Backyard Update #3

The playground is complete, the two outdoor electrical outlets are installed, the siding has been repaired, the low voltage transformer has been mounted, and all of the landscape lighting has been installed!

The most rewarding part is that my daughters love it. My oldest daughter would swing all day if we let her.

For those who have asked, this is the Cambridge Wooden Swing Set with Slide by Leisure Time Products purchased from Sam's Club. For 2008, Sam's is carrying the Woodridge version of this same set, and the only difference between it and the Cambridge is the addition of a bench seat on the lower deck.

Backyard Update #2

Of 99 steps needed to complete the playground, I'm down to the last 17. Fortunately the storms held out long enough for me to install the rafters and half of the roof. Once the roof is complete, the swings, a tunnel, and climbing wall are all that's left.

Tonight I worked in the garden. My tiller found a few boulders last week, so I tried to dig them out using a pick and shovel. The boulders won; after trying to dig out a particularly large one, the handle on the pick broke.

At least I was able to finish one job--getting all of the landscape lights installed in front of the retaining wall.

Backyard Update #1

A third of the landscape lights are installed, the fall garden is tilled, the bird feeder is up (though in Atlanta, I'm sure they'd rather have water--we've had 11 days of 100 degree+ temperatures so far this month), and the playground is half done.

One project leads to another

Just before final grading and having sod laid during our backyard renovation, we decided we wanted landscape lighting. We did some research and found that low voltage lighting best suited our needs, and the timing was perfect--low voltage wiring doesn't need to be buried, and sod can be laid right over it. I marked where we wanted six well lights and then laid 100 feet of 12-gauge wiring in front of the retaining wall and "looped the wire" in front of each mark. Behind the retaining wall we're going to have three spot lights to illuminate trees, and I laid this wiring at the edge of the sod line, because it can be buried with mulch.

With the crew gone, my first priority has been completing the playground, but last night I worked on running electrical to install an outlet outside the house for the 600 watt transformer and timer. As often happens, the project grew to include installing a light switch to control the outlet as well as expanding the narrow entry to the doggie door.... Stay tuned.

My home, my castle: Backyard renovation - Day 9

Today they poured the steps to the back door, rolled the sod, filled some of the spaces between blocks with mortar, used liquid nails to hold the stair steps to the blocks, and reinstalled the chainlink fence.

The forms need to be removed from the steps leading to the back door, but for all intents and purposes, the project is done!

Of course I still need to install the playground, but I'm going to wait 10 days for the sod to grow before putting it together.

My home, my castle: Backyard renovation - Day 8

As I surmised two days ago, the backyard renovation wasn't completed today, but it's pretty darned close. Before the sod arrived, I laid cable for low voltage landscape lighting, which will get installed soon.

The sod truck arrived at 9:30am, and as soon as the pallets began to be unloaded, the crew started their final prep work of the soil (mostly raking up surface rocks). By 7:30pm, all of the sod had been laid and the sprinklers were tested. My oldest daughter thinks we've installed a water park in the backyard!

My home, my castle: Backyard renovation - Day 7

Drama
Back on Day 1, I mentioned that "we got permission from neighbors behind us to allow the equipment to cross their property and enter through the rear of ours." I failed to mention that this permission was through implied consent rather than individual consent. Basically I informed the handful of owners in the townhomes behind my property what I was doing to my yard, when I planned to do it, and that I was going to use their shared drive for access to my property... and if they had any problems or questions to please contact me. Lacking such contact grants me implied consent, which is much easier to secure than getting each homeowner to sign statements granting me explicit access (which also puts me at risk of having one of them say, "No").

On Day 2 I received a call from a neighbor who owned one of these townhomes who was livid that, unbeknownst to me, the guy who was running the stump grinder had parked his truck behind my fence. In the course of the day, I was told he had to move it twice as it was blocking a shared drive my neighbors use to access their garages. The tone of the call was vile, and I didn't feel the neighbor was interested in coming to a reasonable agreement. She was also pissed about my letter and that I was receiving implied rather than individual consent (my words, not hers).

