From Front to Back

Well our original plans to redo the front porch and sidewalk are now on hold.  We discovered that we needed a permit to do the work.  It appears that if you do any sidewalk work you need a permit by ordinance.  And to get a permit, you need a survey and Troy doesn't have a survey so now we are going to get a survey.  Something he wanted anyway but it changes our plans.

We did find out that we can build a 200 square foot shed AND put it on a cement pad without a permit.  Now the logic might escape you that we couldn't do 100 feet of sidewalk without a permit but we can do 200 feet of shed slab without a permit.  It escapes me too.  The only thing I can say is this is the government speaking.

So on Valentine's weekend, we began shed construction 2014.  Now you know there is no way Troy is going to buy a prefab shed so we will be building this one ourselves.  But first it needs a location

That is a big shed which means it might be a shed/workshop if I play my cards right!

Working outside  this year means the house stays cleaner but working outside this year also means working in these conditions - at least it was sunny.

So day one is footings.  As you can see the post whole digger was abandoned right quick in favor of an auger rented from Home Depot (of course)

We dug wholes and slid construction tubing in the holes - about 18 inches deep these ended up being - all four corners and one in the middle.

After leveling them all, we mixed up some concrete in the wheelbarrow and shoveled it into the forms.  We added a bent rebar so that the slab and the footings would be tied together.

Day one comes to a close - only a couple hours worth of work really.

Guess what time it is....

It's project time again!!

After taking several months off after finishing the bedroom, we will begin this years project.  This year, we decided to tackle some outdoor projects.

First off is the front porch.  We have some drainage issues, some repair issues and a lot of aesthetic issues.  The name of the game will be Curb Appeal.

We start here ...

Notice the charming railing and the squirrel cutouts on the shutters?  If you've been following this blog for a while you will recognize the railing from our screened in porch project a few summers ago.

There was quite a bit of discussion on the railing.  I do like wrought iron but have you priced that stuff?  We do have a piece of the railing that we could have welded back in.  Maybe painted black the stuff would have some charm as evidenced by this fantastic photo of wrought iron work on a historic building in New Orleans.  We talked to a wrought iron guy and the cost was just prohibitive. 

See the set of steps on the left hand side of the picture.  They are DUNZO!!  Essentially, they lead nowhere! and the walkway in front of the planter will go as well.  The planter will stay and my good friend Denise is going to help with flower selection in exchange for the shutters and railing.  She actually WANTS them.  

The front door will get a paint job and new shutters will be installed as well.  I am thinking black shutters but that may change.  

My major job in all of this will be brink pointing - whatever the heck that is.  I guess I'll learn soon enough!  Demo starts next weekend.