Before & After Driveway Rehab

For those of you out there who own a home - power to you! Owning a home is far more work than just lawn mowing and cleaning. You break things, other things break on their own; then you either shell out money to fix them or pay to have them fixed. 

When we became home owners we knew that our driveway was going to need replaced. We wanted to make the improvement fast so that we could enjoy it (if) before we ever moved.

WARNING: this photo is graphic and is only intended for mature audiences.

(haha, okay, but really... :\ )

Beyond being visually unappealing, we couldn't get through winter without shoveling chunks of asphalt into our yard. We regularly tracked our driveway into our kitchen on our shoes and we had to sweep our garage of rocks. 

We finally got tired of it (after we had saved enough money) and called D&M Concrete based out of Greenwood, Ind. They weren't our first call, but they were the only concrete contractor to give us the time of day AND a reasonable quote. 

We booked them in the fall of 2015 and by March of 2016 they had broken ground and laid a new driveway and sidewalk in roughly two days. 

Check out their progress....

We also had D&M put in a new sidewalk and install the first two feet of our garage floor (due to pitting). 

These images were taken as soon as the framing was pulled off - WOW!!

And now - the stunning end product! 

THREE WEEKS (yes, it really felt that long) later we were able to remove the "do not drive" tape. This meant we could finally park in our garage again AND use the driveway. We're much happier with our new curb appeal and love the functionality!

Some tips for those looking to redo their driveway:

• Get more than one quote! We originally thought we would do asphalt because people kept telling us that it was cheaper than concrete. "People" were very wrong. The price fluctuates (much like gasoline) and you should do your homework!
• If your contractor wants money before they do any work challenge them. A great contractor won't need money up front. They'll make sure it's perfect and your happy before they take your money. Besides, you want the job done, right?
• Have the contractor over and walk through your plans. Have them draw it out and review those plans again before they start the work. Over communicate to be sure that you're getting EXACTLY what you want. It's a pricey mistake if they get it wrong.
• Be flexible when it comes time for the work to happen. Weather is a huge factor when it comes to pouring concrete and sometimes your job will be bumped up or pushed back. Spring is a great time to have a job like this done because (hopefully) the only elements you're battling are rain - at least in Indiana. Freezing temps require additives to the concrete that jack up the price $1-$10 per yard!
• Prepare for a project like this at least 1-2 seasons in advance. Contractors schedule their jobs pretty far out so you'll want to be having these conversations before the moment you want the job done. 
• Be honest with your contractor and share not only your budget but where you're hoping to save costs. They'll be able to tell you whether or not pouring more items, like a sidewalk, may actually be cost effective for you based on the mixing quantity of the cement truck. 
• Review your contract and be comfortable with the terms. Add an addendum or initial changes in the document if you have reservations. This is particularly true for those wanting cash in advance of the job.
• Get educated on your new concrete or asphalt and learn about it's care. Concrete for example requires a spray on sealant every 2-3 years. It's also not good to power wash it but rather to use bleach to kill the fungi and bacteria growing on it and gently power wash it off afterwards. 

Thanks for stopping by the Humble Hammock!

Cara

Upcycled Patio [Pt. 2]

If you missed out on the initial stages of the patio makeover, take a moment to get up to speed. Then join us here...

As new homeowners it was fair to assess that we knew very little about anything. Since we were going to learn as we went anyway, why not create the patio of our imaginations, right? 

After searching on Google and Pinterest, I came across this inspiration and showed it to my husband. We agreed that not only did it look feasible for our skill set, but affordable too. So we started noodling the numbers to estimate what we should expect to spend with landscaping stones/seal/glue, mulch, edging materials, plants, and patio furniture.

During the winter months we spent our time perusing Menards for the retaining wall rock. The plan? Leave the concrete pad and build a rock wall on three sides with two openings to enter and exit the space. We settled on Catalina (tan) from Menards and ordered it in store. 

