Enter.... Tractorman!!

In previous post you see Steve and I tilling and picking dirt... we felt there was a better way...

Step 1: remove mail box... (this was surprisingly easy)

and relocate to the other side of the drive.

There is no time to build a proper stand so we "installed" it Magalia style. (one bungee is really all you need to secure the mailbox to a tree)

Enter... Tractorman!!! whoo hoo!!

We moved a ton of dirt to the front planter bed.

Curb Appeal...

We are still working on the retaining walls for the porch..

Prepping the yard... change is blowin' in the wind...along with a crapload of dirt...

It's been a few weeks since an update.. we have been busy as usual and making progress. Below is a picture of Steve and I killing ourselves trying to dig out the dirt so the water will drain away from the house when we build the porch. Needless to say, we are renting the tractor tomorrow because rototilling and picking until you reach physical exhaustion just "isn't the way". (I think we are smarter than that!) Of course, after all that digging we needed to put the temporary porch back which now is more like a temporary ramp.

We tilled and dug a trench around this stand of trees in the yard to make a "flower bed" of sorts.. I think it's practically "parklike"...

And here is the "clean slate", after removing the trees and getting the stumps ground and then cleaning up the mess.. this is what you have. (I do regret not getting pics of the yard after the stump grinding. Just try to picture the yard with giant mounds of dirt and wood chips. It looked like we had a mole the size of my car living in the ground)

Part of the wood clean up was making someplace to store the wood for the fires we will have in the yard (after we rebuild the firepit).

Steve built the one above and I built the one below. (I did have a little help) :)

We did finish doing the demo on the back porch and resupported the roof and it turned out nice. The breeze actually blows thru and it became a nice addition to the back yard. With a little pressure washing and a change in the direction of the steps and a new roof.... you get the idea...I am sure this weekend will be an adventure. We have never operated a tractor for excavation but, like I said before, "we are smarter than that" ... right???

Are you kidding me right now??

just as we finished cleaning up the last mess that the tree guys made... this happened... I thought I would show you the "big mess in the yard" and my husband clearing a path so we can get to the house first. yes... even the driveway was completely blocked up... O M G... or H F S ... seem appropriate...

and of course they couldn't contain the mess to the front... NOOOO.. I have half a dang tree on the ground in the back yard too... seems to me a little twisted that I am actually paying for this pain!!!

of course.. when you pay the help you can make them do all kinds of funny things... like .. "I want those two trees cut level"... and he did a fine job :)

the piece below will go on top of the level trees to make a swing..

and our tree guy, Craig, thinks that's a winner of a plan!!

I am sure in the back of his mind he is thinking "I hope I can get out of here before they ask me to put it up there!!

Tree Removal

if you look closely you can see Patrick in the pic below.

Timber?

That's a big mess in the yard.

and the splitting begins.

The best laid plans

So... yesterday morning my husband and I got up and cleared the yard...We were ready! I was promised big happenins' ... The tree just to the left of the front porch was coming down! woo hoo!!! You can see how tall it is (we estimate about 75 feet) compared to the house. Unfortunately the tree guy came down with the flu and couldn't come. :(

Plan "B", Remove the front deck... Sounded good to me.

Removing the railings wasn't so hard... just take out a few million screws and it will just fall right apart...

Take the deck boards off and stack them in a pile to be used for "temporary steps to the front door... pausing briefly to scratch your head as if to say "what the hell did we get ourselves into??"

All things considered the underside of the deck was in better shape than we expected and since the wood was totally rotten, another trip to the dump is in our very near future.

Yep! Busted out of there just like 'butter"!

Thank you Harbor Freight and Chicago tools for the Sawzall :) It worked like a charm! The best $20 saw on the market!

Necessity is the mother of Invention! While I was inside getting another beer for my husband, he built me "magalia hillbillie steps". But ain't they perty!!

I am at a loss for words as to why the back porch looks like this or what yahoo built it the way they did but it had to be remedied... Steve says that this is why the county requires permits.

Since we are going to the dump anyway... we thought it would be a good idea to take the porch with us... or at least as much as we could. This is where we stopped when we realized that we can't leave it constructed as is. It has some "engineering flaws" that need to be remedied... Maybe next weekend..

And a temporary deck was built out front!

doors... check

Plumb and level... And here you have the kitchen thus far... complete with doors :)

So wonderful you need to see it twice :)

Wood floor and moldings for the windows, doors and baseboard and this half of the house will be complete.
Just in case you forgot what it looked like when we started.

An amazing transformation... even if I do say so myself!