Drainage Tiles

I realize the postings on this blog have been fewer lately. It does not mean we aren't working on the house. It just means that it is taking us awhile to do the same thing which makes the pics a bit boring. Right now we are still getting the outside ready for winter as it is fast approaching. Dave has been adding drainage tiles to the downspouts so the water will be directed away from the house. And he is digging by hand, of course. Is there any other way?

I think there are about five of these that need done. Plus, he is putting siding on the porches. We're not sure if Tyvek will hold up through two winters! He is close to finishing both, but the weather (rain) has put a stop to him working outside for awhile.

Cindy

Yard work - done - finally - sort of!

After several tri-axle loads of stone (#2 and #52 specifically - I never knew rocks were numbered until now)

And us picking up rocks

and more rocks,

and more rocks....for weeks.

43 bales of straw

400 pounds, give or take, of grass seed, and fertilizer,

and hours of back hoe time from backhoe man

What used to look like this

now looks like this.

we have two rock walls,

extending from the retaining walls by the walk out basement (all of those rocks/boulders were picked up on our property by the way)

The entire walk-out area is graveled. We have a landscaping plan that will be done later.

We used an old piece of sandstone, original to one of the previous homes on the property, for the entry step.

We have a gravel driveway leading from the driveway, to the walk out basement.

The front yard is mostly seeded and covered in straw now.

The South east side of the property before

is now seeded and covered in straw (did I mention 43 bales of straw being laid down in 100 degree temps. )

And these areas used to be big holes, right up against the house. We would worry because those holes were by the basement wall and when it would rain they would fill up with water. In the winter that water would freeze. We were afraid water would seep through the basement or the thawing and freezing in winter time would crack the basement wall. Those holes are now filled in.

The west side yard - seeded (and now covered in straw)

The back yard was left like this

after the well was put in the ground.

Now it looks like this.

And what started it all....the East side of the garage

is now seeded and grass is coming up. And the trees are gone.

Some day we plan on putting evergreens back where the other trees were, but for now, we're letting grass grow....everywhere.

If anyone wants to spend a LOT of time watering grass, come one over!

Cindy

Two Men, Some Beer, and a Backhoe...

As you can see, Backhoe man was right, but I will never tell him that! He has the hillside smoothed out pretty nice. We'll be planting some grass seed someday soon and some trees/bushes in the fall.


This is one of the trees we took out. The biggest one.

That tree was gonna come down sooner or later, with or without our help.

The 'road' leading from the back of the driveway to the walkout basement. It'll get covered in gravel someday soon.

You can drive up to the walk-out now, which I have to admit is very nice. You can see in this picture, in the upper left corner how long our actual driveway is. This driveway was already here when we bought the land, but it was covered in weeds. We cleared it and had gravel hauled in. Then they tore up the yard when building the house, installing the septic, well, gas line, electric, etc. The grass that was there (that we also cleared and planted when we bought the land) ended up buried under the piles of mud. And when it kept raining and raining, the mud started going into the driveway. then weeds started growing in it, and you couldn't plant grass seed again because it needed smoothed out. It's looking good now.

This is the walkout area. We are going to landscape it eventually. We still need to have that brick moving party in order to landscape this area. My cousin Troy will be home soon, I think we'll have the 'party' then! Anyway, we are going to put old brick down for the patio area which is up by the door, then plant some sort of bushes for a divider line and privacy. See where the 2x6's run parallel to the house. That's where the bushes will go. We'll have other plans in the other raised beds. Herbs, roses, red honeysuckle.....We'll put gravel in for the parking area. The frames that Dave built are to keep the gravel out of the plant area, since we won't be planting anything or building the patio until after we are moved in. We will, however, need the gravel put in before it starts raining again.

It seems everything has to be done NOW, and before this and before that, and it feels we are never going to get moved into that basement. I'm getting discouraged. I do keep reminding myself that we are moving forward.

Cindy

Two Men, some beer, and a backhoe...continued

What started out as a small project to smooth out the dirt on this side of the garage turned into a huge project and a few thousand dollars. Just like everything else in construction.

Backhoe man started talking to us about a drive up to the walkout. I really wanted a drive because I've been hauling stuff through the house into the basement, and the few times I've been able to pull up to the walkout, it was a bit scary. And we also wanted a parking area behind the garage. (Note: The trees above will be relevant later in this post)

So the money pit begins....(note how high the dirt is on our siding in the above picture..it needs lowered about six inches...ten if we want a drive or a patio)

little bitty gravel for the concrete approach to the drive, and bigger gravel for the parking area.

We now have ample parking for company.

And this is smoothed out...which was the original project. (these are the same trees I talked about earlier. This is the other side of the house)


and we have a road from the driveway to the walk out basement. It will get covered in gravel...I think. Sometimes I just go with the flow and don't ask what the plan is.

Either way...I can drive right up to the walkout basement now. We still need to work on lowering the dirt here though.

but first, the approach to the garage, which was not in our plans, is being poured. We were just going to have gravel...

but backhoe man likes things to be perfect.

And the one hour it rained all week that week, was of course right after we poured concrete.

So, while concrete was being poured, backhoe man kept telling me what a better job he could do if I'd let him yank those trees, that they are in his way. The trees I told you to note for later in the above pics. I've been fighting having those trees yanked since we bought the land. I do not like taking out trees, no matter.... He said we could actually landscape that area. The trees that are there are volunteer something, mulberry and a hazelnut. You know I didn't tell him he's right, but he was right. So I gave him permission to yank the trees. The biggest one, the hazelnut...was HOLLOW in the center. It probably would have come down on our garage someday!

so now the trees are gone, it's very bare (and sad) but Dave promised me we'd buy some evergreens this fall. I wanted evergreens because I'd like a clothesline on this side of the house, out of the view of company, and evergreens would hide the view. Don't want company seeing my underwear! Nor do I want mulberries on my clothes.

to be continued again......

Cindy