Day One: Removing the Forest

Well, today marked the official beginning of the newest foreclosure flip.  I acquired the house a week ago Friday but have not been able to work on it due to my other job!  But I was ready to start today!

And I brought the most important purchase:  a brand-new chainsaw.  I picked up a 16-inch Craftsman chainsaw a few days ago for $149.99.  And I was preparing to put this baby through the ringer.

I told Dad to meet me at the house at 9:00 A.M. for a day of chopping down trees.  I arrived at 9:07 A.M. (always late!), and we started tackling the forest.  And I DO mean forest.  This foreclosure is unique so far in the ones I've purchased in that the outside work is possibly more needy than the inside work!  The previous owners simply did not touch ANYTHING outside!  And in the central Midwest, the trees and bushes and brush simply took off!  The decorative bushes were literally over the top of the gutters.  The volunteer trees (weeds) have become 30-foot mainstays.  The cute little berm has become a mess of poison ivy.  I mean, you couldn't even see the house from the road due to the trees!

The mess of trees and brush as viewed from the street.

The side of the house as viewed from the street.

The front landscaping had not been touched in years!

So the plan was simple:  chop almost EVERYTHING down!  But the challenge was real:  another 95-degree heat-index day.  Our spring and now summer has been hovering in the 90's and 100's, and today was to be no exception.  We needed to get trees down, and we needed to get them down fast.

Dad and I started clearing out the mess between two large trees in the front yard.  I'm a big fan of mature trees, and I wanted to keep those two in the yard, but the trees looked like the actually combined into one due to the mess in between.  I actually didn't know there was a berm here until we started clearing out the brush.  I started lopping the bushes due to the one-to-two-inch size branches, but that only lasted about 15-20 minutes.  Once those branches were clear, it was obvious it was time to start the chainsaw.

And she fired up like a beauty!  And she purred like a kitten!  Nothing like an engine that runs properly.  I started cutting, and she ate through the branches like butter.  Perfect!  If only the chain would stay sharp, this was going to be "quick" work!  I cut while Dad loaded the branches into my truck.

The mess of brush between the two front trees is down!

It wasn't long before my truck was full...but the results were instantaneous.  The mess of brush viewed from the street was now two beautiful trees spaced nicely apart.  We had only just begun, and the beauty of the yard was already beginning to show.  This was going to be fun to transform this place.

After clearing out the front yard mess, we decided to tackle the front landscaping mess.  Here is what I could see:  overgrown and un-loved spruce pine, low ground-hanging pine nearly dead, a large bush over the gutter, another low pine bush nearly dead, and another massive bush over the gutter.  What was probably cute landscaping was just disgusting.  Overgrown.  Un-touched.  After a brief consideration for how to tackle it (do we take it all out or leave some?), Dad and I decided to leave the two large decorative bushes...but after giving them a HUGE pruning.  We started with using the loppers on the big bush, but after we completed that, we decided to just use the chainsaw.  It was questionable using the chainsaw on 1/4-inch and 1/2-inch flimsy branches, but the chainsaw ate right through them.  Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay easier than the loppers (plus I re-injured my sore shoulder with the forceful motion of pruning...I was so mad about that).

We trimmed off nearly four feet of branches!!!  I cut out all of the pines (easily), and guess what?!  There was a HOUSE behind all of the mess!!!  Right before our very eyes, the house started to take shape...and be beautiful again!  I'm not kidding when I say you couldn't see the house for the trees!

The overgrown front landscaping.

Pine, small bush, huge bush, and on, and on!

The front landscaping as viewed from the sidewalk.

The landscaping mess is down!!!  (We would later trim up those two bushes even more to bring them down below the windows.)

The front landscaping as viewed from the sidewalk AFTER we chopped everything down!

