Front porch project begins

So I am going to start off this post by saying that the front of our house has no curb appeal and does not in anyway represent the look and feel of the interior of the house. When we first looked at this house I had a vision in my head of what the house could look like I just had to convince Sara to trust that I could change the look of the house into something much more appealing than it was. She was reluctant but my persistence paid off and we bought the house despite of her unatraction to the front. So with the backyard and deck finished it was time to move up front and get to work.

The first issue is the extremely large set of concrete steps on the left side of the porch that have settled towards the house and have been putting pressure on the foundation for who knows how long. 

 Not having a clue what we were getting into Sara and I grab the sledge with enthusiasm ready to bust up the steps. Well we both took a couple of swings and quickly realized we were wasting our time with the hammer. My next step was to try to hire someone to drag the steps away from the foundation so they could be jack hammered apart, if we would have attempted to do that in place the foundation mortar would crumble from the vibration causing an even bigger disaster than we had going on. After having several contractors turn down the task of dragging the steps out one mentioned a product he had heard of a guy using with great success but had no personal experience with. He described a non explosive demolition compound the when poured in drilled holes in concrete expands and busts the concrete apart. Sara quickly grabbed her trusty iPhone and searched for a product that matched that description with immediate success. Desperate for anything that would solve our problem an order was placed for 44 pounds of Dexpan.

 The first step to using this product is laying out a hole pattern no more than one foot between holes (i did much closer). Then using a rotary hammer drill I drilled inch and a half holes going about two inches from the bottom of the slab.

 It was a heck of a workout with a twenty four inch long bit, took about six hours from the first hole to the last but there were lots of water breaks in there.

 Here is what you get when you order 44 pounds of Dexpan, a five gallon bucket with simple yet complete instructions printed on the side and four eleven pound bags of the Dexpan powder.

 Before you get started mixing the Dexpan up you should thoroughly clean out the holes. I used my shop vac with a piece of one inch tubing duct taped to the end of the hose so i could reach all the way to the bottom of the holes.

 Next it was time to mix up the Dexpan, since it uses water to react I decided to do it in small batches. Mix one and a half liters with one of the eleven pound bags in the supplied bucket. I used a paint stirring paddle on my cordless drill so I could mix it thoroughly and quickly. Once the batch of slurry was all mixed I went right to pouring it in the holes. Unfortunately I did not calculate the amount I needed to fill all my holes so when i figured out I was going to be short i skipped around so that i wouldn't have any major portions intact.

 Luckily for me I had to leave town for the night after pouring in the Dexpan or I would have been staring at it the whole time waiting for it to work. When we got home the next day the steps looked like someone had shoved explosives in the holes and blown them apart!! I was absolutely amazed not only did it actually work but worked very well. The holes that had been filled were completely busted loose and I am confident that if i would have ordered the proper amount for my task there wouldn't have been a single piece I could not pick up by hand.

 The large pieces got drug back by the Jeep and I moved the rest in the wheel barrel. Of course I couldn't resist crawling one wheel up on the concrete pile to show my triumph over the eight thousand pound concrete steps!!! So now that those are out of my way its time to see if I can full fill my end of the deal and make the front of this house beautiful!!!

Backyard progress

So the summer has been extremely busy but very productive for us, when the spring rolled around we had a disaster for a backyard because of the new septic system and terrible storms that caused a very large tree next to our deck to split and deposit large limbs on and through the deck. After cutting the tree down and disposing of the massive amount of limbs and wood from the tree it was time to get to work on the deck.

The railing had to be completely torn off and rebuilt. We decided to take a little different approach to make the deck look and feel a little more "high end" by building custom railing that emulates something you might see on a much more expensive house than our humble little home. The key as it is with most of our projects is bang for our buck, we don't mind putting in the sweat equity especially when the results turn out like this.

First we started off by cutting some 2x4's to length for the bottom rail, then we used a paddle bit and drilled holes every six inches about an inch deep. Then we cut and painted black pieces of 1/2" electrical conduit and inserted them in the holes we drilled. For the top rail we just used a standard railing board from Lowes that had a nice basic profile, it got drilled to match bottom rail and secure the conduit between rails. The posts got caped with a matching black metal post cap.

The next task was replacing the lattice that the storms had tore down. That was pretty straight forward other than we wrapped it around the corner where the original steps had been giving it a more enclosed feeling on that side. Sara and I had discussed several uses for this corner but we decided an "outdoor living room" type of area would be the best use for this space. 

