06-28-2007, 01:20 PM
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#1
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Crazed Fish Whisperer
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Kansas City, MO
Posts: 2,568
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Joys of Home ownership....
Well, I just dropped $7600 on my foundation repair.
They excavated the entire front of the house, jacked up the house inside, straightened the wall, put in 4 dead man anchors, sealed the cracks both inside and out, laid down a rubber lining on the outside of the way, and then back filled in.
The wall is straight, but my front yard is toast. Thanks to the rain, it is mud from my house all the way to the street, and my driveway I slipped on earlier due to all the mud on it. :-)
Oh well...it will all be ok... to top things off, in trying to prepare for them and doing some yard work, I came across Poison Oak without realizing it. So now I am breaking out with sores all over. Oh the wonderful joys of home ownership... LOL
So now, a question...yes..you all will get the wonderful opportunity of reshaping the front of my house... to help me increase my property value... to know that your input impacted a house in the middle of the US...
After the dirt settles, I need to get my front porch area back again..
Do I:
1) Re-pour the concrete slab they took up (10' by 15') as well as the stoop
2) Pour a small sidewalk to the stoop and leave dirt between the sidewalk and the house for plant purposes
3) scrap the concrete and build a wood deck
4) other
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 Instead of just building a reef in my home...I so wish I could afford to build my home in the reef!
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06-28-2007, 02:21 PM
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#2
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I've got the REEF rash!
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: New Jersey
Posts: 26,404
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I say a deck.
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06-28-2007, 03:52 PM
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#3
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Big Fishy
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Prince George
Posts: 640
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Deck for sure!
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06-28-2007, 03:57 PM
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#4
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Crazed Fish Whisperer
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Kansas City, MO
Posts: 2,568
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Ok..someone voted 'other', but I don't see an "other suggestion" posted. :-) Don't be shy...voice your thoughts. 
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Instead of just building a reef in my home...I so wish I could afford to build my home in the reef!
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06-28-2007, 05:00 PM
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#5
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Big Fishy
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: NY
Posts: 604
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go wit the deck
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06-28-2007, 05:22 PM
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#6
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Candy Pirate
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: I can see my breath
Posts: 3,772
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deck are too much maintenance
re-pour the concrete to get the most value
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LANCASTER, PA—Surmounting treacherous icy pavement and a windchill factor dipping as low as 19 degrees Fahrenheit,
local resident Louis Bergstrom survived a real-life battle with the elements Friday when he successfully completed a harrowing
four-and-a-half-minute journey across the desolate, frozen parking lot
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06-28-2007, 05:44 PM
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#7
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Professional Tread Killer
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: jacksonville
Posts: 722
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concrete.. wood rots and is bug food.. the joys of owning a house is the reason i am renting an apartment now.. lol.. to many joys.. get one fixed and 3 more break..
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06-28-2007, 06:21 PM
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#8
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Good boy
Join Date: Jan 2000
Location: Marietta, GA, USA
Posts: 7,883
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Where do you want to spend time? If you have a back porch or deck then would you really use a front porch? Post some pictures of the front of the house and let us throw out some suggestions.
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06-29-2007, 05:51 AM
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#9
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Reefer and proud of it!!!
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Moore, Ok
Posts: 826
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A deck a really big deck.
Oh wait i said that wrong. 
I guess size does, or doesn't matter.
Honestly though i do think a wooden deck because they just look better.
just think "CURB APPEAL" |
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06-29-2007, 06:38 AM
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#10
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Super Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2000
Location: TN, USA
Posts: 8,938
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On the other hand, you could take the same money and take a vacation!! 
It would help to see a photo of the front of the house to be able to tell whether a deck or concrete porch would look better. For resale value, it's all about 'curb appeal'. Another factor is which way the house is oriented. If the sun makes that area very hot in the afternoon, a deck might not get much use without shade.
Dick
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Every day is a good day!!
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06-29-2007, 06:46 AM
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#11
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Rogue Water is Trouble!
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Upstate, NY
Posts: 2,911
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Ok...I'll give some design tips. But first I think I need a picture of the house (or at least a description of the style of the house), it is hard to make a suggestion without knowing this.
For the sake of voting on what I like...here is my input. I would either pour a concrete patio the length of the house and put a roof over it. You can add a nice railing to it as well. My preference is to be able to sit and see out the front of the house because usually you get to see people. I like to people watch, and say hi to the neighbors. The style of this addition depends on the style of the house though (and how much you want to spend)...I suppose you could do the same thing with decking, but it will be more maintenence. Good luck.
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06-29-2007, 07:06 AM
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#12
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lazy reefer
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: MI, clarkston
Posts: 873
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ok well heres one for the other... well do you really want a deck on the front of the house... no you need one in the back. and in the front you want a nice clean walk way right so its cleat concrete in the front and a nice deck in the back.
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i cant spell so just go with it
http://www.ebaumsworld.com/dubdub2.html
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06-29-2007, 08:17 AM
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#13
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BIG SMELLY MOD
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Livingston Parish, Denham Springs, Louisiana
Posts: 17,057
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deck!!
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Vince aka VINNIE
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06-29-2007, 09:40 AM
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#14
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Wants a Howitzer
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Maine
Posts: 3,937
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Pour a walkway and landscape it... soma azaleas, some shrubbery maybe some rugosa roses and a japanese cut-leaf maple or two.
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30 gallon (long)
one 7" Toadfish named Todd (Batrachomoeus trispinosus)- Tuxedo urchin eater
Assorted mushrooms, zoanthids, ricordea, leathers, a candy and brains...
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06-30-2007, 11:41 AM
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#15
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80,000+ Christmas Lights
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: South of Boston, MA
Posts: 185
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Do you spend time out front?
How much distance between the front of the house & the road?
Is there a front overhang on the house?
Do you like plants/floers/gardens?
Does the front face N/S/W/East?
Need a picture, I don't have a front deck or sidewalk
My house faces North, I spend all my time out back
I will be spending even more time out back once I finish the 15' x 17' sunroom & 8' wraparound deck
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125g show, (3) 250w, 75g frag, 40g sump
$100 325g ready to go to...just need more house
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