I was frankly embarrassed that I hadn't noticed the truck parked behind the fence, though I later learned that it was shielded by a thick hedge. I knew I needed to have access to their shared drive to get equipment and materials in and out of my back yard. Losing this access would have resulted in added expense which would have made the entire project cost prohibitive. I was wholly apologetic about the parked truck and laid out what I was going to do to resolve this problem so that it would not happen again. Perhaps I wore her down, but we finally reached an agreement that no vehicles would park on their shared drive, no vehicles would park on the public street in front of their homes (despite having the legal right to do so), the shared drive would be swept at the end of each day as the crew left, and their drive would be washed down when the job was completed. I delivered either hand-written or face-to-face apologies to all who shared the driveway behind my property, explaining what had happened and what was being done to ensure it would not happen again.

I then immediately went into research mode. I came to learn that I only needed permission from one individual in their whole subdivision to use the shared drive, known legally as an ingress and egress easement. Rights to use this easement are granted to each homeowner in the neighborhood, not just those needing to use it to access their own townhome. In addition, I learned that permission to use this easement would override any individual's objections to use this easement. Fortunately I have a good friend who owns one of these townhomes, and I received his permission to use the easement. I also approached a couple of other neighbors who own townhomes behind my property and received both oral and written permission to access this easement (their drive), though I hoped there would be no further objections.

Things went well for a week, and then...

Storm clouds
Yesterday morning after the crew unloaded the irrigation supplies for the sprinkler system, I started talking to the irrigation specialist to communicate the changes my wife and I had decided upon over the weekend. Of course the irrigation guy was also the driver... and in the five minutes I held him up, a visiting relative of the complaining neighbor wanted to exit the drive. I received a voice mail on my cell phone from the complaining neighbor, and my wife received a call on our home telephone. In the time that it took to call my wife, however, the truck was already moved.

And it should be noted that it didn't take a call to get the truck moved--as soon as the crew recognized someone was trying to exit the drive, they alerted the driver who moved the truck and drove it just over 4 miles to park in front of my house as he did each morning.

I returned the neighbor's voice message but had to leave one of my own as she didn't answer. I explained that the problem was completely my fault as my five minute conversation kept the crew from moving their truck immediately upon unloading the equipment. I thanked her for alerting me and assured her this would be over very soon.

"Well, good morning to you too"
In order to be as courteous as possible to all of my neighbors, the crew always arrived at or after 9:30am so as to not disrupt anyone using the drive to leave for work and to ensure that any noise would occur after most had left home.

This morning was an exception, as the 30 yards of topsoil were being delivered and the landscape crew (and owner) arrived early. By 8:45am the first load of dirt had been dumped, and the second truck was backing down the drive towards my rear property line when the visiting neighbor burst out onto her deck and demanded to know, "What the hell is going on?" I told her I was having dirt delivered, and she demanded the truck stop, claiming I did not have her permission to use the drive. I directed the truck to keep driving, and the crazy relative threatened to call the cops. I told her to go ahead and call the police because I had permission to use the ingress and egress easement. "Ingress what," she asked? "Call your real estate attorney," I said. I asked her what I could do to make her happy, but she didn't respond. She was pissed. I tried to reason with her, but she left her deck and stormed into the house.

While crazy relative fumed, the second truck dumped its 15 cubic yards of topsoil and pulled away. Then minutes later, crazy relative moved her car so as to block the drive. Fortunately as she was doing so, another one of her neighbors drove out of their garage and attempted to leave, forcing crazy relative to move her car.

Knowledge is power
I knew it would be coming, and it didn't take long for complaining neighbor to hear from crazy relative and then call me. I explained that I had secured individual consent from several neighbors to use the drive behind my property (which was more consent than necessary--I only needed consent from one neighbor). I explained that per her neighborhood's conditions, covenants, and restrictions (CC&Rs), she lacked the authority to block my access to the drive after permission had been granted by another homeowner. I also expressed that I wanted to keep peace with all of my neighbors but that her crazy relative was being unreasonable and that if she did block my access, I would not hesitate to call the police myself or sue her for damages (resulting from any delay to this project). We quickly came to an agreement whereby crazy relative would shut up and not interfere with the project.

With that problem behind us, the crew finished grinding stumps, built a small block wall to support one side of the soon-to-be-poured patio, picked up a lot of rocks from the yard, and waited for the cement truck. It arrived just after noon. I was shocked--despite the insane slope of our yard, the cement truck driver was able to maneuver to within 15 feet of the new patio without sliding or rolling his truck.
Within 30 minutes I had a patio poured!

