Get Me Out Of This House!

Today I continued “renovating” my back yard. I share my garage with my neighbors so occasionally I will open up my garage door and a creature of sorts will come running out. My side of the garage has a number of various ways of these creatures getting inside but hopefully the work I did today will help prevent things from getting in (at least easily).

I had 7-8 leftover rectangular blocks of stone that I knew would be perfect to this border. I also had sand and gravel left from my old garden stone path, so I put those to good use by leveling the stones as best as I could.

From here I plan on using the dirt from the side of my house to fill in the rest of the yard. (Here’s the side yard before I cleared out the brush)That is after I rake out the rest of the rocks from the patch. Yeah… even more work. Moving the dirt will require a wheelbarrow, so that’s something extra to buy.

I also did some work upstairs in the bathroom. With that I’ve decided to clear out all of the plaster and all of the work I’ve already done. I figure getting everything down to the skeleton will allow me to do whatever I want with the bathroom, that way it gets done right and I’m not working with old plumbing. That and I will be moving the plumbing from an outside facing wall, thus preventing “fun” repairs come wintertime.

So yeah… there’s still a lot to do but I’m back in the game. This house won’t even see me coming.

More photos of what I’ve been doing lately can be seen in my House set on Flickr.

Yesterday’s weather was so nice yesterday that I decided to take care of #3 from that list I wrote not too long ago. That’s right… the fence is GONE!

I started late in the afternoon, sometime around 3:00pm, even though it was nice all day and wrapped up things around 7:30pm or so. To be honest, I thought I would be out there until 9:00pm or so but things didn’t turn out to be as complicated as I thought they’d be. Seems that my initial thoughts were correct in that the fence wasn’t built by a craftsman of any sort. A few swings with the hammer here and there took care of business.

The backyard is a little more “dangerous” than before, seeing as there is a good drop with no protection, but the fence was was too much of an eyesore not to take it down.

Now I can mow down the side of my yard and straight into the backyard without having to lift my (hot) mower into the backyard. I’m very much looking forward to that.

When it was all said and done I enjoyed a nice frosty beverage, which I soundly deserved.

My next project is to tackle the “patio” which right now is just a bunch of limestone slabs. I’m thinking of taking them out and growing grass, making more of a yard or I’m thinking about putting in a small concrete slab. Maybe I will do both so that I have some space for a grill and chair. We’ll see, I guess.

Until next time, folks!

I know I haven’t written in a while. Things have been interesting for the last few months.

I don’t even know if I wrote about this… but the plumbing is working. THE PLUMBING IS WORKING. It feels so GOOD to type that. Of course, I still have no upstairs bathroom, but I have the ability to flush a toilet and to pour water from a faucet and have to funnel down a drain and into the sewer. Sad, I know… I don’t need anyone else telling me that. But the plumbing works! And I did it by myself. I’m a plumber!

I have a number of goals this summer:

1. Save up enough money to install two (or one, however it ends up working out) large windows in the kitchen. The plan is to open up the far wall (where the sink and main countertop will be) to let in as much sunlight as possible. The kitchen windows face to the south, so it won’t be too much of an issue in terms of heat during the summer.

2. Install a sink and countertop in the kitchen. (Obvious.) Right now I’m using a work sink. I don’t want to get too comfortable using it.

3. Tear down the backyard fence. It’s wooden, it’s old, it’s rotten. Time to go! I will miss the pretty ivy, though. I will also pull up the side garden so that when I mow I can start in the front yard, go down the side and go right into the back without having to take the mower down the alley and then lift it up into the yard. (Long story.) Mpwing pattern will be a reverse C of sorts.

4. Pour a concrete slab in the backyard. You know… for patio furniture and a grill. A GRILL! Woot!

5. Repair gutters ASAP. No explanation needed here. Drip… drip… drip…

6. Tear out tree root from front yard. Nice that the previous owners cut down the tree and failed to dig up the roots. I essentially have to 4-wheel across my tiny front yard with my lawn mower. Sad!

That’s it for now. I feel by the time fall comes around that I will have these (and more, hopefully) goals completed and out of the way.

I’ve pretty much decided that Wednesday is the day I will bite the bullet and switch the plumbing over to the new system.

I’m expecting lots of leaks, explosions and tears. Better to not get my hopes up ahead of time.

I’ll do what I can in terms of photos, but I really don’t want to do something to ruin my new camera. We’ll see.

The roll of toilet paper is the perfect height for spacing my copper lines during dry fitting. Also notice the glove that is shoved in the waste line. I know… I know…