since that is where she is.  Also, there was no word if she has a decent enough relationship with the surveyor that they could take her data and t’fer it to a nad83 plane.

[toby]

Go to http://www.cadtutor.net/forum/forum.php and post your question.  

You’ll likely get way better help there than here.

[toby]

Cotoneaster ‘Lowfast’ and/or Acacia ‘Lowboy’ on a RainBird 1400 series bubbler (or similar) for mass planting and low water use.

http://www.smgrowers.com/products/plants/plantdisplay.asp?plant_id=451

http://www.smgrowers.com/products/plants/plantdisplay.asp?plant_id=…

http://www.rainbird.com/landscape/products/sprayNozzles/1400PCbubbl…

[toby]

Funny thing about money.  The politicians have it for things they want, but never seem interested in continuing the funding for things already bought.  New = sexy.

The trial to remove topsoil should be interesting.  You may find an increase in erosion at the edges of the removal area brings about a different type of maintenance work that ultimately has no cost savings.

Has tilling the edges been considered?  A roller followup would be necessary, but the vegetation regrowth would be slowed considerably.  Erosion would also need to be monitored.

Herbicide use would just be a shift in costs from labor, but with the added benefit of public ire !!

Roadside maintenance is always difficult since safety of the traveling public is number one.  Maybe you could engrave it on a hammer and present it to those instituting the cuts.

[toby]

Is austerity an issue ?  If so, you’re going to run up against entrenched aesthetics should you decide to let an area return to nature (abandon).  

And likely, the trial policy that allows this new maintenance method will be revisited should the politicians begin receiving complaints from the public about how everything is now a disgrace.

I know this as I work for a state transportation dept.

Please give a one or two more detailed examples of the problem, along the current maintenance methods.  Also, add a google maps/earth .kml to your message so we all can explore your management area.

[toby]

Your kid probably knows how to drive.  But would you trust them to do so ?

As you mention in a previous post, you’re looking to maybe start your own firm.  Would you hire a fresh out of school grad to sell and design for you, or would you confine them to learning the nuts and bolts of the operation?

Your boss probably knows you can sell and design, but should he put that trust into you before you learn the nuts and bolts of his operation ?

Just bide your time, prove your abilities, and things you want will eventually happen.

[toby]

A few other things that you need to consider before they bite you…

Make sure to include all the TAXES in the billable rate!

• federal – paid quarterly and occasionally ahead of future income to avoid penalties
• state
• local
• social security – you get to pay both halves of this
• medicare
• health insurance – not a tax or is a tax as determined by what you do per the aca
• unemployment – self-employed typically do not pay this; you’ll be off the grid

Taxes should not simply be paid out of the part you pay yourself.

Figure out your LIABILITIES: consider the type of business you are going to be and the insurance you will have to carry.  DON”T allow risks to family assets to occur.

Now you can begin to figure out the billable rate.

[Author]

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