Backyard Remodel - Framing It Up

Backyard Remodel Weekend #3 started out with a lot of energy. We knew we had some rain coming our way on Saturday so we were up early to get everything started. Once again, none of this would be possible without Sara's amazing engineer Dad who kept us level and on track with everything and for Mom who got down and dirty in the pit! Love you guys! (And I know Brian's parents wish they were closer so that they can join the fun :) OK maybe not on this project). Take a look at our progress...

Callie came back to monitor the wood pile

 

Already getting a little crazy

Our Foreman ready to supervise

 First we started by remeasuring and laying out all of the angles and edges for the deck. This process took quite a bit to make sure that we were on it, but definitely one of the most important parts. We are using brackets to bolt in the 4x4's so we had to measure and lay them out before screwing them in.

First one in :)

Probably one of the best hand prints 

 Then we had to set the first post in to use as an anchor point so we could level up the rest of them.

Screwing in the first post

Then we went around using a long plastic tube and some water to level out the rest of the posts...it's an old Egyptian trick that Sara's Dad showed us how to use. Genius. Once we got the other posts set up it was time to test it out...

Ancient Egyptians...totally on it

 We did a lot more measurements, screwing in posts, cutting posts....re-cutting posts (we forgot about the joists), screwing the posts in again, measuring, squaring things off, leveling, etc. And everyone got in on the action...our neighbor Mel came back and brought some tools and an extra set of hands.

Hard at work...still excited things were level :)

 The weather started looking a little gloomy so we hustled to get the rest up before the storms rolled through.

Framed up just in time for the lightning and downpour to start

 We did take advantage of the rain delay and went to the movies to relax...so nice to be in a dark cold room for awhile.

The next day we started out early again....I got some work done while everyone else jumped right back in. Here is what I came out to:

Not too shabby

We screwed in brackets (covering ourselves with mud) and got everything lined up and in place. The next step was laying out some of the boards and creating a frame design for the end piece.

First board down...looking good

 

Look at those beautiful 45* angles

Brian had to do a little championing for my framed edges but it's totally worth it! Of course, nothing can be easy and the boards aren't all exactly the same size and the back corner dips in a bit so we had to make some additions to the plans to get things so we could secure everything in.

Somebody put (my) baby in the corner

 But after a lot of sweat and a whole lot of cutting and screwing we were able to do this!

Boom

 And our foreman made sure to inspect the surroundings...

Keeping it safe

 Now for the fun part...screwing in every single board every couple of inches (ok about 12")...

The boys getting it right, getting it tight

Someone found the shadiest part

 We are taking a break to grab a bite and then we will be back to screwing down the boards. But we've definitely come a long way!

It's got his approval

View from above...so many screws

 We'll keep you updated on our progress...but for now it's back to work, then a whole lot of IcyHot.

XOXO,

Sara, Brian & Tequila

Backyard Remodel - Out With the Old in with the New (Holes)

Ever start a project and think to yourself, this isn't going to be as easy as I thought it would be? Yeah, I do that a lot. We knew that building a new deck would be a challenge...but I think we underestimated that challenge. We've put a lot of work into our house so far, some very tedious and laboring work, and at the end of the day, we've been able to step back and see a world of change. This is not one of those projects.

Last weekend we dug up all of the paver stones out of our yard and were able to find new homes for each of them. This weekend we started removing the old deck and began building the foundation for the new one.

Before we get any farther I need to give Sara's parents a huge shout out for all of their help...not only did Sara's Dad help us mastermind and plot out what we needed to do (and do correctly) but they each were in there digging with us. We definitely wouldn't be here today without them and love and appreciate them so much!

Here is what we started with:

Removed the railings

Last view of the deck before we knocked it down

 Friday, Brian took the day off and started prepping everything and cleared the way for the Home Depot truck to unload all of the deck boards. It's exciting to get new things delivered...until you realize they are going to be sitting there for awhile. Highly recommend the delivery, worth every penny!

A whole lot of wood

Here's our starting view on Saturday...

All ready to go

Now came the challenging part...we had to try and line up everything so we had square corners, correct angles and straight lines. This is the most important (and the hardest) part. If you don't set it up correctly, your measurements will be off which will affect the entire layout of the deck. This is where people mess up because it is really difficult to get exact. We measured, ran lines, measured, adjusted lines, remeasured, etc. for most of the day on Saturday. When we finally got it we were so excited...until we realized we still needed to dig.  The next step was to measure and mark the areas where we would dig the holes.

X marks the spot...there were a lot of X's

Then came the fun part (ha)! We rented a manual and a 2-man gas powered post hole digger (super power tool). First we got it together...

Getting it ready

 Then it was time to actually use it. We've watched several DIY shows and thought, if they could do it, so could we! Half way into the first hole we remembered how difficult it seemed for them and the reality was even worse.

