Category: Outdoor Spaces

In Limbo

Published on by Our Humble Abode15 Comments

An alternate title could be Over Our Heads.  Yesterday, we were playing in the trees.  Cutting one down.  Specifically the biggest tree on our property, the locust seen below.

In a way, we’re sad to see if go.  We’re fans of trees, having planted 18 at our first house.  Before you start hating me for cutting down a mature tree, listen to the reasons.  One, the tree is too close to the house; about 10 feet.  Two, this tree is big, and hasn’t reached full size.  And three, the tree’s roots are too high up, so excavating would have killed the tree.  Because the tree is so close to the house and we can’t get a lift up there, it was a bit tricky to cut down.  Having a lift would mean starting from the top, cutting small pieces off at a time.  Ben has cut down about 20 large trees at the apartment complex he works for without any problems.  This smaller (compared to the large cottonwood trees at his work) should be easy enough.

The boys and I watched from the house as Ben notched out the first limb, tied a rope to it, and cut through while Handy Sammy pulled to make sure it landed safely.

Easy and worked like a charm.  But that was the first branch.  The one furthest away from the house.  See that large center branch?  It is a beast.  The guys assumed it would be easy because the first one went so well.  Following the same process, they started working on the biggest branch.  And then it got complicated.  The branch was heavy and naturally wanted to fall toward the house, despite the notch Ben cut.  In fact, it started pinching the chain saw.  Luckily, Ben’s tree cutting experience warned him this could get ugly.  So he stopped cutting and left the chain saw in place, effectively preventing the branch from falling on the house.

Any time Ben’s working on something like this, I’m a nervous, anxious mess.  First and foremost, I’m concerned for his safety.  This time I worried about the house, too.  Not knowing exactly what was going on, I asked if I could help.  Ben yelled at told me to get more rope.  That’s when I knew this was serious and wasn’t going as planned.  Kind of how you know a three a.m. call isn’t going to be good news.  And I thought we were in over our heads.

I found tow straps in the truck.  Sam and I looped the straps around our bodies, pulling on the limb with all our weight.  Ben tied the saw to another branch (so it wouldn’t fall to the ground or on him) and pushed the branch while praying for it to fall the right way.  After several extremely tense (both physically and mentally) minutes, we got the branch down, safely in the yard.  Whew, what a moment of relief.  I may have gotten misty eyed knowing everything was okay.  Of course I have no pictures of this, but you can see that branch on the ground in the picture below.

The last two limbs went just as smoothly as the first.  And then time for clean up.  Ben cut the limbs in manageable, fire-place sized pieces.  Can I add he looked mighty fine while doing so?  Because he did, safety glasses and all.

Smaller branches are in the yard waste bin, ready for pick up.

Between cutting the tree, Ben was loading more dirt for Craigslisters to haul away.  Two birds, one stone.  We’ve still got the stump to deal with.  The plan is to dig out a little more around the base using the bobcat, then pull on it to hopefully get the majority of the roots.

So that’s our (not so) little tree cutting adventure.  Definitely stressful, but we’re glad to be done.

How was your weekend?  What did you do?  Have you cut down a tree?  Did it go smoothly?  Or with a little bump in the road?

You Didn’t Have to Cut Me Off

Published on by Our Humble Abode14 Comments

Sorry, Gotye, but we wanted to.  Had to.  Did.  Cut concrete, that is.  For the basement windows to pass egress in the basement bedrooms at our first house, Ben hired a concrete cutting company.  When we decided to cut this concrete, we knew who to call.  A $300-400 bid wasn’t bad at all, so we made our appointment and got started a week later.  The process was interesting, and not only to the boys.  First, a metal guide gets bolted to the concrete.

Then the giant saw gets set in the track, hooked up to hoses, and starts cutting.

Following the guide, the saw moves on its own.  The guy, Pete, adjusted it along the way and changed directions until it cut completely through.

Once the bottom was cut, he switched the guides and cut the sides.  A nice shove and the concrete fell to the ground.

Over the weekend Ben and Sammy framed out the opening for a sliding door and double hung window.

Having installed a door and several windows made this easier and they had the new window and door in before the evening.

It’s a little more finished looking than last time, right?

And certainly different than what we started with.

Now the sliding doors are at the same height.

No more climbing up three steps to get to the wet bar, then down three more to get to the patio.  The back yard is looking worse than ever, but that means we’re one step closer to rebuilding.  Just a little more excavating, cutting down a tree, and waiting for spring to get started on our plans.  Speaking of plans, I figured it was time to share the ideas we’ve been tossing around.

