Good Fences Make Good Neighbors

Robert Frost wrote that good fences make good neighbors and since the purchase of the house over eight years ago, I have been talking about replacing the fence that faces my corner lot. As usual, click each photo for a better view.

I promised myself I would do it during the Spring this year but the time passed without movement on my part and the fence remained. Now the prospect of the Florida Winter approaching and the fence almost falling apart forced me to take action.

Those of you who have followed me for awhile are aware that I hold money quite tightly and the prospect of paying almost a thousand dollars to replace just one side of the yard really forced me to take on yet another project.

The decision to take action required enlisting the aid of my niece with her truck and a visit to my favorite project place, Lowes. I thought about just replacing the fence with the type of fencing already there but opted to go for complete privacy with "board on board"... and away we go!

Deciding to do the job by myself was truly a leap of faith but I felt like Archimedes ("Give me a lever long enough and I will lift the world") as I planned out how to move the panels into place to remove the old panels and replace the new.

A dolly helped tremendously in that I could single handily move what had taken two of us. My neighbors watched with great interest as one by one each panel was moved into place.

A clerk at Lowes made a great suggestion that I use screws rather than nails to prevent a year from now having to return to hammer protruding nails back into place and I followed it. I used my trusty drill to first bore a hole and then followed with 3 1/2 galvanized screws which made the job go fairly quick. I now understood why guys spend so much time in hardware stores, because the right tool really does make the job easier!

My neighbors thought I was genius and I did not want to dispel that belief and tried to look smart while I sweated to the oldies.

In no time I had covered almost half of the length and felt pretty good about my progress. Notice the prized bird feeder which I came to hate as I moved the panels and had to maneuver around it.

And now comes the really fun part. In any job there is always something that slows you down or makes the job much harder than you anticipated. In this case it was rotted posts. I took the lazy man approach and left in the existing posts and simply (that is a great word, "simply") decided to replace the posts that were rotted through. This required digging a couple of holes that nearly broke my back. But, I got it done.

The people who put in the original posts seemed to have planned for them to last a lifetime by the amount of concrete they put around them.

I started at nine in the morning and finished at five that evening but with great pleasure stood back and admired my work. One neighbor drove by and remarked that I had done a good job and made a decent "handyman", to which I gave him a shake of the drill which indicated: "Keep moving if you hadn't offered to help!"

I will return later to replace the gate, which requires more detail work than just replacing the panels. But, sunny-Girl and I really enjoy our new found privacy and board on board also acts as a great noise buffer.

Despite the sore muscles and the aching back, I saved myself closed to $500 based on the price I was quoted. And, as I enjoy the complete privacy of the new fence continually marvel that Frost really was correct that "Good fences do make good neighbors!"

If I were You I'd Go back...

Just to let you know that Alex and I have real lives and not every weekend is a photo adventure... Last weekend Alex had a work project and agreed to work the entire weekend to complete it. I was left to my own devices and decided to do some work around the yard.

There is a section of the backyard that sits under a huge oak tree from my neighbor’s yard that I have been looking at for a long time. I say that because the tree has over grown so much that it looks like the evil forest in the Wizard of Oz. You know, the one Dorothy and the gang enter to get to the witch and encounter the sign that says: "If I were You I'd go back.." The time alone gave me the push I needed to finally tackle it. The great and powerful Google has allowed you to click on each photo to see the full detail.

The tools of the trade

I have come to appreciate why guys spend so much time in hardware stores after I bought the house (I previously had a condo). Once you have struggled with a task and then someone gives you a tool that cuts the time in half you understand that the right tool can reduce any job to light duty. So, the first task was to lay out the tools: Ladder - check; chainsaw - check; reciprocating saw - check; and finally lots of courage because I am afraid of heights.

Mounting the ladder

I know it sounds funny but as I mounted the ladder and got that funny feeling in my stomach that I get when I have reached my height limit, I thought about my post on fear. It kept me going as I went higher and higher to cut the first branch.

A Bold Move

The first branch went so well I did a little calculation and rather than cutting this huge branch bit by bit I figured one bold move should do the trick and the branch would fall on my side of the fence. A well placed cut and down the huge branch came. But, there was some miscalculation and a portion of the fence was destroyed.

However, light instantly flowed through the area. And, we now had a good bit of oak to cure and use for barbeques later this summer.

The entire adventure was very instructive in that I faced my fears. And that section of the backyard now looks so welcoming I have to think of a project to make use of the extra bit of ground I now have… that is after I go to Lowes and replace the fence!

Our Own Private Pergola Spring

Spring will not come fast enough after such a hard winter. Ok, I've become spoiled living in Florida after moving from Colorado, but for Florida it was a hard winter! So I got the idea to bring Spring to you by highlighting a project from last Summer.

It all started with a picture... I stumbled upon a picture of a pergola that looked so inviting it became an obsession that haunted me day and night. Having one would be my oasis, my hideaway, my retreat from all the pressures of the day.

I wanted to turn this:



Into this:

I don't think I told you but my friends tell me that I am cheap, I call it frugal, but either way I don't part with a dollar easily. That said, I almost had a heart attack when the workman told me the cost to have a pergola built. But I refused to be denied, and decided to build one myself!

Did I also mention that I have never built anything? But, hope springs eternal (no pun intended) and I did what I always do: I went to the library and read everything I could on building a patio pergola. Fool that I am, I was now ready to tackle the home improvement store Lowes to begin purchasing the wood and setting up the foundation. I will give Lowes a lot of credit. They provided lots of guidance and cleared up a good deal of confusion from my reading.

This part looks simple but you have no idea the work required to get to this point. I had to dig six holes, that seemed like they went to China, and then pour the concrete that would support the posts. Doing this in July didn't help either. But, I patted myself on the back after getting it done.

Next, I got the idea to put in railing for extra seating and the thing really began to take shape. So much so, I bought a few flowers and set them where they would be when the project was finished. Ahead of the process I know, but pushing myself to the point of being able to plant those flowers was the thing that kept me going.

I never realized how difficult painting could be. I tried doing it by hand until my arm almost fell off. Another trip to Lowes and bought a small paint gun. What took hours by hand was done in fewer hours with the paint gun. Isn't technology wonderful!









Next came the lattice on top and it was now coming into shape. Cue the James Brown music "Take me home Maceo!"





I regret that I don't have any photos of the pergola right after the concrete was poured. I say that because as soon as the required time the workman suggested had expired (yes..., I don't do concrete and parted with the dollars) I threw on the table and chairs.








I even put in lights so we could sit out under the stars late into the night...


And, remember those plants...?





And now I have this...


and this


Knowing what I now know and all the work that was involved... I would do it all again! But, I will admit it helped that I didn't know ! So, Spring may not be here just yet but looking at those photos made me feel a lot better...