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Health & Fitness

Mike King's Backyard Remodel: The Continuing Chronicles

Communication with neighbors is crucial

“Good fences make good neighbors” - Robert Frost 

A crucial element in the process of remodeling and landscaping is the acknowledgement that your neighbors will be affected, oftentimes peripherally, sometimes directly, in the overall scheme of your design. Communication is vital. Take the time to discuss your plans with the neighbors. Case in point: our backyard is bordered by the garage wall of our dear friend and neighbor Mary Lou. I consider ML one of the smartest and most reasonable (unless a Prince concert is involved, then all bets are off) of my acquaintances. During preliminary discussions, she indicated that she would have no problem with us painting her garage wall the same as our new house color, a goldish hue that would complement the overall design of the new backyard. After all, she never sees this wall unless she happens to be in our backyard, so why should it be a concern? "Picayune," I thought. Imagine our surprise when a few days ago ML mentioned she was having second thoughts about the painting scheme for her wall and did not want it painted to match our house color, along with the very legitimate concern that, if we did paint the wall, where the white to gold demarcation line would be, and by the way, sometimes the water from our sprinklers in the back seems to seep onto her garage floor, so there may be a problem with drainage that needs to be addressed. Whew! Legitimate concerns all! Kim and I immediately began planning a meeting with our landscaper, designer, and ML, where we could all discuss options, negotiate, and come up with a way forward. I’ll let you know what happens…

Incidentally, our designer found delightful dragonfly accent lights that could be placed in our trees for "just so" ambiance. While enchanting, the cost of about 200 bucks per fly popped a couple of blood vessels just over my left eye, so these items are on indefinite hold until we understand the more relevant costs of things like stucco repair and window replacements. I'm just saying.

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