Fortunate for us, Menards delivered the 2,000+ pounds of rock. But they did so on the rainiest spring day Indiana could conjure and they had to park the semi in the street while using the fork lift to unload two pallets in our driveway rather than our back yard. Yours truly got to gopher them through the garage before stacking them in our workspace so as to save the yard while Andrew was traveling for work. I have to admit, I did take a lot of pride in that...

After my Herculean efforts I decided to plow forward with other parts of the project while Andrew was swooning over his precious wall. I've always thought my freehand lettering was relatively decent so why shouldn't I be able to "free shovel" the curvy edging for our landscaping? Here's my progress...

The trick is to really hollow out the space for your edging. It's easier to fill in a space that's too deep and adjust as you're laying it and fill in the dirt with your hand as you go. 

You've heard me say it before... one man's trash is another man's treasure. Sorry to be so cliche', but it's true. In true fashion I sold these pallets to other DIYers on our local garage sale site so that I could buy flowers for this new space!

While edging (see progress behind the bulbs) I got distracted by these plants that have continued to come up in the middle of our back yard. In my current shovel-obsessed state I left no bulb unearthed and replanted them in the new space where other landscaping and plants would reside.

UPDATE: they did return this year but have yet to produce a flower. :(

Meanwhile, in retaining rock wall land...

And then while I was on a bachelorette party to Las Vegas he and his brother finished this masterpiece! 

Now this next part intimidated me the most. Most that know my experience with plants know that I do not possess a green thumb. In fact, I'm pretty sure I've returned five or six succulents to Home Depot because I have no idea how to make them happy. 

During this process there are two humans, constantly wrangling the lines of thrifty and "this doesn't look thrifted" to come up with solid landscaping options. This first beauty (which we bought two of), was on super sale for $6. It's an Azalea which I am happy to report DID survive through the winter.

Quick rabbit hole.. My husband is still driving his "truck" from high school and their love runs deep. We can debate the term "truck" on another blog post, but I often entice him to prove truck-like attributes. This ended with him severely overloading the cab and bed with more plants than I could possibly kill in one afternoon and gave me one of my favorite homeowner memories.

Those five precious arbor vitae that you see in the back were planted that afternoon. Yes, they too are still alive and well (believe it or not)! You can see my edging work below too - before we plucked the grass and mulched.

Slow but sure, it's come along!

I hate mulch. I think fresh mulch smells like dog poop and I hate putting it all around my house so that when outside all I can think is that someone is slacking on the poop scooping. None the less, Andrew insisted we get mulch, so we visited Edgewood Feed and Seed and settled on the deep brown option from their sample box. Which yes, is even further reminiscent of the poop simile.

Mulching isn't anything to write home about - especially the first time you cover all of the space you want to much. Three or four yards later (I forget honestly), after unloading it in the blazing sun and pouring down rain I was just happy to be done. 

When we did finish mulching, Andrew laid grass seed along the edging to fill in the areas we'd disrupted during our project. It grew very well and was filled in before the end of the season.

I even did edged the side bed too. After we bought three burning bushes I learned that they're not indigenous to Indiana. Unfortunately for me I was face-to-face with a forester and had to appear revolted when she told me that her sister had tried to put the horrible plants in her landscaping. I guess the bonus is that they haven't technically turned red and proven to us that they're truly burning bushes so that makes me feel less guilty. :|

Projects like these don't really end in your back yard. Before you know it the front yard looks like garbage against the remnants that peek through in the back. Which led to this...

Then this...

And now... do you remember what we started with?

Here's the transformation!

When it was all said and done it came together really nicely. We've already made additional improvements since this was taken late last summer, but what a transformation!

Side note, continue reading to learn about our patio set and how I stained it.

Thanks for stopping by the Humble Hammock! What questions did you have from this project?

Upcycled Patio [Pt. 1]

I was apprehensive to showcase our "shabby" patio space, but now that we're on the other side of the renovation and landscaping, I'm more at ease in sharing the before and after. 

