The Makeover I’ve Wanted For Over Ten Years (And It’s Finally Happening!)
I’ll never forget the first time I drove down our street and laid eye on our house for the first time. The house was owned by a client of mine (my very last interior decorating client when I had my decorating business). I happened to mention that I wanted to purchase an old fixer upper house that I could remodel myself, and she told me that she just happened to have a fixer upper that she wanted to sell. It was owned by her parents, and she had grown up in the house.
So she gave me the address, and I drove by to see what it looked like. That very first time I saw it, the house itself didn’t scare me away, even though it looked like this…
I mean, I said I wanted a fixer upper, and this definitely fit the bill. I could see past all of the outdated stuff and see that the house actually did have “good bones”, as they say. I knew it would be a lot of hard work, and I knew that I’d be doing most of it by myself, but I was up for the challenge.
But there were two things that were almost a deal breaker for me. The first one was that the house didn’t have a paved driveway leading to the garage. That confused me. Every other house on the street had a paved driveway, but this one had gravel with weeds and grass growing up in it. That confused me.
But as it turns out, that lack of a driveway that was almost a deal breaker for me turned out to be a blessing in disguise. We ended up turning our garage into my studio, and replacing the front garage doors with windows. If the house had a paved driveway, it would have dead ended right up against the front of my studio, which would have looked really awkward.
And when we were finally able to have a driveway poured, we didn’t have to spend a lot of extra money having old concrete removed. We could skip that step altogether and have new concrete poured. It all worked out perfectly in the end, and looking back now, it makes me laugh to think that the lack of a driveway leading to what is now my studio was almost a deal breaker for me in buying this house.
But the second thing that was almost a deal breaker was the curbs in front of the house. We live in an old neighborhood inside the city, and the curbs all up and down the street were in terrible shape. I prefer neighborhoods with curbs. I’m not a fan at all of the curbless look. But I like the curbs to actually look nice and straight. But these were old, cracked, crumbly in areas, and there was even one area with a pretty significant dip.
This is the best picture I could find to show the cracked, crumbly, dipped area in the curb in front of our house. This picture was taken years ago when we were having the new siding put on the house. But you can see both to the left and the right of the mailbox just how horrible the curbs looked. And it wasn’t just the curb. It was also the area in front of the curb that dipped down pretty significantly. So every time it rained, water, dirt, leaves, and other debris would get stuck there. So the curb wasn’t just an eyesore, it was a pain every time it rained.
Over the years, as we’ve had different concrete contractors at the house (first to pour the new front sidewalk, and then to pour the driveway), I’ve asked them if anything could be done with the curbs. And I was always told that there wasn’t really anything they could do because the curbs belong to the city. I’d just have to live with them. That was disappointing to hear.
Anyway, fast forward to the middle of last week, and the city trucks arrived on our street and started putting out orange cones all up and down the street. I asked what they were doing, and they said they were fixing a water leak. But then yesterday, I heard them out there cutting concrete right in front of our house. I looked out the window just in time to see their big machinery picking up a large portion of our curb that had cut away and putting it onto a truck. I watched as they cut away one piece at a time and hauled them off. And then I watched at they cut at least a foot into our front yard.
And this morning, it looks like this. We are getting new curbs!!
I can’t even tell you how excited I am about this! There’s nothing like an unexpected upgrade, especially one that I’ve wanted for years now and have been told repeatedly I can’t have.
And even better is that I’m getting an upgrade that I’ve wanted for years now, and at no out-of-pocket expense to us!
I was actually quite amazed at how much of the old curb, street, and yard they cut away. They even had to do this little jog around our mailbox (our sad, dirty mailbox that needs a good cleaning).
This is all very exciting to me. Back when we had our new sidewalk poured, I loved how it looked, but I hated that the new concrete ended with an old, crumbly curb.
But that old, crumbly part is gone now, soon to be replaced with new concrete.
I’ll be very interested to see how they blend the new concrete in with the old parts. I wish they had just replaced all of them, but of course, the city isn’t going to pay to replace curbs that don’t need to be replaced.
I wish my pictures really showed just how deep they cut. At this end, it looks like a good 18-inch depth to me, but I didn’t actually measure it. It’s pretty deep, though.
Anyway, I’m very, VERY excited about this. It was a surprise that kind of came out of nowhere, and it’s something that I’ve been wanting for years but never thought I could have. So I just learned to live with the old, ugly, crumbly curbs with the annoying dip.
And, of course, we did pay for these curbs…with our taxes. And our taxes aren’t cheap. But it’s really exciting to get an upgrade/repair out of the blue and with no out-of-pocket payments required.
Side note: After I finish the studio bathroom, I think what I really want to do is spend a couple of weeks working on the front of our house. I STILL haven’t put that shutter back up. I have lights that needs to be repaired/replaced. The mailbox needs a good cleaning. The front porch needs some attention. I still haven’t finished the skirting on the front porch, and it’s been unfinished for a few years now. And our new bedroom door still hasn’t been painted.
Those projects sound fun to me, and now that we’ll have new curbs, the idea of spending some time sprucing up the exterior of our house (before it gets hot here in central Texas) sounds like a fun break before I start on a big project like tearing out a bathroom. And as I work on those projects, I can keep you updated on how these new curbs turn out.
Addicted 2 Decorating is where I share my DIY and decorating journey as I remodel and decorate the 1948 fixer upper that my husband, Matt, and I bought in 2013. Matt has M.S. and is unable to do physical work, so I do the majority of the work on the house by myself. You can learn more about me here.
Yea for new curbing! Glad it is being done and that you are ready to work on your porch and front yard (which I love).
OH YES! Perfect timing…a break from the inside, and do those things that you see often driving up…and people going by notice too. So glad the city is doing some repairs, and you get to spruce up the front for SPRING! And, before the summer heat. And, a break from inside. Have fun!
I love it when you get “free” (tax paid, as you said) upgrades from the city! I got half of my (very long, very steep) gravel driveway regraded+graveled at no cost to me after a convenient storm washed out the drainage ditch work they happened to complete the day before 😂
This is the perfect “break” for you. You’re getting some maintenance items ticked off the list as well as some other things finished up like the skirting.
It’s recorded breaking heat here in Southern Az so get out there and enjoy your weather before it gets too hot there.
What a delightful surprise! And suddenly working on those annoying little things outside sound like fun! Glad you can get outside and enjoy something different.
Awesome! Yes, the new curbs make it clear what to do next on your home, with motivation and enthusiasm 🙂
Very exciting! Looks like that break has worked itself out!