Rolling out the welcome mat

It's official....we finally have new front steps! But you didn't think I'd show you the before & after pics without a little story first, now did you?

So, the steps were a little joint birthday gift to the husband and me from my mom. Gone are the days of clothes & fun accessories...home improvement is the new trend in gift giving (thanks mom!)! Seriously, best.gift.ever. God, I'm old. Anyhoo! We decided on a contractor back in the spring, signed a contract for work to be completed by June 11, with a verbal agreement for the work to be finished by the end of June (jobs were majorly delayed because of those crazy April showers). No biggie, we were on the schedule. No need to get antsy....

...until mid July that is. It hadn't rained for almost 2 months & this was supposed to be a one day job. Where were these guys? I made calls on 2 separate occassions asking for our contractor to call us back, to no avail. Lovely. After griping to the neighbors & mentioning last week (on this here blog!) about the delay...like magic, the contractor finally called me back (maybe they're City Dwellin' readers?). The only problem? He wanted to start the job that day and we were heading out of town for the weekend. Okay, no can do, we'll just reschedule for Monday.

So this morning I head into work, awaiting a call that the workers had arrived at the house to start the job, and I kid you not...it freaking starts raining! Two months of no rain (our lawn is mimicking a rice krispy treat at this point) and the day these guys are supposed to start working it rains?! But not just any rain...it's downpouring, thundering & lightening. And to add insult to injury, I left all the windows in the house open.

At any rate, if you're still reading...congrats! I'm about to show you less than stellar before & after pics (that will make you wonder why the hell you kept reading in the first place). Jose & his crew of 2 arrived mid-morning, anticipating a two day work schedule (um?!), and by the time I got home from work they were finishing up! I never even got to take progress shots, that's how fast these guys were working.

Remember how things looked before? Uneven, rotted, embarrassing & just plain dangerous....

And the after...even, not rotted, quite pleasant to look at & no longer dangerous...

Much better, right? I was a little worried how things would look, as our porch height is not up to code, but the railings very much needed to be. Without another pillar flanking the other side of the porch, I worried things would look just a bit off. Sure, we'd love another one to even things out, but I think the contractors were able to position the railings just right given the situation.

The next step is to paint the steps so they blend in better with the house. They're gray (they look tan in the photos), but not the right shade. The steps are a composite material (Azak to be exact) and I was told by the contractor that Sherwin Williams makes a great paint specifically for this material. So guess where I'll be this weekend (coupon in hand, of course)?

Oh, and the best part of the whole day was when the contractors cleaned, packed up their truck, and told me to have a good night. Um, wouldn't you like to get paid? I swear, if I weren't so honest we'd have some free steps on our hands. It's doubtful they'd ever catch up with me in the end, right? Right.

So there you have it, new steps! If you plan on coming over to our house, please do use them! And if you trip up them....don't sue me. That's your own darn fault.