The rest of the afternoon was spent on the patio, cutting and installing capstones, continued soil preparation, spreading the topsoil, and final grading. Sod arrives tomorrow, and the job should be done by the end of the day.

My home, my castle: Backyard renovation - Day 6

Over the weekend we realized that the retaining wall created a much more level area above it than we expected, so we decided to lay more sod and add another zone to the as yet to be installed sprinkler system. The patio was supposed to be poured today, but with the ground still very wet, we're holding off on that until tomorrow. While nothing else was done today, the crew did get the sprinkler system installed.

I spent 2 hours in the backyard this evening loading a wheelbarrow with large rocks and only managed to clear out the lower area in front of the retaining wall. There is still a good amount of soil preparation that needs to happen before spreading topsoil across the backyard... and the area where the playground will be built still needs to be graded in addition to the area in front of the retaining wall... and there are still 4 stumps that need to be ground down.

The owner of the landscaping company called my wife this afternoon to let her know that the 30 cubic yards of topsoil will be delivered tomorrow at 8:00am while the concrete will arrive at 11:00am. I left messages for the owner this evening asking who from his crew will be here at 8:00am to give the dumptrucks access through my back fence (the chainlink fence gets reinstalled each evening) and advise the drivers where to dump the dirt... I'm guessing the answer is no one since the crew has yet to arrive before 9:30am, but I'm holding out hope.

The new estimated completion date is this Thursday, but given the ever-growing punch list, I'm guessing this won't be done until Friday.

My home, my castle: Backyard renovation - Day 5

We were rained out today, but hopefully the weather will hold out tomorrow...

My home, my castle: Backyard renovation - Day 4

Today the form was created for the patio which will be poured on Monday.

A lot more grading was done as well. On Monday the sprinkler system will be installed, 3 dump truck loads of topsoil will be brought in, and final grading will also be done.

My home, my castle: Backyard renovation - Day 3

The retaining wall is now 90% done, with only capstones remaining to be added. The stump grinder worked all day, but we still have half of the stumps that were cut down which need to be removed.

More grading work was accomplished, and the placement of the patio was staked out.

My home, my castle: Backyard renovation - Day 2

The day started with laying out the exact location of the retaining wall as well as the poured concrete patio. From there, the bobcat went to work taking out some more of the hillside followed by grading in front of the wall.

The blocks for the retaining wall were unloaded, a level line was struck, the crushed granite was laid, and the crew began setting and leveling the base layer of blocks. Once finished, the wall will be nearly 5' high and over 50' long with stair steps running through the middle of the wall.

My home, my castle: Backyard renovation - Day 1

A 40 foot elevation difference from the back of my house to the property line along with 30+ trees creating too much shade fostered an environment that was very conducive to mosquitoes and erosion while not being very useful or kid-friendly. The shade made it nearly impossible for grass to grow, resulting in a lot of dirt and weeds. A deck on the back of the house was in an advanced state of deterioration, and because of improper grading, the area under the deck had become a breeding ground for mosquitoes as well as an impediment to permanently solving the problem of water seeping (sometimes gushing) into the basement during heavy rains. Several years ago I "temporarily" dug a trench which has kept the basement dry, but it's an eyesore.

This spring we decided to do something about the backyard after I finished remodeling the living room. Our needs were simple; we wanted the following for our backyard: grass, a lot more usable space, some trees removed, the yard graded, a retaining wall built, a playground for the girls, and a patio installed.

With the living room 95% complete (I still need to install the travertine around the fireplace), my wife started making calls. Over a 6-week time, she solicited bids from 7 different landscaping companies, and we settled on 3. One dropped out of the running, and we asked the two finalists to return so that details could be discussed. Experience, cost, and the ability to start immediately favored one of the companies, so we scheduled the job.

Getting the equipment in was a challenge. Because the front yard is steeper than the back, we got permission from neighbors behind us to allow the equipment to cross their property and enter through the rear of ours. The crew of 8 was able to take down 11 trees, a job that would have taken me every weekend for a month.

So at the end of day 1, the trees are gone, a huge pile of mulch is waiting to be spread, and some grading was done. It's amazing how much brighter the yard and the rooms facing the yard are.

My home, my castle: Living room renovation - update #8

With the living room construction done, the decorating has begun. FLOR carpet tiles are going to be used in lieu of an area rug and have been ordered. The lounge chairs and black-out window shades are also on order and will be arriving soon.

