Backyard Remodel Stage 1: Before

Since purchasing our home in July of 2008, Brian has engineered some pretty awesome remodeling projects.  Our first, and by far largest, was the addition of the garage, residing the house, and turning the old "garage" into a storage shed.  Oh yes, along with paving the driveway.  Next came the downstairs room into an updated TV/play room, which is a wonderful space.  Then we had some not-so-easily seen but much needed things done like spraying extra insullation into the attic and a recent radon mitigation.  I had never even heard of radon before Brian pointed it out - at first I thought it was a prank.

This winter, as we talked about all the projects that the house really needs (and that list is quite long) I won out with my bid for a backyard remodel.  Brian had already started getting quotes from contractors last fall, so he got back on that horse in February to get some contractors put together.

At first it looked like this would be a June project because there are weight limit road restrictions on Three Points which would prohibit those big bobcats and trucks from getting out here, but with the crazy warm weather we had in March the restrictions were lifted 6 weeks early.  So, things got started and have been rolling along at a good clip!

Here are a few "before" pics of the back yard.

We got some help from Fred and Kath a few weekends back and took a Saturday to clean up all the leaves and debrees in the back yard that we didn't get to in the fall.  It's not easy to see, but the ground in the back yard was very uneven and pocked with little divets.  You had to watch your step or risk twisting an ankle!

In the pic below, although you can't see it, right where Brian is standing were the remains of the old driveway.  It was class 5 gravel.  So that whole area from Brian down to the house and across to the shed (to the left of the pic) was pretty much crappy gravel with a few weeds and daylilies forging life from the sand.

 Wally was helping me secure my idea that we really need some kind of hedge between our back yard and the Mazurek's side yard.  Wally loves to step over the little strip of perennials and run down Joe and Julie's driveway.  The pic below is from the street, where they are preparing to put in some landscape edging to carve out some nice mulched areas around the trees.

 This next pic just makes me happy to see.  Notice the unsightly wood pallet that was a bottom stair (not the weatherd paint job on the deck....that's not changing anytime soon).  I hated these pallets at the bottom of the steps.  This one in particular occasionally tipped if you stepped on just the wrong spot.  It was embarassing for me to have my piano students use this every winter to get into the house!  This pallet is now gone forever!  Yes!

 Check back soon for the action shots of the yard being torn apart and put back together!