Paint the Fence...err...Deck

It's too bad that Mr. Miyagi wasn't the one in charge of our deck painting experience. Things probably would have gone a lot smoother...but alas, I have good news to report. Mow Cow actually showed up the morning and this time they brought both the paint AND the rollers - HOORAY!


I have to say, I felt kind of bad for the 2 guys that were tasked with this project. It is about 95 degrees today with a heat index of over 100 so the conditions to be outside all day were not ideal. It took a good 7 hours to get 1 coat of paint on the entire deck and I have to say, they did a good job.


Because the previous owners chose to use an opaque stain on the deck, we were very limited with the paint colors we could choose. We have rather used a semi-transparent stain, but we would have had to sand the entire deck to get every speck of old stain off which was a close to impossible task. So we chose to go with a Cedar opaque stain color and I have to say that it ain't half bad.


We have to wait 24 hours for it to dry and then will probably have to do some touch up work, but after that we will FINALLY have a completed back yard that we can enjoy this summer. It kind of feels like when Danielson kicks Johnny's butt at the big tournament and wins the big trophy. Thinks of us as Danielson and Mow Cow as Johnny!

Tuesday Afternoon Venting

Our lovely, beautiful, homey deck has gone from this...


...and this...
to this again:



Boo.

The ongoing saga with Mow Cow continues. The final project on the list is for them to stain the deck. We were told that they would call us the night before the crew arrives in order for us to clear everything off the deck so they could get started first thing in the morning.

Not so much.

At around 10 am this morning 2 guys in blue shirts were poking around our back yard. Not just around the exterior of the fence...but actually inside the property. Hello! Ever hear of ringing the door bell to let us know you are here?!

Well, it was Mow Cow and they were here to stain the deck. Did we receive a call? No. Were we ready for these guys to get started? Absolutely not. Very typical of this company (whom we do NOT recommend anyone use EVER!) but still totally annoying. I was in the middle of my work day and Ed was about to head out the door in his fresh, clean clothes when we had to stop the presses and get everything off the deck.

Just as we finish moving everything indoors, one of the guys breaks the news to us that they don't have all the correct supplies to do the job. Apparently, they didn't have any rollers. Seriously?!! What kind of paint crew doesn't have any rollers?!! They had planned on spraying the deck, but when they saw that we lived in a town house and that our neighbors were so close, they thought better of it (thank God!). So now the inside of our house looks like this...


...and this...


...and the deck stands bare with no stain. They are supposed to come back tomorrow to do the job. Hopefully they won't forget the paint.

Oh My Sod!

Progress! Progress! Progress! I am happy to report that our back yard FINALLY looks like a real yard rather than a gravel pit in a quarry. That's right...the lovely people of Mow Cow showed up unexpectedly this morning and graced us with the green stuff. It only took a few hours to install and I have to say it makes the place look 100% better. It's amazing what a little grass can do.

Before...

...during...

...half way there...


...Lucy checking on things...


...almost done...

...watering...


...and after!

The yard finally feels like a place that we want to spend time. And with the addition of an adorable bistro set and pillows, some fun lanterns and 2 hanging ferns, it is a regular oasis!


I must say, we have been very skeptical about the work we hired Mow Cow to do. I don't want to bash anyone, but they are not the easiest company to work with. We actually had convinced ourselves to cancel the remainder of the job over the weekend because of all the frustration, but after spending WAY too many hours outside sanding the deck (more on that later), we decided to give them one last chance to redeem themselves. Their showing up this morning made way for a check mark in the "Pro" column.

There is one last job in the backyard and it is a doozie. We have hired them to fix some broken floor boards, replace the top railings and stain the sucker. Over the weekend we had the task of choosing the stain color and while you may think that sounds easy, it is not. There aren't a ton of colors to choose from...that is not the problem. The problem is that our deck was once stained using a solid color resembling paint. We were told that after a good power-wash, all that color would come off and we could use a semi-transparent stain.

Not so much.

The power washing did take a lot of paint off, but there was still a ton left which would have made a semi-transparent stain look awful. We actually bought some stain and did a test run. Results = not so good. We were so annoyed that we didn't even snap a photo so you will just have to take our word for it.

We then thought...hmm, why don't we try to sand the paint off the deck which lead to many hours of this...


...and this...


...and this...


In the end, we threw in the towel and picked the solid stain color known as Cedar. It's not ideal, but we know it will look good. We just want it done already!

We are told they are coming this Thursday to do the work so everyone please keep your fingers crossed that they actually show up. If they don't, I can't be responsible for what might come out of my husband's mouth. God love an Italian from New York ~ these people down here won't know what hit 'em!

Fenced In Part 2

It has been an eventful few days. So eventful, in fact, that I did not have time to sit at the computer and share the details with you fine people. Well that ends now. :) The Mangiaracina excitement started on Friday morning with the arrival of Mow Cow. As I mentioned here, we are installing a fence in the back yard so that we can enjoy some privacy, and have a place for Lucy Girl to run around and do her business. The day finally came and the fence is now up and we couldn't be more pleased. It took 2 guys and about 8 hours to complete the job and I have to say, they did a bang up job. Here is how things looked around 9 am...


...and now an hour or so in.

A slight hiccup occurred when we realized that they had the wrong fence panels. What they had was indeed a spiked plank, but it needed to be a Gothic spike, so off to Home Depot they went to fix the error. Luckily the 2 guys were able to continue the job while good old Matt from Mow Cow made the run. Once the correct materials were in hand, they started moving right along.


Lucy supervised throughout the day...


... and by 4 pm, they were about done. The gate install took almost an hour and after a quick clean up, we had ourselves a fence!


It's been a long time coming, but we are extremely pleased with how it turned out. Lucy is pleased too...she sniffed the place out before finding the perfect spot to let loose. :) Next up is laying sod in the yard and lots and lots of deck maintenance. More on the weekend details to come!

Fenced In

As some of you already know, we are putting a fence up in our backyard so that Lucy has a secure place to run around without being on her leash. We already have a "privacy fence" between us and our neighbors so really, we are taking it one step further and finishing it off. This is how the backyard currently looks:


We used to have slate down...


But we recently removed it because we are replacing it with sod. More grass equals a happy puppy. Plus we weren't in love with the way the slate looked. These photos are actually a little old because we have also removed the brick from the little flower bed on the left. It is now a clean slate...no pun intended. :)


Since we really do not have the tools or skills to build a fence, we have hired Mow Cow to help us out with the project. It's been a slow go as we deal with many factors ie. getting on Mow Cow's very busy schedule, the weather, and our Home Owners Association. We live in a community with an HOA that requires approval for pretty much any project that deals with "altering" your property. We had to get their approval to put in our new windows and we need their approval to put in the fence. Not only do we have to provide them with specific plans of the project (complete with material samples and color swatches), but we also have to get 4 of our neighbors to sign off on our project. Luckily we have very nice neighbors!

After about 3 weeks of waiting, we FINALLY got our approval letter today in the mail. YAH!!!!


We let Mow Cow know of the big news so that we can get on the schedule and get this project moving along. In addition to the fence, they are also fixing some of the wonky boards on our deck, staining it and laying the sod. We are so excited that we have the green light to move forward because we are REALLY looking forward to enjoying our backyard now that the weather is getting warmer. We promise to share some construction pics and the end product once it is ready to be revealed. After that, come on over for a BBQ!