Better Homes & Gardens

Tree Thinning Jan. 2009

I decided to have 2 of the 6 redwood trees I had planted 20 years ago removed since they were crowding the other trees. First, I had to get a Heritage Tree Removal Permit from the city of Mountain View. Fortunately there were no objections and I received the permit a couple months after I filed the application. I then hired Banning Tree Service to cut the trees down and grind down the stumps.

The process was straightforward but time-consuming. The climber cut off the branches on his way up, then cut and dropped slices of the trunk on the way down. Because of the weight of the wood, the slices became progressively thinner as he neared the bottom.

The trunk of the tree in front was about 3 feet in diameter at the base! After the stump was ground down, all that was left was a large pile of redwood compost.

House Painting 2008

Having been 12 years since I last painted the house, it was time to do it again. This time I used the Wagner Paint Eater, an electric Brillo pad on steroids, to remove lose paint and prep the surface. This was followed by washing with a Karcher pressure washer. I had to use their Rapid Exchange Program twice before I got a washer which worked reliably. Again, I used a Wagner Power Painter to do most of the painting. The cost of paint had doubled since the last time I painted the house to $50/gal!

Major Remodeling 2006

This summer I started to remodel my kitchen and master bathroom. After living with them for 17 years, I figured it was time. Since these two rooms allowed access to all the plumbing, it was also an ideal time to replace the 45-year-old galvanized steel piping with copper.

The finished kitchen and bathroom.

My Japanese Garden

Hey, it's not Ritsurin-koen, but then, I haven't been doing this for 3 centuries. Here's how things look in 2004. I got two Kasuga-style granite lanterns in 2003 from Fuzei in Canada.

Home Remodelling

My most ambitious project prior to 2006 was putting in this skylight in 1999:

I also replaced windows and flooring.

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