Backyard

The back yard When I bought the house


Now some upgrades.

Before during winter

Before During winter 

 I added some small planters to te fence that I got at Dollar Tree.  Also the tree in the picture was slowly dying and I was lucky enough that I was about to get NES to cut it down for free.

Tree gone really opens up the area

Then I had some extra lumber around and I decided to use a stair brace to make a planter.  I cut it donw to the size I wanted and added a 2x4 to keep it together and help keep the grass from getting to the area.

 

 Put in the conrer of the yard and added leaves and compost I had from the year before

I added a bamboo bush and two vines plants and the vines have taken over.  You can barely see the 4ft bamboo bush that was 1 ft when I planted it.

Then I added mulch to the groun all the way around the outside and right now just the street side back side.  Then I hit Lowe's off and on and got the $1-$2 plants on clearance and added some plants here and there.  I added more color on the inside because that is what I see from the carport area.

View from the street side.  I planted a bunch of blubs but they didn't do so good this year.  So I was some plants on clearance and cleared them out by getting a bunch of rose type bushes that will or should cover the fence and be about 5-7 ft tall, I'll keep them trimmed.  I also added some dwarf butterfly bushes along the neighbors driveway side. So hopefully next year the outside of the fence will be covered by the bushes. 

Taking Out Inside Wall (95% done)

I had some family over during Christmas and my small house there isn't a lot of room. I decided to change that. I have been thinking for a while but wasn't sure. Then after Christmas I decided to finally make the change. You did have the dinning room/kitchen area and then a wall and then the living room. It's not the best for guest. because you would have 2 groups or crammed in one area. That wasn't good enough for me. So I decided to take our half a wall between the dinning room and living room. I didn't want to take it completely out because I still wanted a slight difference, but still have people feel together.

The wall before from the living room


Wall before from dinning room


I took out one side slowly slowly so I could see if their was any wires or anything behind the wall. I knew about the electrical plug midway but wasn't sure how it was ran.


Started to take out the other side


Took out all the dry wall


After Step 1


Then I took the door off and you can really see it open up more


As I was taking out the studs each by each double checkingt o make sure it wasn't a load bearing, which I looked up in the attic and double checked and didn't seem like it was, but still need to be safe. I was going to come down to the chair rail but I noticed that may be to low. I decided to go up a little higher so you dont see the back of the fireplace and if I ever wanted to put a couch or anything over there you wouldn't see the back of the couch. I would rather see a little higher wall then the back of a couch. It just doesn't look right if it is higher.


Now you can get the idea of the open space now. I still need to work on the little things to finish up but the big stuff is out of the way.


  I added a 1x8 on top to give it a nice size to put things on. I was going to go with a 1x6 but didn't seem to be wide enough.
 

Filled in the side wall and had to keep going over since the walls from the different rooms weren't the same depth. The dinning room wall stuck out about 3/16th of a inch farther which doesn't sound like much but it is
.

  95% done from living room view
 

95% done from dining room area
 

It really opens the house up now.

Garage Trellis

I wanted to do something with the back side of the garage. At first I wanted to make it so you could open it when I had people over. But the more I thought about it the more it didn't make sense. The smoke from the firepit would go right intot he garage and mostly you would lose that area for storage. I would have to buy hardware for the door to be used to open and I couldn't put anything in that area so when I opened it. So I then started to think what could I do to make it look better. I kept thinking and looking through magazines. Then it hit me. I thought I would build a trellis so plants could climb up and cover the garage door.

First I built a planter the length of the area.


Then I cut some 1x2s from the bottom of the planter to the top of the garage door area.


I screwed them into the planter and into the garage wall so it wasn't free standing and fall over.





Then I cut the 1x2s to lengths so they could connect the post. That wayy it keeps everything square and gives the plants something to grow different directions. I thought going level across was to plain. So I decided to go up at a angle to give it a better look.


I glued the center parts together and put clamps on them for a couple of days so their wouldn't be a gap between the boards.






I like the design of the boards going up


I tried a couple of different vines and seemed to not be having to much luck.  I think they weren't getting enough water because it is a little blocked by the top of the garage.  So I came up with a idea to use rain for me.  I saw a part where the house roof and the garage goof came together and was just running off onto the patio steps.

 

I went to Lowe's and got some plumbing connections to make a funnel for the water run off.  I then had it attact some pvc pipe that I had it go behind the brick to the top of the garage door.

 

I ran the pipe the whole length of the garage door.  I put a screw off plug at the end so if I needed to clean it out from the shingles run off.  I then drilled a bunch of holes along the bottom of the pipe so it would drip down onto the trellis and the soil in the trellis so the plants would get watered when it rained.  I made bigger holes on the side so if it rained real hard.

 

I planted morning glory's and they have been doing pretty good.  Next year I will add more morning glory to really fill out the trellis.One day I would like to get a evergreen vine to color it.

Breezeway New Look

When I first bought the house the little breezeway was just a unused area and not sure what to do with it. So as I kept thinking of what to do with it, it started to shape into something a lot nicer.

Before


Now (after adding new paint on both walls, gravel, bench, and plants)


I have updated more since the last pic.

I didn't like the look of the back wall of the lubber, so I decided to make a planter to cover it up.

I still had some old wood from a deck that was taking apart, I used some for planters and compost bin.

I added a good size bottom so a plant or plants would have enough soil.

All put to togerther with slanted shelves to hold soil for other plants

I added a vine plant first and it really has taken off.

Now

Maybe someday I can add a custom hot tub.

Upgraded toliet insides

I replaced the flapper last year, had a slow leak, and fixed that problem. Then over time I could hear the fill valve when it was filling up the toilet. I figured it was a matter or time until it failed. So as I looked into replacing it I saw something new that I thought was interesting. It was a new fill valve system with a new smart flush design. It cost a little more but I figured what the hell. I took out the old guts of the toilet and I first added the new quick fill valve which fills the tank quicker then the older one. It also comes with a pipe that goes down the length of the tank and shoots water in from below and the traditional top. That design helps it clean the inside of the tank which help keep the toilet bowl cleaner. Then I added the new smart flush flapper. Instead of the normal handle flush this has a button you push and the button is split. You push one part for a half flush (liquids) and the other part is a full flush (solids). I thought that part will be nice for if I have people over the toilet can keep up. The half flush means it is ready for two flush right away and the quick fill valve fills up the toilet quicker. So you almost could just have one person after another after another after another and not have to wait for the toilet to fill up. I thought it was neat.

Old parts of the toilet


New parts in the toilet. You can see the brown discolored area on the inside of the tank. The new fill valve has cleaned that out a whole lot.


Button you use vs the old school handle.

Trash/AC Gate

This past fall I was helping my old boss and he was going to throw out a small white plastic fence. Instead of just throwing it away I decided to use it. I put it on the side of the house next to the side street so instead of seeing the trash cans, extra trash, and ac unit, you will see a fence. It is still white but I will try and paint it during the warmer month.

Before I did anything to side


Before I did anything to side


The I dug holes in the ground and put the post in it deep enough so the fence post were the same height as the fence. I filled the holes with some motar I had from building the fire place. I should have used concrete but I used what I had. This project has only cost me about $20.





Side veiw where I used the little fence to complete the fencing.


Now what it looks like during the summer. It's better then just seeing a wall and the ac & trash cans.


I could even put the pallets behind the fence and you can't even see them.


Looking better then before.


The fence was actually about 2 feet taller with a halfway see through part. I cut that part off so the fence would come just below the kitchen window so if you looked out you didn't just see a fence. With the top of one of the fences I put in one of the planters in front of the trailers. I think it adds a little better look and the plant has something to grow onto too.