Dishwasher Door Gasket

On the project list....I think the steak knives have have scrapping a spot of the gasket.

Thankfully there is no leakage yet, but this needs to be taken care of, and soon.

Just one more of those small little tasks that needs to be taken care of and take up room on the To Do list....grrr

Stair Cleanup

This is one of those tasks that has to be repeatedly done around here, but always is kind of gratifying because it is such a stark change.

I probably shouldn't let it set for so long before tackling it each time but time gets away from me pretty quickly.

The St John's Wort is nice to have for the greenery and the erosion control, but it can be a bit evasive at times and you have to stay on top of it or the stairs completely disappear.

The fence in the background needs some work. I hope to get it fixed this spring when it gets warm enough to set cement for the new posts.

And It Is Done

At this point, it wasn't full yet, just getting to the shallow end...took forever to get the water up to the right level where we would turn off the vacuums that are sucking the liner to the sides until it fills up enough to stay put.

You can see how dark the new bottom is but it makes the water so much more blue and quite lovely.

Just about there...only a few more inches to go but they still take forever even with two hoses running.

Finally full, the water looks so much better. Can't wait for it to be balanced and ready for swimming!!

The Bamboo Lagoon Project Continues

So the pool was empty but then we got some rain and it filled up the bottom a bit. I wasn't sure if I should run the pumps more with the water so low so I held off.

You can see all the different tears but these happened after it was empty from the pull of the liner and the fact that it was dry in the sun.

Doesn't even look that big when the liner isn't pressed into the sides from the water. I can't wait to see the new look and have the pool clean and usable again.

Final Touches

Before filling

So this last little bit of filling in the kitchen was final touches to the floor itself. I still have some wall touch ups to do on the stairs but this was the last for the floor itself.

The filler I am using is the stuff my friend, who installed the floors, recommended. It is in the honey oak color, even though our floors are "toast" bamboo. It covers pretty well as you can see from the second shot, you can barely tell where the nail holes are.

Apparently, this stuff hardens like wood too so no worries about it flaking apart later. We used it on all the nail spots and then in a couple of gaps that we found after the floor was nailed down.

After the fill

The Bamboo Lagoon Project

Empty dirty pool looking towards shallow end

So it begins...the liner has been a problem for some time now. The breaking point was this last fall when a raccoon got into the pool and couldn't get out and tore a hole in one corner. Then this winter, one of the railings started to come loose.

I tried to patch the hole a couple of times because the size of it and the location made it very hard to keep the pool full enough to filter correctly but I couldn't keep a patch over it. It was just too big to really stick.

So I talked to the pool company this winter about what my options were and then once we warmed up, made an appointment to have it looked out.

On Thursday, Bill came out and gave it a look, gave me a quote and helped me start draining the pool. It took about 9 hours to completely drain it, and then Bill came back today to do all the measurements for the new liner.

The reason it looks so dirty is because I didn't do any maintenance through the winter (would have been a waste of money) knowing we were going to dump the water this spring.

Looking towards the deep end

It will take about 3 weeks to get the liner in before we can start replacing it. For now, we leave the old liner in just to protect the framing from the weather. Bill said that because we don't have groundwater issues (the yard is sloped and the pool is actually behind and above our house), it should be an easy refit. They don't replace the steps (and to do that would cost almost the same as the liner) but they replace all the other plastic parts and the drain when it is all said and done.

Cayman/Prism

This is the motif that I picked out. One thing I wanted was a simple design that would go well with our deck and landscaping. The dark blue bottom will make the water look awesome. The brown section in this motif is less orange in real life (I was able to see a sample of the vinyl) and will look nice with our weathered redwood deck...now to replace some of the boards on the deck...the list never gets any shorter.

I will update as the project progresses. I am hoping to be off work on the days when Bill is here doing the replacements so I can see the process and take photos.

Moving And Organizing Project Room

This is still a work in  progress but at least we have made a dent and it can be used for guests when it needs to be as well.

We had to move quite a bit around as well and there still needs to be some purging done in order to get everything to fit like it should.

These two pics are what it looked like when we started. The cabinet below is an antique Chinese cabinet that I use for storing paper project supplies. There is a table set up at one end for my computer projects and then one along the window for creative projects. We put the fold out futon on the opposite wall for guests.

The supplies in the picture below are for the tile floors we are going to put in all the wet rooms in the house. They were in the project room but we moved them to the hallway so that the project room could be set up like it should. Hopefully this stuff shouldn't be in the hallway for too long.

Bamboo Lagoon Work At The Bamboo Lagoon

This is where we started with the mess that the raccoon did to the liner this last fall and why our hand is being forced on having to replace the liner this year no matter what.

Tree Trimming

I think that this poor baby gets this treatment every year. She is so pretty with all her new leaves but always needs to be trimmed up to keep her healthy and beautiful.

Before

After

Looking good and always motivates me to do more.

Lawn Maintenance at the Bamboo Lagoon

First cuts of the year are always the most noticeable and needed...

This is what the front yard areas looked like before I was able to get at them with the mower.

This side bed needs to be dug up and replanted with plants and barked....on the To Do list.

Fence Post Repair

Gap in fence with old post and a couple boards missing

So the fence that borders my neighbors in the back has started to sag in a couple of spots. My neighbor decided that he was willing and able to do the work if I was willing and able to buy the materials....having removed a post or two before, I knew immediately that I was getting the better end of the deal.

So unfastening the boards near the post and the cross boards to the post was the easy part....it was manhandling the 100+ pound of cement out of the deep hole in the ground that really got all of us working.

We ended up having to use a chain with a ratchet on it around a nearby tree to finally get the chuck out. My neighbor disposed of all the broken parts from the fence.

Once he had the old posts out, we mixed new cement and poured it into the hole with the new post in it. The cement sets pretty quickly but he came out several times to recheck level to make sure that the posts weren't shifting much.

The chuck of old cement with the broken post end in it

New post in place

New cement in place

Once the new posts set up overnight, the new brackets for the cross support boards and the new fence boards could be put on.

Cement cured and boards refastened

Second new post in

And set

Finished fence posts, nice straight fence

I think he did a great job and I still ended up with the better end of the deal. I have a post on the other side that needs fixing too but probably will have to hire someone as the slope of the yard near it might make it very hard to deal with.

Siding Fix At The Bamboo Lagoon

Broken boards on porch door

We have this little door on the area below our front porch and when accessing it earlier this spring, one of the pieces of siding split.

I took off the full piece below so I could get a piece of cedar siding at the lumber store that was the correct width.

Once I got back home, I decided to see if I could glue the old piece back together to just save on priming and painting time when we were in cold weather.

I think that it came out okay with some awesome wood glue that our flooring friend turned me on to and a few finishing nails.

Fixed door

Last Corner Of Baseboards

Pretty proud of myself for knocking this out...now I can put all the furniture where it needs to go without feeling like I need to get behind it all to finish this up.

Before

Before

After

After

Furniture back in its basic location...still need wall decor and rugs but it is coming together slowly...

Spring Cleanup At The Bamboo Lagoon

Lamb's Ear before the cleanup

Beds all needed some cleanup...and the weather was right, so I jumped right in. I cut back all the Lamb's Ear, cleaned up the weeds in the main front bed.

Upper bed before cleanup

Lower bed before cleanup

Little bed near the road before cleanup

Bed along front of house before cleanup

After cleanup

Upper bed after cleanup

Bed along house after cleanup

The main beds after cleanup

It didn't take too long, but definitely made the whole area look so much better....now need to focus on the rapid growth that is going already all over the yard...