End of Week Five

At the end of week 5 things are really starting to shape up. Today Mike and I went out and bought the subway tile and the shower head that will make up the outdoor shower. We're still waiting, patiently, for the arrival of the hot tub.

The decking is all down. The jagged edges still protrude along the edge of the pool. They'll be cut back and then the new liner will be installed.

Clean pool water will be a huge improvement.

Standing next to where the shower is going to be and looking back toward the house gives an idea of the distance.

The seating next to the hot tub area is framed out. The boxes at the bottom of the gazebo pillars will be covered with cedar shakes to tie it in with the rest of the house.

Week Five

Day 1 - Today we have a few more guys working (five at one point I think) so things are really starting to take shape now. We even got some of the decking down. Here are some of the pics I took. I'm off to a conference in Halifax tomorrow and won't be back until Friday so I'll be excited to see how much the project progresses between now and then.

There are two planters - one no each side of the deck. There is a bench attached to the front of one planter (I'm sitting on it to take this picture).

This is the first box built around the base of one of the pillars that hold up the gazebo above the hot tub. This box will eventually be covered with cedar shingles to match the house.

The planter and cabana.

Week four

We're at the halfway point of week 4. The changes are taking a bit longer to materialize now-a-days but once they do, they're pretty noticeable.

The first planter is built. Below this (on the ground) will be the counter with the sink and prep area for the wood-fired pizza oven. The outdoor shower will be on the wall directly ahead. You can see some of the water lines that will be used to provide water to the sink and the shower.

Brian is sitting on top of the gazebo which is suddenly looking pretty huge.

Here a view from the back lawn which will be inclosed in the new back yard. Clearly we're going to have to do some landscaping when this is all done.

Matt arriving with the Fiberon decking - almost 10,000 lbs of it.

Looking up from the hot tub this is what you'll see. The copula that is sort of the crown of the gazebo is going to have glass sides and a copper roof. It will be a smaller version of the copula that will eventually be on top of the barn.

End of Week Three

Here are a few more pics showing what has been accomplished in three weeks. As much as the back yard has changed in the past three weeks, I believe the privacy fence is really going to make a huge difference as well.

The outside walls are in and the transom windows have been cut out.

The gazebo over the hot tub starts to take shape.

This is sitting in the cabana and looking to the left toward the washroom wall.

This is sitting in the cabana and looking out toward the hot tub.

And this is in the cabana looking to the right, toward the storage area. You can see the frame of the door that will lead into the storage area.

Progress as of Thursday. Tomorrow is the end of week three. Today they got a lot of the cabana structure finished and the folks from Holland Home Leisure came and removed the old coping from the pool. The time is going by quickly it seems but, then again, some days it feels like there is still so much to do, we'll never get through everything. Patience is a virtue...I'm told.

You can see the slanted roof and the two end-rooms. The one on the right is the washroom (you can see the door frame) and the one on the left is storage. There will be an outside shower, for rinsing off after a dip in the pool or the hot tub, on the exterior wall of the storage room.

This close-up shot of the cabana gives a different perspective and you can a good look at where the transom windows will be along the back wall. The outside of the cabana will be covered in cedar shingles like the rest of the house as well as red shingles. The idea is that the cabana will simply look like an extension of the house.

The first wall goes up.

The first wall goes up for the cabana. You can see where the two transom windows will be in the center section as well as the transom windows in the washroom (on the right) and storage room (on the left)