Oh, Rain. What am I going to do with you?

Our plan has always been to install rain barrels to catch all of our roof runoff. Of course, we didn't plan on moving ahead with the rain barrel systems until we had replaced the roof and gutters. No use trying to catch water at the end of a downspout when most of the gutter is rusted through...

But, of course, this happened. Now we're preparing for a new roof, and we're suddenly in need of barrels.

I wanted these:

But I just got the quote and they're CRAZY expensive for some big hollow chunks of plastic! So we're on the hunt for new barrels. The problem is, we need a grouping in the back of the house to catch the water from the back porch roof and the south side of the main roof, and we need a grouping in the front of the house to catch water from the front porch and the north side of the main roof. We can line up the barrels along the side of the house in back, but the space between our house and our neighbor's is only 2'-5". (Yay, city living!)

It gets more complicated up front...

The north side of our house is right on the lot line. So, no room to put barrels on the side of the house up front. We're left with a space about 13" wide to the north of our front porch, or the area under our front porch steps. This is where the big money barrels I REALLY wanted would have worked wonderfully. They are only 7 1/2" deep! We could have stacked a few next to the porch and a few more under the steps and called it a day.

So, here are some others we're looking at:

This is pretty. Maybe a couple of these would be okay visible in the front yard, with some larger, uglier ones under the stairs... Like this:

This is a beast. It may not fit under the stairs...

But these are kind of cool:

They're big bags-o-rain! Rain bags. They hold just over 100 gallons and lay flat, perfect for under a porch. Not sure how multiples work, though...

Then we could just line a bunch of these up along the side of the house in back.

They aren't 7 1/2" deep. :(

But they are 14". Which is still good.

Anyone out there have any rain barrel experience? Suggestions? Comments on the wonderfulness of rain?

So... our roof fell off...

Well, part of our roof.

The wind gusts here in Chicago were major a few days ago... Our poor old house couldn't handle the pressure.

Looks like the new roof may be coming sooner than we anticipated.

Intro to Landscaping

My first year of college I debated entering Landscape Architecture rather than straight Architecture. As most of you are aware I ended up selecting architecture. As a result, I never had to deal with learning the names of thousands plants. Fast forward eight years, and I'm now undertaking this task.

Last week I researched perennials that are excellent in the Chicago's climate (most of which are native) and developed a list for the landscaping of the backyard. That list is as follows:

 

Short

Common Shooting Star - Dodecatheon meadia

Ozark Sundrops - Oenothera macrocarpa

Carpathian Harebell - Campanula carpatica

Yellow Corydalis - Corydalis lutea

Bloody Cranesbill - Geranium sanguineum

Blue Phlox - Phlox divaricata

Maiden Pinks - Dianthus deltoides

Medium Height

Canada Colombine - Aquilegia canadensis

Wild Geranium - Geranium maculatum

Hosta

Coral Bells - Heuchera sanguinea

Columbine - Anquilegia 'hensol harebell'

Lanceleaf Coreopsis - Coreopsis lanceolata

Dwarf False Goldenrod - Solidago spacelata

Sedum - Hylotelephium

Virginia Bluebells - Mertensia virginica

Tall

Blue Star - Amsonia tabernaemontana

Wild Sweet William - Phlox maculata

Obedient Plan - Physostegia virginiana

Black-Eyed Susan - Rudbeckia fulgida var. sullivantii

Butterfly Weed - Asclepias tuperosa

Rose Mallow - Hibiscus moscheutos

Golden Columbine - Aquilegia chrysantha

Purple Coneflower - Echinacea purpurea

This back yard project originally wasn't going to happen for a little while. However, yesterday I was at Home Depot getting supplies for laying our cork floor and noticed that perennials were on sale... Two hours later I had a cart that looked like this:

If you're knowledgable about flowers, you'll notice I wasn't exactly disciplined in my purchases. I just couldn't pass up the mums and that orange Asiatic Lily. Plus, Home Depot only had the following flowers:

A type of Corydalis

A type of Phlox, but not the Blue Phlox

Hostas

Coral Bells

Sedum

Black-Eyed Susans

Coneflowers

By today our backyard looked like this:

Additionally, a few bulbs found there way into the flower garden. I'm thinking seeds from the remaining plants might just get scattered around in certain areas, but this is yet to be determined.

You also might notice our new "tree" (steel pipe) sticking out of the ground. This will be the location of our future birch.

Urban Heat Island Effect

Sorry we haven’t posted for a little while, we’ve been busy getting estimates for electrical, plumbing, HVAC, plastering, and a new roof.

One of the biggest problems with traditional asphalt shingle roofs is they attract a lot of heat. This causes two problems.

1. Contributes to Urban Heat Island Effect (UHI)

2. An increase in annual utility bills

UHI occurs in metropolitan areas and is essentially a micro-climate version of global warming. Beyond the obvious problem of creating an increase in utilities during summer months, UHI causes modifications to wind patterns, an increase in precipitation in and downwind of cities, and even an increase in pollution. While I do not have any statistics on hand, I have seen numerous different statistics and documentation on these matters.

For those of you who believe Fox News over scientists and that global warming is fake, you can’t argue against saving money off your utilities. A lighter more reflective surface will drastically decrease your monthly payments compared to a traditional asphalt shingle roof.

We decided to go with a light-colored standing-seam metal roof. These roofs are economical, durable, and they will look good on our house. From snow to sun exposure to hail, standing-seam metal roofs hold up very well in extreme climates (such as Chicago). Additionally, they have an excellent SRI (solar reflective index). So as a result we will have a good looking roof that is durable, economical, and earth friendly.

Re-claimed Brick Patio.

It was such a beautiful day yesterday we spent the day working on the backyard. This is an "in-progress" photo. By the time we finished it was dark out, and today is just a miserable overcast day. The granite pieces we've found scattered around (was at one time edging, but it is not just buried in the yard) are the edging barrier between the recycled brick and the yard. Now we just need to tear down the chimney in the attic to have enough reclaimed brick to use as pavers. The eventual goal is too also build a pergola that extends from the house.

Today's project: Painting the living and dining room!

House: 1 - Awnings: 0

YES!!

Awning #1.

DOWN.

(Thanks, B-Rad!!)

Rendered

A quick rendering... new paint and a metal roof. 5 bazillion times better.

Maybe only 2 bazillion...

Progress

Paul and Gin came to help us this past weekend. We got a TON done. Thank you, guys! We really appreciate your help!

Remember these bushes?

(Not sure how you could forget. This is only our 4th post...)

Anyway, I REALLY didn't like these bushes. I don't know why. They're just fat and bulky and full of soggy newspapers. Not awesome.

But yesterday I came home to this:

Ha! I was strangely conflicted... I wanted them gone, but I sort of felt like it was sad, unnecessary plant-death. Thank you for your service to this earth, bushes. You'll be replaced with some pretty trees or flowers.

BUSHLESS!



And we're off...

Well, here we go! After more than a year of house-hunting and several failed attempts at a purchase, we landed this baby. It's just what we've been looking for. Sturdy, roomy, space to expand... though it's a bit (or a lot) ugly now, we're ready to take on the aqua monster! With a bit of elbow grease and hard work, we'll whip this baby into shape!