Before & After: Backyard Edition

When we first bought our house in May 2010, we knew one of the biggest projects of the house was going to be the backyard.

The backyard had ISSUES.
But we saw the potential the backyard had, so we didn't let the issues scare us.
The biggest issue was the pool (which was disclosed).
The pool had a crack, a pipe leak and the surface needed to be redone.
The spa also had a leak & didn't hold any water.
When we first saw the pool, it was green with algae & was filthy.
The girls thought it was so cool we had a "pond" in our backyard. Ha!

Last summer & this summer have been spent fixing up the Backyard.
I am so glad I took some Before pictures of when we first moved in because it looks SO different now & I thought I would share the Before & After's.

Here are some Before pictures of the pool:
(You can't tell how dirty & green the pool water is from these pictures. Trust me. It was nasty. There was no way I was ever going in that pool!)

All around the pool where overgrown trees, weeds & bushes.
DURING construction:
With all the rocks ripped out:
And, the AFTER:

The pool re-do was the first thing we did last summer.
The pool was drained June 1st and the pool was completed on July 1st.

Here are some close ups of the changes we did to the pool area.
Before, the pool was lined with lava rock:
After:
Did you know black widow spiders love Lava Rock? The Lava Rock had to go, especially because Lava Rock is bumpy & not comfortable to walk on or sit on.
Another Before:
Yuck.
So we had all the Lava Rock removed & replaced it with smooth Connecticut Blue Stone.
After:
View #2 of the pool:
AFTER:

Another thing we re-did on the pool is we got rid of the steps to the shallow end.
Before:
We added an Acapulco step, which is basically adding a baby pool/lounge area to the pool.
Here it is during construction:
The re-bar for the Acapulco step:
And, the AFTER:

The Acapulco step is my favorite thing we did. It shallow (and goes from 6 inches deep to 12 inches deep) and is perfect for the kids to play on & the adults to lounge around on.

Some other things we did around the pool area is get rid of this disgusting lattice trellis that was falling down & full of termites.
BEFORE:
We had the pool guys build up a bench for the spa area that people can sit on.
AFTER:
This past Fall, we replaced the fence we shared with our neighbors because it was also rotting & falling over. Literally. And, we had 2 pine trees removed & 2 huge privet trees removed.
BEFORE:

AFTER:
Ugly Privet tree BEFORE:

With dirt & a random walkway:
AFTER:

Nasty Pine Tree that dropped all it's needles into the pool:

AFTER:
There was no landscaping, just weeds & dirt.
BEFORE:

AFTER:
I love having color around the pool & no more pine needles everywhere!
BEFORE there wasn't a pool fence around the pool, but with 2 little kids we put one up as soon as the pool construction was complete.
BEFORE:
AFTER:

This summer Kevin tore down the overhang that was attached to our house. It was rotting and falling down. It needed to go.
BEFORE:
AFTER:

We planned on putting up a new one, but we like not having one (for right now)

Since the pool & fence were such big (and expensive) projects, we saved the rest of the backyard to deal with this summer.
Here is a BEFORE of what the other side of the backyard looked like:
Another BEFORE:
There wasn't much landscaping, just a lot of weeds, an overgrown rose bush & a dying apple tree.
AFTER:
(Family Friends gave us their old playset. Score!)
Kevin ripped it out the dead stuff & we added some landscaping & 3 crepe myrtle trees.
And, the final section of the backyard that Kevin slaved over is the side area.
BEFORE it was just a bunch of weeds & overgrown plum trees that didn't produce anything.

Kevin spent months ripping it all out and building me garden boxes!
AFTER:

We also put in a little walkway around the garden boxes:

Close up of the garden boxes/walkway. Oh how I LOVE my garden!

So, there you have it.
The BEFORE & AFTER of our backyard.
It certainly has been a labor of love.
(We hired people to do the pool & fence, but besides that we have done everything ourselves.)
Kevin did all the hard manual labor & I did the planning/landscaping.
I am so happy we are pretty much done with our backyard.
There are a few other things we need to do (like paint the house) and eventually red0 the cement patio, but for the most part, the BIG projects are done with and we have been able to enjoy our weekends and not spend them as Weekend Warriors working in the backyard.