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We start on a big patio project today - extending the patio to 1100 square feet, adding a hot tub and fire pit, buying new furniture, etc. I'll add "before" pictures and then continue as the project moves along. We're so excited!
Yay! I LOVE these kinds of threads, and the more pictures, the better!
Looking forward to following your progress! Maybe we could see some "before" pictures now?
Thank you and yes - here are some "before" pictures. This first set is from the original listing - before we bought the house. Since most of these photos were taken in the winter time, you can't really tell that there were so many trees in this backyard that the sun wouldn't reach the ground! The yard was full of ground cover, ivy, leaves, broken yard art, mosquitoes and SNAKES.
Last edited by KathrynAragon; 02-07-2020 at 07:17 AM..
Not bad at all! The grass is looking good in most places.
I am really interested in this thread because I bought my current house mostly BECAUSE of the lot, which includes a huge back yard with large trees all around the perimeter. (The whole lot is 1.29 acres, and the back yard by itself is probably half of that.) It's very peaceful, beautiful, and private.
BUT I have no idea what to do with it. I have a large screened porch off the living room that leads directly into the back yard, and there's an exterior door in the TV room (other side of the house) that also leads directly into the back yard, but there's no deck or patio or anything -- YET! So I love seeing what others are doing. (I would love to add a pool back there too, but the swimming season is so short here I just can't justify spending the huge $$$ I would need to get what I want. )
Thanks for posting the "before" pictures -- I look forward to watching your progress.
Not bad at all! The grass is looking good in most places.
I am really interested in this thread because I bought my current house mostly BECAUSE of the lot, which includes a huge back yard with large trees all around the perimeter. (The whole lot is 1.29 acres, and the back yard by itself is probably half of that.) It's very peaceful, beautiful, and private.
BUT I have no idea what to do with it. I have a large screened porch off the living room that leads directly into the back yard, and there's an exterior door in the TV room (other side of the house) that also leads directly into the back yard, but there's no deck or patio or anything -- YET! So I love seeing what others are doing. (I would love to add a pool back there too, but the swimming season is so short here I just can't justify spending the huge $$$ I would need to get what I want. )
Thanks for posting the "before" pictures -- I look forward to watching your progress.
Your back yard sounds like it is full of potential! That's what I liked about our lot too - the back yard is private and quiet - but pretty darn ugly right now.
Yes, the grass looks surprisingly good considering that it's August in Texas and this is really the first year it's been established. We keep working on it. Revamping the sprinkler system (next) should help. There are some areas that just aren't getting a lot of water.
We thought about adding a pool but it would take up too much of the yard unless we cut down some more trees which we didn't want to do. So we're adding a hot tub.
It sounds like you need a deck or patio off that screened porch!
Love the in between yard. I will offer this opinion only because of our experience with a hot tub and your layout and lifestyle might be different enough to make it not matter.
We had a hot tub in NY. We both loved it initially. It was fun and new. The draw back for us was that when it was warm i.e the summer, you wanted to use it a lot less. When it was really cold you wanted to use it a lot more. When you get out of the tub your body heat is retained so you have enough time to get inside without getting cold. Getting in took a little more courage when it was freezing out side. Once in, it was fine and relaxing. My biggest problem was that when you got out in the summer you could towel off and dry off a bit. The winter time was different and in order to get into the bathroom to shower, you had to walk on hardwood floors in the kitchen and then a carpeted hallway. Neither of which were optimal for the chemicals necessary for the hot tub cleanliness. It is essentially chlorine or bromine.
I also had a problem with dry skin. I did enjoy being in it and actually hated to get out as the massage was wonderful but it dried my skin out so badly that I had to limit my dips.
The other issue for us was if you travel for any length of time, you need to have someone turn the hot tub on and add chemicals. Of course you can drain it, but ours was 750 gallons, so we didn't want to empty it often. We emptied it 3-4 times per year, but we were generally the only two who used it. When we moved we sold the tub with the house and didn't bother to get one when we moved here.
I know a lot of people that have them and enjoy them immensely as we did, but I wanted to just float this with you. Not trying to be a killjoy.
Kathryn: I think you have a beautiful back yard right now ! If I may ask, where do you live? So much potential there for flowers, flowering shrubs, quaint seating areas and even a veggie area. Wish I had some of that. My yard is mostly gravel (AZ) and I sure miss what a yard is supposed to be. Like yours. Have fun.
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