Ultimately I'd like to replace the glass-top coffee table as it's not the safest to have with kids in the house, but that's not in the budget now.

Over the weekend I picked up enough 18" travertine tile for the fireplace surround, but the color was too light. Fortunately Atlanta has some great sources for tile. I'll probably end up getting it from Floor-Stone (yes, their website sucks) where I purchased the bamboo several years ago. I've found that their listed prices aren't always firm, and they're much more open to haggling than other retail flooring stores.

My home, my castle: Living room renovation - Weekend update #7

One thing I've learned after doing the living room remodel: I suck at measuring, cutting, and installing crown molding. Fortunately my wife is great at using wood filler and caulk to hide my mistakes.

The room was habitable by Monday morning, and by the end of the evening, most of the finishing touches were done to the room.

I still have some things to do along the hallway between the living room and kitchen as well as tile around the fireplace, but the project is 90% complete and looks fantastic. I can't believe this is the same room that was dark and felt cramped; the room feels huge, and getting rid of unnecessary doorways along the hallway and leading from the foyer has made the living room so much brighter.

My home, my castle: Living room renovation - Weekend update #6

The flooring will be down by the day's end, which means the living room renovation should be finished by Sunday night!!

My home, my castle: Living room renovation - update #5

Whereas many homes have a single layer of plywood, OSB, or planks, my builder saved a couple of bucks and used 1/2" particle board over 1/2" OSB. Because I'm going to be nailing down bamboo flooring and because the particle board is warped (it absorbs moisture & then expands), doesn't hold nails, and generally sucks, it was removed.

The original flooring was nailed down, so I walked the floor to locate squeaks and then used about 4 pounds of 1-5/8" decking screws to secure the OSB to the joists. Voilà, no more squeaks!

An uninsulated two-car garage is under this room, so I decided to put a layer of 15# roofing felt over the OSB (I glued and hammer-stapled the felt down). For the top layer of subfloor I could have installed 1/2" OSB on top of the bottom layer, but I prefer plywood. I "glued and screwed" 15/32" Plytanium plywood as the top layer using 2-1/2" deck screws.

To be sure my screws were finding their way into joists, I located the first one by measuring approximately 16" from the outer wall (my joists are 16" on center) and then drilled using a 1/8" bit. When my first attempt didn't "feel" like I was hitting solid wood all of the way through, I moved 1/2" closer to the outer wall and drilled again... that one hit the joist. I then marked off every 16" from that point across the floor and drilled to confirm I was hitting a joist. I repeated this process on the opposite wall and then struck a chalk line (seen in red in the photo) to mark where the joists were across the floor, which made the process of screwing down the floors much faster.

Next up is to hammer-staple 30# roofing felt over the top of this plywood and begin installing the bamboo flooring!

My home, my castle: Living room renovation - Weekend update #4

Some problems with my digital camera (actually the SmartMedia card reader) have kept me from posting pictures of the progress on my living room remodel, but a few blasts of compressed air fixed the problem.

Some of the things that have been accomplished since the last update: walls textured, ceiling repaired and textured, trim painted, doors painted, walls painted, ceiling painted, Decora electrical outlets installed, thermostat moved, top layer of subfloor removed, and bottom layer of subfloor screwed down (to eliminate the squeaks).


Items remaining: finish installing new subfloor, install new bamboo flooring, install trim molding (base, windows, and crown), install outlets for surround sound, install speaker mounting brackets, install concrete board around fireplace, install tile around fireplace, install fireplace mantel.

My home, my castle: Living room renovation - Weekend update #3

Last weekend was another one spent doing drywall & electrical. I insulated the chimney, framed out the wall so I'd have something to staple insulation to, re-ran the electrical for the outlet in the mantle, and put up a 4'x8' sheet of drywall.

Not much progress happened this week as I needed to do yardwork on the vacant rental house, but I should have the walls textured this weekend.

The dangers of DIY... stories you won't hear on HGTV

While I've had my share of home improvement accidents... falling off a roof, falling through a ceiling, smashing fingers with a hammer, and severe burns from dripping solder while plumbing... I've never experienced anything that came close to being life-threatening. Others aren't so fortunate, and The New York Times has an article today on the dangers of do it yourself home repair. Warning: this article isn't for the squeamish.