Paying others to work

By far the best way to remodel is to pay someone else to do the work.  Sure it's still annoying and intrusive but by golly it's done.  And fast!  Anyhoo, my mom asked for some pics of the work so without further ado, here they are. 

We had the siding repaired where we removed a slider that led to no where.  In fact we have several sliders that lead to no where.  Odd.  No pics of this as it just looks like a wall.

Then we had a patio poured where the pool once was.  (Don't tell our kids that we had a pool once upon a time.  Oh, and NEVER buy a house with a pool.  At least not in Oregon.)  The patio is brushed concrete trimmed with a tinted grey stamped concrete in a grid pattern.  It is huge so the grid helps to avoid the parking lot look.  The Kid loves running back and forth with his shopping cart or riding his bike around.  He LOVES the patio.

We cleaned the chairs so they are facing the sun to dry.  Hence the army o chairs look.  It's nice, don't ya think?

Then we had the fence replaced which not only looks a billion times better but we also enlarged it to include a side yard so it's much more useful.  Rick's Custom Fencing demo'd the old fence and installed 280 linear feet of new fence in just 2 days. 

And finally we had a new roof installed.  This is a dreadful picture.  How does one take a good picture of a black roof on a cloudy day?  Obviously I have no clue. 

We brilliantly bought our house at the height of the market and then proceeded to pour money into it.  While we've enjoyed the fruits of those remodels, we doubt we'll ever recoup that investment.  And since we don't intend to live in this house forever, we tried to keep costs to a minimum which is why we opted for a concrete patio and a composite roof.  There are so many other things I'd love to do (replace the windows for example) but I think we're about done. 

Of course in the last 2 weeks, the Hubs added a small raised bed for herbs.  And he has almost completed demolition of a portion of old rotton decking.  Then we'll level that portion of the yard and barkdust.  So when I say "almost done," I really mean THIS NEVER ENDS!