Construction projects are always more fun and go smoother when you have good help, Nate checked all my measurements and made sure I was making square cuts. I cant say enough about the amazing feeling I get when him and I work on something together. Just teaching him these skills feels like I am passing on something special that will stay with him forever. 

Since we wrapped the lattice around where the stairs had previously been we needed to build a new set in the center of the deck. Like everything I do I didn't want them to be boring standard stairs so this is what we came up with. They turned out nice especially for something that was designed on the fly and built without any written dimensions or instructions.

Fast forward through the boring staining process (which took way too long) and here is where it is today. I built an L shaped bench to fit in the corner padded with standard 48" outdoor patio cushions and loads of comfy pillows. A nice big outdoor rug feels good on naked toes or you can kick your feet up on the pallet wood coffee table that Nate and I had previously built. A couple of hanging ferns and two tea light lanterns finish off the feel of a separate space from the rest of the deck. This has already been a big hit while entertaining and an amazing place for our early morning coffee.

On the opposite side of the deck is the dining area, just a simple iron table with four chairs but combined with the black accented railing and the red cushions looks and feels much more expensive than it actually was to build. We have gotten so much use out of this great outdoor space all summer even while trying to complete the project. The only thing its missing now is an outdoor kitchen but hopefully that is coming soon!!! 

I guess I should also mention that we now have a level yard with beautiful green grass!! It was a lot of moving dirt, leveling and raking before my friend Blake came over with his high tech grass seeder and seeded the heck out of our yard!! While the seed was more expensive than I ever thought grass seed could be it was well worth it, it looks like a golf course (its golf course seed). Seriously the key to a yard like this is of course weather and soil conditions but quality seed makes the biggest difference, and I am told it is just going to get thicker and greener as time passes. 

It was a time consuming project but for the small amount of money we invested it made the biggest difference in the comfort and feel of the back of the house. We will let Nate and Sara relax and enjoy it for a bit while I get started on the next project!! 

Week in review

  In our house we don't allow video games (I know lame!), we rarely watch television, and never watch it during the day/early evening. An occasional movie, or of course Monday night American Ninja Warrior is about all this television has seen in months *Now that my obsession with Say Yes to The Dress has passed!*  Nathan and I do not have Facebook, and really only peruse Pinterest in search of a recipe, design tips, ect... This leaves a lot of time for us to enjoy this gorgeous weather that we have been having lately.  Nathan finally got the last of that tree cleaned up from the backyard...now it is in the driveway, someone take it away!! The deck is thisclose to being finished, hopefully pictures to come soon!  We are preparing to paint the house, and redo the front porch ( I cannot wait!!) Hopefully we will get started on that this weekend, in between our fun outings that I have planned of course!  

This past week Nate was in British Soccer camp, and he was in LOVE with it, he often complained that he wished he could play throughout the school year *hopefully next year*  He made so many new friends and really let his personality shine.  

Nates team was Ireland *Imagine Nathans excitement* For crazy hair day, Nate wanted a green Mohawk...and thats what he got!

The two morning teams

Nate was so obsessed with soccer that he constantly was playing with the neighborhood boys, his dad, and even Hershey!

Apparently Hershey plays good defense!

During the afternoons that we weren't playing soccer, we were at the park or pool, or the beach!....okay, so more of a lake, but it is the closest we have!

There was A LOT of swinging happening all week, with a lot of friends!

Beach Bum

He loved being thrown by dad!  

In other news, our tomatoes are outrageous!  We have so many it is ridiculous.  I finally got around to making my first big batch of pasta sauce.  I tried it a different way this time, in the crockpot!  It worked like a charm.  I put roughly 12 large tomatoes from the garden in the crock on low, skin on.  I let it cook for roughly 2 hours and then smashed the tomatoes.  I then added fresh from the garden, onion, chives, green pepper and garlic all chopped and minced.

This is after I smooshed the tomatoes and added the other veggies.

I added some herbs that Nathans co-worker gave us, they were already mixed but it tastes like salt, basil, oregano, and dried peppers *very yummy.  I then let that cook down for about 3 hours, and this is what I ended up with!

Looks so yummy!

I am making Nathans favorite (eggplant lasagna) with this homemade sauce within the next few days.  I am drooling just thinking about it!

Till next time,

xo