Timberrr!

Our house looks so different from the outside now but of course we still have a lot of work to do for our curb appeal to increase! On Tuesday and Wednesday our tree guy (Snake) removed all the ugly pine trees from the left side of the house, two trees in the front, and ground down all the stumps. He also cut back some overhanging branches on the two large maple trees. It has opened up that side of the house so much and looks much better. Now you can actually see our neighbors oak trees and we’ll be able to grow some grass there. They left us with some logs for the fireplace and a LOT of mulch. We’ll be using a lot of it around the trees in the back and in the rows of our garden.

The tree removal was not only for aesthetics. The pines and leaves were damaging the roof and clogging the gutters. The roots were too close to the foundation and sewer line and threatening the stability of the house. The new roof, gutters, and down spouts (hopefully done this week) will keep the water away from the basement, keeping it dry and livable.




The contractor finished removing the wall in the mudroom (soon-to-be sunroom) and they are supposed to be installing the sliding glass door and windows this week.

This weekend wasn’t very productive in terms of work completed but we were able to make a lot of decisions to move forward. The big decisions involve new windows, new kitchen, and new bathrooms.
It’s amazing the amount of small decisions that are involved in each of the big decisions. Take the kitchen for instance – you have to make decisions about the layout, the floor, the cabinet type, the cabinet color, the countertop type, the countertop color, the appliances, the color of the backsplash, the color of the walls, the cabinet hardware, the light fixtures, the sink faucet, etc., etc. Of course each decision that you make affects what you’ll have to choose for one of the other options. All these decisions should comply, as we learned on Saturday, with the National Kitchen and Bathroom Standards. Otherwise, the resale value will drop because somebody might feel a little too crowded in a 41” walk space or the refrigerator within 24” of the sink.

We are meeting with the planner at Lowes tomorrow to finish our kitchen design and order the cabinets and countertop. The windows will hopefully also be ordered this week. The bathroom is still one of the items that needs work. Right now we are still working towards a move in date in early April.

My parents and brother drove down on Sunday to pick up the radiator covers. My dad has been spending some time each night grinding off the multiple layers of paint from each piece. Once he’s done with the grinding, he’ll be able to prime and paint them. We’re so glad that he offered to do this work – it’s quite a big task!