In my efforts to show some 'Before' and 'After' action, I wanted to show our latest curb appeal project.
Before, the house had an "add on" A/C hide right in the center front of the property. When it was originally installed, I'm sure it hid the unit nicely. By the time we shopped for this house, the A/C unit installed behind it was a good 6-8" taller than the brick surround. The hide no longer hid.
During the sale period, before we signed the final papers, that A/C shot craps. The previous owners had to replace it. I called them and begged to have it moved to the right side of the house. They were only willing to pay for the unit, I had to pay the A/C installers and the electricians the price of moving the unit. Money well spent, I think. So the A/C hide was empty, unlike in this photo.
I thought it looked really bad and it kind of interfered with the mid-century vibe of the house. So I went to Lowe's and bought a Bagster. I figured between the brick and the concrete pad, we could get away with their weight limitation. You fill the Bagster and then call Waste Management and they come pick it up for a set fee. Grand total $130 to haul off all the stuff.
Then we went to Harbor Freight to buy a sledge hammer. My husband came home with two. A sledgehammer for the brick and concrete removal, and a bottle of Sledgehammer red for the after party. Did I mention that some friends came for the weekend to help with the project? A great shout out to some stellar friends: Tim and Andrea Burgess spent the weekend and helped with the removal of the eyesore. They went home with the Sledgehammer red.
Once the guys started with the brick chisels and hammers, the hide came down pretty easily. Our goal was to save enough brick from this structure to fix the side of the built in flower bed on the left side of the front of the house. The back end of it was removed to mitigate some drainage issues and left open. So the deconstruction of the hide was brick by brick--trying to save enough for that task. The guys did great. They even knocked the mortar off a bunch of the brick, cleaning it for reuse.
Finally, the A/C hide was down and the concrete pad tipped up and removed. We relocated that to the back yard, it's just a square of concrete so we put it in a low bald spot and put a plant in a large container on that spot.
We were left with a pretty bare spot. Our solution? A sego palm. The previous owner loved his segos and as they pupped, he put the pups in pots. Our back yard is filled with baby segos and some have grown into pretty good sized plants.
We took one of the good sized ones and transplanted it to the spot where the A/C hide stood. But first I had to throw 10 bags of topsoil on that place to fill in the trenches from the brick footers. Luckily, the CrossFit is paying off and I can chunk heavy bags of dirt like a pro!
So here is the 'After' picture of the front of the house. You can see the sego is smaller/shorter than the other two on the front of the house, but I think it blends in better than that brick A/C hide did.
I'm glad we were able to take that down. A little power washing and that angled brick column will be as good as new. I am hopeful that the sego will like that spot and grow well there. If not, I have more in the back yard!
-- Sandee Wagner
Before, the house had an "add on" A/C hide right in the center front of the property. When it was originally installed, I'm sure it hid the unit nicely. By the time we shopped for this house, the A/C unit installed behind it was a good 6-8" taller than the brick surround. The hide no longer hid.During the sale period, before we signed the final papers, that A/C shot craps. The previous owners had to replace it. I called them and begged to have it moved to the right side of the house. They were only willing to pay for the unit, I had to pay the A/C installers and the electricians the price of moving the unit. Money well spent, I think. So the A/C hide was empty, unlike in this photo.
I thought it looked really bad and it kind of interfered with the mid-century vibe of the house. So I went to Lowe's and bought a Bagster. I figured between the brick and the concrete pad, we could get away with their weight limitation. You fill the Bagster and then call Waste Management and they come pick it up for a set fee. Grand total $130 to haul off all the stuff.Then we went to Harbor Freight to buy a sledge hammer. My husband came home with two. A sledgehammer for the brick and concrete removal, and a bottle of Sledgehammer red for the after party. Did I mention that some friends came for the weekend to help with the project? A great shout out to some stellar friends: Tim and Andrea Burgess spent the weekend and helped with the removal of the eyesore. They went home with the Sledgehammer red.
Once the guys started with the brick chisels and hammers, the hide came down pretty easily. Our goal was to save enough brick from this structure to fix the side of the built in flower bed on the left side of the front of the house. The back end of it was removed to mitigate some drainage issues and left open. So the deconstruction of the hide was brick by brick--trying to save enough for that task. The guys did great. They even knocked the mortar off a bunch of the brick, cleaning it for reuse.Finally, the A/C hide was down and the concrete pad tipped up and removed. We relocated that to the back yard, it's just a square of concrete so we put it in a low bald spot and put a plant in a large container on that spot.
We were left with a pretty bare spot. Our solution? A sego palm. The previous owner loved his segos and as they pupped, he put the pups in pots. Our back yard is filled with baby segos and some have grown into pretty good sized plants.
We took one of the good sized ones and transplanted it to the spot where the A/C hide stood. But first I had to throw 10 bags of topsoil on that place to fill in the trenches from the brick footers. Luckily, the CrossFit is paying off and I can chunk heavy bags of dirt like a pro!
I'm glad we were able to take that down. A little power washing and that angled brick column will be as good as new. I am hopeful that the sego will like that spot and grow well there. If not, I have more in the back yard!
-- Sandee Wagner
