2002 Home Improvements

Our House: Changes in 2002

After several years of basically leaving everything in, on, and around our house as it was when we bought it, we decided to spend a little money and time on the place. We repainted the exterior, reroofed with 30-year dimensional shingles, planted 10 trees, organized our downstairs storage, and laundry room, moved our office to the basement, created a nursery for the new family member, and moved our guest bedroom into what used to be an office/den. Here you'll find a brief tour of our home, with some before and after pictures where applicable.

This page ended up getting too many pictures on it (excessive download time). The interior pictures can be found at the link below:

[ Look inside! Click here for indoor pictures ]

Exterior Changes

Before

Dark green paint (peeling) made our house look very dark most of the time (this March picture is an exception because there are no leaves on the trees yet), roof was in serious need of repair, tree branches extending onto and covering some of the house, dead tree and poorly maintained landscaping. After

Lightened up house with beige color, full replacement of roof shingles, trimmed back several large branches, removed dead tree, trimmed back surrounding bushes.

Before

Is there a house in there? Here's a good example of how hidden our house was with all of the tree limbs and dark paint. After

Lighter paint and trimmed trees, and now... a house!

Before

You've seen the house changes, note the dead grass in the near area around the tree. After

I dug up the front section, loosened up the soil with peat and replanted. Looks much better now. If you look closely, you'll see one less car in the parking lot. We gave Julie's Sundance to our church shortly after she got the Outback.

Painting in Progress

Stripping the old paint off.

Nearing the end of removing the old paint (nice mask).

Finished! (2 weeks later - seriously)

Julie and our neighbors, Rob and Melissa, "lending a hand" as I paint.

Tree Planting

Our neighbor to the South is a bit of an eye-sore (both the neighbor and his property).

I planted 10 arborvitaes along the property line that should grow into a nice tree-wall between the properties.

Ok, I'm impatient and I want these trees to grow FAST. So this is a wishful thinking simulation of what the trees will cover a year from now.

... and in 2 years? Maybe if we're lucky. And they won't look like palm trees either - I created these pics rather quickly, on the order of five minutes, so use your imagination.

Exterior Changes
Before Dark green paint (peeling) made our house look very dark most of the time (this March picture is an exception because there are no leaves on the trees yet), roof was in serious need of repair, tree branches extending onto and covering some of the house, dead tree and poorly maintained landscaping.	After Lightened up house with beige color, full replacement of roof shingles, trimmed back several large branches, removed dead tree, trimmed back surrounding bushes.
Before Is there a house in there? Here's a good example of how hidden our house was with all of the tree limbs and dark paint.	After Lighter paint and trimmed trees, and now... a house!
Before You've seen the house changes, note the dead grass in the near area around the tree.	After I dug up the front section, loosened up the soil with peat and replanted. Looks much better now. If you look closely, you'll see one less car in the parking lot. We gave Julie's Sundance to our church shortly after she got the Outback.

Painting in Progress
Stripping the old paint off.	Nearing the end of removing the old paint (nice mask).
Finished! (2 weeks later - seriously)	Julie and our neighbors, Rob and Melissa, "lending a hand" as I paint.

Tree Planting
Our neighbor to the South is a bit of an eye-sore (both the neighbor and his property).	I planted 10 arborvitaes along the property line that should grow into a nice tree-wall between the properties.
Ok, I'm impatient and I want these trees to grow FAST. So this is a wishful thinking simulation of what the trees will cover a year from now.	... and in 2 years? Maybe if we're lucky. And they won't look like palm trees either - I created these pics rather quickly, on the order of five minutes, so use your imagination.