Sunday, March 30, 2014

Exterior design help, continued.

Well, this is never ending.

We still don't know what to do.

So far we've talked with contractors about tearing out the front steps ($600, even without replacing them), pouring new concrete (a problem because of the crawlspace access), building a wood deck around the existing steps (the contractor spent nearly an hour here, then I never heard back) and, finally, cladding the existing steps in flagstone and tearing out the walkway to also create a flagstone path. Whew.

And it's all expensive.

On top of that, we determined that we indeed have lead paint so the cost just to prep the house properly (requiring removal with an infrared heater) is as much as I thought it would be to do the whole job. We have opted to let the professionals prep the house and remove the lead paint, and we will get to paint it. Yay! (feigned enthusiasm)

Back to the porch though. I think we have to live with it as is for a while. We can move the crawlspace access for $500, which will allow us to landscape the small plot next to the stairs more easily and wait another year or so to build a porch :(  I guess there's no rush, but still....

Here's the mockup:


Upcoming: we are almost finished selecting paint colors!


Monday, March 10, 2014

Exterior design help wanted, Part 2

Here is another mockup of the front porch, this time enclosed in wood painted to match. We like it!


Sunday, March 9, 2014

Landscaping success!

After wrestling out 2.75 stumps left behind from the total front bed chainsaw massacre a couple of months ago, we planted a beautiful shore pine and were a little underwhelmed with the results. We needed a professional.



My buddy Doug from Gardenmakers came and removed the last of the stump I couldn't excise and came up with a game plan for us. This weekend, in just 7.5 hours, the front yard was totally transformed!








Here is the rock that went in the bed. Turns out two of the three local stone dealers went out of business and the one that was left wanted a ridiculous amount for a basic rock. Five hundred dollars for a fairly average looking rock?? We went to some other garden shops looking for a "counterpoint to the pine," as Doug put it, and found nothing but birdbaths and gnomes. Then, my buddies and I happened upon a construction site and spotted a rock just sitting there in the mud next to the street... So.....we picked it up and put it in the trunk. Turns out it is some sort of classic local olivine or something, finding new life as a little mountain in our quiet garden.



I really don't think the construction site will miss it.


Another productive weekend at our little bungalow!

I am so excited to get this house painted, but we're getting so much rain it's not going to be possible for a while. Once the painting is complete (I'm budgeting four weekends--one per side of the house, which might be optimistic--I really have no idea) we can start in on the back yard!


Friday, March 7, 2014

Exterior design help wanted!

As spring finally approaches, we are ready to begin planning some exterior renovations. Paint is coming soon, as it's needed badly, but the more exciting planning is around landscaping. We are tackling the northeast bed this weekend, so I'll post pictures of that soon (a landscaper friend recommended building up a bed for our beautiful tree to sit higher up, so that's the goal in the next few days).

The design question now is about how to get rid of the awful handrail that splits the picture window. It's such an eyesore for me and I can't wait to tear it down. (See how much better lifting that tree will look?)

I want to extend the front steps so there is a longer platform/patio beneath the picture window. I am hoping we can resurface the concrete that is there so it will match the new. Here are two mockups: one with poured in form concrete and one in which the vertical walls are clad or created in brick.









(concrete)
(brick)

(Ignore the roof peeking up behind the house--that's a future addition and another story!)

I think the brick keeps the house more inline with the "mid century modest" style that it is.

My questions are:
1) What kind of costs am I looking at here?
2) How much more expensive would it be to use brick?
3) Is it even possible to find brick that matches?

Any input is welcome. Thanks for stopping by!!