Terrific Broth - The life of two scientists, creating a small home, in big mountains

Summer Outdoor Projects Roundup

On 2024-08-19

Done with the back fence, Slav continued working on outdoor projects. The goal was to wrap up small tasks outside before the weather becomes too hot. And I think we achieved it! Today, I want to show you four small outdoor projects Slav completed in July. Each of them took a few hours to a couple days to complete, but these small upgrades have brought big impact to the overall appeal of our house.

First, let me say…I cannot get enough of the new back fence! It is the perfect backdrop for our lush green backyard and all the cute shelter pups. 🙂 Building this fence involved concrete work and lots of cedar lumber. So it was natural for us to work on projects that required the same applies and tools such as setting a new mailbox and building cedar enclosures for outdoor pipes.

1. A New Mailbox

This plastic mailbox was here when we bought the house in 2017, and its door has been broken since day 1.

We were supposed to upgrade the mailbox right away, but got distracted with more important projects such as roof and HVAC. To be honest, it did not look as bad because the yard around it was just as bad.

In 2018 Spring, I converted the weeded area around the mailbox to a small flower garden.

And in the following years, I have been slowly filling this flower bed with rose, salvia, lily, and groundcovers.

The plants have grown in nicely and look great. And by comparison the mailbox looked worse and worse. Now, with a couple bags of leftover concrete mix, it is time to replace it! Slav ordered a nice metal mailbox online, and I worked on removing the plants immediately next to the mailbox.

I dug out the sedum ground cover and one rose shrub and kept them in moistened soil. They would be replanted after the new mailbox was set in place. Slav pulled out the old mailbox just with his bare hands. It was not cemented in at all, only inserted into the soil.

The metal post has rotten completely under the soil. It is amazing that this mailbox did not fall over during one of the windstorms.

The next step was to set the new 4″x4″ cedar post. We made sure that the new mailbox post could go over it perfectly.

Then Slav dug the post hole and used a bag of cement mix to set the post.

We did let the concrete set overnight, but if you choose to use the expanding foam product recommended for non-structural posts, you can continue this project without much waiting time.

Then it was time to fill the soil back up and replant the ground covers!

You may notice that the post was pretty short. According to the USPS instruction for setting mailbox, the bottom of the mailbox should be only 3.5 feet above the ground. This is for the postmen to reach from the driver’s window without getting out of the car. So before setting the post, Slav had to trim the 6′ post shorter.

Then it was time for the last step! We sleeved the new mailbox assembly over and secured it into the post with fasteners included in the kit. Now here is our new mailbox!

2. A New Garden Spigot

The second project was to install a spigot in the backyard flower bed. We have an outdoor faucet at the back of the house, to which we connected the garden hose. So there was always some hose on the gravery path and it did not look tidy.

During summer months, we also connected the irrigation timer to this outdoor faucet. Although functional, it looked messy. And any potential leak would introduce moisture right at the foundation.

To tidy up the hoses next to the house, we decided to bring the irrigation timer and all the connections into the flower bed. Slav first set a 4″x6″ post in the patio garden bed, right next to the lawn.

Then he mounted the irrigation box to the front of the post, and the hose rack at the back.

A garden hose was used to bring water from the outdoor faucet to the irrigation timer.

For the drip irrigation timer to work, the water has to be left on. Slav installed a two-way split so he could keep a hose on the side for rinse dog bowls and garden tasks.

This is what the drip irrigation tubing looks like. Slav buried them into the mulch so it looks more tidy.

Slav also buried the hose connecting the outdoor faucet to the irrigation timer under the mulch and gravel. Now the gravel area next to the foundation looked a lot more tidy, and we no longer need to worry about water leak!

3. A Cedar Enclosure for PVC Vents

From the picture above you can see a wooden “cabinet” on the back of the house. It is actually an enclosure Slav built to conceal the HVAC and tankless water heater vents.

These pipes has to be arranged this way to make sure that the exhaust air is far enough from exterior windows and the fresh air intake. Obviously, they are not pretty to look at. Slav got some extra cedar boards when shopping for the fence supplies and built a box to hide these pipes.

The cedar enclosure was secured using french cleat. We used the Hangman french cleat for our headboard and floating nightstands. This time, Slav simply cut a piece of 2″x4″ into a pair of french cleat to complete the job.

A hole was cut on top for better exhaust and gaps were left between boards to allow sufficient fresh air intake. The bottom of the enclosure is also entirely open to aid air intake.

Slav sealed the enclosure with linseed oil and mounted it on the back of the house. It hides the ugly pipes, and also doubles as a drink shelf. 🙂

4. Upgrading the Hot Tub Sitting Area with a “New” Porch Swing

Remember the garden bench we added to the hot tub area? The bench has always been a placeholder for something wooden, something with a more aged look to match the cedar arbor.

