The Backyard Reveal

Well, I'll spare you the words and just get to the pictures. Our backyard is complete- and it was finished just in time for little guy's 1st birthday!!!! I've compiled lots of Before and Afters because those are everyone's favorite! Right?

 

I'm thinking there may be a Phase 2 later this summer with some outdoor pillows and maybe a setup for cooking out. We'll see. For now we are enjoying our outdoor getaway- because when you don't have a backyard for YEARS- this is nearly the equivalent of a vacation.

 

See my previous backyard posts here and here.

 

I'll be back later this week with some shots of the patio at night!

 

 



 

  

 

 

 

 Here are some side by side Before and Afters!

 

We contemplated keeping the bushes behind the addition, but I'm glad we tore them out. Much cleaner and prettier.

 

 

The tree removal was a game changer...

 

 



 

Oil cans no more!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And here's a sneak of our patio lights at night...

 

 

 

-Tricia

 

Our Backyard Progress

My original plan for a big backyard reveal post was squashed when I realized I have about 12,537 pictures documenting the makeover process. So… I'm going to show you the final steps of our fence, patio, and sod- and then I'll post early next week with the final pictures. So annoying right? But this was a lot of work and I don't want to squish it all into one post. Sorry mom! (She hates it broken up)

You can find out backyard plans in this previous post.

Once the ground was tilled and leveled, Nathan and my brother Ben (huge help) started digging the holes for the fence posts. This was not very exciting, but obviously needed for some fence building.

 

 

Next step was our patio. After they placed the gravel, they rented some mystery machine to flatten it all out (I don't remember the name!).

 

 

 

 

We ordered concrete pavers from Home Depot and had them delivered to our backyard. Thank goodness the fence wasn't complete or we would have had to carry them in one by one through the gate!

 

 

I originally wanted a red brick patio, but we quickly found out it would not only be more expensive, but more time consuming. But since I still wanted the classic look of red brick and a white house- we found the next best thing. These 16" x 16" red concrete pavers have the brick look I'm going for. They are also pretty inexpensive and much easier to put down due to their large size. Small bricks would have taken forever- and nobody has time for that when you have a deadline. Ha! I was a little apprehensive before we started the process because it was obvious the pavers weren't legit brick, but once they were placed I was very impressed with how they looked! Much better than anticipated. #CheapoForTheWin

 

 

 

 

After the patio was placed, Nathan and Ben finished up the fence. I didn't have much say in how the fence was built other than which way the gate would swing. I'm glad he took this on because he did a fantastic job. I honestly think this is some of his best work he has done on our house.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You may wonder why our back fence is 6' high and the side is an 8' privacy fence. Well... our new neighbor's back deck sits pretty high and every time they walk out they can see right into our yard-  plus they have a ton of tree overgrowth. (Understatement). Privacy was top priority and a necessity. Nathan built a 6' fence all the way around the yard- and then added 2' high trellis with trim to separate us from our neighbor's jungle. That trellis is now my FAVORITE part of our backyard.  It not only gives our giant wall of China some beautiful character, but it was actually less expensive to do than a standard 8' fence. The back fence remains at 6' tall which is nice as it keeps it open and not too closed in. 

 

 

 

 

Next step was adding landscaping behind the addition and laying SOD! We thought we were doing well with our To Do list and timeline, but then our original Sod lady stopped returning our calls. We only needed about 70 square yards, so it was obvious we weren't her top customers....Thanks! We were wanting to lay the sod by the next day (Saturday), but Friday afternoon we had nothing. I called about ten sod farms in the area on my lunch hour (I had no idea there were so many!) and finally got a hold of Bramer Sod in East Louisville. The guy was awesome and basically told us to show up the next morning at 9am with a check and he would have the sod ready for us.  We picked it up on Saturday morning and by noon (with the help of friends) the sod was down. Crisis averted. Instant Gratification. It's held up great since then with regular watering and plenty of sun!

 

 

 

 

 

I'm sure this wasn't a very exciting post, but I like to keep our renovation process for our own records. I'll be back soon with full reveal! Below is a little sneak peak of our patio area!

  

 

-Tricia  

 

Backyard Dreaming

Many of our friends and family have never seen our backyard. I would actually venture to say that some didn't even know it existed. The reason for this outdoor mystery is because it's hidden and tucked away behind the addition on the back of our house. The poor yard has sat there neglected for YEARS- and for good reason. It's pretty tiny and is basically filled with weeds and some half-empty oil cans. For the longest time we just pretended like it didn't exist and assumed due to its size that it wouldn't be worth our time and money to put any effort into it.

But after ONLY a few years of grilling out in our driveway (and eating redneck style on our front porch), we started pondering if a backyard and patio was actually a possibility. Then came the entrance of a certain mobile little boy- and we quickly realized that it was becoming a necessity. There is only so much crawling in circles a 12 month old can do on an Astroturf (yes I said Astroturf) front porch before we ALL go insane... plus he currently has an affinity for stairs and railings so the safety factor came into play as well. Therefore, with summer looming, we decided to tackle the outdoor dungeon and make it our own. We have no plans to move anytime soon so we are going to make the best of it.  Max needs a yard and Mommy needs a patio for her Strawberitas. I'm not ashamed. So good.

Here are some lovely pictures from a few months ago. 

 

 

  

 

        

 

OK. So not awful, but not awesome. Upon further review during our walk through, we realized we had much more space than we thought. Go us! However, we had a lot of work to do....

First order of business was the removal of the giant tree to gain more yard space. The tree was nice, but it took up too much room and it prevented ANY sun from hitting the yard.

Then down with the fence! The picket fence looks like an easy removal right? Think again- the posts were buried a few feet down into the ground... firmly planted in concrete. I guess that is normal? We ended up getting a Bobcat because nobody has time to dig out fence posts one by one. 

 

After the fence was out, Nathan leveled out the ground. The Bobcat hardly fit.... but it was a big help.

Don't worry- this was just for a photo op. Max Weldy's first time in a Bobcat. Must. Document. Everything.

 

Not only did we need to level out the ground, but we had to dig some trenches for the drainage. Not very exciting, but very much needed.

 

We also tore out the overgrown bushes behind the addition- getting it ready for some nicer landscaping.

Once we got everything leveled and cleaned up, the space looked huge! We couldn't believe how much room we had. The hardest (and longest) part was definitely all of the prep work with the ground- but it was important to make sure everything was level since we are laying a patio and sod.

Max was especially excited and loved "helping" as much as he could.

The fence and patio pavers are the next step. I'll be back next week with another post. In the meantime here's a sneak peak. I'm in love!

 

-Tricia