(not to scale, just to give a picture)

Oye, that’s a lot to take in.  Let me explain.  Because our house is built on rock, there’s no way we could drill a well to water grass.  We’re far too cheap to pay for city water for green grass.  And Montana is too dry (especially this year) to keep grass green.  So, a large concrete patio should minimize dirt/dust in the house while giving us a space to relax.    Centered on the family room sliding door will be a pergola.  I’m thinking something simple and more modern than traditional.  Perhaps we’ll have an outdoor dining table under or we could go more toward an outdoor living room.  We’ll see where we land.  The rock stairs to no where will stay.

Some of the sandstone boulders we dug out will be used as a natural retaining wall.  But we carved out a larger area for a waterfall feature and a gas fire pit.

I’m thinking something rectangular like this bordering on the patio with moveable bench seating for maximum enjoyment.

A small stream will meander down the hillside to a waterfall with hidden storage pond below.  Hidden meaning we’ll use holding tanks to recirculate and keep an open pond from looking gross/filled with rocks deposited by little boys.

In the surrounding areas, we’ll add crushed limestone to further cut down on the dirt.  Drought resistant plants are on our list to add life and greenery.  Because the back yard connects to the driveway, a wooden walking path, or boardwalk, will connect the patio to a set of stairs down to the driveway.

Of course this is all subject to change as we gather inspiration, search out materials, and take measurements.

Yep, we’re officially crazy, but it should be totally awesome when we’re done.  My pergola dreams will be fulfilled.  What do you think?  What’s your dream for an outdoor space?  Are you already planning your spring landscape duties?

It’s a Cougar! No, Wait!

Published on by Our Humble Abode7 Comments

It’s a bobcat.  Having a cougar in the back yard (either a real cat or a Mrs. Robinson-esque lady) would be strange.  I much prefer the four-wheeled bobcat version we have.  A week ago, Ben brought home the bobcat from his work and started digging up the back yard.  To get the bobcat up the hill, he had to gently slope the hillside.

After an hour or so, he finally got the hillside finished and came into the yard.

Digging around, pulling the sandy paver base out was easy digging and went quickly.

Over the weekend, Ben really got to work.  All the stone retaining walls are too short/unstable/easy to break and don’t have the look we’re going for.  See what I mean?

Oh, the cross hatching you see in the picture above?  Just the window screen.  The boys and I hunkered down in the house.  Because broken bits of concrete were flying, we put pieces of foam insulation over the new windows.  How much would it suck to shatter a newly installed window?!?  So, my peeping Tom vantage points were limited, hence the screen shot.

Digging sand and dirt was the easy part.  Lifting giant slabs of concrete, not so much.

Trying to break it with a sledgehammer wasn’t working, so Ben used something with a little more muscle.  Lift…

Higher, higher, still higher.

And flip.  Broken pieces were easier to hammer to more manageable pieces.

Quitting time for Friday night.

With the fountain out-of-the-way, Ben set out to destroy the patio off the pool house.  Which included moving a giant rock.  You think I’m kidding when I say giant?  Take a look.

That is only the top part of it.  Here’s the bottom.  Yes, I was cringing and hoping it would work.  Ben is tenacious with that bobcat.  Oh boys and their toys.

Now we’ve got a giant pile of dirt.

This morning, the concrete cutter came out, cut the pool house opening, and left.  More details on that next week!

Progress, but it’s so dirty now.  Sand constantly in the house.  What does your backyard look like?  Or any other large equipment?

All You Shingle Ladies

Published on by Our Humble Abode16 Comments

All you shingle ladies.  If you like it then you shoulda put shingles on it.  Wait, what?  Our most recent weekend project included shingles.  And more window removal.  You see, we can’t leave well enough alone.  Nope, rather than leaving the wet bar as it was, we knocked it all out.  All in the name of continuity.  This way, we can  keep all the windows and doors at the same level and pour a large concrete slab in the back yard.  Then we decided to cut one of the windows in the pool house wet bar.  Why?  I’m glad you asked.  Inside, the cabinets just blocked the window.

Outside, the roof took a funky angle not to block the window.

Just strange.  In preparation for the concrete cutting, Ben pulled out the two stationary panels and the sliding door.  Then he added a few studs to the window opening and boarded it up.

To extend the roof, Ben added a few 2 by 4 pieces, following the slope of the roof.