We were HOT, but we were making huge progress.  So after completing the front of the house, we moved to the south-side landscaping.  Again, with nothing touched in likely 10 years (I counted the rings on the trees I cut), the bushes were massive, and the volunteer trees...well, they had 10 rings!  I can't even begin to say how frustrating it is to think about a homeowner taking a minute of time to use loppers to cut a tiny six-inch weed.  And voila!  Done!  No work, and beautiful landscaping.  But nope, that six-inch weed turned into a foot-tall volunteer tree.  And that volunteer tree then turned into a two-foot, then six-foot (cut it already!), then 30-foot massive foundation-destroying tree.  Seriously, these behemoths were next to the house!!!

Looking down the south side of the house.  SO many trees!

Starting to clear out the trees!  I see a house!

Moreso than I realized, actually.  For as I cleared out the brush and trees, I found two specific trees that were literally up against the foundation walls of the house.  So much so that they actually grew at an angle AWAY from the house.  Sigh.  I didn't even know these trees were there (couldn't know because you couldn't walk through the thick foliage to see them).  But now that the bushes and other trees were clear, it was rather apparent that I had two tricky trees to fell.

Slowly working our way back, taking out the very mature "volunteer" trees.  Notice the two trees in the back against the foundation.

Two trees were literally growing AGAINST the house, creating a lean in their growth.  Tricky to cut behind with the chainsaw.

I was able to fell one exactly where I wanted it (away from the neighbor's playset and away from my wooden privacy fence), but the second one would have to wait for it leaned too much over the fence.  We would have to use rope to direct it away.

The first leaning tree is down!  I would have to wait for rope to cut the second one.

We were HOT.  We finally broke for lunch around 1:30 P.M.  We also realized pretty quickly that we were going to need more than just my truck.  So I called a friend to borrow a trailer, and we enjoyed our half-hour drive in the A/C to pick that up.  Seriously, we were HOT.

But the trees were coming down!!!

The first load is hauled off!

That's not to say that today wasn't without its frustrations.  The "amazing" chainsaw ended up being anything but.  It threw the chain on the front landscaping, and after putting the chain back on, the chain wouldn't spin.  We would (not so quickly) find out that when it threw the chain, the chain ate itself and created burrs on the inner portion of the chain.  These burrs then stopped the chain from going around the bar.  So I had to file down the burrs before it would work again.  We lost probably 45 minutes working on that.  The first time.  Yes, the first time, because it happened AGAIN!!!  All in all, we probably lost between an hour and an hour and a half working on that stupid chainsaw.  It had less than two hours of use, and it was being problematic!  It also leaked out copious amounts of bar chain oil at one point.  I was so frustrated with it...nearly taking it back.  But I needed a chainsaw, and when it did run, it cut beautifully.  But there is nothing more frustrating than being ready and eager to work...and not being able to because of non-working equipment.
So again, today wasn't ALL beautiful.

The rest of the day was more of the same.  Ridiculous sweating, more cutting, and more loading of trees onto the truck and trailer.  We ended up taking two more loads.  We hauled off a load around 4:30 P.M. and the final one at 7:30 P.M.  Yes, 7:30 P.M.  We put in a 10-hour day the first day!!!

I unloaded all five loads of trees and brush off at Mom and Dad's house in the country.  Dad loves to burn, and I was going to give him quite a fire!  That brush-pile was massive, and we were probably only halfway complete!  But what a day.  Such a successful beginning to what is hopefully going to be a great flip!

The mess of trees coming down.

Dad navigates his way through the incredibly thick brush!

I take such joy in this picture!  I started with a junky house this morning.  And tonight I have a beautiful ranch home!  It was work, but the results were totally worth it.

Ten hours ago you couldn't see through these two front trees.  Now you see a cute house!

The front mess is no more!  Notice the trimming we came back and did on these bushes.  They will be growing strong next year!

The front landscaping had not been touched in years!  Before...

And After!

The neighbors are able to see the house from the road for the first time in years.  And we could tell, because we constantly saw people slow down in their cars as they drove by.  How fun!

Notice the dirt marks in the grass.  This is how far these bushes used to extend away from the house.  The grass died, because it didn't receive any sunshine!!!  

