New house, new renovation project :)

[Gabe]

New retaining wall and steps coming up from the driveway really taking shape after another day working on them today ... 5 trips to the quarry to grab a half a cubic yard of crushed stone each time - I felt like a shoveling MACHINE! Lol ....

Loving the new look - if the rain holds off I should be able to finish it tomorrow

Just for shits and giggles, this is what is used to look like:

I love how much cleaner and more modern the new wall/steps are ... a freakin' transformation, indeed!


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[Johnf78]

Wow! That is turning out awesome Gabe. Nice job!

 

[skwerl]

Lookin' sweet!

 

[Gabe]

Wow! That is turning out awesome Gabe. Nice job!

Lookin' sweet!

Thanks guys, can't wait to finish it!

 

[i am ryan]

Before that's all finished up, have you thought about running some small lights to the steps or the wall beside the steps? Just something is probably want to do before it's all back filled.

It looks really great, man. I bet the neighbors are fucking thrilled to see it all cleaned up.

 

[Gabe]

Before that's all finished up, have you thought about running some small lights to the steps or the wall beside the steps? Just something is probably want to do before it's all back filled.

It looks really great, man. I bet the neighbors are fucking thrilled to see it all cleaned up.

Ha! Yeah, all the neighbors driving by are staring ... we're shocked ourselves at how much nicer it looks, and the new retaining wall and steps will add a lot to that look.

As far as the lights, I love the idea, I'd want some lights behind the whole length of the wall and on the outside of the sides of the steps/walkway to the door.
But for now we just want to finish it, to get all the product off the driveway so it can be paved.

Adding lights can always be added later, since we're planning to leave a foot-wide crushed stone hardscape next to the wall/steps/walkway, so moving a few stones to bury a wire won't be too hard.

Or we may just do the solar ones, we'll see .....


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[Gabe]

Almost got finished with the new retaining wall and steps today, but heavy rain stopped me.
Luckily I watched the forecast, returned the rented ($88/day) masonry saw just in time to only get charged for one day and then the heavy rain came.

Got the last row of steps installed and almost finished the right wall where it meets the steps.
Got the saw reserved for Thursday morning so hopefully I'll be able to finish then.

Looks like I'll have some extra blocks of steps and even some extra wall blocks - I may load them up and see if I can return them, since I don't think we'll use them anywhere else.

The actual walkway from the steps to the house will be re-done in paver blocks, and we'll have some smaller blocks on the sides to "trim" the walkway

But anyway, I'm quite proud of this here creation of mine so far ...

 

[Gabe]

Today the rain finally let up a bit, the local fire inspector came out to inspect the propane line installation, and we passed.

I then moved on to re-fill the trench, and got it mostly done.

Some time later in the evening I thought to myself "what about the electrical line that also is supposed to be buried?"

So yeah, I'm pretty fkn pissed at myself right now, and at my electrician who's been very uncommunicative and been dicking around getting me a time as to when he's gonna return and finish the electrical and hook up the generator.

So, I'm left with a mostly filled in trench that I have to dig back up for the electrician, whenever he decides he'll make a reappearance.

Also, because of the heavy rain we got over the last 3 days, the driveway isn't getting paved tomorrow, so that's gonna get delayed at least a day too.

I haven't done much at the house over the last 2 days, and I feel like tomorrow is gonna be another unproductive day.

This sucks.

 

[Gabe]

The trench that I was not supposed to fill in yet:

The partially done tub-walls tile:

And the (just done today) freshly-primed bathroom walls and ceiling:

 

[Wicked GT]

Coming along nicely Gabe!

 

[Gabe]

Coming along nicely Gabe!

Thanks man!

Today I got my new driveway


They showed up, they graded the hardpack, they compacted the hardpack, they laid down a first layer of asphalt, compacted that, then the top layer of smooth asphalt, compacted for a good hour-plus, water-tested it and the water runs away from the house, going down the driveway and toward the vernal pool that's on the other side of the driveway, exiting the driveway about half-way down.

Super psyched!!


And the end result:

The "before":

 

[Shaggy]

Nice Gabe! So much bigger. I had a off beat question. Could you have just removed all the dirt in front of the house and level it all off, similar to your neighbor in one of the pics, and then added stairs to the door? Just curious if that could be done or is there things within the dirt that can't be exposed on the house?

 

[Gabe]

Nice Gabe! So much bigger. I had a off beat question. Could you have just removed all the dirt in front of the house and level it all off, similar to your neighbor in one of the pics, and then added stairs to the door? Just curious if that could be done or is there things within the dirt that can't be exposed on the house?

That probably would've cost more, would've taken more time to complete, and I don't think we would've liked the fully flat lawn - the sloping look is pretty nice, low at the road looking slightly up at the house, I kinda like that.
Also, the house is kinda up on a slight hill, and for water drainage we needed to do this


One more thing done today, I dug the trench needed by the electrician to hook up the generator, something that's scheduled for tomorrow:

 

[Gabe]

Today I finished priming the window frames in the sunroom, I touched up a bunch of spots in the bathroom with joint compound, and the electrician's 2 guys came back, they installed the new smoke detectors on the main living floor, ran the piping for the generator so I can finally fill in the trench for good, and installed all new switches and outlets.

Few more minutes and I'm off to a car show with the GF, taking both cars of course

 

[bigwilly43729]

Good work man. I know how much work those retaining walls can be, but they are satisfying once they are done.

 

[Shotokan1509]

And the end result

Wow, you can have a car show in your driveway now!

 

[5.0 Probie]

Great looking driveway. What did it run you? We are about to start looking into doing that or concrete for a 60' long and 30' wide (at the widest point) driveway...

 

[Gabe]

Good work man. I know how much work those retaining walls can be, but they are satisfying once they are done.

Thanks and yeah I love it, just looking forward to finishing it.
I feel like I've started a ton of things and haven't finished any of them :/

Wow, you can have a car show in your driveway now!

Lol, as long as it's all Mustangs

Great looking driveway. What did it run you? We are about to start looking into doing that or concrete for a 60' long and 30' wide (at the widest point) driveway...

Thanks. As far as the cost, PM me and I'll give you an idea, but don't really wanna blurt that out on the interwebz like this ... lol



Today I changed the oil in the riding mower, then mowed the back yard, sanded the mudding touch-ups I recently did in the bathroom and kitchen entry way, cut in the sun room ceiling with ceiling paint, and put another coat of primer on the bathroom ceiling, to cover the touch-ups and try to hide any sheen differences.

The freshly mowed back yard:

Oh, and I also filled in the trench for the generator, finally, for good.

 

[skwerl]

Looks like the mower is cutting a lot smoother, no more gouging.

 

[Gabe]

Looks like the mower is cutting a lot smoother, no more gouging.

Yeah the deck was not leveled, you were right, it was 1" lower on one side. Simple adjustment by turning one nut a few times.