Blog 17
We had some trees cut!
Before and after photos:
We cut trees in our lower lot and on the left side and some trees in the upper lot. The first photo is before. The next photo shows where lots of the trees have been cut. Now you can see the house in the lower lot but we plan to plant new full trees/bushes to hide the house.

Here is the big tree, that was at the end of the pool, cut down and on the ground.  

Its branches hang all over the pool. The brick wall was there and it is gone too. 

You can see the white house now but we will rebuild the brick wall to hide the house.

Here is the side yard near the master bedroom. The trees are very leggy and overgrown. There is not a very good barrier for the house that is below us. There is a house on the left of this photo. (you can not see it in this view).

Here is the same stand of bushes and trees from the other side, with a house on the right.

Here it is with the trees cut down. The trees were tall and leggy so you could see through them into the lower lot. We could see the neighbors garage and back yard. You can see the top of the house that sits below us.

Here it is from another angle with the trees cleared out. The house on the left of this photo is our neighbors.

I went to a nursery to pick out trees to replace the ones we cut.

We are thinking of Nelly Stevens holly trees like these below. I tagged 19 of these 8 foot tall trees to plant along the pool side and lower lot to create a natural wall. We are hopeful they will be planted this week or next.

We were thinking about a wall with these Cryptomeria, like below, but  are now going with the holly.

Blog 16
The pool has changed some. Here is what it looks like now. This is looking down into the space where the tanning ledge will be. The house is behind you.

Here it is from the other side. This will be a tanning deck. Our house is on the left side.

Then they filled this space with rocks. Notice the tiles have been added around the top of the pool.

Then they started pouring concrete. Notice the white PVC pipe sticking out of the top of the tanning ledge. It will be cut off, but it is there so we can stick an umbrella into it (if we want to have shade while using the tanning bed). Rebar was put down on the bottom of the pool to reform part of the bottom to make it not so deep. 

They started forming the step or bench at the deep end. This will be the ladder. You can sit or climb out of the deep end by this step or bench.

Here it is after it dried some. Thats Michael standing there. Our house is to his left.

Now they are smoothing out the concrete.

This is the tanning ledge with 2 new lights that shine towards the deep in. You will not be able to see the light fixtures  from the house. See the umbrella holder?

Blog 15
They have started insulating now. There is a big truck that sprays this foam. The form expands and fills the space. Then workers shave the excess off.  There was a slight hold up with this. The exterior walls had been removed so if the insulation was spayed, it would fly into the yard in the areas that were open to the outside. We had to wait for the workers (who had been working on another job) to be free so that they could come and put siding on the outside. This allowed the insulation to be sprayed on the inside. Here they have started putting the siding on the house. This is standing in the front court yard looking toward the front door and den. That is the corner of the new new french door we put on our office/bedroom 4.

Here are the walls with insulation on it. This is in the master bedroom.

All the windows are taped up. This is bedroom 2 looking toward bedroom 1.

We are deciding about insulating between the rooms too.

The roof is finally almost finished. It is not the cedar shake but it is OK.

Here is the back of the house. Right where the ladder is is where the new covered porch will be. That roof will extend out beside the pool. The small pitched roof is the new pool bathroom. You can see the white door and problem window to the left of the door.