Tuesday marked four years since we took ownership of our second house. I can still remember vividly some of the chaos and stress around the entire process and am thankful it ended well. We’re still working on taking this foreclosure property and turning it into our home. With each project completed, we’re a step closer and it feels even more like “ours.” Take a look and see what we accomplished during year four:
Yard
Burned the grass. Organically, that is. When we bought the house, the yard was overtaken with weeds. We tried for 3 years with assistance from a local company that specializes in organic lawn care to eradicate the weeds to no avail. Last fall they recommended burning off the entire lawn before aerating and seeding to start over. Unfortunately, we had a really wet winter so this didn’t really work. This week we had the yard aerated and seeded again. Fingers crossed it takes better this time.
I also replaced a couple plants in my flower garden by the mailbox. For some reason that spot has been tricky. Of the 3 new perennials, 2 did okay. Not a lot of growth, but alive. The other I’m waiting to see if it reemerges next year or not. Whether it’s the soil, the crazy wet weather we had earlier in the summer, the shade from the crepe myrtle or something else entirely, this spot has been a challenge to get my flowers to grow in.
Exterior
Replaced hinges & lock on crawl space door. The lock portion rusted away and the hinges were pretty wimpy given the size of the door.
We also hired a company to power wash the house and clean out the gutters. This is an annual project and worth every penny to get professionals to take care of it for us.
Garage
Replaced the tension spring. This was a job we hired out as it was well beyond our knowledge and can be dangerous. We arrived home on Thanksgiving to find our garage door wouldn’t open. Thankfully we both have keys to the house with our car keys and don’t rely on the garage door alone to get back into the house. This was one time we really needed them as the door would not budge. After getting inside and taking a look, I noticed the issue almost immediately. Grateful none of us were near the door when the spring broke and the tension wires popped loose.
Kitchen
Finally picked a paint color for the walls. Added molding trim to the top of the upper cabinets and started painting those cabinets. Only a year and a half after I painted the lower cabinets … but who’s counting? 😉 Maybe I’ll at least be able to say the cabinets are complete by next year. I still want to replace the island and flooring, but neither are in the budget just yet.
Find our past updates here: Year One Update | Year Two Update | Year Three Update
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