The Backyard Was Renovated, Really!

It has been much, much too long since we've posted. After the major renovation of the backyard last summer, we went into renovation hibernation. I think the least we can do now is report on how the backyard turned out, as of September 2006...

When we last left off, our awesome friends had just helped us dismantle most of the patio and other concrete structures in the yard. The next weekend, we rented a dumpster and filled it as high as we were allowed, which took care of just about all the rubble:



Right after we finished the demolition and removal, it was time for the new fence to be installed. We were mostly very pleased with it, and it totally changed the character of our yard. Here are some pictures of the (mostly) cleared-out yard and new fence:














After that weekend, summer really hit Chicago. When we got time, we tried to remove the remaining old grass, and fought battles with weeds for many of the summer weekends. We also piled up all of the sand that was under the old patio stones up onto the back patio until we figured out what to do with it.

Once August approached, we decided we need professional help and interviewed a few lanscaping companies. We needed someone to remove extra dirt and stones, level the backyard, and install a very simple border on two sides of the yard. Here's how it turned out:



















So, we renovated the backyard mostly ourselves... with some excellent help at critical points.

We do have some touch-ups to do this season, like rehabbing the back patio, installing lattice on the sides of the back porch, staining the fence, and sanding/patching/painting the back of the garage by the patio. Looking forward to having a real garden this year, too!

Concrete Jungle, Part II

We were already aware that there was a lot of concrete used to construct various features in the backyard (patio stones, borders, walls, etc.). We had no idea how MUCH concrete was used in the backyard, until we started smashing and digging...

Here is what we are dealing with:

The Old Clothesline Posts

Initially it looked like we had two concrete pads per one existing clothesline post (an old one with a rotted post stump, and a new one with the current post). Then we started digging, and found out that the new and old posts were connected. What to do? When you can't break it into smaller parts, dig a big hole and bury it.






The Front Patio Walls

We started dismantling the walls of the patio closest to the house last fall. We are now down to the foundations, which literally are concrete foundations poured deep into the ground:



WHY?!?!?!?! Only the dearly departed Mr. McCaskey knows. What to do? Smash 'em into smaller pieces with sledgehammers!!



The Back Patio Walls

We've affectionately referred to these as the gingerbread house walls. But no gingerbread house in the world is reinforced like these babies!



Wow. Metal bars and heavy-duty wire mesh. And I thought it was fun to study concrete in school. I had no idea what we'd be dealing with years later. What to do? Smash it with sledgehammers!! Then use a wirecutters and sawzall to help dismantle (thanks Reyners!).



Mystery Concrete

While digging out the clothesline post near the garage, we discovered a solid concrete pad buried 3-4 feet down which is partly on our property and partly on our neighbors' property:



WHAT THE ...? Resting place of Jimmy Hoffa? Bomb shelter? Who knows. What to do? Re-bury it!!

The Last of the Jungle Plant

Finally, the removal of the stump of the infamous jungle plant...

Thanks to all our family and friends who came over for a solid day of demolition on 4/23... you all rock.

Witness the destruction:





We have to finish dismantling one more area of buried concrete wall foundation at the planting bed near the house, and the small part of remaining gingerbread house wall. Then it's dumpster time!!

Concrete Jungle, Part I

The Great Backyard Remodel of 2006 has officially begun. The projects are many, the hours to spend working on them are few. But here we go...

Major Project #1: New Sidewalk

We got bids from three concrete contractors for tearing out and replacing our side walkway from the public walk back to the alley. One contractor's bid came in significantly lower than the other two, and the reviews on Angie's List were good, so we went with him. Of course, the price went up a little when we decided to do a more significant widening of the walk between the front and back fencelines.

Here's a before picture:



Construction begins:






It took about a week for the entire tearout, formwork and gravel, and pouring to happen. Here are the results (oooooh... aaaaah...):












Thanks to Macon Builders!!

One project down, many more to go. More about the backyard in a separate post...

More on HVAC Issues

Like I've said in previous posts, we're debating whether we should install central air or just baseboard heat in the upstairs of the house. We've had a couple of estimates so far, and still want to get another place or two in to check things out. We were basically told by both contractors that because the way our dormers are set up upstairs, a UNICO system is the more practical way to go. Another general problem we have is that we don't really have an attic, so there is an issue about where to put the blower unit. And where to run some of the piping. One contractor suggested that we run piping across the ceiling of the central hallway upstairs and build a drop ceiling to cover it up. 'Cause we don't have enough drop ceiling in the rest of the house.

I've seen a few good posts on HouseBlogs sites about installing a/c in old houses:

(See http://www.oldmanstreet.com/blog/?cat=2
and http://www.houseinprogress.net/archives/000610.html
and http://www.houseinprogress.net/archives/000698.html
and http://www.houseinprogress.net/archives/000922.html.)

At this point, we're taking a pretty "wait and see" approach to making a decision about this. The prospect of putting holes in walls and ceilings really freaks me out, especially with all the plaster in our house. But I also like the prospect of having whole-house temparature comfort year-round, and being able to check the "has central a/c" box when we sell the house someday.

