Monthly Archives: September 2013

Let’s Pull Out Some Trees!

This home has provided many landscaping opportunities.  However, before we can start to add some beauty to the front of the home, we had to demo, of course! Luckily my husband is a Demo Master (not to be confused with Dojo Master), and has no problem with this destruction process!

On our third weekend living in the new house, Mike’s best man from our wedding, Chris and his girlfriend Tara, came up to visit.  Knowing that Mike had just purchased a chainsaw earlier that week, I pretty much knew that we would have a few missing trees by Monday.  They started with the most obnoxious tree on the property, one right in the front yard, blocking half of the front of the house.  Most of the trees and bushes came down easily with the chainsaw that we bought.  The stumps, on the other hand… took an axe, pick axe, shovel, a lot of elbow grease, and a Jeep!  Enjoy the photo transformation below.  And I mentioned most of the greenery came down easily.  You’ll see which one wasn’t so simple near the bottom (hint: ENORMOUS bush).

As you can see, we had a lot of overgrown plants.

As you can see, we had a lot of overgrown plants.

This picture was taken just after Chris chopped down the giant tree (or overgrown bush) blocking the front of the house. Yeah!

This picture was taken just after Chris chopped down the giant tree (or overgrown bush) blocking the front of the house. Yeah!

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Cutting it up into more manageable pieces.

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Chris is surveying his work. Yeah Chainsaw!

Link to the Chainsaw we bought here.

The chainsaw is an Echo CS-400 that we bought at Home Depot. It works wonders and had fantastic reviews. We also got it for $100 off because it had been bought and returned (by the looks of it, someone used it to chop down one tree). You do have to put an oil mixture with the gas, which is very simple. Just one small bottle per gallon.

The chainsaw is an Echo CS-400 that we bought at Home Depot. It works wonders and had fantastic reviews. We also got it for $100 off because it had been bought and returned (by the looks of it, someone used it to chop down one tree). You do have to put an oil mixture with the gas, which is very simple. Just one small bottle per gallon.

Where the brush is going, for now... On top of the old garden in the back yard, which is also where we threw part of the fence.

Where the brush is going, for now… On top of the old garden in the back yard, which is also where we threw part of the fence, obviously.

Cutting down the second bush in the front yard.

Our next overgrown victim. Cutting down the second bush in the front yard.

This tree had to go. It's as simple as that.

This evergreen was probably a really nice accent to the front of the house… 30 years ago… when the home was built.

It doesn't get much simpler than digging a hole and using a tow cable to yank the trunk out of the ground.

It doesn’t get much simpler than digging a hole and using a tow cable to yank the trunk out of the ground.

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Tara (red sweatshirt looking apprehensive) owns the Jeep, Chris (in the drivers seat) is dating Tara, they’re discussing the whole “what’s yours is mine” concept.

It came out like butter. Mike gives two thumbs up!

It came out like butter. Mike gives two thumbs up!

Digging holes to cut the roots on the trees in the front yard turned out to be much harder than the evergreen next to the garage.

Digging holes to cut the roots on the trees in the front yard turned out to be much harder than the evergreen next to the garage.

Chris was very happy when the trunk was finally out of the ground. You'll notice that this tow cable is yellow, when the first was white. There isn't a picture, but when they tried using the white cable on this trunk, it nearly snapped. The guys went to Auto Zone and bought the biggest tow cable they had (rated to break at 10,000 lbs)

Chris was very happy when this trunk was finally out of the ground. You’ll notice that this tow cable is yellow, when the first was white. There isn’t a picture, but when they tried using the white cable on this trunk, it nearly snapped. The guys went to Auto Zone and bought the biggest tow cable they had (rated to break at 10,000 lbs). This was also the point where Tara and I decided to leave and get mani-pedi’s.

Link to the tow cable Mike and Chris needed here (i hope this is correct!).

Chris does a victory lap through the driveway with the trunk.

Chris does a victory lap through the driveway with the trunk.

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Another view of the victory lap.

This is what I mentioned in the beginning of this post. This is a gigantic overgrown bush on the left side of the house. It grew to be about 15 feet tall and completely filled the side of our property. The guys went underneath with a lopper to cut the branches, but had to yank each one from the bush individually. That's because the sticks had grown together making this job a nightmare.

Meet the ENORMOUS Bush (no relation to the President). This was a gigantic overgrown atrocity on the left side (south side) of the house. It grew to be about 15 feet tall and completely filled the entire side of our property. The guys went underneath with a lopper to cut the branches, but had to yank each one from the bush individually. All branches had grown together into a nest of sorts making this job a nightmare.

Taken more than an hour later. They've made remarkable progress! Mike is reaching to pull a branch that had grown through the neighbor's fence.

Taken several hours later, and after many needed breaks. They’ve made remarkable progress! Mike is reaching to pull a branch that had grown through the neighbor’s fence. Please also note my husband’s calves, holy muscles Batman!

We have a gate that opens!

We discovered another gate in our soon-to-be-trash fence!

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Another view of the “new” gate.

Mike = nearly exhausted!

Mike = nearly exhausted but not ready to quit.  He’s so happy to have projects.

