Kate's Closet (9/19/11)

With small bedrooms and soon to be sharing kids we have been thinking of ways to optimize our space.  Kate's closet is very deep because it is over the steps going downstairs.  We decided to add in drawers and shelves into her closet and take out her dresser to free up space in the room and utilize her closet to the fullest potential.  

Before

After

Back Steps (8/31/11)

Mike covered the back steps with decking and made them bigger.  This is the main door we use, so we thought it would be nice to have more space with the kids.  Now we just need to wait for the wood to dry out and we can stain it.

After the steps were stained:

Another Garage Window (8/29/11)

Mike put in the 3rd and final window in the garage.  It's so nice and bright in the garage now!  We're hoping he can work in the garage and keep and eye on the kids while they are playing in the backyard.

Hydroseed - Round 2! (8/29/11)

We had the yard hydroseeded again.  We are keeping our fingers crossed that it will work much better this time!!!

Garage Gutters & Windows

Mike put gutters on 2 sides of the house yesterday.  He replaced the gutters on one side that had a hole in them and put gutters on the back, which didn't have gutters at all.  


Today he put 2 windows in the back of the garage.  He has one more for the side to put in another day.

Water! (8/14/11)

We had a big storm with a major downpour and we got a lot of water in the bedroom downstairs!  The carpet was wet in the entire room almost to the door.  It came in through the window and collected on the table that was below the window and all over the floor.  We were not sure if it came in through the foundation but think it could be possible since we had water in the room back in December on a warm day (which didn't come through a window).

The gutters were clogged so all the water was coming down by that corner of the house and the grading wasn't the best either - bad situation!

Mike ended up digging out half of the side of the house and down about 7 feet.

He painted a tar-like sealer on the wall and put plastic over that.  He also put in deeper window wells so if water does collect in them again it won't get up to the window.  They were not too deep before, you can see the water line halfway up the screen.  He filled it all back in and made sure it was graded away from the house.  Also, put on new covers over the window wells.

Mike put down new mulch and planted some day lilies....and it is complete!  Hopefully it solves our water problem!  

Patio (8/15/11)

Mike took out the concrete that was around the back steps.  There was a sidewalk and some old broken concrete.  He put in more pavers and we will make the steps a little larger with decking over them.