Landscaping Phase #2

Last I showed you our backyard was lookin like this…

I had told you about the installation of the new drainage and the removal of the hedges.  We were left with a yard o’ dirt.  Then I came home the other day and I walked outside to this…

Ahhh! New magnolias and sod!  I can’t explain our excitement.  Let me show you around…

Take it all in people!

This grass is soft, like the grass we had in NY.  It is awesome to have something that is pleasant to walk on barefoot!

As I mentioned before we used Horizon Landscaping and they did an amazing job!

They were actually still working when I got home around 7pm.  They did such an amazing job, and they even stuck around to tell me how we should be taking care of the new trees and sod.  They were such polite guys and we are really impressed with their work!

We love that we still have lots of space in the yard with the new trees, yet they still block the neighbors in the back.  We will soon have some other updates back here, stay tuned!

Oh and of course some before and afters…

Lanscaping Phase #1

It has all begun. Brian from Horizon Landscaping chose a couple companies to complete some of the backyard projects that need to be finished before he gets going on the landscaping.  So last week, during the hottest week this year we had four guys out in our yard digging up trees and also digging trenches for the new irrigation.  I swear the heat index was like 110 degrees, poor guys.  They were here for about 7 hours and this is what we are left with…

They basically removed all of the hedges including all of their roots.  Also they added the much needed irrigation, including three drains that will remove the water from our backyard and let it drain out to the sewage system at the street.

Here is drain #1.

Here is #2 that Char man is checking out.

and #3.

Our yard is basically a big dirt pit right now, nothing pretty to look at.  It has to get a little worse before it gets better though!

Our yard does seems a lot bigger now without all of the hedges.

This is where the new magnolia trees will go.  We don’t necessarily want something so big in the yard, but we want the privacy from the neighbors, so the magnolias will be perfect.

We can’t wait for Brian to come out on Tuesday to plant the new trees and re-sod the yard.  We also are thinking about putting a garden in one of the corners back here and giving the fence a face lift.  Don’t worry we will keep you updated!

Lets Give Them Something to Caulk About

Yup, I just hacked a Bonnie Raitt song to named my caulking post.  I know I’m cool, you don’t have to tell me.

Our master bathroom has been grossing me out since the day we moved in.  I had to do something about it, at least to make it feel a little cleaner.  Please don’t think we are dirty from these photos, I scrub this bathroom once a week.  Let me show you what I am talking about.  I should warn you if you do not like disgusting bathroom things you should skip this post completely.

This is our gross entrance to our shower.

YUUCCKK!

All of the old caulk is dirty and the shower is rusting pretty bad.

And the inside doesn’t look any better.

The corners seem to be the worst areas.

Eventually we will most likely redo this entire bathroom, which would include removing the tile and shower surround.  Since that project is down the line I needed to do something to make this shower feel cleaner.  So I got out our razor blade and box cutter and started removing the old disgusting caulk.

I first started scraping what I could off the ledge.

This got off some of the hard water and dirt but did not remove the caulk.

I used the box cutter to slice into the existing caulk, I went back a couple times until some pieces started to come loose like this…

I started peeling the caulk away by hand, and then went back with the box cutter scraping any remaining caulk until I got as much as I could.

Next I hopped in the shower and starting removing the caulk in there the same way.

Inside the shower I did have to use the razor blade a bit to get any caulk that was stuck on the tile.

I then cleaned up all of the caulk pieces that I had removed with the vacuum, then scrubbed everything with CLR spray.  This helped remove any hard water or rust that I couldn’t get off with my normal tile cleaner.

I wasn’t able to get all of the rust stains, but it was already looking a ton better.

From there I grabbed my caulking tools.

A tube of caulk, a caulk gun and a roll of painters tape.

I wanted straight lines on the ledge of the shower, so I used the painters tape to mark off where the caulk would go.  I didn’t use the tape inside the shower since the tile is white, I didn’t think the caulk would be as easily seen.

I then just snipped the end off of my tube of caulk and place it in the caulk gun.  From there I just started applying the caulk in between the taped off areas in a thin bead.

Once I had the caulk down I used my finger to smooth it out into the crevice.

Once I had finished I peeled the tape away immediately.  I didn’t want it to dry, then peel it, because I wasn’t sure if the dried caulk would peel away with it.

Ah! Look at those clean lines.

While I was at it I decided to caulk next to the tub as well.  I didn’t remove the old caulk from here because it was holding down our beautiful linoleum flooring that I didn’t want to damage with the razor. (In case you don’t get my sarcasm, I hate the linoleum, it will be the first thing to go).

Looks so much cleaner.

I then caulked the inside of the shower the same way.  Here are some before and afters…

Yay for new caulk right?  Does that not make you want to go caulk your bathroom or kitchen or everything?  I now love caulk.  Here is the whole bathroom with fresh caulk…

I love little projects that make a big difference.   I know it’s not perfect, but it makes me feel better about showering in here.  Woo hoo!