-A

Getting Back in Gear

Wow, it has been quite a while since we posted anything. Didn't really mean for that to happen... Not much has been going on around the Smith Bungalow the past couple of months. Fall came and our jobs were busy, then winter came. We had been saying that winter would be our planning time. Now that January's finally here, we are slowly starting to get into a planning phase.

First up is the backyard. It's currently in its worst state ever:






We chopped down the jungle plant before winter hit:






We have a bunch of things we'd like to do before summertime starts:
* New fence! (Part of the current one fell over during a late fall windstorm)
* Tear out old patio blocks, old patio walls, and old clothesline posts
* Replace old concrete walkway
* Expand old patio by garage or build new patio by house
* Replace nasty old dried out patchy grass
* Configure a real garden area
* Tear out old landscaping and plant some nice shrubs and perennials

We're now starting to get some quotes in prep for spring. We are looking at a board-on-board western red cedar fence -- either 5' standard or 6' scalloped top. So far we've had two fence quotes -- they are both nearly twice as much as we thought they'd be (so I guess we were being unrealistic, because the quotes we are getting seem to be at the going rate for #1 grade western red cedar fences - $25 to $29 per linear foot).

We're also looking for concrete contractors to redo our side walkway before we get a new fence put in. No quotes yet from them.

We've also been trying to start some planning on long-term items like heating for upstairs, and debating whether to put in central air. We've been told by the HVAC contractors we've had in so far that in order to install a conventional system, we'd have to do major demolition. Seeing as all of our walls are plaster, and we want to keep those intact and keep costs down as much as possible in general, the conventional system is probably out. A UNICO system is our other option. Right now we're thinking that we'll install baseboard heating upstairs (we currently only have heat in the bathroom up there), and we can survive three potentially hot months of Chicago summer per year with window a/c units rather than plunk down a five-figure amount of cash to be completely comfortable during those months.

- A & J

Housewarming

We had a housewarming get-together during Memorial Day weekend. Here is the aftermath:



One of our housewarming gifts (see bottom right side of porch):



A&J's Pad

The Shiny "New" Floors

We decided that we could not handle refinishing the floors ourselves, so we solicited some recommendations for flooring contractors and had a few people come over to give us estimates. The biggest challenges were removing the concrete patches (see April 24 post) and notches from former radiator spots, repairing those damaged areas, and matching the wood on our staircase and front window ledge.

We ended up going with a place near our neighborhood (Peter Flooring). They did a fantastic job and actually completed it in about the amount of time that they promised, for a reasonable price. They took out the concrete patches, replaced the subfloor in those areas, and installed the new boards (red oak to match the existing red oak).







The floors were then sanded:



and stained with DuraSeal and three coats of water-based finish were applied.

Here are the shiny "new" floors:

A Brighter Kitchen

After what seemed like endless weekend days and weeknights of painting, we were ready to install the new hardware and put the cabinets back together.

They are definitely not perfect - the extra layers of paint and lack of veneer on the frames made things not fit back together exactly the same, but it looks a hell of a lot better and really opens up the room.

Before:



After:







We also put up a new lighting fixture (after bumping our heads on the existing one MANY times).

Before:



After:




As a side note - and an update to the May 2 post - the bird story did not have a happy ending. One day we didn't hear birds chirping anymore and figured they'd made it out. Jim went about clearing the nest (which was HUGE) out of the exhaust and putting a screen over the opening, and taking apart the vent cover inside the kitchen and cleaning that out. However, a persistent smell developed in our kitchen, and we decided that there might be something lodged in the section of the vent above the oven. Sure enough - four dead little birdies. We were pretty pissed off at the mama bird for making such a huge nest that her babies couldn't even escape the vent. She was pissed off at us for disturbing her nesting area - she even dislodged our first attempt at a screen and started building a new nest. So Jim went back up and secured a new screen. No more birdies in kitchen exhaust, and the mama bird seems to have left the area.

Back Online

It has been a few weeks since our last posting. We got busy with moving, throwing a housewarming party, and traveling for a couple of weekends in a row.

Not to fear... work was done since the last posting - namely, the kitchen cabinets were repainted and put back together, and the living room and dining room floors were refinished. Separate posts to follow on each.

Third Weekend of "Rehab" Work

We spent this weekend putting a couple of coats of paint on the kitchen cabinet frames and the last coat of paint on the cabinet doors and drawer faces. It looks pretty good for what was once brown veneer. Next weekend is the big test - putting the hardware on the cabinets and reattaching everything.

We also had some floor contractors visit us for estimates on fixing the hardwood in the living room and dining room... we're currently (nervously) awaiting the quotes. In prep for the work, we had to take down the glorious "Superman" dining room light fixture - its glass parts will live on in the basement for now.

Found out that we have some uninvited houseguests - a mama bird (a small blackbird - a starling, maybe?) and at least a couple of newly-hatched babies living in our kitchen exhaust. There's a flap on the outside opening, but no screen. Mama was frantically bringing worm bits to the babies this weekend - we figure we'll wait till the babies get old enough to fly then we'll kick 'em out by turning the exhaust fan on for a while - then we'll install a screen.