Hot Tub Has Arrived

What a glorious day today was! Our hot tub has arrived and should be up and running by the end of the week!! ♨️ 

We waited 8 weeks for delivery. We were very lucky and happened to get the last spot on the truck. The way the company works is that they take orders and fill a delivery truck before the tubs are customed made and then shipped. The person who ordered the first tub had to wait about 12 weeks for the truck to fill and then the tubs to be made.

Our sales person, Tom, was very knowledgeable and patient as I sat in every tub checking to see if I would drown or not. Most of the tubs were too deep for me and while he knew this already he humored me and let me figure that out for myself!!

We decided to go with the Caldera Utopia Niagara Spa. It claims to have 7 seats but that usually means it seats 4 comfortably. We went with this one because there are different sized seats. As Mike and I are almost a foot different in height we need different seating options. So 2 of the 4 bucket seats fit him perfectly and 2 fit me perfectly. Win, win for both of us!

We went with the grey color for the outside or Ash as they call it, Midnight Canyon for the inside and a Chestnut Grey cover! Matches the patio perfectly!!

A few days before delivery we went into the store and Tom gave us an hour tour of what we need to know about the tub. We brought in a sample of our water and he tested it for chemicals and told us exactly what we need to add to get it ready for use. He also provided us with all the needed chemicals (included in the price of the tub) and of course the rubber ducky 🐥 that is mandatory in every tub and a shark 🦈! 

4 people arrived to deliver the tub and set it up for us. They lined the patio with boards to protect the pavers as they dragged the hot tub to the cement pad.

Once in place they removed all the packaging, cleaned the interior, removing the foam debris and water that dripped from previous testing, installed the cover lift, and lastly removed the front panel that contains the salt cartridge and the FreshWater IQ Monitoring System. The salt cartridge makes chlorine and the monitoring system tests chlorine, pH, and salt levels and displays them on the panel. We can also decide not to use either system and take care of the chemicals ourselves.

They then placed it exactly where I wanted it. I took out a tape measure and had them move it so it was exactly centered on the pad as that would drive me crazy if it was half an inch off! They were very patient and kind and understood where I was coming from. Better now than when it is filled with 400 gallons of water. 

The electrician showed up on Wednesday and started to work on the stuff neither of us wanted to do. Primarily crawling under the house and dragging cables the length of it!

He dug down to 20 inches which is not fun and here you can see he is testing to ensure he has enough conduit, and he did!

Bryson was very considerate of the flower bed he had to dig through to lay the conduit and even put the cobles back when done! 

He placed the conduit discreetly around the concrete pad so it is not visible from the patio and he secured it in place.

The hot tub looks like it always belonged there!

Thanks Bryson and congrats on your first hot tub install!

Garage Painted

I painted the trim in May then life happens and I did not get back to the garage until Sept. The new doors came and where installed so it was time to paint the garage. Per our usual we decided on a color after eliminating everything else in the blue grey family.

The winner was Behr Charcoal Blue from Home Depot in Satin finish! 

Mike and I removed any nails and screws that were randomly attached to the side. I moved all of yellow and black garden orb weaver's egg sacs to the trees in the woods to protect them. Mama orb weaver had moved on her own.

We then sanded 3 sides of the garage. 

Mike cleared and washed all the gutters. We wiped down the sides removing the dust from sanding and the years of dirt accumulation. We caulked the windows and door trim as well as boards that had gaps. Lastly Mike reattached bottom boards as needed.

Our neighbor loaned us their 20 ft extension ladder so we, by we I mean Mike, could do the peaks.

I believe that the darker color was the original color of the house but faded to the light blue. Hours later the front was done. This is the way we purchased the property a year and a half ago.

This is today!

While Mike was working on the peak of the front I was working on the side facing the house.

Last Winter

Today!

While Mike worked on the back peak I did the side facing away from the house. 

Did I mention that last Winter we removed 3 feet of English Ivy that had grown up the backside of the garage? It covered these propane tanks! It was careful work removing it all. You can see the bottom tendrils that look like branches still stuck to the house. The following day we sanded and washed this section. Then finished painting it. We had borrowed a ladder from our neighbors so we were on a short deadline to do the top parts so we could return the ladder in their time window of lending it.

We also took down a 150+ year old Oak tree that was rotted in the trunk and was getting ready to fall.

The base was 5 feet in diameter. 

If you give a mouse a paintbrush they will....

