Exterior Wrap-up

June 10th, 2022

With the exterior completed, the dumpster and equipment gone, and the mud dried up, it's time for the final grade. This felt like a bigger deal than it was; it took the yard from construction site status to yard status. 

Due to all the mud we dealt with early on, the entire courtyard was graveled right up to the fronts of both buildings. When I talked with the excavator's young employee, I asked him to give us a little more green space, which meant digging out gravel and replacing it with real dirt. He seemed a bit dismayed by this request, but did it willingly. 

Sid's shop: This was the largest area that was dug out. Now, 3 years later, I'm really glad we did it. It's the biggest green space.

Right in front of the house we did an angled strip that went from the width of the porch on the west end, and tapered to a point next to the garage. I would have liked to keep the width all the way across, but the position of the building required gravel where Sid would need to back up to the shop garage. The combo of truck and trailer has some serious length we had to accommodate.  Right now I'm looking at how much edge of the front porch is visible. Somewhere along the line, the gravel ended up at the same level as the porch, and it's a pain because rocks are constantly kicked onto the porch to be stepped on. I want that edge back! 

The west end of the house. This is where the most hill had to be removed to fit the house in, resulting in a rather large slope. The worker was going to just smooth the hill all the way to the house, but I had him scoop out an area of relatively flat lawn. It's all graded to allow the water to flow away from the house, and currently needs a bit of attention to correct the settling along the wall. It left us with a fairly steep bank which has been a bear to get grass to grow on, and to mow. 

The side yard- this is the area between the buildings. Photos taken from the little extra window that ended up at the attic landing. 

Three years later- This is definitely utility space. There's more weeds down there than grass. 

June 14th, 2022

LAST load of gravel delivered to finish things off. 

THIS is when I lost my porch edge! 

Our west field was graded. This area got a lot of truck traffic throughout the building process. 

Finished driveway!

Propane tank in its final resting spot.

Sprinklers and hoses in use, attempting to start a lawn. This has been a long process! Three years in and I'm still starting seed in various places.