Backyard Renovation: New Garage (Phase 2)
Our existing garage has been in bad shape for many years now. Wood rot and a collapsing roof has made the garage completely unusable. And with some property line issues…
Our existing garage has been in bad shape for many years now. Wood rot and a collapsing roof has made the garage completely unusable. And with some property line issues…
When I was looking for backyard inspiration, I really loved the look of cedar post archways, especially contrasting against a black fence. I then saw a few examples where these…
Phase 6 was supposed to be the final step in our backyard renovation plan. Our garage was supposed to be done in early May and I'd have all summer to…
Once we had our backyard design locked down, I started to plan how the work would be done over the summer. Knowing that I would be doing much of the…
Our basement construction involved two major construction pieces: the underpinning and the hydronics work. Since it only required us coordinating with two trades, we decided to coordinate the work ourselves and…
After investigating a kitchen renovation, we decided to renovate our basement first. The most compelling case for the switch in scope was made by our real estate agent who reassured us…
One of the walls in our bedroom is uneven because the chimney juts out. It's also in an awkward spot because we want to put our bed against that wall,…
After yet another trip to Home Depot with an AutoShare cargo van, we think we have everything we need to start (and hopefully finish) the subfloor. Our house isn't level,…
On Sunday we (mostly) successfully poured our concrete hearth. It was quite the feat - both in mind and body. Here's what it looked like when all was said and done: The concrete…
Our mold was ready and we were excited. The day we were working towards was finally here! Today we mixed and poured our concrete. Prep To prep the area, we…
Alex's mom is visiting this weekend, but we stole a few hours for ourselves and made some serious progress. In the couple of hours we had before dinner on Saturday,…
Just when we think we've got it all figured out, we realized that we haven't. Our grand plan was to patch the fireplace and pour the concrete (for our hearth)…
We've been stalled on our reno work for a while because we've been trying to figure out what to do next. Our concrete hearth idea is complicated for newbies, and…
It all started with the floor. We tore up the old hardwood and with it came the stone in front of the fireplace (also know as the hearth). No problem,…
The next step in replacing your hardwood is feeling overwhelmed. This is likely a necessary step in all renovation projects, but the first is probably the worst. There are a…