The Back Yard

I've been busy since November with upgrades for the house.  In November I put in a new heat pump with UV lights to help control organisms and help my allergies.  I am so happy with the unit I decided on (Trane).  In fact I have had 2 contractors tell me that I made a good choice.
In February I put in a new white vinyl fence.  It brightens up the back yard so much it's unbelievable.  I love it.  Again, I am happy with the choice I made.

Here is what the old fence looked like:





Here is the new fence:








I wanted to put in a concrete patio.  The dogs have made a sandbox of much of my backyard.


I tried to control the amount of sand that the dogs tracked in by putting in some concrete pavers, but it really didn't work. One day on my way home from Lowes, I was at a stop light when a man in a truck ahead of me jumped out and posted a sign about concrete patios. I wrote down him number and called him when I got home. He was at a job not far from my house, so he came over and gave me an estimate that I could afford. So, I had him pour a sidewalk from a gate to the patio. Then I was on the hunt for some patio furniture. I found a set I liked (and one that was comfortable) at Target, so I bought it.


Here are 2 pictures of the sidewalk. This one shows from the patio to the side of the yard.


And this one shows the sidewalk from the side yard to the gate.


Here is my favorite place to grade papers. If I have to work at home, then I want to enjoy my surroundings.



I just love my back yard now. I rarely went out there in the 20 years I have lived here. I went out there when we first moved in because the boys were small and liked playing back there. Then, as the boys got older, they didn't spend much time out back, and the yard just became the bathroom of the dogs. Now I go out there almost every day. As the summer approached, the yard because unbearable because of the sun. So, I decided to purchase an umbrella. A friend of mine works at Target, so I told him to let me know when they went on clearance. Then I bought it.



Here is the new sandbox the dogs have created:


I will have to deal with that next year. I'm out of money for this year. I had to have some work done to direct the rain away from my chimney. And then I found out that my chimney cap was so rusted that it could not be salvaged. Did you know a chimney cap costs $500????
Here is a before picture. You can see the mold on the side of the chimney (at the roof line) and the rusted chimney cap:


I had to replace siding on the chimney, and there was rotted siding to the left of the chimney, so I had that replaced as well.





While the contractor was working, I asked him to go ahead and replace rotted and water damaged siding on the side of my house. If you look closely, you can see the rotted siding at the bottom:



Here is a close-up of the rot:


And a close-up of the water damaged siding:



And, the finished product:



Now, I am out of money. I need to have other areas of the siding replaced. I replaced the areas that were the worse. My contractor found studs that were eaten by termites, so now I am having the pest control company that I have my termite bond with replacing studs.

I usually have some major projects to do during summer break, but after what I've done since November, I decided to just take a break this summer and relax.