This project has been a huge undertaking and has been ongoing since around November 1st.  Primary delays were due to the shit weather we had.  We'll start with last summer, when I pulled the trigger on this:







Since trailering it every weekend during the summer would be a huge pain in the ass, I decided that I needed a boat slip.  Thankfully I have a friend in the neighborhood that was kind enough to let me use his spare slip while mine was under construction.



Of course, since I know that this means digging up my entire backyard, it means that I need to go ahead and add an outdoor kitchen/bar and extend the patio.  A master plan was developed!















Construction on the slip began when this thing showed up (about 3 months late )







Fortunately they made quick work of digging the hole, putting in the dead men and building the walls















Then one day I walk out to see how they are coming and I am faced with a steel beam, right at eye level.  This ain't gonna work, chief.  Time to figure out how to uncut those pilings!







So I came up with this.  They will be cased in with treated Cypress, so looks at this point are irrelevant.  It set us back three days, but I'm not too pissed about it.







Shortly after that, we had a boat in the air!







New problem.  My backyard is a mud hole.  The dog is not impressed.



Since it's cold as fuck outside, I was forced to divert my attention to the kitchen/bar skeleton.  Constructed out of 1/8" x 2" Angle Iron.  Yes, it's overkill, but that's how I roll.











Grill was fitted in the garage so I could make sure everything was level and secure







Then the Southern Ice showed up for a couple of weeks, which slowed me down considerably







Time to get this show on the road again.











With Mother Nature checking up on the chilly temps for a little bit, it was time to pour the footer for the patio.  I HATE pouring concrete.























While that cured, I took it upon myself to start hanging the cypress on the bar







Can't have an outdoor kitchen without a beer fridge!







And some storage!







Inside is done!









Now it was time to start on the retaining wall for the patio.  I was going to contract this out, but those bastards wanted almost $4k just in LABOR to build the wall.  Fuck that.  I've got a local handyman on speed dial and a strong back.



Total labor cost was around $600 + my back (which is now in pain).











See all those holes.  EVERY one has to be filled with concrete.  Have I mentioned that I hate pouring concrete?  Because I do.  



Time to lay down some matting and a rock base.  Thank God for friends with heavy equipment!







Then bring in some good ole dirt







Leveled out, but left a gap for the bobcat to get in and out for the next phase.  More rock!




And that is where it currently stands.  I should have the top layer of rock down by Friday and the flagstone done by Sunday.  It's been killer work, but it'll be worth it!
So whatcha got going on for Springtime projects?

I hate you

Those are some nice little "x" pictures.

Edit: finally got the pictures to work... holy shit that's awesome!

Not as much as I do.

That's a hell of a backyard project!     Looks awesome!

Uhhh...I was just gunna mow.

Very nice!

I have some projects but right now everything is full stop until we get the fence installed so our little furry retarded kids can run around the back yard and let us actually get something done.

Very nice. Whats this thing called Spring you speak of?

OP has a lot of disposable income.

Seconded.  All in favor?

 

Spring?

Never heard of it.

Aye.

I'm planning on putting down some pre-emergent fertilizer/crabgrass killer.

All I got from this;

OP: Hey look at me guys. I'm mr money bags, blah blah blah.

$ yeah

I put mine down last week.  I guess up there, you get another couple of weeks to think about it.

An evil capitalist to some around this joint.


OP good job I like your style!

With the total raping left to my lawn by teh snow moldz...I'll be busy just recovering my nice lawn.

Nce!

Well definitely not posting my projects now.

BTW, I hope that the "jealousy" here is good-natured ribbing, so I'll just say...

Good for you, it's great you can reap the rewards of your success. Congrats.

Wealth envy?

I drew some good ideas from his project.

I might get the lawn mowed sometime this spring.

What program you do that in?

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This and I might trim a few limbs.  

I really need to build an elevated play house for the kids but we've been averaging rain 2-3 days per week and I'm not even starting until there is no rain in at least one 10 day forecast.



ETA:  Good for you OP.  Bunch of haters in this thread.

That thing that usually starts around February 1st down here, but still is struggling to arrive.  I think it's inbound on flight 370 out of Malaysia.




