Latest home improvement project

in Homesteading10 months ago

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This was the state of the yard/driveway when I purchased the place in Dec 2020

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I moved those cross ties over to where the black line is on the right

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Then I had MANY tons of crush and run gravel hauled in and spread
Sadly, I don't have a good photo of that, but my idea was that there would be LESS grass to keep cut, and more driveway that that narrow band running up near the house.
That much was a success, but over near the moved cross ties the grass and weeds continued coming through.
SO....
I decided to create a parking pad next to the old garage building, only the small metal building was in that spot.
I got an estimate and engaged a concrete service, Merida Solutions Concrete LLC (they are from Guatemala)

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After some communication issues, the work began yesterday, Jan 5, 2024 they started about 8 AM, the concrete to be delivered and poured at 11:30 AM

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First the metal building was moved from ↑Here↑ to

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That right hand corner of the drive, it had to be rotated 90°

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Then the parking pad was poured.
I had also decided to remove (relocate if possible) the old pad outside my bedroom back door, enlarge that so that eventually have a porch covering built.
SO, it was moved from here

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To make a good pad for the side entrance to the old garage

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The the back porch form was construced and the pouring/finishing could begin

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It was my idea, based on some previous finishing work where I was working (back when I could do those things) to throw down rock (I wanted much smaller pebbles, but that wasn't meant to be)

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into the surface of the nearly cured concrete
The crew did not want to do this, but it was my project and I was paying the bill, so

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↑THIS is how it looks this morning
The crew is coming back to remove the wooden forms.
After I saw that it was going to rain overnight, I worried about the runoff from the roof of the old garage on the not quite cured concrete; I SHOULD have gone out and put some plastic or something to catch that water falling, but I didn't, and it could have been worse

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In a few weeks, this will be built on that pad

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"Latest Home Improvement Project"

by
Jerry E Smith
©01/06/2024
All images original
Taken with my Samsung S21 cellphone
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This is actually looking good

Thank you, just wait until I get things cleaned up and stuff put away, after the ground dries I can move things without slipping and falling... THEN it will really look better.

Looking good!

Thank you Jacob @jacobpeacock , it will take some time to get it all finished. It is hell for me not being able to do what I once could, but then I have to stop and say "Idiot, you're nearly 70 yrs old and you have an artificial hip, of COURSE you are more limited now!" ha ha

You are quite welcome @jerrytsusser. I hear ya there! Just do what ya can while ya can and call it good enough. That is what I do at least. How did that gravel in the cement hold up after the rain?

It is great to see you are actually putting things in place and order for it to be in top shape

An 84 yr old house comes with 84 yrs old problems. I wish I could show you exactly how much I've spent redoing things to my liking.
I had to replace the HVAC system as the gas furnace was almost at the end or it's life (over $7K USD for that)
I've installed a mini split system to heat and cool this large backroom which is my bedroom. It is at the rear of the house and was never connected to the main system until just before I bought the place, the idiots who "flipped" the house installed a duct to get back here, which was too small and barely made any difference, especially when it was hot.
$6K USD for that.
I put in a GATE, where the idiots had just stuck three poles in the dirt (no cement to anchor) and two wooden panels. I paid for a GATE that is nice to look at from the street and 100 ft of privacy fence ($2.5K USD for that)
I've remodeled my bathroom, I think that was $300 for the worker who came to help, don't remember what I paid for the wall board and paint, but it wasn't a whole lot.
I still have a kitchen that is nice to look at but has no WALL CABINETS to store dishes and canned goods etc... still thinking about what I want to do there.
Now, $3,500 for this concrete work, another $1300 for the metal carport (weeks away)

The old saying that "a house is a hole in the ground into which you pour money" is certainly true
Thanks for commenting @precab

That looks like some wonderful improvements to your place! Kudos! 😃

Thank you dear friend. It will be great having the shelter for my car, but in truth that will be about twice as far to walk from car to house/house to car.
It will be an adjustment for sure, but I'll get over it.

All this work is not easy, it takes a lot of hard work, then the house of a person looks beautiful and the roads outside also look good.