Here's what our space looked like on our official day of demolition. A concrete pad had been poured and used as a space for a hot tub. More than 200 landscaping pavers were sloppily laid to extend the pad and then a privacy fence was erected to complete the space. Maybe it worked for the family before us, but it was certain we'd remove it after we endured our first winter in the home.  

First fence panel comes down!

The fence came apart pretty quickly and I snapped images of the salvageable panels before putting them on our local township garage sale site on Facebook. My husband thought I'd lost my marbles. "Who would want a crappy old fence, Cara?" 

He changed his tune when a line quickly developed to claim the fence and we made a whopping $40! One man's trash is another man's treasure...

I mean, it's not like they looked THAT bad. I determined I'd do some sort of crafting with them if they weren't claimed. 

The fence posts weren't as easy to remove. We dug most of them up but did end up leaving the concrete of one in the ground. I also listed these on our local township garage sale site on Facebook and helped a gentleman load them into his truck the following afternoon. We gave them away but we didn't have to pay to haul them to the junk yard.

Then we pulled up all of those fungus covered pavers and stacked them along the side of the house. Although they were dirty, I knew a power washer would bring them back to life. I bet you wouldn't guess that I listed those on the same Facebook page and had them sold in the day too. We made $.50 each and upped the ante to $140 on our backyard recycle project.

Once all of the old fencing and stones were cleared, we were finally provided a clean slate. In the next week I created a drawing with a full landscaping plan and we began mapping how we would make this a usable space for entertaining. 

Thanks for stopping by the Humble Hammock! Check back for the finished project soon!

Budget: I'll Side with Duramax

If you live in the glorious flyover state of Indiana, you’re certain to be experiencing a wet summer full of fluctuating 60 – 90 degree temperatures during the day and the occasional hailstorm or tornado. As luck would have it, our home wasn’t hit by a tornado; however, we did luck into some hail. 

So here we are, a couple of homeowners in the dark on who to call for siding replacement. When we have problems bigger than we can handle, I start by calling our realtor, Cate Waggoner, who over a year later still refers us to awesome contractors and keeps a pulse on our journey. Cate pulled through for likely the fifth or sixth time since we’ve had possession of our home and gave me a list of contractors.

The list dwindled quickly with no callbacks and no interest in repairing aluminum siding. Steve, the owner of Duamax Roofing and Siding, replied to an email almost instantly, visited our home and assessed the damage within a couple of days, and had an acceptable quote for our insurance at the visit.

Steve went above and beyond by giving us two quotes - one for two sides of aluminum siding (to replace what was damaged), and one for four sides of vinyl siding so that the home would be completely damage free and match forevermore. He came by with samples, made customized suggestions and even worked well beyond the required workday to be sure that the job was done right.

Here's the final product...

Before

After

After

His team consisted of four gentlemen who were incredibly tidy while they worked and constantly picked up trash and debris that came off of the home. They also didn't bring any materials for the job until they showed up on the first day of work - which meant our yard didn't have to be the eyesore of the neighborhood while we waited on work to begin.

It took three days (during which it rained and rained) to get the job done. Afterwards, the craftsmanship and attention to each detail was undeniable. Steve's crew even added some personal touches, replaced compromised wood that they weren't required to do based on the scope of our work, and fought off bees living under our siding. They even replaced the fascia above our garage door with a custom, handmade overhead detail that now sets our garage apart.

Garage door fascia replacement

Front detailing and rehanging of the shutters

Chimney detailing

Window trimming and caulking with attic vent detailing

New gutter with perfect color match for our back patio

More craftsmanship around the roofline, chimney and corners

Corner channeling and clean siding lines

We cannot give enough kudos and recommendations for Steve at Duramax. Check out his company if you live in the Indianapolis area and need a referral for roofing, siding, or an honest to goodness contractor with a knack for quality. You can find out more about Duramax on Angie's List, BBB and Facebook.

Thanks for stopping by the Humble Hammock!
Cara