Fencey McFencerson

Let me put a disclaimer, these next couple posts are going to feel a little incomplete... we were working on quite a few projects that I want to talk about separately, but they were all going on at the same time. So I am going to delay some finished product photos til the end... and also being very involved in all of this stuff myself, I don't have a whole lot of process pictures or tutorials for you (I was busy workin' kid!) so the next few posts might leave you hangin' just a bit. But you'll see it all come together in the end, and it will be worth it. Yay.

There is a lot going on outside our window these days!

So we are putting in a fence.
I know fences aren't for everyone, but we wanted/needed one for a couple of reasons:
    While we have a nice size lot, we are still in a residential area/neighborhood. Our lot backs up to someone else's back yard, we have a neighbor's yard on one side and empty lots on the other, which will eventually have construction. We wanted a little bit of privacy from all that closeness. We like having neighbors, we like our neighbors... we just... needed a bit of back yard privacy.
    We have a dog and kiddos* (*will have plural kiddos in december, and don't know if we will be done with two... who knows???) and wanted a safe contained area for them to play unrestricted. Also we have utility boxes in the back corner of our lot, and didn't really want kiddos playing in that area.
So us, a fence `was the right choice. However, it's not only functional, but we just happen to think a nice cedar fence looks really pretty and raises your property value... and we needed to put in a yard, and so first, we needed to put in the fence.

Before you build a fence there are plenty of paperwork things you have to deal with-- drawing out plans, taking them to the city, getting a building permit, getting utilities marked, etc. Those are important code and safety issues, if you are DIYing your fence, make sure you do all your city requires first. You don't want any surprises or accidents later.

The project started by ripping out the neighbors fence. It was a 4 ft fence that was a little rickety and gross looking. We talked to our neighbor before starting, and actually ended up replacing not just the shared portion of the fence, but his entire fence as well. (He paid the boys for it... so it was a profit that we set aside for another project). They knocked out the panels and pulled the posts, and then we freecycled the fence parts... and it actually was claimed by some friends of our about a block away. Reuse, recycle, and giggle everytime you drive by and see that old fence on someone else's property, guys!

After getting that knocked over they rented a hole digger and started carefully digging around the perimeter. I say carefully because there were quite a few utility lines they were working around.

Oh, there are the utility boxes we were boxing out... heh

Once they had the holes dug, they started putting posts and the frame in place. Carefully, slowly pieceing it together, leveling, digging, leveling again... until it was all setting just so... and then they concreted the posts in and nailed the 2x4 frame to it. For the frame they used pressure treated posts and 2x4s.

Everyone say Hi to my dad!

My Brother in law and our friend James working hard!

Once the frame was solid, the boys got to work putting up the slats. These are cedar slats. They look pretty and smell awesome while you work-- just a nice bonus there. We decided to use a nail gun instead of screws for two reasons, cost and time! Even the the best way would probably be to screw every last slat on, the fencing screws do not come cheap. For the amount we needed, it was going to run us about $400. For screws. Crazy. The nails in the air pressure gun, however were about $50, and we were able to borrow the gun from a friend, and... boy is it fast! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! in each post and you are done, as opposed to four screws, even with a power drill we'd have been there for days.

So the boys threw up the slats... okay not so much threw as carefully placed and leveled, while my dad started assembling gates.

They worked from early early that morning, until late that night. You can see that it's getting dark in these pics... but my boys are hardcore, they were going to get it done!

Hey look, they are still smiling! Actually I think they are smiling because this is the last board in my husbands hands... and look what they let me do!

The golden spike! I got to nail in the very last board in the back corner that hooked the two sides of the fence together! Woot!
And... here's that part that I warned you about at the beginning. I'm going to leave you hanging. There were several projects going on at the same time here, and so I don't have a finished project pic of anything without giving away everything, and thats no fun. But we finished the fence that weekend... and it is really beautiful and there are more beautiful things to come! Are you excited? I'm excited.
Okay.

Backyard Beautification: Part 1 (High on grass!)

I am not sure you can even call it a yard. It's more like... a small concrete patio with a strip of *grass around the outside. *Or what should be grass, but was not because it was all dead and tore up from the dogs.
This is a multi-part project that's been a long time coming. But lets just start it off with a picture of everything our backyard is, before I tell you everything I dream it could be...

This was our yard last fall. This picture was taken from inside the house, because it was the only way to get the entire immense space all in one picture. Note the luxiriously patchy brown 'lawn', the rickety grey fence about to fall over, and the dog poo on the concrete (ew, I totally posted a picture of poo on my blog. Things are getting a little too real here.) The smell was also pretty amazing. I mean two little dogs in that little space pooping on concrete and dead grass? Awesome.
The only pretty part of this picture is the grill. AH! I love that grill. But I was getting to the point where I hated using it, because it's in the smelly gross backyard. SIGH.
I wanted a pretty backyard. Green grass, a small herb garden, maybe some potted plants, a clothes line where our unmentionables could flutter in the wind, a fence that didn't threaten to topple over on me if I got too close on a breezy day. Oh, and lighting, so we can use our patio in the evenings. Must have lighting... er-- better lighting than the shady, crusty tiki torches we are currently using. Sigh. A girl can dream?
Unfortunately landscaping is not an instant gratification kind of thing and we spent a long (still pregnant!) afternoon outside raking and tearing out dead stuff, tilling and seeding our 'lawn' for a grand result of....

this:

 Ooooh... ahhhh...

I know, right? So much better! Or... not. Sigh.

But do you like how I put a red potted plant on the table to try and brighten things up a tiny bit? Much to my dismay, just a few days later the wind blew the pot off the table and it broke. Stupid wind. 

I was deflated. I know that landscaping is a slow, laborious process, but this was just disheartening to look at. At least it didn't smell anymore. And good things were coming in the near future.

Good things like... a new fence.

A NEW FENCE! 

Well, at least on 2 sides. Actually the only part of our fence that belongs to us is the very back portion. The right side is a neighbor, and the left side is a neighbor. The left side, though still ugly, is at least sturdy, where the right side was about to fall over. So when our neighbor saw us working in the yard that day, she mentioned she was going to be replacing her fence that weekend, and we kinda wanted to hop the fence and hug her! Then we immediately made plans to do the same the following weekend.

My Dad and Husband got to work and spent a saturday afternoon putting in the fence and doing the male bonding thing. :)

I don't have pictures of the fencing process... I didn't even take an 'after' shot. I must have been too pregnant and bitter that day, but that means you get to fast forward to a spring shot of a fence and a grown-in(ish) yard:

 Oooh... ahhhh... yard! Same little white dog too. So the grass is still patchy, but it's about 300 times better than it was, and we are working on that. The fence is sturdy, and ain't too shabby to look at either. My boys did a good job. 

We are well on our way to a more beautiful, functional backyard. Yay.