Back Yard: A Year of Projects

We are so close to having the back yard done!  Just so you can have a frame of reference for what we started with:

Things that we had going on:

1. Original deck (circa 2004) which was sinking, rotting, and slowly being claimed by carpenter bees.
2. Rusted and nearly dead AC condensing unit
3. 100% weeds and crab grass
4. Above-ground downspout tube that ran along the entire southern fence (on the left in the above photo).  Quite the eyesore.
5. More space than all of our neighbors and LOTS of potential...

Two years ago we roto-tilled the yard and attempted to reseed but sadly we did all of this right before a month of rain (that's what it felt like anyway) and the new grass seed was nearly completely washed away.  The weeds came back so we're back to square one on the lawn.

BUT

Last year I found a company that was willing to build a new deck for us.  It's kind of a long story.  The basement emergency escape window is directly under our sliding glass door and the current building codes say that our deck structure has to have a trap door.  It's really annoying but then again we can how many people do you know who have a trap door?  We'll just call it a quirk and move on.

This year our AC needed a repair that was expensive enough to justify replacing the outdoor condenser and furnace.  They were basically at the end of their respective lives and waiting for this moment to arrive.  This presented us with the perfect opportunity to move the AC new unit closer to the house and make room for a new patio.  

With Hans working from home full time and me working 50% at home, we're saving quite a lot of money on gas.  We have also adapted to a new lifestyle of less casual dining out and even less entertainment activities.  I decided that the time was right to go ahead and have a patio installed.  The end result is that we have a deck that's 70% smaller than the original but we've gained quite a lot of upgraded outdoor space!  In the fall we're going to re-seed the grass area again (wish us luck) and in 2021 this year's new vegetable garden is going to get an upgrade in the spring.  Enough exposition.  Let's see some pictures!

 Hi, Kobuk!  Goodbye, old deck!

Framing out the new structure, and completed new construction (2019) 

Right before the patio job (2020).  Gotta paint the new siding that we installed.

The old deck ledger board left some pretty big holes in the old siding. 

Post-excavation 

Who's ready for a margarita party?!