Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Taking the plunge

We moved into this house just over a year ago. Since then we've been trying to decide how to set up the yard. We've met with contractors, worked with a landscape architect and priced different things. We've gone from "that's way too expensive" to "we should just do it and be done" and then back and forth again and again. We always seem to come back to the "just do it" side of the fence and last week we did.

When we moved in, the yard looked like this.


Then we had the trees removed because they weren't doing anything in terms of privacy, they dropped a shit-ton of needles and several were beginning to lean towards the house. Once the trees were gone, it looked like this.


And now that we've made a decision that will either be an incredible amount of fun, a maintenance nightmare, or both...the yard looks like this.


The pool will open in the spring of 2015. That dirt in the back will end up being patio around the wood oven I've been daydreaming about off and on for a decade.

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7 comments:

  1. -R.October 22, 2014 at 8:56 AM

    We bought our house around 4 years ago, and it came with an in-ground pool. Having grown up with an above ground, I was indifferent to the presence of the pool at best, but the other half enjoyed the property and house (as did I) so we ended up buying the house. After four summers, I can honestly say that it has been a wonderful asset that I'd miss were it suddenly to disappear. At times it can be a slight pain, but overall I wouldn't want to be without it. Enjoy!

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  2. Jon in AlbanyOctober 22, 2014 at 10:22 PM

    That's good to hear. I'm pretty confident that it will see lots of use until the kids leave the house, so steady use for at least 10 years. I hope to throw some pretty good pool parties.

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  3. Albany JaneOctober 29, 2014 at 9:25 AM

    Oh man, I can't wait to use your pool and make pizzas by the pool. When does the wood fired oven go in?

    Don't mind me, just lounging in your pool early in the morning. I'll bring snacks for the family.

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  4. Jon in AlbanyOctober 29, 2014 at 8:22 PM

    That's the plan - pool parties and pizza.

    Not all of the pool is going to get built before winter. In the spring, the decking around the pool gets poured. I hope to pour and oven foundation at the same time. But right now the entire yard is trashed.

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  5. Sean in NYApril 22, 2015 at 2:00 PM

    I'd love to hear about who you used to clear all of those trees (and stumps?) away. Tree-removal can get new-car expensive if you're looking at taking out a bunch at once. Are you willing to share some rough numbers of trees and cost (and company, if you recommend them)?

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  6. Jon in AlbanyApril 22, 2015 at 2:38 PM

    Sean- We used Salvadore Tree service out of Stillwater. I think the number of trees was about 20. I thought Salvadore was excellent and wouldn't hesitate to use them again. The cost was $5000 including srump grinding. We might have gotten a little price break from knowing a relative.

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  7. Jon in AlbanyApril 22, 2015 at 2:38 PM

    Sean- We used Salvadore Tree service out of Stillwater. I think the number of trees was about 20. I thought Salvadore was excellent and wouldn't hesitate to use them again. The cost was $5000 including srump grinding. We might have gotten a little price break from knowing a relative.

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