HAD.
Total cost is less than a new corvette.  At least that's how I'm justifying it!




Just dig it up, like I did.  
I'm sure it is.




If you want specifics on anything, just say the word.  I have a LOT of planning into this one and did a significant amount of homework.  






 
 

Adding more raised beds and expanding the current ones.
Building the stand for and assembling the rain barrels
Building the stand for and assembling the dutch buckets, plumbing the feed and drain lines for them as well.
Building the lettuce raft foundations and doing final assembly on those.
Pushing 70 linear feet of fence back 45' to the property line and building a boardwalk over 65' of creek to keep the critters and kids out.
Disassembling the Rainbow play set at my father in laws house and transporting it over here to reassemble and then add on to.

This is on top of all the normal getting ready for spring stuff.

Google Sketchup.  It's a bit of a learning curve to get the hang of, but once you do it is pretty easy.  I have detailed drawings for almost every piece of this project.



 

oh yeah. !    well, last week, i bought 8 6x6's and started my gate to my land....... i got one 6x6 in concrete ! !  

i try to pace myself, i have a lot of free time to kill. i was reloading some .308 a hour ago.








your place is really pretty, be great for a party.


my ptsd and normal antisocial personality is better suited to my farm though.

Sweet.  How many acres?



That's the only downside to living on the River...can't really have large amounts of property, unless you count the nearby public swampland.



 

Looks like MS Money.

TRG

Actually, I do have specifics ...

Why did you go with wood instead of pavers, stone, or stucco for your outdoor kitchen? Are you concerned about discoloration and warping?

Are you bringing natural gas off the house for the grill?

Are you bringing electricity off of the house?

Well,,,,  Pretty busy spring for me, I'm changing the tires on an old trencher.   I might even paint the wheels. Could take me into summer.

ETA:  How thinck is that metal for your cabinet frame?  Why not 16g steel studs?  16g steel studs would have been overkill, you did overmurder.  

Looks good money bags

My spring project is purchasing items for my apartment.

That is sweet!
My project is painting my fence and picking up dog shit.

Uh yeah, what he said.


BTW, despite the jealousy, I commend you on some nice damn work.  Cant wait to see it finished.

"Total cost is less than a new corvette. At least that's how I'm justifying it!"
Oh, I've seen this type of project before. Normally it involves a new Corvette right after the project is done.

Nice. When is the BBQ?

I'll bring the beer.

 

I was gonna dig up a little trench on the front of the house and put up some fence, but after seeing your project I'm not motivated to do anything anymore .

Looking good tho OP, nice project to take up some free time.

Brians

Man, thank you so much.....
That was so nice of you offer to have us HTF guys over to grill for all of us, and take us out on a boat trip when you get it all finished.




I would love to have a back yard like on the water.

Jeez, I have to put a new roof on the house and thought that was bad.

Holy shit your neighbor is close.

Bad ass backyard though.

My project is to GET my house remodeled.  It was built in 1950 & nothing has been done to it.  It is going to get leveled, rewire, replace old gas water heater with an instant on unit, add central a/c, new cabinets, refinish original wood floors, gut bathroom (remove fiberglass tub/shower, replace with shower) & add insulation to attict.

This guy gets it!

 

My yard has been collecting dog shit for months with this damn weather. It'll be fun picking all that shit up this spring, whenever the hell that is.

The main reason for wood is that I know how to work with it.  Stone, stucco and pavers, not so much!  Secondary is that Cypress is very readily available and not astronomical in cost.  We've had cypress on the siding of the camp for years and it hasn't given us any discoloration issues.  Warping doesn't worry me, as each board is bolted on all four corners.



Propane is coming off the house for the grill, searing station next to the grill and the low pressure burner.  The high pressure burner will be bottle fed with propane.



Electricity is coming off the house for the kitchen/bar.  For the lighting on the steps to the patio and any other lighting on the patio, I'll be stealing electricity from the dock.  That'll be all LED though, so not much of a draw.
 

123 acres, at the end of a dead end gravel road. .   the only clear spots are what i bulldozed last summer, like the driveway in the background ( needs a little gravel ). the nearest neighbor is a full mile away.