This Spring, I came across this pergola and porch swing set on the Facebook Marketplace. It was completely free! I immediately contacted the person who posted it and we got this set home on the same day.

I have a different spot for the pergola, but for the porch swing, I want to use it in the hot tub area. It was definitely well-loved – some of the boards had started coming off, but the wood was in decent shape. Slav reattached the falling boards and mounted it onto the arbor:

Isn’t she cute? We will be sealing the swing with teak oil to extend its life, probably when the weather is cooler in the Fall. But for now, this has become the perfect spot for morning coffee and to watch my foster pups play. I do not know the weight limit on this porch swing, but Slav and I can both swing on it without a problem. It is a lot of fun!

The Back Fence is Finished!

By Alison

On 2024-07-04

In DIY Built

Hi friends! It has been a few weeks since we started replacing the back fence. I am happy to report that the back fence was finished!

1. Setting up the posts

Last time we talked, Slav just finished digging all the holes for the future fence posts. To keep our dogs in the backyard, we decided to set the new fence before demoing the old one.

Slav dug all the holes at least 2 feet deep and about 18 inches in diameter. This size can accommodate a 4″x4″ post with plenty of room around it for concrete.

We purchased a pallet of cement mix from one of the big box stores, which costed about $240. For cedar posts, we purchased 16 of the 10′ cedar posts from a local lumber yard, the Front Range Lumber company. Back in 2018, we used the cedar product from the Front Range Lumber company for our front and side fence project. All the posts and pickets are holding up really well, so we decided to use the same lumber company again.

With the material in hand, Slav started setting the posts. He was able to stabilize them on his own with the help of clamps and stakes.

For each post, Slav used 3.5~4 bags of 60 lb cement mix. He pre-mixed the cement mixes 1 or 2 bags a time in a wheelbarrow.

This was the end of the second day looked. Slav used a string to keep all the posts aligned. It was crazy to realize how wavy our old fence was by comparing them to the new posts.

By the end of day 5, we had all 16 posts set.

The last post – which is also one of the corner posts took much longer to set. Our fence is actually built on top of a 3-feet high retaining wall. The wall ended just one foot away from our property line on each side, so the last fence post had to be set on ground level. Slav dug a deep hole into the ground, poured concrete, then used a tube on top to support the new corner post. The concrete in the tube was connected to the concrete in the ground with rebars, so this corner post should stay straight and secure.

This cornet post alone took over 6 bags of 60 lb cement mix. It is crazy how fast we went though the whole pallet. In the end, all 56 bags were used up and I think we purchased 1 or 2 more bags to finish the project.

2. Attaching horizontal pickets

After a whole week of post work, Slav picked up cedar pickets also from the Front Range Lumber company. We used dog-ear pickets last time due to the price. This time, we decided to use flat-top pickets, which appears to be in high quality. The flat-top style of pickets are more expensive than the dog-ear style ones when you buy them individually. But if you purchase a whole bundle, which included 224 pickets, a pretty good discount will be applied which offset the price difference between the dog-ear style pickets and the flat-top style pickets. Based on our rough calculation, we needed ~210 pickets to complete the fence, so a bundle worked really well for us since there were some pickets split or not straight, which we rejected.

It was exciting to watch the first a few pickets go up! Slav started from the South corner of the yard. To accommodating the retaining wall, the first post was set 1.5 feet away from the corner. So the boards were extended to cover the gap.

By the way, this is Slav’s fence plan and material calculation sheet. It could not be more different from my renovation plans…LOL.

Finishing up the first panel – my hero!

Someone was not happy with the disturbance we caused. Do not worry, little buddy, this project would be completed soon!

By the end of the first day – three panels were completed.

They looked SO good!

3. Demoing the first section of the old fence

As I mentioned in my last post, we neighbor two properties at the back, and the first property line ends around the fifth panel from the corner. Before Slav could complete this panel, he needed to demo this section of the old fence first.

Slav took off some pickets from the old fence and went to the other side. Technically, our property ends with the retaining wall. So the space behind the fence and on top of the retaining wall also belongs to us.

We rarely see this narrow strip behind the fence, so Slav took this opportunity to inspect the retaining wall and weed the area. My backyard neighbors will be looking at this side of the fence.

A rare occasion to look into two neighbors’ yard.

After this part of the demo was completed, Slav continued attaching pickets and finished this panel.

He did not need to use almost any tools to perform the demo – the pickets were attached using nails which were rusted. Most of the posts have rotted at the ground level, and a few of them were not cemented in, so he just pulled everything apart by hand and twisted the posts out.

The climbing roses were planted in early 2018. I have not been training them because I knew we would eventually redo the back fence. Now I can finally install proper trellis and give these beautiful plants a real home!

