good fences make good neighbors

We already had pretty good neighbors, so the fence is really more to keep the kiddos inside and the random dogs (like the two pit bulls that came right up to us in the yard a few weeks ago or the crazed pug that chased my friend into a neighbor's yard this week) out.  It's one of those wonderful examples of DIY goodness--my parents, Brandon's parents, and my sister and her husband all turned out to share their miscellaneous knowledge and muscle power, and the result?  Better than we ever expected:

This shot shows the finished fence, including copper caps on the posts (and we added another one this weekend to the mailbox, to match).  We tried to stain it this weekend but it was too soon, and the wood wouldn't absorb the stain.

I like to call this one The View from Inside Baby Supermax.

We used the existing chain link fence poles on all the corners.  This weekend, we painted the metal posts brown with shiny copper caps.  Hopefully they'll match the cedar stain we picked out for the fence.

We had two estimates on having the fence done professionally and they ranged from $700-1400!  I've decided that nothing spurs me into physical labor like a free estimate.  The fence you see ended up costing approximately $335 and two days of manual labor.  The stain will probably add another $50 to the cost.

We managed to get a lot of work done on the house this weekend, although most were little jobs that we didn't want to do but that needed doing.  We put a latch on the gate to help make sure the girls can't escape so easily, and finished up the copper caps on the posts.  Brandon's mom came to visit and watched the girls while we climbed up in the attic to pull all of the insulation away from the eaves.  We got a ridgeline vent last summer with our new roof, and ever since the a/c unit can't seem to keep the house cool when it's very warm outside.  We realized part of the problem might be the fact that we shoved the insulation all the way to the edge of the roof, so we went up on Saturday morning to remedy it.  There was a lot of light showing around the edges (more than I remember before the new roof, hmm...), so I'm not sure what we did actually did a lot of good, but it did feel nice and cool in the house on this relatively warm weekend, so here's hoping.  We're not sure there are actually holes where the soffit vents are, so that might be the next step.  We're worried that the P.O. put vented siding over the eaves but that it's solid underneath!   We had a solar vent before the new roof and it worked just fine...the roof guy talked us into the ridgeline one and removed our solar vent (which we kept).  And now the house is hot.  Hmm.

We also noticed a spot where a support wasn't actually attached and the roof is sagging a little.  No idea how long it's been that way--2 weeks or 20 years--but we don't remember it being that way before, so we'll have to look into repairing it soon.

In other news, we've turned The Room of the Visiting Family Babysitter into an office again, with lots of bookshelves and the old futon.  We had a twin bed in there when Nana Reece and Aunt Kathy were so graciously helping out (we owe you forever!), but since I became a full time stay at home mom in January, we figure they can sleep on the futon when they visit.

And--you probably figured this one out already--in January I quit my job at the library and started staying home full-time with the girls.  It's been wonderful and I think it was definitely the right thing to do for us.  Much less stress...and much less money, but so far we seem to be doing okay.  Look for future posts on exciting things like menu planning, home made bread, and meatloaf recipes.  Woo hoo!  ;)

old roof, new roof

The photos should be in order, showing various parts of the old roof, flashing around the chimney, etc. as well as the empty (and later, full) dumpster in our driveway, the roofing materials, the guys working on the roof.  The last photo is somehow the only one I have of the NEW roof!  I'll have to remember to take some more soon.  I had planned to post old photo of chimney flashing vs. new chimney flashing, etc. but...I have twins and so you are lucky to get this ;)

Bell Roofing was awesome and Donna who works for them is amazing.  They replaced over 300' of bad wood (a new record, apparently) and ended up giving us a discount on the wood since it was so much.  We also had a ridgeline vent installed and hope it makes a difference this summer...especially since we just found out a few weeks ago that our AC unit isn't freezing up because something is wrong with it so much as it's probably just too small for our house.  Ouch!

project updates

It's spring and we've got lots of things going on, including awaiting the installation of a new roof!  Yippee!  All our neighbors were getting them, so we had to keep up ;)  Actually, one of our neighbor's roofers came by and claimed we had hail damage and needed (of course) a new roof.  State Farm begged to differ, but said we did have wind damage and they would pay to have our shingles replaced.  We ended up not going with the neighbor's roofer, but instead found Bell Roofing.  They brought us sample shingles, gave us addresses of homes to see actual roof colors, and have mainly just been awesome.  We haven't gotten the roof yet, so I can only hope that their roofing ability lives up to their customer service.  We've picked out a color that is kind of similar to what we already have, but I think it will look great.  We opted for the architectural style shingles rather than the basic three-tab, and hope it will make a huge difference in the appearance.  Here's the color we've chosen:

Barkwood by GAF-ELK

We're also having a ridgeline vent installed, and possibly having our gutters repaired or replaced.  The quote we got was for replacement with 6" gutters, stating this is standard in Atlanta, and that our 4" gutters just won't cut it.  We may get a second opinion, although new, bigger gutters would be nice to look at (if not to pay for).

We're still working on that front door...or rather, we're still thinking about it from time to time.  I did score a large piece of textured glass from a neighbor, but we've still got to get it cut.  Brandon needs to stain the door, and just hasn't returned to it since last time (when the rats in the shop ate the wood putty out of the knots).  Speaking of the shop, the power to it has been disconnected by our dear friend Paul the Electrician, who decided he couldn't live with himself if it burned to the ground.  Apparently it was that bad.  We are hopeful he will have time soon to come back and help us get it redone safely.

Other projects on the horizon include a home-made swing set given to us by a neighbor, whose kids had outgrown it.  It has a fort, slide, and a rock-climbing wall!  This weekend we hope to get it pressure washed, painted, braced, and our baby swings installed.  Brandon's mom is working on a pink pirate flag for the girls, so that they can fly it from the fort portion.  We also hope to soon move the fence from the backyard to the front, along with some to-be-purchased new portions and a gate.