The old stem walls for the garage turned out to be overengineered. They extended down something like 3 feet below the ground. Too bad the slab on top of them was under-engineered.

The old garage, squatting behind the house. The large tree looming over it to the left was actually trying to push it over. The foundation was cracked on the right, and another tree was attempting to grow out of the front corner.

Solar lights totally worth the minor investment, only $4 a light for the singles and a set of four larger lights for $14 all bought at Big Lots.

Unfortunately our garden and backyard was pretty much overrun with three kinds of invasive weeds: Canadian thistles, ground elder (aka Bishop's Goutweed), and seen here next to the porch, garlic mustard.

... and failing to find enough matching palettes, end up at a reseller and buy several at $6 a piece to round out the 12 x 12 deck space.

Ideally, we would be building a screened gazebo with gorgeous beams and a cupola and stairs and shelves to serve as outside dining space overlooking the lake. Sadly, this year's budget just doesn't have that kind of flexibility. But never fear! Handy Lori and a new screened tent from Craigslist at half the store price, and voila!

... to line the path to the pavilion from the back door.

Ideally, we would be building a screened gazebo with gorgeous beams and a cupola and stairs and shelves to serve as outside dining space overlooking the lake. Sadly, this year's budget just doesn't have that kind of flexibility. But never fear! Handy Lori and a new screened tent from Craigslist at half the store price, and voila!

Clicked in my backyard

The garage rafters were full of random crap that had accumulated over the years.

The massive stump after the second tree was felled. The tree was incredibly wet after the recent rains and was dripping for hours after it was felled, from all the water the tree was storing inside the trunk.

Have you ever seem them

Starting on new backyard project. This how its looked since we started removing old trees and plants

Frame complete! Also happy I did it with minimal lumber scraps. Also happy she likes it too.

#playhouse #backyardDIY #backyardprojects

Covered the plywood with remnant linoleum, then taped the seams. Covered the tape with water-based Kilz, then painted the while floor with leftover exterior house paint.

Ideally, we would be building a screened gazebo with gorgeous beams and a cupola and stairs and shelves to serve as outside dining space overlooking the lake. Sadly, this year's budget just doesn't have that kind of flexibility. But never fear! Handy Lori and a new screened tent from Craigslist at half the store price, and voila!

Need to have seating for at least ten on Halloween...

Ideally, we would be building a screened gazebo with gorgeous beams and a cupola and stairs and shelves to serve as outside dining space overlooking the lake. Sadly, this year's budget just doesn't have that kind of flexibility. But never fear! Handy Lori and a new screened tent from Craigslist at half the store price, and voila!

The slab was sitting on top of plain dirt, which had washed out in spots leaving hollow spaces beneath the concrete. This chunk was broken off way too easily with a few blows from a hammer.

Demolition of the garage started on Thursday, and got quite far along. We came home to find the roof standing on stilts.

The inside of the garage was mostly occupied by spiders.

A final photo of the "before" version of the back yard. That's an ice rink in the foreground, from 1917.

The equally-antique jackhammer to accompany the compressor. Army surplus, perhaps? In the back is Ray's son, Jordan.

Once the garage was down, it was time for the box elder behind it to come down. This would allow the back yard to get more sun, and would prevent the tree from snapping and falling on the house if we left it in place, since it was leaning precariously.

Hole through the foundation for an eventual sump.

excited bout this

Diy Crafts :

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Lots of cool summer backyard projects and tutorials • rope lighting, zip line for kids, swings, volleyball net wrapped in LED lights and much more! • Fun & Funky Backyard Projects! #DIYbackyardprojects #backyardprojects #DIY #DIYgardenprojects #D...

listfender.com/diy/diy-crafts/best-ideas-for-diy-crafts-l...

French drain alongside the house.

The garage foundation stem wall was cracked, and the north side was pulling away from the rest of it, making the walls on that side unstable.

John, standing next to the pile of stem wall remnants for scale. That's a massive amount of concrete that needed to be pulled up!

Ray showed up one evening with a massive, ancient diesel-powered compressor that was older than both of us combined. Its job was to power the jackhammer he was going to use on the garage slab.