4. Finishing all the pickets!

Attaching the pickets are not difficult, it just takes time. We kept the new panels the same size as out old one, which is around 5’10” wide. This means that Slav had to cut off the ends of each panel before attaching them. We also had our first real heatwave around this time. After a week and half of on and off work, the fence was finally completed!

This picture was taken on the evening of the 3rd – we pushed ourselves to finish attaching all the pickets before the long weekend, so our neighbors at the back can enjoy the new fence as a backdrop during their holiday gatherings.

Before finishing the last panel, Slav went over to our second backyard neighbor’s side and demoed the rest of the old fencing.

To finish the last panel, Slav extended the pickets to pass the last post and butt against our northern neighbor’s fence. He got a really clean finish.

The space around the post is pretty narrow. However, we sometimes foster small dogs and they could potentially squeeze through. To cover the gaps, we put in a metal mesh (leftover from our fence project 6 years ago) and put some flower pots in front of it.

5. A cost summary

At the beginning of this project, we purchased one pallet (56 bags) of 60-lb cement mix (~$240), 16 4″x4″x10′ cedar posts (~$800), one bundle of (225) 1″x 6″ x 6′ flat-top pickets (~$1000), and one tub of exterior screws. At the end, we needed one more bag of cement mix to complete the job due to the unusual amount of concrete needed for the last/corner post. There was one picket left at the end of the project.

The whole project costed us about $2000 in materials. There was no labor cost because Slav did everything himself including demo.

And this is the final product! Slav trimmed the fence post to the top of the pickets and picked up some free mulch for the area.

Just in time for the long weekend!

Happy Seventh Anniversary and the Start of the Back Fence Build!

By Alison

On 2024-06-15

In DIY Built

Till this week we have been living in our ranch house for 7 years. We spent the first 5 years renovating the interior of the house, room by room. Looking back at pictures we took during the closing, we definitely accomplished a lot.

The old living room before closing:

The new living space:

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The old kitchen:

The kitchen now:

The main floor bath, 2017:

The main floor bath, now:

The basement in 2017:

The basement now:

We did not just worked on interior. We also replaced the roof, rebuilt the garden shed, and planted lots of flower beds and a vegetable garden.

The front of the house in 2017:

The front of the house now:

The front yard in 2017:

After planting in 2018:

And now:

The backyard and the shed when we bought the house:

The backyard and shed now:

Also the backyard when we bought the house:

which has been converted into a vegetable garden:

The biggest changes we did to the exterior of the property must be the horizontal fencing. This was a DIY built to replace the chain link fence there before. By doing everything ourselves, we were able to keep the fence under budget. It was our most impactful project to date and we still enjoy looking at the fence every day.

However, when we did the fence project in 2018, we did not have time to replace the wooden fence along the back of our property. This 87 feet long wooden fence were a patchwork by multiple previous owners and the construction was done poorly. Not only the pickets were in different colors, several posts started to lean when we moved in.

It has always been on our to-do list to replace this wooden fence with the same style of horizontal fencing. But building a horizontal fence, although not technically challenge, does take a lot of time. For a few years, Slav was busy at his office job and simply did not have time to replace the fence. This summer, he took a well deserved break, and we are finally tackling the back fence!

As you can see, we marked on the old fence where the fence posts needed to be, and Slav started digging the fence holes by hand. To keep our dogs inside the property, we will not demo the old fence until the new horizontal fence is in place, so all the post holes were dug just in front of the old fence panel.

I also cut back all the climbing roses and blackberries near the fence before the project started. The climbing roses and blackberries are all the thorny varieties. We picked these varieties to add security to our back fence, but for the same reason, they are too prickly to work right next to.

We neighbor two properties on the other side of the back fence. The first 1/3 of the fence is behind the vegetable garden and one neighbor’s backyard is directly behind this section of the fence.

The rest of the back fence spans ~60 feet and other neighbor’s backyard is behind it.

At the corner, you can see that our back fence butting against the northern side fence. This side fence belongs to our neighbor so we will not be replacing it.

After a few days of work, Slav dug all 15 fence post holes. These holes are about 2 feet deep and around 1.5 foot across. One 4 x 4 post will be set into each hole. Sometimes, the new post hole sat pretty close the the old post. To ensure the structure remains solid, We will not remove the old post and the concrete in the soil, but simply cut the old posts flush to the ground instead.

After all the post holes were completed, Slav purchased the same type of lumber we used for our last fence project (from the same company too). In total we need 16 of 10-feet cedar posts (in some places we have to bury the post over 2 feet deep or build up a bit more than 6 feet due to the slope). He also got a whole pallet (56 bags) of concrete mix (60 lbs per bag) which is just about what we need.

We will be setting all the posts next week, then attaching the horizontal pickets and demo the old fence. We will follow the same process as that during our 2018 fence build (here, here, and here), except we will not be building a gate this time. I will come back in a couple weeks to hopefully show you the finished back fence. Wish us luck!