DIY Breeze Block Wall For The Front Entry

PART I

I don't mess around. Over the winter, I had quite a bit of time inside to plan out my spring and summer projects, and now that the warm weather is here, I can't stop. It's like a switch gets thrown and I'm in DIY Bipolar mode. I go until my body breaks and I have to stop for a few days to heal. But I don't want to. Stop. This winter I planned out a couple major projects, now mostly complete: Grade the backyard and finish the retaining wall; put in a walkway (this one is not started yet); build the cedar fence on the one side of the house, and make the front entry more appropriate to the house. We had two ideas that we were pursuing for the front entry. One was partially enclosing it with breeze blocks, the other was using lintels to create a cool modern screen. Unfortunately, the particular lintels that we would need are a dimension that is quite uncommon, and ordering block is prohibitively expensive. We found breeze blocks in town, and in stock at Hebron Masonry Supply for just over 2 bucks a piece. At the right is a render of the original idea. The dimensions of my model are not exact to the house, but close enough to get the idea of the plan. The door (by the way) will not be that yellow! And yes, the plan is for a wood garage door at some point down the road.

DIY A Mid Century Modern Cedar Fence

Spring has finally come to the north, and I've been taking advantage of the warm weather to get things moving along. Our new AC condensor is going in, replacing a true mid century unit which has unfortunately stopped working. This thing is totally cool - open bottom, wood grain vinyl access panel. It worked great - for about the first month we were in this house, then it just gave up. It has to be the original unit that was installed when the house was built, so 60+ years of service is pretty impressive. What does this have to do with a fence you ask? Well, read on.