The only picture of us working with it because it was a 4-person project

Like most of our other projects, nothing came easy...out of the 17 holes we needed to dig, we were only able to use the gas-powered post hole digger on 8 of them. The rest had to be dug up manually with a few shovels and the claw. It was not fun. We had to call it a day so we could take the gas-powered one back, so we left the yard on Saturday evening looking like this:

A whole lot of work for a few holes in the ground

 Day 2 (Sunday) started out with more digging so that we could get the holes deep enough to pour the concrete. Everyone was ready to get to the concrete step...especially our supervisor:

Our Foreman

Once the holes were all deep enough to satisfy Sara's Dad (the Mechanical Engineer) we started hauling the concrete. 80lb. dry concrete bags are not easy to carry, so we had to use the Escape to haul them back.

Still supervising

Sara's Dad came up with an idea to help raise the concrete above the ground so we bought a wide pillar and cut it down to 3" pieces to help raise the wood off the ground enough to prevent any water damage in the future.

Inspecting the hole

A whole lot of concrete

Another helper...she's a little Houdini and a mess so we had to eventually tie her back

Wanting us to get back to work

Pouring the concrete and the water into the hole at the same time was a real mess and it took all 4 of us (plus our neighbor Mel) to get everything together so there aren't a lot of pictures. Once the concrete was in and mixed we used a trowel to finish and smooth the tops.

There's a tool for everything

Ta da...1st hole done

 There was a little trial and error but we ended up getting them all done by early afternoon. It was a whole lot of work for a couple filled in holes...

Our concrete garden

It was a real messy project and every inch of ourselves is sore, but it's all downhill from here.

Until next time...

XOXO,

Sara, Brian & Tequila

Backyard Remodel - Just Getting Started

Happy Friday! We are on to our next big project...the backyard! It didn't take long for us to decide on our next big remodel, it was just a matter of finding the time and waiting for the rain to slow down before we got started. Here is what our backyard looked like when we started:

We have a gazebo! Random, but still cute!

A view of the patio and gazebo

View of the back deck...super small

We chose to tackle the backyard for a couple reasons, but the main reason was safety. You may remember the time when our steps fell (with my brother on them - luckily no one was injured)...

So not OK

Reason why you don't use untreated cedar to attach the steps

Don't worry, we fixed them

Then earlier this year we noticed that the deck was leaning slightly so Sara's Dad came over to help us insert a new post. Like most everything in our house, corners were cut and none of the posts were secure or dug in the ground so it was a matter of time. We knew that a new post would be a temporary fix and now we have another looking pretty bad:

That can't be up to code

So we have spent the last couple of months researching and coming up with new designs for a deck. We don't want anything crazy, just something sturdy and functional. We decided to extend it out quite a bit which meant we needed to either reconfigure our stone patio or remove it completely. Whatever we decided to do we knew we would need to remove the stones we already had because they don't make them anymore and we wanted to get out all the red from the backyard.

Wednesday we started lifting the big hexagon stones...holy cow, they are heavy and dug a couple inches in the ground. When they say landscaping can be back breaking work, they aren't kidding. Each stone is about 18" across and over 50 lbs each (groan). We made a little dent together...

I was ready to throw in the towel at about this point

Another view of the backyard

We decided to leave the rest for another day

We got a good chunk done and we were feeling pretty good about it. Then it rained overnight and we had a nice little pool in our backyard that Tequila thought was his own private spa. We decided to rest Thursday night because Brian had taken Friday off so he could tackle the rest. And did he ever.

I have to stop right now and say, I have THE BEST HUSBAND EVER! Oh my goodness, he puts up with my craziness, my lack of patience and wild ideas. Then he spent his entire day off doing major hard labor and digging and moving almost all of the stones out back. This is what I came home to:

All the stones are up and he even moved out the fire pit!

These piles are almost over my shoulder...and this is just the patio

I hurt just looking at all this! Then I got to help and we started removing the other landscape stones scattered around our yard...I had no idea we had so many different and random stones out there! There's no pattern either. I think they would just randomly pick up some pavers or edgers and throw them back there.

These were nice and heavy

Another random group of stones

Holy cow...what is that?

We're going to need a little help with this one...any volunteers>

And once we dug them up, the fun began. Luckily we have an awesome neighbor with a wheelbarrow that we borrowed and got everything moved to the side and front of the house. Now we just need to find them homes! So if you're interested, let me know...first come, first serve! Here they are:

We've got hexagons

A lot of randoms and stones to build a fire pit

And really nice ones

They're free and can be yours...you'll just need to pick them up! We've got a lot more work to do so we will be around all day tomorrow!

I can't move a muscle right now and I do not know how Brian is still sitting up right. This guy doesn't seem to be that affected:

Such a helper

He's feeling no pain

Looks like we will be breaking into some more of Brian's home brews this weekend! We'll update more as we can...and please come take some stones :)

XOXO,

Sara, Brian & Tequila