The side of the house.  It's still a mess, but we ran out of time today.

I love this picture because one of the bushes is only halfway trimmed.  But it shows you just how much we cut back!!!  We literally more than halved the bushes!

To put it into perspective, on the first day alone, we had THREE neighbors stop by to say thanks in various ways.  "Oh, wow, there is a house behind there!"  "You guys are doing great so far."  "You have your work cut out for you in the backyard...but feel free to let the trees fall onto my property."  "Can we be nosy and ask to see the inside"?

I've said it before, and I'll certainly say it again...one of the most rewarding aspects of foreclosure-flipping is the comments from grateful neighbors.  They have watched the house deteriorate for the last decade, and now they are going to watch it hopefully return to its former glory.  It's old-fashioned hard-work, sweat, blood, and sometimes tears (I only had the sweat today, thankfully), but I just love that an honest day's work can have results like this.  Humans really CAN accomplish much with a good days' worth of work!

All in all, a great day.

My gracious Mom had supper waiting for us at their house (she waited to eat with us until 8:30 P.M.!), and we were thrilled to have that.  Dad and I both agreed to meet tomorrow morning for Round 2.  We still have the next half of brush to clear!

The brush pile at Dad's house.  He is going to have quite a fire!

You Can't Stump Me!!!

So I hate leaving projects undone.  I mean, it's quite literally a blessing and a curse.  It means that I get stuff done...but it also means that I have to work feverishly to get some stuff done!

Yesterday, we had a very successful day cutting down the large pine tree at one of the rental homes.  The job was 99% complete.  But one of the parts of cutting down a tree is getting rid of that stump!!!  And I knew the project would be hanging over my head until I completed it.  So on a whim, I decided to zip over and complete the project.  I hadn't even planned on doing it today, but I knew I would think that the tree-cutting project wasn't done yet until the stump was gone, EVEN if the tree was long gone.

I know, blessing and curse.

So I loaded up my DR Stump Grinder (one of the best purchases ever) and headed over to the house.  And would you believe that I had that stump ground down in just 24 minutes?!  And I had thought about pushing it off for a week...or three.  But all it took was 24 minutes to be able to say...

THE TREE IS CUT DOWN!!!

The stump as I started today.

My handy lil' DR stump grinder.

24 minutes later!

The tree is now 100% gone!  Ready for grass!

The yard is now ready for grass seed (I brought some and almost put it down for the snow to take it into the ground but decided to wait until spring).

No more tree against the house!  No more pine needles in the gutter!  No more foundation stress!

What a difference.

Grass will explode in this new soil that hasn't seen the sun in 20 years!

Of course, we had temperatures approaching the 50's today, and I had gas to burn out of my stump grinder.  So I figured...I might as well tackle a project that is over a year old at MY house!!!

Dad and I had cleared out an area in my side yard that was as thick as a jungle.  The previous owners let brush and weeds and trees grow up, and it was a mess.  Well, after clearing the area out, I still had tons and tons of "stumps" left over.  Some were actually tree-size, while most were more hardwood brush size.  But the fact remained...I couldn't really mow back there because I would hit stumps!

So I decided to tackle this project that we started in August 2016!  I had more than 20 stumps to grind.  Thankfully, because most had been dead over a year, they ground up (or broke) rather easily.

Finishing a project from 1 1/2 years ago!

Some stumps were big!

Others were medium!

Some were hollow!

Others were small!

Some were funny shapes!

Others were hard to reach!

But ALL were chopped up!!!

This grinder has paid for itself over the years.

Not sure if grass will grow in the shade and ROCKS!  But I can now push a mower back here without hitting stumps!

But I still needed the grinder to do so.  But another success!  I don't think grass is ever going to really grow underneath these trees (tons of shade and needles), but it's possible I might try shade grass this spring.  The grass does ok under the other similar trees close to the roadside...

Two big projects complete!!!

Tiiiiiiiiiiimberrrrrrrrrrr!!!

