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...

Shipments At The Bamboo Lagoon

Well our shipments have finally come and the house is chock full. We got the last of the moulding installed the day before the first one showed up. We went from mostly empty to pretty darn full.

These first ones are only the first shipment, which was the stuff that had been in storage for 7 years while we were living out of the country. A lot of this stuff is getting purged.

Pile in weight room

Tons of book boxes taking up part of the living room

Dishpacks and book cases in the lving room/diningroom

Just one wall in the project room

The space I am living in until the unpacking is done

Our once empty laundry room

Then three days later (after working 2 10 hour shifts, so no unpacking was done) the second shipment arrived...basically a second half weight-wise. This was the stuff we took overseas with us and is the day to day stuff for the most part.

Weight room with even more stuff

Stacked in front of the first pile

Coming up the stairs to the main floor

Bedroom

Bedroom looking towards closet

Livingroom...so much stuff

Dining room...and table isn't in here yet

Kitchen with squiggle room on the sides

Backporch where some stuff will stay for a while

The nice thing about having it all here, is the ability to get rid of a bunch of stuff that we don't need or won't work with this house. Fortunately we have some great places to donate so a lot of stuff isn't going in the trash necessarily. I am not really interested in selling much of it, I would rather donate, but there are a few items that need to be researched in case they are worth more than we think. As a box gets emptied, a lot of times, it gets repurposed as a donation box for one place or another....we have ReStore, St Vincent's, BioMass, and a book exchange for the majority and then of course a good recycling center for the packing materials and boxes.

It will be quite a while before all of this stuff is unpacked and organized but hope to get the majority of it knocked out over the next few weeks. Even if some of it stays in boxes for a while, it will be organized to deal with at a later date.