Goodbye, garage. Though we were initially very discouraged to lose it (due to draining problems and tree roots compromising the foundation), one upside is that the property now looks a whole lot quainter. Though it would've been quite nice one day once we added new siding and a whole new front, the garage in its current (well, previous I guess, now that it's gone) state was a hideous eyesore. Now have a clear view of the pretty little forest at the corner of our property, and the last bit of true ugliness around here is gone. Amazing.
That was one huge checkmark on the plus side. The best part though: we didn't have to lift a finger. We found a guy who wanted the roof trusses and metal roofing (both of which were in great shape and can be reused), so he brought a crew and got to work. By the time we got home from church on Sunday, the garage was 50% gone. By dinner, all that was left was the cement slab and one last load of rubble to be hauled away. If you learn anything from me about renovating your home, let it be this: having someone else do the work sometimes can really be the best thing ever.
We still haven't 100% decided what to do about the cement slab. We're looking into it. We could clear it off and let Johnnie ride her bike on it. We could put up a basketball hoop. We could build a pergola for picnics. We could cover it with dirt (maybe?), mark the spot and forget about it (until we sell the place one day and have to tell the new owners where it is). We'd prefer not to have to break it up though -- it's HUGE -- but we'll see. Let's worry about that a little later.
Until then, stand by for before and after photos... and for more house updates soon. On the docket we've got exterior painting, master suite drywalling, and lots of other projects that are moving forward. The snake incident was pretty motivating for us to get this show on the road already.
Yay for having someone else do the work! I love it when things work out like that. We had a ton of those garden paver-type stones when we moved into our current house. My husband put them on facebook and a family from church came to get them within the hour!
ReplyDeleteEK:
ReplyDeleteSo for the price of trusses and metal, he took it down AND hauled it off?
Not bad at all. Did you have any junk in it already? Did you loose storage space?
We did pay him, but not much considering how much work it was and the volume of stuff he had to dispose of. Worth every penny.
ReplyDeleteThe only things we kept in the garage were the lawn tractor and some scrap wood (leftover beams removed from the house, etc.) We're not huge stuff accumulators. One problem though is that we had planned to turn the back of the garage into a gym... which now means I'm not sure if I'll ever get the treadmill out of the living room. I use it regularly though, so at least it does more than look ugly and collect dust.
There's still a whole heap of junk that the previous owner/hoarder kept in the little red shed, but if we ever clean that out the lawn tractor might fit in there. I'm not sure though.
My vote is definitely a basketball hoop! :)
ReplyDeletePergola sounds really nice. With noce flower beds around! Johnnie can have tea parties for her dolls in it in a couple of years.
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