Today I had one goal at the blue house!  Cut down a pine tree!!!  So I've only cut down one other actual tree in my life, and oddly enough, it was another taller pine at this same very house a few years ago!  I watched videos on how to properly fell a tree and tried it out.  It landed right where I wanted it, too!  Success!

So I was hoping for more of the same today.

The large pine was literally enveloping the house!

The tree was planted too close to the house.

The view from the front.

Dad and I met at the house at 8:00 A.M. and started going at the branches.  I brought my trusty electric chainsaw and started cutting down the branches from the bottom up.  Wow, this tree had a TON of branches!!!  But being soft pine, they cut pretty easily.

I worked my away around the truck, first at the legs, then the waist, then eye level, then above my head.  Then I needed a ladder!  So we set a ladder against the tree and started cutting higher.  It was getting to be a little bit tricky with balancing a ladder at an odd angle (fairly flat) and working above my head, but we were determined to get this tree cut down!

Little by little, we worked out way up (it actually went decently fast).

One branch at a time!  Soooooooooo many branches on a pine!

Dad holding the ladder as I cut.

Look at that lean!  Probably pushing AGAINST the house!

My brother showed up a little after 9:00 with the powerhorse:  a Stihl gas-powered chainsaw.  But he saw how quick of work we had made of it:  "You guys did all of this this morning"?  Yup!  But we weren't done!  After filling it up the Stihl with gas and oil, I tried starting it.  Nothing!  I would quickly realize that you had to hold the gas lever down to engage the choke, and once we realized that, she fired right up!

I took my little YouTube video knowledge from last night about felling a tree (I figured I better remind myself since I had a house right next to the tree and a neighbor's fence on the opposite side) and started cutting!  I put a water bottle down on the ground where I aimed the tree to fall.

Tiiiiiiiiiimberrrrrrrrrrr!!!  And down she went.  My brother was quick to point out that I missed the water bottle.  Perhaps (I never did see how close it actually was), but she fell in the GENERAL direction of where I was aiming!  Actually, it fell exactly where it needed to:  right in the yard, away from everything.

And that Stihl chainsaw made such quick work of the process.  The branches literally cut like a hot knife through butter.  Even the trunk went quickly.  I would cut, and my brother and dad would load the branches into my truck and onto the trailer my brother brought.  I cut the trunk into manageable pieces, and we had the ENTIRE tree cut and loaded onto the trailer and truck by 10:00 A.M.

The tree is down!  And cut up!

That Stihl made such quick work of the tree.

All that is left!

TWO HOURS to clear out a tree!!!  I would guess I would have been charged $300-500 to have a professional tree service do the exact same thing.  And we knocked it out in a couple of hours!

We raked up our smaller branches, cleared the area, and WOW! What a difference!!!

The entire tree loaded onto my truck and the trailer.

Such a great day.

No more tree!

I love this truck!  27 years of work!

Look how much yard that tree took over!

Ever since I bought this house 2 1/2 years ago, I knew the tree had to go.  It was growing right up against the foundation, it accumulated a LOT of stuff (like toys), and it quickly clogged the gutter that it hung over.  It literally served no useful purpose.  It was a beautiful tree...IF it was away from the house!  But as it was, it literally started growing AROUND the house corners!  Someone didn't realize just how big it would grow when they planted it.  Too close to the house!

I was ecstatic.  I had to be somewhere at noon (for my own personal heat pump charging), and before we started today, I figured I would have to leave my brother and dad to work while I disappeared for a little bit.  But we had it all done way before then!  Perfect!

We unloaded the branches to be burned at Dad's house, and the project was all done by 11:00.  Woo hoo!!!

The tree ready to be burned!

I'll come back by to grind the stump tomorrow and then wait for the grass to grow in the spring.

I love successful projects!!!  Thanks, Dad and Bro!!!  Nice work!  This is a project that as 2 1/2 years in the making.  With an empty house, it was time to get the project done.