A piece of scrap plywood on top and he started adding shingles.

Voila!  Awkward angle be gone.

Oh, and that Flagstone patio?

Is looking more like this:

And this:

We’ve pulled up about two-thirds of the stones, which we hope to sell on Craigslist.  The leading reason we’re doing all this work is to lower the back yard.  Right now, the rim joist is at (and in some places, below) the dirt.  Bob Vila and Tim the Tool Man Taylor wouldn’t approve.

In fact, Ben pulled out an old duct, and while doing so discovered tons of dirt resting on the foundation wall.  Dirt that over time has washed into the house and can cause long-term structural damage if not fixed.  Where there’s dirt, there are bugs.  Giant spiders and even a potato bug (if you’re feeling brave, Google it) have made their way in the basement.  So not cool.  And extremely gross.  Let the digging begin.  Hand shoveling around the house.

As well as pulling out stacked rock walls around the trees.

Making stacks to reuse or sell soon.

The back yard that looked like this over spring:

Now looks like this:

It always has to get worse before it gets better.  More pavers to dig out and we’ll bring in the Bobcat to really get down to business, literally.  Although we’d love to pour concrete before the snow flies, we just don’t think we’ll have the time.  Between now and then, we’ll add pea gravel (a step we’ll need to do before concrete) to help reduce the sandy, dirty mess.

Now let’s hear it.  What do you think of our latest project?  Think we’re crazy?  Or just enthusiastic?  Either way, we’ve got a lot of work ahead of us.  If you’re looking for a good workout, feel free to come on over and help me haul stones and pavers.  My arms are still sore.

As you know, today marks 11 years since the attacks on the World Trade Centers.  I love Sarah’s post.  Take a minute to read it and remember that tragic day.

Laboring on Labor Day

Published on by Our Humble Abode20 Comments

Nope, not pregnant.  No new baby here.  I’m talking about windows.  Now that all most of the windows are in, let’s go inside to take a look at the difference the new windows have made.  First, check out the kitchen in all it’s 70’s wallpapered, oak, bay window goodness.

And now with the sliding white window.

Making this window flat lets in so much more light, and the window seems bigger without dividing it into three sections.  Oh, and the fact this window actually opens.  Go figure.  The same can be said for the breakfast nook window.  Before, V and E used the bay window as their personal dance floor/kitchen/play room.

Despite shortening the window, I think it feels more open.  Perhaps not having a mass of dark oak helped?  Whatever it is, I’m liking it.

Just a breath of fresh air to see a lighter, brighter kitchen.  Removing the ugly wallpaper definitely helped.

In the family room, we replaced the two stationary side lights with shorter double hung windows.  Hooray for air flow.  For some reason, I always feel guilty putting furniture in front of windows.  So this arrangement works better for us.

Also, I think the shorter windows feel more intentional and less like “this is a door, but let’s just take off the handles and no one will know.”   The window height actually matches, instead of looking like someone scored a lot of assorted windows on Craigslist and made it work.

Oh, and these windows and doors are so quiet to open and close.  The old door squeaked and squealed.  Ben is a ninja leaving in the mornings now, sneaking out the quiet door.

While window shopping, we discovered most energy-efficient windows have a low visible transmittance thanks to the UV blocking coatings.  This concerned us, because about 50 or 60 percent of light makes it into the house.  Luckily, we don’t see a drastic difference.

To gain egress in the bedrooms, our city requires 5.7 square feet with a minimum opening of 24 inches tall by 20 inches wide within 44 inches of the floor.  The original height of the bedroom windows was fine, but our casement windows only opened about 18 inches by 4 feet.

To use the same brand and line of windows throughout, our only option was a large (4 foot wide by 66 inch tall) double hung window.

Luckily, our windows sit about 19 inches off the floor, so we didn’t have to use tempered glass.  Wahoo for saving a little money.

These are my favorite windows.  I love the cute courtyard feel of the back yard.

And from outside, the windows are almost the same size.

No more awkward bay windows bumping out, either.

Ben used three layers of 2 by 4s to get the windows out.  When he wraps the house in insulation, the siding will sit flush with the edge of the window.  Using the 2 by 4s is a simple and strong way to support the windows while extending for the future insulation layers.

Now to get the insulation on the outside and frame the windows on the inside.  Of course we’ll keep you updated on our progress.

What do you think of the new windows?  Have you gotten new windows recently?  Did it make a world of difference?  Both in looks and monthly savings?