Babyproofing.

Since we've had Cru, we have had to do a lot of baby proofing.  We've had to buy outlet covers, cabinet thing a ma bobbers and stairway gates. With the inside taken care of, we needed to assess our outdoor situation to make sure little boo boo wouldn't get any major boo boos whilst playing outside.

 

Justin is demonstrating our main problem.  You spy? 

 

We have a set of outdoor stairs that lead down to our basement.  They are concrete and a little person would fall quite a long ways down. 

 

 

We needed to build a fence. I didn't want a normal fence.  I wanted a cool fence. A fence with visual appeal.  A lattice fence. 

 

Not the X shaped lattice, I really don't like that kind but the + lattice kind.  Our friend Lowe's hooked it up with these babies.

 

 

Justin dug and sunk 4 4x4's around the stairway opening.  We added concrete to the posts and made sure they were level and let them set over night. 

 

 

The next day, we attached the lattice pieces to the 4x4's.

 

 

I'm totally diggin it.  I love it but we're not quite finished.  We need to finish adding the trim pieces on the front and we need to stain it.   We also need to make and attach a gate to the open end of the stairway.  We have a long weekend next weekend and I'm hoping the weather will permit and we can finish tackling the last few of our outdoor projects this year.

 

 

 My goal is to get all my to do lists complete soon so that we can just enjoy the rest of the summer.

 

What outdoor improvements are you making?

Our Backyard

For a while, our backyard looked like this...

It has definitely been a work in progress for the past couple years but this summer we finally got somethings completed.  Three major projects we finished have completely transformed the way our yard looks.  The painted house, patio and back deck have made our yard go from boring to waaaayyyy better!

The gray paint really makes the house pop where the green blended into the grass and trees.  The deck really makes the french doors the focal point of the back yard, and the patio really sets the tone of the space by creating a hangout area where before it was all grass.  I failed to plant anything in my pots because it got too late in the season, but next year I hope to have lots of color in them.

The gray really makes the windows stand out too. We obviously need a new roof.  We are hoping to do that next spring/summer.

Here are some detail patio shots...

The eating area...

The deck.  We wanted to create long steps to double as extra seating for people.  We didn't want to make the deck big because from the top landing you can see right into our neighbors yard so wanted to keep the patio and entertaining spaces on a lower level for more privacy.

BBQ.  We plan to build a nice built in outdoor kitchen area along the edge of the basement stairs you can see behind the BBQ.  It will double as a guard for that scary edge.  (don't worry mama friends, we will build a temporary fence till then)...

On this wall we have plans to build a pallet bar to place drinks or whatever else.   You can never have enough serving surfaces!

Another plan we discussed is running the patio all the way over to the dog run. 

The dog run is still awesome. We love having this space to put the pups if people are over or when we're gone during the day.  They have access to the garage too so they can be warm and dry.  We built them an elevated pallet area to lounge (see left end of dog run).  We used all scrap wood and I wanted to build this so that they weren't laying in their own poo poo.  They like to sunbathe so it gives them a potty free area to hang.

The elevated flower beds are a new addition as well.  We haven't landscaped (obviously) but I want it all year round green and I will just plant a few perennials to add some color.

We're going to add gravel along the side of the house where the scaffolding is in this picture and all along the fence line between the fence and grass.  We also need to stain the fence but that will all have to wait until next year...

Until then we have a great hangout space for us and the pups and whoever wants to join us!  We had a great summer with lots of outdoor projects but I'm ready for fall and to hibernate.

We have a few little projects around the house we'll do but I mostly want to organized, sell and donate all the stuff we have in our basement and garage.  Until all that I feel very accomplished in our summer projects and am so thankful for a husband that works sooooo hard!

Patio and Deck!

Summertime equals outdoor projects for the Dobson house and we have been at it!

For about two years we have had little makeshift stairs leading out to the back yard from our french doors. This summer it had to be changed. We decided to finally use a bunch of free pavers we had to build a patio and build large wood steps coming off the back doors. 

The first thing we did was rip up the sod from our desired patio area and dig out about 15 inches of dirt.  After that we poured in about 12 inches of gravel and an inch or two of sand to allow for proper drainage and to create a plyable surface for leveling.

The next phase was to level the ground out and start laying pavers.  Our leveling method consisted of running two long rebars parallel to one another that ran the width of our patio area then taking a 2x4 board and running it perpendicular down the rebar pieces to push out excessive sand and make things even.

Then justin and his pops started laying the pavers.

Once all the tile was laid, we started building the steps (I say "we" but it was really all Justin).

We stuck with a really easy design since we are novice deck builders and because we just wanted something safe and simple. 

I love the steps because the can also be used as additional seating!

I placed some of my flower less pots to stage the space. You'll notice some missing pavers, we had to wait for them to come over from Spokane. They are now in place and the space is really coming together!

We're still working back here, (think gray paint :]). Ill be back soon to update you on all that jazz!   

Hope you're all having a great summer!

Dog Run Fun

Over the period of a couple months, our back yard has gone from this,

to this!

And while all that was going on, these poor little turds were shunned to the basement for 8 hours a day for a whole month! :(

Hubs and I decided that it was time we made a space for the boys to hang out during the day where they can be outside but also have access to the inside for dryness and warmth.  We chose to build them a dog run on the right side of the back yard along the existing fence. 

Not only would they have the entire fence line to run up and down but they also had a nice area between our and our neighbors houses.

First we moved the bushes to the back fence line (don't worry mom, I moved the flower pot too), dug the post holes, placed them in and added cement and made sure they were level.

Here are the main tools we used...

We used a chop saw to make our cuts, basic fencing brackets to hold everything in place and galvanized screws to make sure everything didn't topple over.  We also used some galvanized U shaped hook nails to keep our meshing in place (more on that later).

Next, we put the baseboards in place. We followed the natural slant of the ground and were a little worried at how it might look since it wont exactly match the slant of the existing fence behind it but it ended up looking great!

We ran a string along the tops of the posts and made sure they were level.  We used the string as a guide to make sure we put the boards in the correct alignment.

After we had all the boards secured along the top, we started hammering in the wire mesh. We rolled it out and nailed it on as we went.  The 50 ft roll ended up being the perfect amount! I love it when when things go right like that.

Here it is with the meshing on.  It's hard to see but it's there!

The next step is the gate, getting gravel in there and finishing the covered portion.  Can't wait for it to be 100% complete!!

Stay tuned!!

Backyard Progress Part 2...and 3....and done.... For Now....

It's been one week since I have last posted!  We have been working away in the backyard making sure to get everything in place before the weather takes a turn.

Last Tuesday, I shared with you the thrilling adventure of digging sprinkler trenches and gluing PVC pipes together and today I present to you a working sprinkler system! 

Once we had the pipes glued together and all the pieces in their place, we turned over the "On" switch and made sure everything was swimming along correctly and that there weren't any leaks.

Everything was working perfectly so we filled in the trenches, raked and rolled out the dirt and prepped for sod.

By Friday night we (Justin, not me) had half of the yard finished!  We ordered 4 pallets from a local turf distributor and used every last piece.

Saturday the sod laying continued with the help of a wonderful, great, awesome friend (thanks Jake)!

To make the process more efficient, we had two trucks to handle the turf pick up. 

Then we rolled up the sod pieces and loaded them onto wheelbarrows...

And took it out back where it was nicely laid out.

Here is the finished product! Sorry for the picture quality, it was dusk and had just started to rain..

I can't wait to add all the decorative touches next summer but will wait patiently.  I am just thrilled to finally have a back yard!  YAHOOOO!