Chris puts some finishing touches on the base of the bush. Not sure what we're going to do about what's left, but it's great to have it gone.

Chris puts some finishing touches on the base of ENORMOUS Bush. Not sure what we’re going to do about what’s left, but it’s great to have most of it gone.

The front of the house is starting to look more like a home, but it still needs a lot of work. We also realized that we have two lights on the front of the garage (one on either side!).

The front of the house is starting to look more like a home, but it still needs a lot of work. We also realized that we have two lights on the front of the garage (one on either side!). As you might also be able to see in this pic, the garage is still a nightmare. We’ve got another post coming detailing our cleanup process.

Thanks for stopping by! We have so many more updates to come! -Sara

The Kitchen Faucet

By Mike.

When we moved into the house, we went two weeks without a dishwasher.  This is because the previous owners wanted to fix a seal, but when they did it themselves, they broke a piece of plastic that holds the seal in place.  A replacement part was not going to arrive by the time of closing, so we accepted that they would hire a repairman to come and fix it once the new part arrived, after we had taken possession of the home.

As a result of this, we needed to do dishes by hand for 14 days, which isn’t a really big deal, considering I did dishes by hand for 18 years growing up and even more during our time living in Cedar Falls, Iowa.  What is not so much fun, is trying to do dishes in a sink with a low-sitting faucet head and no sprayer (#first world problems).  After one week of struggling to rinse dishes and fill up our Brita under the awkwardly low faucet, we broke down and bought a new faucet head.  We went for a more modern Moen with a spray head that you can pull out.  We needed to go with an all-in-one faucet because our sink only had one opening, and adding a separate sprayer would have meant cutting into the sink, etc. (too much work for a cheap sink).

I did the whole installation by myself and went slowly because I didn’t want to mess anything up.  All directions were read twice. However, there was one step that was not explained very well in the instructions, where I tried using my own tools, but would have made my life much easier if I knew earlier that the box included a specialized tool.

The old faucet. Did not sit very high above the sink and didn't have a sprayer to rinse dishes. This thing was heavy!

The old faucet. Did not sit very high above the sink and didn’t have a sprayer to rinse dishes. This thing was heavy!

The new faucet. It came with everything we needed, except for silicone tape to seal the pipes when we fastened it to the hot and cold water pipes.

The new faucet. It came with everything we needed, except for silicone tape to seal the pipes when we fastened it to the hot and cold water pipes.

Mike hard at work!

Working so hard, I didn’t even realize that Sara took this picture.

Remember to turn off both the hot and cold water before you get started. These will almost always be located under the sink in the cabinet.

Remember to turn off both the hot and cold water before you get started. These will almost always be located under the sink in the cabinet.

These are the tools I was using at first and having a very hard time getting the faucet to tighten fully against the stainless steel sink.

These are the tools I was using at first and having a very hard time getting the faucet to tighten fully against the stainless steel sink.

This came with the sink. Huh, what's that? It has a hexagon shape inside of it. :/

This came with the sink. Huh, what’s that? It has a hexagon shape inside of it. :/

Look at that! You put a screwdriver into it and it becomes a wrench to fasten the nut up under the sink. It took Mike a long time to realize this.

Look at that! You put a screwdriver into it and it becomes a wrench to fasten the nut up under the sink. It took me a long time to realize this.

There is a lot happening in this picture of what the under side of the sink looked like after everything was finished. You can see a orange pipe, which is what Mike was having a hard time fasten using his tools. You put the gray plastic wrench that they gave you over the top of the orange bolt and turn it until it is tight. In this picture, you also see the cold and hot water tubes going up to the faucet control lever, and the tube coming back down with the black plastic on it, connects to the tube that goes back up inside of the orange pipe to the spray nozzle.

There is a lot happening in this picture of what the under side of the sink looked like after everything was finished. You can see a orange pipe, and at the top of that pipe, behind the stainless steel tubes, there is a nut that I could not get tight using my own tools.  But in the two photos above this one, you can see a gray tool that you are supposed to use and it makes this whole job so easy.  In this picture, you also see the cold and hot water tubes going up to the faucet for the on/off lever.  You can also see a bigger pipe on the right side coming down to connect to the tube that goes back up inside of the orange pipe to the spray nozzle.  I didn’t think all of this stuff would fit in the hole in the sink, but there is just enough room.

One more picture of the odd positions necessary to install a sink faucet.

One more picture of the odd positions necessary to install a sink faucet.

The silicone tape Mike wrapped around every pipe connection before tightening them.

The silicone tape I wrapped around every pipe connection before tightening them.

This is one of the last things you do to install a sink with a spray nozzle that pulls from the faucet head. This weight attaches under the sink onto the hose, to pull the spray nozzle back down when you let go of it.

This is one of the last things you do to install a sink with a spray nozzle that pulls from the faucet head. This weight attaches under the sink onto the hose, to pull the spray nozzle back down when you let go of it.

The finished product. It sits much higher above the sink than the old faucet, it looks much nicer and it also has a spray function.

The finished product. It sits much higher above the sink than the old faucet, it looks much nicer and it also has a spray function.