As my hardwood floor guys got started sanding this week they kicked me out of the house so I was relegated to landscaping duty. I called my good bud Dan who’s always happy to give me a hand when he’s between projects so together we really got the neighbors talking. After finishing the fence project and multiple dump runs we finally got to the fun part of laying out the beds. I opted for river rock on this house for several reasons, one being that there are alot of neighborhood cats that evidently have claimed rights to my yard or possibly even get a kick out watching us wipe our feet off, so I didn’t want to make it easy on them with big new mulch beds. Additionally the river rock goes really good with our style home, in California we would have also mixed a few palms for a tropical bungalow feel but of course that’s not possible here in South Texas because palm trees wont survive the freezing winters. After then laying the 4 pallets of St. Augustine sod down Thursday, our welder showed up and installed another sizzle feature for the property, our solar powered automatic driveway gate. No electrical connections here, a solar panel on top of the gate charges the battery which operates the gate motor. This is such a cool feature and will pay off huge for potential buyers.
Always wanting to change things up a little, I decided to go light on my floor stain as recently we’ve done several rehabs with very dark wood floors. The issue with going with a light color is that it will show any past pet stains. My floor guys brought a new product that I wasn’t familiar with, Zinsser Wood Bleach. It comes in a 2 part kit and after following the instructions we watched the old stains bubble up and disappear. It seems to work killer except it took a bit of the red tone out of my red oak wood floor as well but he assures me that when he comes back down with the new stain he’ll be able to play with it a little and hide most of the variations. I cant wait to see the floors done, remember I put down all new wood in the kitchen and back through the addition so they should be gorgeous. The shower glass and appliances arrive next week pending floor completion, stay tuned for more fun!
Great idea with the solar powered gate. What did that cost?
Hey Curtis, I am paying around $2400 total for the custom gates. I know the “Apollo Brand Solar Operators” run about $1000 bucks seperately so you just have to then find a welder to make the gate. I’ve been a big fan of automatic driveway gates as we have one on our San Diego house. Nifty item if it fits in your rehab budget.
Hey Tom I walked the coolest spanish style house in North Park today. Well see if we get it but if so I am hoping youll be in San Diego by the time I start to come by and check it out and give me some ideas.
Smelled as bad as the Cat house I just did in Chula Vista though….
Ill check out the security gates.
Cool Curtis, we cant wait to get back and start building our contacts and networking. Keep your eyes out for bungalows I might like too. re: gates, I bought just the motors at Bejar Gate in Kearny Mesa before then welded the frame myself. You might want to price the motors there. I’ll help you when we get back.