We were able to afford a larger home with a great deal of land surrounding it because the property had been neglected for a long time. The roof was in need of repairs and had caused some water damage to the ceilings, walls and floors. All of the light fixtures, windows and appliances needed to be replaced. The electric lines, plumbing, heating and cooling system were in poor condition. Since my husband and I are quite handy, we hoped to do the majority of the construction and renovation work ourselves. We hired a licensed electrician, plumber and HVAC contractor to handle those specialities. We assumed we could manage everything on the exterior of the house as well as the gardens and lawns. We needed to paint, trim trees, remove a lot of weeds and mow. There was also a dilapidated fence around the perimeter of the yard. There was no possibility of salvaging the fence because it was in such poor condition. We decided to tear it down and set to work. Getting rid of the fence proved to be more than we could handle. The posts were cemented into the ground and all sorts of thorn bushes had grown up around it. There were bees and other insects, poison ivy, rusted wire and all sorts of hazards. We finally contacted a professional fencing contractor to safely remove and haul away the old fence. We also got an estimate for a new fence to replace it. Rather than another wood fence, we chose vinyl because it requires no major maintenance and is extremely durable.
