For those that haven’t been reading along during this process, here’s a quick recap. I started the plans for this project back in September. First, I worked with an electrician to get outdoor lighting installed around the entire property, including the driveway…

With the lighting and electrical completed (eventually I’ll automate the gate so I had the electrical run, but that is going to be a future project), we could get started on building pillars for the gate. I shared the pillar update here…

You’ll also notice within that post we went ahead and added a new mailbox at the end of the driveway.

After that we added the stacked stone facing and pillar lights…

Once those projects were complete, it was a matter of installing the gate mounts and then mounting a gate.

This is where the drama started.

The fence company (who I ordered the gate from), built the gate too wide. When they came out to install, not only did they not have tools for placing the gate mounts, they also had a gate that was 5″ wider than planned. There was a lot of shoulder shrugging and finger pointing. But they sent the gate back for a re-build and told me they’d be in touch.

Then….nothing.

They wouldn’t communicate with me at all. No matter how many times I called, no response. After weeks of not hearing from them, I finally had enough and shot-off negative e-mails to the owner, scheduler and original estimator on the job. I had to pretty much threaten BBB action and otherwise unless I heard something. After my ranting and raving they finally called to say they would at least come out to install the mounts and finish off the deer fence. Once the mounts were up, they could get an accurate measurement for the new gate build…

Once the mounts were in, yet again it was weeks on end before I heard anything. Then finally, a call came that they had the gate ready and would come out to install that week. But guess what? They built the gate TOO WIDE AGAIN. *no words*

And for some reason the owner decided to have his guys stay to cut down the gate to fit and weld pieces back together. I shared a pic on Instagram of the gate with the wreaths up and many of my followers didn’t understand why I said they would be re-building the gate. I gave a sneak peak of the answer to that question right here…

But here’s its beautiful close-up…

While I appreciate them getting the gate up before Christmas, this is how it looked…

Not pretty. And I wasn’t very pleased.

The fact that it was built too wide two times – I shake my head. But good news, in 5 days they had re-built the gate and now it’s looking a whole mess better!…

Now that the gate is up, I can finish off the stacked stone facing and get the pillar tops placed as well. All of that material has been laying around waiting to be useful…

It will be nice to not only have the pillars / job finished off, but to also have this mess cleaned up. It’s been a little playground for rodents in this cold weather. eeeeeek!

A few more completed gate shots for you…

The mason was able to finish off the mailbox while we waited on the gate…

Love this stacked stone!…

I could’ve just made this whole situation appear rosy and perfect, but I want to be real in here. Not every home improvement project around here goes perfectly. That’s reality. There are issues with contractors and sometimes jobs end up costing more than originally quoted…or take a whole lot longer than planned. Regardless of the home improvement drama surrounding this project, it has been fun to look back to see how much the property has improved in just over a year. Remember this from September 2013?…

And now…

Old mailbox…

New mailbox…

Step by step this old house is coming together. Next up will be finishing off the gate pillars, finishing off the short path between the walk-through gate and driveway…

And adding some nice landscaping in the above mentioned area as well as around the mailbox. All in time.

Have a great evening!!