Some time in May, Jarred and I got a wild hair to start our remodeling projects. We REALLY needed to re-roof the dining room addition as apes built it but the weather was not dependably sunny and re-roofing is boring. We also need to replace most of the windows in the house and re-side the place, but those tasks are daunting. So we dug into our Home Depot POS shed. I always wonder how Home Depot sells those sheds for so cheap...now I know. The only quality building material on that entire thing was the roofing, and I'm being generous as it consisted of asphalt shingles. Our original plan was to re-side the shed as the cheap siding was beyond the rotting stage, it was starting to compost, but true to remodel style, we found the shed had more issues than rotten siding.
Termites. Once we found the termites, we started demolishing the thing with a vengeance. Cheap stuff is fun to demolish as it goes fast. Before the Sunday was over, we'd torn the entire shed down.....But wait, this wasn't our original intent...so what to do now?
Thank goodness Jarred's brain is perpetually forming ideas. I generally ridicule him as I see ideas that never come to fruition as wasted ideas. But I eat my own words here. Somewhere in the back of his brain, Jarred had once designed a fence. We knew we needed a fence to keep the dogs in and allow ourselves some privacy as Jarred does like to pee in the backyard. So a fence was built. I think it took an amazing amount of time to build the thing but seeing as it was only worked on on the week days as the weekends are for fun, I think we ended up doing ok. The best thing about the fence, besides the design, is the comments from neighbors and those passing by.
When we first dug the post holes and put up the supports, the comments reflected skepticism. People would often yell out their car windows, "We're watching you guys...waiting to see what that thing becomes." I even got questions from co-workers and students at work to the point where they'd see me in the hall and seek me out, wondering what was to become of the posts in our yard. As the fence took shape, the comments changed to reflect curiosity, "I've never seen a fence like that." Or, "Nice fence...very unique.....I like what you're doing with the place." The best comment Jarred received was from an old man in an old truck eating a bag of corn chips. He told Jarred, "I like your fence but you know if you didn't have an eye for design you could really mess that thing up."
Both Jarred and I value unique and useful design, which one would never know as we've owned two design flops (the ranch house- totally utilitarian but UGLY). We often wonder if the population in small town suburbia is content with mediocre design, but the comments we've received from the fence instill a new hope, that maybe people just need a little push and to see that it's ok to be a bit different, neighbors generally appreciate aesthetics (tasteful aesthetics, not purple houses).
Termites. Once we found the termites, we started demolishing the thing with a vengeance. Cheap stuff is fun to demolish as it goes fast. Before the Sunday was over, we'd torn the entire shed down.....But wait, this wasn't our original intent...so what to do now?
Thank goodness Jarred's brain is perpetually forming ideas. I generally ridicule him as I see ideas that never come to fruition as wasted ideas. But I eat my own words here. Somewhere in the back of his brain, Jarred had once designed a fence. We knew we needed a fence to keep the dogs in and allow ourselves some privacy as Jarred does like to pee in the backyard. So a fence was built. I think it took an amazing amount of time to build the thing but seeing as it was only worked on on the week days as the weekends are for fun, I think we ended up doing ok. The best thing about the fence, besides the design, is the comments from neighbors and those passing by.
When we first dug the post holes and put up the supports, the comments reflected skepticism. People would often yell out their car windows, "We're watching you guys...waiting to see what that thing becomes." I even got questions from co-workers and students at work to the point where they'd see me in the hall and seek me out, wondering what was to become of the posts in our yard. As the fence took shape, the comments changed to reflect curiosity, "I've never seen a fence like that." Or, "Nice fence...very unique.....I like what you're doing with the place." The best comment Jarred received was from an old man in an old truck eating a bag of corn chips. He told Jarred, "I like your fence but you know if you didn't have an eye for design you could really mess that thing up."
Both Jarred and I value unique and useful design, which one would never know as we've owned two design flops (the ranch house- totally utilitarian but UGLY). We often wonder if the population in small town suburbia is content with mediocre design, but the comments we've received from the fence instill a new hope, that maybe people just need a little push and to see that it's ok to be a bit different, neighbors generally appreciate aesthetics (tasteful aesthetics, not purple houses).
2 comments:
Pictures please!!!
Lovin' the fence! And lovin' that I know that Jarred likes to pee in the yard. My dad pees in the yard too. Except they have no fence, and no plans to build a fence.
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