When we bought the house the property behind us was undeveloped and forested. Of course we were told by the realltor that it would not be developed. Within two years the trees started coming down.

Photos documenting the transitiion of our yard - album being created...

Rebuilding the deck lead to numerous suprises. The builders of the original deck failed at all levels. 

They attached the ledger directly to the rim joist by using lags through the siding. They did not install any drip edge and as a result caused the sill plate and rim joist to rot in many places. 

So what was supposed to be a weeks worth of work replacing the original deck turned into about a years worth of work. 

Added stamped concrete patio and water feature. This replaced the original brick walkway and grass/dirt area.

This album follows the evolution of the Tiki (Sand Bar)

The Crab Shack is 10' x 14' shed with 60 amp service.

This was a 5 year project begining in 2012.

Shed is fully insulated, has radiant floor heat, a tile floor. Cable and wi fi also included.

For the interior, we created some really neat trim and baseboards. First we distressed the wood, beat it up pretty bad, then stained with a steel wool and vinegar mixture. Looks like barn wood, came out nice.

Cabinets and counters are all hand made - my first attempts.

This is also the dog house, notice the doggie door.

Sand Bar had its grand opening Labor Day weekend 2013

This album details the construction and shows the base model

Sally's Little House:

This has become quite the place. Completely furnished, plush too. Couch from Ikea, carpeting, solar lights, chandelier

The idea came from the bars in the Yucatan. Rick and I built this for Sally one weekend while she was away.

This is a text! You can edit, move, copy or delete it.

When we bought the house it came with a huge pea gravel play area which the original owners had a swing set/climbing gym. Really nothing you could do with the gravel except move it, or cover it up. Too deep to plant anything, just a lot of it.

A lot of the gravel was used to make this sloped patio. The remainding gravel ended up as a foundation for the Crab Shack and as a path way in the vegitable garden.