When Steve and I partnered with my parents to buy our next door neighbor's house, we'd lived next to our neighbor Seth for eight years, and he'd owned the house since 2001. He was quiet, odd but nice enough, and did very little work on the place. The roof was replaced recently (which we discovered was likely due to a large leak we found evidence of in the house) but that was about it. We knew there'd be a lot of deferred maintenance. A LOT of deferred maintenance.
Back Fence
The back fence was thoroughly coated in vines. The vines were encroaching on the house, and also harboring lots of vermin. Since Steve and I had tackled a virtually identical situation on our house's back fence, we knew what to expect, but it was still a tremendous amount of work.
The tangled mass:
We were lucky to have some eager helpers. Well, Jack was eager to help Grandpa by gathering the chopped vines. Henry was more eager to dance.
Behold! The dilapidated, termite-ridden fence beneath the vines:
We were also fortunate that my parents brought up their truck to haul away the plant matter and old fence in at least four separate trips to the dump. What a mess.
And what was beneath that old fence? More fence! Jack shows off the revealed chain-link fence:
And then the blessed time arrived to turn things over to the professionals who had built our back wall years earlier.
Foundation and rebar for the block:
Block going in:
Skim coat on:
Ta da!
Because of a bit of an elevation change between the two properties, continuing our four-foot block wall meant that the block portion ended up a bit taller next door.
All that brush clearing revealed some really nice brickwork, which we'll be able to make into a pleasant patio area.
Side Fence
The side fence separating our house from next door was also vine covered and infested with various vermin.
Look at the size of that varmint!
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