The Work to the House: It was A LOT - Part 12

Sept 27, 2024

It needed A LOT.

Not only did we redo most of the floors on the main level, removed wallpaper and paint, change fixtures and outlets and removed carpet and new baseboard, there was the outside to get to.

t that time we only had Frank, our dachshund, so a small temporary wire fence was set up for her. But in reality, we needed a fence for Joe to keep him away from the neighborhood. He's a lot.

The house sits on 3/4 acre and we privacy fenced the whole dang thing! It was a lot. We started it mid April after we moved in, and had a goal of finishing by July 4. We were able to get it done 2 weeks early!!!

1200 pickets, 82 posts, 2 tons of concrete, 167 2x4's. And a gozillion screws.

It was a lot.

We had to remove retaining walls and rebuild them. We had to get around rock and trees. We dug up big boulders. We had to remove a chain link fence on one side along with the footings. It was a lot.

After all that was done we took a short break. Then in the fall we did the landscaping on the side and down to the back. It was a mess and I needed to make it more manageable. I was a landscaper for almost 25 years and the last thing I wanted was to come home and care for my landscape. Keep it simple, keep it easy. That was my policy. The side I designed to have lots of bee and butterfly plants. The side of the shed was pretty much not mowable, so I built terraced walls with on site block and added lots of rock and boulders to create a rock crawler track for R/C cars. I designed it to be attractive but usable. Joe still plays there all the time. It was a lot.

After that we did the front landscaping. We completely removed what was there and started with a clean slate. I hate paver edging. I appreciate it. But I hate it. My last three homes all had granite cobble for the edging. May not be the easiest to maintain but its the only way I like it.

Joe and i relayed a paver sidewalk by the shed. We needed to pull it all up and redig it for the proper base but I didn't have that kind of energy! Joe did a great job with it!

We removed 4 trees, and planted 6. I made my garden of course and moved it once.

It was a lot.

But we did it!

-AJ