So you might've heard that I did a little bit of work on our house this summer. As you look through some of these pictures I'm sure you'll be thinking "why the heck did they buy this house? Suckers." Now there are these stupid shows on T.V. where people get their yard "crashed." In two days, with all the fancy machines and a crew of 20 people, yards are transformed into palace gardens. Unfortunately if you take one person then the two days stretches into several weeks. Nevertheless, with a bit of sweat and blood, our yard crashers episode is complete (for the summer anyway).
The old. Sigh. Our lovely "non-professional workmanship" house.
A beautiful slope really. The only problem is that it went the wrong direction. Hard to believe the first thing I did on the house was install a new sump pump for the basement.
Cracks. Unpatched energy foam.
Our lovely patio.
Our electrical. Literally down to the last wire.
The new:
Snipped wires. New siding.
Sloped the other way! Thanks Grandpa!
Proper slope, repaired tap and patched energy foam.
3ft. Mast. They don't come cheap. Obviously I didn't do this myself.
The sandbox system.
John Paul approved.
The patio. Yes, that's re-used concrete.
Discounted deck chairs from co-op (good deal).
$20 glass table and $16 bamboo rug from JYSK (Just Your Stupid Kids?)
Re-purposed concrete bench (not the top slab though).
Little inukshuk out of, you guessed it, repurposed concrete. Note the 250lb slab slapped into the ground (the dump charges per weight).
Left over supplies are stored in our "Workerman Area."
New grass growing in. Yay! I never thought I could grow grass! The other side of the yard is coming in way slower (as in not really at all).
Joseph is happy to have his yard back! Becca is waiting to find some nice hanging planters.
A Few Things I've Learned:
1) It's all mental. The hardest part about fixing a house is the mental side. For instance, to spend two grueling hours to take out one square foot of concrete can lead you to despair. It's hard to be mentally tough in those moments. Day after day. Work at the little things.
2) Be smart, but be fast. I spent one of the first mornings humming and hawing over a stubborn bathroom tap. Afterwards there was no more of that. You can waste a lot of time over a project. Make a plan, and get the heck to work. Anyway, we're still at it with our house. More pics will come at a later date.
3) Seeing this everyday makes it all worth it:
