Tearing out the old stuff is always a blast. But usually, you create more problems than you solve.

This old avocado tree stump has to go. And with zero budget, it’s going to take some time. And some sweat.

This weed-infested 1960′s backyard needs a face lift.  We decided to gut the areas and plant some new grass and install sprinklers.

Step one includes creating a blank slate. That means demolishing the delapitated brick flower bed and concrete footing.

“After I got the keys to my house, the first thing I changed was… the temperature.“

The furnace was busted in this 48 year old southern California house.  There was no AC either and we had less than a month before we moved in. Sweating while you sleep will make anyone cranky.

Our one-year-old who refused to sleep through the night made the decision for us. We were getting central AC and heater installed. Stat!

Since the side yard is gravel, I felt compelled to mix some concrete and pour a small slab for the AC condenser to sit on.

Preparation is key.

I got the measurements from the AC guy and readied for battle. I was about to embark on my very first project of my very first home.

Field trip the hardware store!

Concrete: it's harder than it looks.

I cleared and the ground and positioned a wood frame I nailed together, making sure it was level.

I mixed the quick setting concrete and shoveled it in as fast as I could.  For the record, concrete is heavy. It’s even heavier when it’s wet.

The level doesn't care about how hard you tried.

A couple days later, I knocked off the wooden frame.  It looked pretty darn good.  In fact, it was actually level! Sometimes you get lucky on your first try.

Soon after, the pros came in and installed the system.

Sitting pretty.

That new condenser fit atop my beautiful concrete pedestal like a glove.

And with our home climate controlled, our one-year-old finally gave his parents a break and slept all the way through the night for the first time.

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This post was written for Houseblogs.net as part of a sweepstakes sponsored by True Value.  www.StartRightStartHere.com

First time howners in a 50 year old house. A recipe for heartache.

The kitchen and laundry sinks have been backing up ever since we moved in a year ago. Because the plumbing is connected, both sinks occasionally fill with a foul-smelling, decomposing mixture of whatever the garbage disposal recently devoured. Eventually, they slowly drain.

The other day, they didn’t.

I plunged the kitchen sink first with the enthusiasm of a new homeowner. With every plunge, I unwittingly launched a geyser of dark goop out the connected laundry sink in the garage.

My pride in Doing It Myself quickly vanished when I witnessed the hydraulic massacre I created around the laundry area.

And still, neither sink would completely drain.

My next effort had me elbow deep in the the laundry sink sludge as I hand cranked twenty feet of snake through the pipes. A full day of waiting and a bottle of Drano later, the foul black murkiness refused to go down. And after two showers my arms still smelled like rotten gutter water.

The wife had seen enough.

A burly plumber arrived and after accepting a generous check, he swiftly sent a rattling motorized professional-grade snake through the clog and cleaned out forty feet of pipe behind it.

Naturally, both sinks emptied quicker than an airplane toilet.

Our plumbing problems were over. Or so I thought.

A few day later, there was a growing pool of water in the new cabinets under the kitchen sink. It seems when I started this battle, I had plunged the kitchen sink with such um… enthusiasm that I managed to break the seal between the sink and basket.

A slow leak ensued under the sink.

It was time for some basic plumbing, which I learned on the internets.

After removing the lock nut and cardboard and rubber gaskets, I scraped off the old plumber’s putty.

Two bucks worth of replacement gaskets had us back in business. After tightening down the lock nut, I cleaned off the plumber’s putty that squeezed out. I made sure to use a plastic putty knife so I wouldn’t scratch the sink (which is a capital offense if you ask Mrs. Moneygulch).

I also learned that you shouldn’t tighten the lock nut too much or the rubber gasket can squeeze out and you get a brand new leak.

After it’s done, the true test: a sink full of water and time.

One battle won. But with a fifty year old house, the war continues!

True Value: www.StartRightStartHere.com

It seems like just yesterday that we were sweating out offers and counter offers.  Praying that the phonebook-thick pile of documents we signed didn’t include us giving up our first born.

So far, so good. We’ve been homeowners for one year now and nobody has demanded custody of our son.

A lot has happened in the past 365 days. And here’s a list to prove it:

1. air conditioner concrete slab
2. installed a chimney cap
3. sprayed for termites (twice)
4. fixed/added electrical
5. cleared plumbing clogs 
6. demo’d old kitchen
7. built new kitchen
8. new appliances
9. new bathroom cabinet
10. new roof
11. sunroom facelift
12. new AC / furnace
13. hardwood facelift
14. Sealed holes/floor registers
15. removed ivy/beasts
16. removing wood trim
17. old AC removal
18. got a lake view
19. new windows
20. new front do0r
21. repaired root damage/stucco
22. new exterior paint
23. removed avocado treel
24. carpeted master bedroom
25. painted hallway
26. removed solartube
27. painted nursery

Other than that, we’ve haven’t done much.

Since the lake is where they launch fireworks for the 4th of July, we figured we’d have a party and watch the show from our backyard.

Between us and the lake, there are trees and houses  so we figured our view of the show would be fairly obstructed.   We waited in the back yard with several friends and their kids, fingers crossed.

At 9:15 sharp, the show began with a flurry of booms and colors.

We're never braving traffic on the 4th ever again!

And the view was phenomenal.  

Even the adults were "oooh-ing" and "aaaaah-ing."

Everyone said they’d come and do it again next year.

And I swear if we ever have to sell this place, we’re having the open house at 9:15 on the 4th of July.

Notice the rake.

Why would someone cut down a perfectly healthy avocado tree?

Hey, I like guacamole as much as the next guy.  But this monster has been feeding rats, possums and delivering a neverending tide of leaves ever since we moved in.

Its root system has been threatening to topple the fence and flower bed from beneath.   And the heavy upper limbs have been hanging precariously over the roof and sunroom.

But the worst part about it?  It does all these dastardly deeds in the neighbor’s yard more than ours.   It was time to go.

We got a great referral and these guys went to work.

It was a ballet of ropes and chainsaws.

These guys were both skilled and fast.

In less than an hour, they had it down to the trunk.

Notice: no rake.

Soon afterwards, nothing but a ground-level stump.  And for us, one last batch of guacamole.

White primer first, then color second.

They primed then painted the entire house.  So essentially, they did it TWICE.

You bet the new front door was hermetically sealed!

This team accomplished in four hours what I couldn’t do myself during my two week vacation.

You gotta love the orange roof tiles on the peak of the old roof.

A tip of the hat to my new favorite people. You guys RULE!

Lets not forget it was like 95 degrees out there.

After pulling out the bushes, replacing the roof, getting new windows and a (soon-to-be) paint job, we’re inching ever closer to our goal of curb appeal…

click to enlarge

These roots are some of the smaller offenders.

Their roots had grown up between the foundation and the stucco.  

Decades of damage from roots and moisture.

In fact, the stucco on the bottom 1/4 of the house was a small shimmy away from snapping off completely.

The stucco guys started the demo yesterday.

It may look like a crack den, but it's OUR crack den!

Man, home ownership is fun!

Like new construction, the repair will keep the stucco above the soil line.

Lesson Learned: Every project creates another project.