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The Mrs & I were looking for a home literally (6 to 7 months maybe?) prior to finding a pad. Her prerequisites were a bit more pickier than mine in regards to not living so far from the beach, gated community, single story, bla bla bla.
We found a community right next door to where we were currently living. After seeing 4 to 6 homes in there, we put in a couple of offers, but lost out to cash buyers ...
Long story short - and I do mean looooonnnnng, we saw a listing that popped up from a previous contract that didn't fall through. Hired another realtor whom was very aggressive on our behalf / made an offer / seller accepted / closed on 7/31.
From there we took on a renovation project which took four weeks to complete. Moved a couple walls around for an open floor concept, updated lighting, removed fans, and the list goes on.
I'll get before & after pics up by this weekend; there are plenty.
Current project is the backyard / patio.
We recently purchased a canopy from home depot, along with furniture from overstock.com. Diving into this project on the weekend!
Pool area
Patio area
Canopy
Furniture
This Mrs is going to tackle landscaping along that east wall. Want to eventually replace the palm trees out there as they require waaaay to much maintenance.
I've yet to fiddle with it; looks like there's a ton of options to select from?
The Mrs said it's really quiet when running.. Our previous washer & dryer in the apartment sounded like something tumbling down a flight of stairs when it was on
That's the plan; assuming the weather holds up to get any work done this weekend.
Those palms branches are a PITA to clean up after.
We were thinking to place stones along the south wall where the soil is closest to the water. Going through a couple of HG forums on the web looking for ideas.
Any suggestions on minimizing dirt from getting into the pool is appreciated.
I've yet to fiddle with it; looks like there's a ton of options to select from?
The Mrs said it's really quiet when running.. Our previous washer & dryer in the apartment sounded like something tumbling down a flight of stairs when it was on
There are a ton of options. I haven't messed around with it either. Delicates, Quick wash and Normal was the only functions I've used so far.
Stayed up pretty late last night to get this all done. Sprayed everything down with Rustoleum's NeverWet Water Repellent; we'll see how it holds up.
Installed solar powered pathway lighting this weekend, but not too thrilled as they aren't all getting enough rays to power them on... The ones that do turn on stay on for 20 to 30 mins before they start dimming until they're dead
Definitely going to swap them out and tackle canopy lighting this weekend.
Last edited by Marcelechka; Sep 30, 2015 at 09:09 AM.
So wonderful, your new home. I love love love the feel of it, Marcel. Absolutely a paradise.
Those palms provide great privacy (although you have a wall/fence) don't underestimate how much they are doing to create that paradise feel around the pool...maybe put down liner between them, remove the mondo grass or add something colorful and green between them...and every few months chop the new small shoots to keep it manageable. Cut down the seed pods before they open, that's the main mess you'll have to deal with otherwise.
That little patch of grass under the window by the pool would piss me off to cut, I'd rip that out and do mulch or something...maybe a slow growing ivy that can make it's way up the outside wall.
look into led board exterior lighting...we put a few pointing at trees out front on a light sensing timer...goes 4 hours from dark...looks great.
hhmm...red mulch? It ends up fading, no? I like natural eucalyptus although we ended up going with teh dark brown rubber...it seems to stay pretty well although I would imagine if it's a flooded rain area, they'd float away.
Do the low wattage stuff...although you'll need to get a transformer...if it's a straight shot, you can likely dig a trench and run some PVC to keep the line protected...I just dug a trench and ran extension cords then hard wired the LED boards on that biatch.
No flood here either...seems weird being on a canal, but I guess that's because the water has somewhere to go!
We took down the wall in the kitchen during the renovation to create an open concept. As there is / was recessed lights already in both rooms, once the wall was gone, there were entirely too many hi hats blaring. So... got rid of a couple.
I hope to wrap this project up in the morning.
Wrapped up the canopy project... pics are somewhat blurry - I'm half-asleep lol
Pulled weeds & grass as well to lay down the mulch, turned out nice... I'll snap shots tomorrow.
once you mulch...grab some round up to keep the weeds that'll inevitably grow at bay.
hmmm...I'm surprised you didn't just change the high hats to LED (nice and cool) on a dimmer...but it'll look cleaner without all those holes. Doing overhead drywall might have been a good time to relocate your scuttle hole to somewhere a little more inconspicuous like a back hallway or something.
Got my ass handed to me a couple of weeks ago by an M4; said f*K that, never again!
I've been researching the possibility of twincharging. There use to be a bolt on turbo kit to add on to the existing blower; but, has since been discontinued. Using the parts list from that old kit as a template. Wouldn't be the first time I'm starting a project from scratch with all the fabrication that's involved. Lol
S. FL Motorsports took on the project; same guys who built the CL. GT28RS turbo already ordered. I'll drop the car off some time next month for them to get working on fabricating the manifold.
Similar to the CL, this will be another white unicorn.
Last edited by Marcelechka; Oct 5, 2015 at 10:14 AM.
Not uncommon to find w/d units in the garage. Most, if not all of the homes we saw in the community prior to this one were the same if not similar in configuration. Doesn't bother us
Yeah, mine was in the garage in the townhouse...in the rental house and the current home it's in the air conditioned hallway to the garage. I thought it was the heat that made me hate laundry...turns out it's the laundry that makes me hate laundry.
Holy hell Marcel...you're gonna have a beast on your hands, wow.
Not uncommon to find w/d units in the garage. Most, if not all of the homes we saw in the community prior to this one were the same if not similar in configuration. Doesn't bother us
Laundry here would freeze solid in the winter.
Mine is right next to the garage in a heated space (though I guess it would be AC in the summer...).
Now that summer is finally over, weather is definitely getting better. It was 74 yesterday evening with very little to no humidity. We ate dinner outside for the first time; enjoyed every minute of it.
Now the wife wants a projector out back to watch movies.
Stewing on ideas to make it reality.
Last edited by Marcelechka; Oct 5, 2015 at 03:40 PM.
Now that summer is finally over, weather is definitely getting better. It was 74 yesterday evening with very little to no humidity. We ate dinner outside for the first time; enjoyed every minute of it.
Now the wife wants a projector out back to watch movies.
Stewing on ideas to make it reality.
that's awesome dude. You can get inflatable screens that you could float on your pool or something. It's not going to be perfect but I'm not sure you can get the perfect cinematic experience outdoors.
I'd love it if it were 74 here...the high yesterday was 62, supposed to get back up into the low 70's later this week and then the bottom falls out.
Going to be 20 and snowing in a matter of weeks now.
...
I'm looking forward to the updates. 