...want to paint the dilapidated shed that we plan to tear down and rebuild at some point. We painted trim, door, painted garage door, painted walls, and cleaned roof! As well as cleared all the trees growing inside and on it. 

Last Winter

Today! 

Still needs fixing but looks better while we decide what we will do.

Projects keep piling up it seems we cross 1 off the To Do List and 5 more appear!!

Garage Doors

Home ownership projects never stop.

Today was the day to replace the detached garage doors. They were beyond repair, trust me I tried. I believe the doors were from the late 1960s. I had previously sanded and painted all the trim white and removed the rotted sections of the trim. You can see a piece of trim missing in the lower right of the right door. The door was made of wood and it would crumble when you touched it so sanding and painting were out of the question.

We prepped the area by moving all the junk that collects in a garage back 10 feet so they could work. 

We hired A1 Door Company based on their friendly staff, exemplary service and reputable name.

2 men arrived at 8:45am and began work immediately! They made quick work of removing the old wooded doors.

They brought in the new doors and began to prep them for hanging.

Sparks were flying as they removed the bolts from the old frame.

This 2 person team worked efficiently, the 19 year old knew exactly what to do and when, providing support to the senior worker who has been doing this for 26 years. No manual or directions needed they just knew what to do. 

By 9:30am the old doors were gone and the first 3 sections of the new one were in.

They adjusted the garage door openers and tested the placement and closure.

11:41am both doors were installed and working properly. 11:48am he installed outside weatherproofing and caulked the seams.

What a difference!!

This would have taken us a few days to finish and I am sure many discussions 😬 on how to do it properly.

We have already picked out the new paint color for the garage and just waiting for the rain to stop and dry up some. 

The winner was Behr Charcoal Blue from Home Depot in Satin finish! 

Praying for sun ☀️ soon!

Patio

Since we arrived we wanted an outdoor space that was clean and comfortable where we could relax, read and enjoy the outside. We finally designed what we wanted and had it quoted. The first quote we received was for $50,000. They budgeted $2,900 to move the generator during patio install and reconnect it. Our generator company charged $500. The second quote was for $35,000 plus the cost to move the generator and the last quote was for $28,000 plus the cost to move the generator. We went with the last quote because we also had experience with him and knew his work.

We ordered the needed pavers from SiteOne and they arrived on a beautiful afternoon.

1 pallet of Dark Charcoal 7.5 X 15 pavers (116.57 sq. ft.), 2 pallets of 12 Techno Bloc Rocka Step Rock Garden Brown Color 60 in. Steps, 8 pallets of Unilock Beacon Hill Flagstone Paver 3 Random Size Fossil Colored Pavers (1,049 sq. ft.)

The sunroom has 6 sliding glass doors and only one set of steps out. You can also see that the sunroom steps do not go the length of the door. It was not a flat surface at all and was filled with weeds and moss.

The cobblestones I learned were from the streets of Richmond from the Shockoe area. This area was named 'Shacahocan' by the Powhatan/Algonquian meaning a flat rock at the mouth of a creek. As the story was told to me by my next door neighbor the cobbles were removed in the late 70s and people took piles of them. The original owner of this house took numerous stones and they can be found on the property every time we clean up an area.

The generator was removed.

The fence was removed by Mike and the pounds of small white rocks by me.

They blasted out the steps first and removed all the old concrete and eventually power washed the steps.

While Johnny was working on those steps another gentleman was removing the cobbles.

He was so kind and actually removed all the cement that was holding them in place. He chipped it all away and threw it away while leaving a nice neat pile of cobbles on the edge of the property for us. Saves them on debris costs and we can use them for another project.

They worked quickly and within a few hours all the cobbles were gone and the back door steps were prepped as well.

The crushed rock showed up later that day for the 1,100 sq. ft. patio we were having installed.

Then on to removing the concrete walkway. We saved the smaller pieces and removed the rest.

Scraping and leveling followed.

Drains were removed and will be added back later.

14 inches of rock was brought it.

Drains reconnected

Steps built and 

pavers laid. 

We did a black inlaid border to distinguish were the terrain changes to grass or for a door opening.

Mortared the steps and poured a new concrete pad on top.

We love the way it came out.

The left edge is where the hot tub will be going. There will be a slight slant to drain the patio and then a flat concrete pad for the tub.

Aerial view

We love it!

Started August 11 and finished Sept 5 just in time for Autumn!

A few more pieces of furniture and it will be all set!