New gate

After we completed the deck we were no longer happy with how our gate and fence looked. The gate itself was leaning now, there were gaps in the fence which we never took care of when we originally built the gate/fence and we just were not happy with how it looked from the deck. We decided it no longer functioned how we had intended and we knew it was time to remove and rebuild it completely. I took a few hours one day to carefully dismantle the fence and gate. I wanted to reuse as much as possible. To my complete shock when we started removing the posts from the ground they completely sheared off at the concrete footing. Each post had rotted through. We hadn't even built this fence that long ago and it was already being destroyed by Mother Nature. We assume when we originally built this we didn't buy pressure treated lumber. This would explain everything. 

 

Once all the original fence was removed we began the rebuild. It took a bit more thought as to how we were going to layout the new fence and gate but we finally had a plan and started on it right away. Our neighbor Art had noticed us working on the rebuild and offered his help like he always does. 

Soon we had the new posts set in concrete and we moved on to building the gate. 

Dad and I created a frame out of 2x4's and attached the fence slats to this frame. We bought big bulky gate hinges and screwed those through the slats and 2x4's. We also cut the bottom of the gate to allow for a ramp that we are going to build and to make it level with the extended deck.

We also decided to extend the deck up to the fence and make extra room for using the gate and maybe to add storage areas.

I decided it would be a good idea to stain the fence and gate right away and it turned out great. I used the same waterproofing stain we used on the deck. I love the darker color. In these front view pictures you can see how we cut the gate for the eventual ramp. Hopefully we get to that sometime year next year.

Finishing the deck extension to the fence, adding the grilling area, and building the ramp are the next stages of this side yard. 

Building a deck

Our side yard has come a long way since we bought the house 5 years ago. We have slowly made it more our style and more functional.

Lets start at the beginning, shall we.

When we first bought the house back in April of 2009 there was a giant overgrown honeysuckle attached to the fence, a pointless stone pathway and a lot of gravel.

2011 we removed the honeysuckle, stone path and started moving gravel.

2012 we removed the wall when we filled in the pool.

2013 we added our garden.

2014 we added a big 200 square foot deck.

We also added some ranch rocks and more flowers.

We still have a lot to do to finish this deck but it is starting to come together. We are going to be adding a roof, a grilling station, a built in bench and we are going to redo our gate and fence section at the end. Also, on the to-do list is to build an 8ft table and possibly a sofa. Things are finally looking nice on that side of the house to match the beautiful courtyard.

The Side Yard Garden

We finally took on the side yard and made ourselves a little garden for chile, tomatoes, strawberries, blackberries and raspberries.

As you can see we still have a long way to go in the very back part of the yard. Those are all weeds back there, but we have made great progress.

The Side Yard

Hey everyone we finally had the time to start working on our side yard! Yay for spring and being home for a little while! The wedding of our great friends brought us home in May. It was a not to miss event and we are so happy that we were able to be there and be apart of such an important day. We lucked out being able to get away from work for 2 weeks it was a fantastic little vacation and a great opportunity to do a little house work.

The outside of the house definitely needed some TLC after all the time away and lack of attention it was given by the previous owner and by us of course, it was time to tackle the jobs that we had been putting off. Time to remove some overgrown plants and begin the planning of the backyard spaces.

I started with the space just outside the living room, the side yard and the location of our future patio. We have big plans for this space, a concrete slab for a nice covered patio. This space will be used for outdoor entertaining which of course will include a grill for Geoff.

Before any concrete can be laid lots of things have to be done. All the gravel and plants in the area must be removed and the cinder-block wall must be taken down. We plan on building a new wall with a large gate so we have better access to our backyard, we might even extend the side yard forward just to add a little more room and a place to store our trash can within our yard.

I thought it would be a good idea to see what we started with in the very beginning. Here is a picture of the side yard when we bought the house back in 2009, wow everything looks so dead. Weird. This picture is from the back yard looking toward the front.

We have removed all the flagstones from the path as well as all the lining blocks, all that is left is the gravel and dirt. We left the plants so far because we were unsure of what we wanted to do in this area, we finally have that plan.

The plan is simple, add a concrete covered patio taking up half the side yard and then the other half lay sod for a nice large area of grass. To do this we gotta remove all that lovely gravel and sand. Thats where I started. On the left you can see where all the gravel has been removed, I also started on the sand but didn't get very far. The bar in the middle of the pathway is where the concrete slab is going to end.

After all the hard work and me thinking I had done such a great and fast job, I discovered I had a lot of work to do still. I lifted the weed blocker and discovered they had simply laid the gravel right over a layer of mulch... Lovely... That was definitely not in my plans..

Once I found that lovely layer of mulch I decided that was the end of moving the gravel for now. I decided that the cinder-block wall needed to come down first so we would have an easy way to remove all the mulch and gravel with a wheel barrow. The gravel will be reused in the front yard and the mulch will be promptly placed in a large dumpster. Once we have the wall down and a dumpster in place the project will move quickly I am sure and it will also allow the concrete people easy access.

So the patio project is at a stand still until we are home long enough to accomplish that plan. Which brought me to the next small project. Removal of the over grown Honeysuckle that straddles that cinder-block wall. I figured that the honeysuckle needs to be removed first before the wall can come down so I might as well do that now. Why wait?.. 

I sort of felt bad removing that honey-suckle, but honestly look at it! It is a gnarly mess of overgrown and dying plant. While I was taking it down a cloud of dirt was wafting out. Which reminded me of the character Pig Pen from Charlie Brown. I was covered in dirt when I finished. 

I would say that it took me about an hour to remove the honey-suckle minus the root. I decided that was a job for Geoff and that I had done my fair share of removing that plant. :) I think that it looks so much better already with that plant gone!. See what you can't really tell from this picture is that you look directly at this location from the couch in the living room. It's amazing how much better it looks.

I can honestly say that it was energy well spent! It surely cleans up the space and makes it feel like a much larger area. Next on my plan list for this area..... removal of the wall!