And we're back! It's been a while since we've posted, so we'll try to break up the progress into digestible "chunks" so the blog posts don't get too overwhelming.
The last update concerned the back room, which had just been returned to its former glory as a porch from its previous existence as a laundry room. Here is the porch, now that it has been painted and furnished:
Note the fresh coat of white paint, the painted gray floor, and the gray trim. We also found quite a score with the furniture -- $200 for the set at World Market. Needless to say, we absolutely love the back porch, especially Kendra. She would hang out there 24/7 if we put a bed out there.
While the progress on the back porch has been pretty cool, by far the most work has been on the back yard. The plan was to have a new patio poured, and we were leaning towards a stenciled concrete to make it look like a cobblestone patio. But before the patio could be poured, there would have to be a significant amount of old concrete to be broken up. There was also a large concrete block capping something, likely either a well or a cistern, and that would have to be addressed, too.
Well, nothing is ever easy when it comes to home improvement, and it took us f-o-r-e-v-e-r to coordinate with the concrete guy. Towards the end, we were getting the distinct impression that he was jerking us around. We didn't really appreciate that, so we cut him loose. While this threatened to throw us off our arbitrary schedule, we were prepared with a plan B -- we had a quote for a paver patio from our handyman extraordinaire, Art.
The first step was to break up the old concrete, and use the debris to fill the well/cistern/whatever. There is not, unfortunately, a clear photo of the back yard "before," but this photo gives you a flavor of what we (and by "we" I mean "Art") were dealing with.
In the picture, you can see the edge of the concrete cap on the right. When our contractor cut into it, it turned out that it was an old well lying underneath that concrete. It was one of those old stone wells (still spring-fed) that looked like it belonged in Buffalo Bill's basement:
It rubs the lotion on its skin or else it gets the hose again.
With the well filled, the patio was laid in no time. We used a basic 6"x9" concrete "stone" paver laid in a sand base. This shot from our back stairs shows off the patio fairly well.
And for the parting shot, a quick contrast of the "before" and "after" on the back elevation on our home. First, the "before:"
And then the "after:"
