as i read all the great ideas, i am blown away. i love designing. u all our awesome.... just a last couple thoughts, we are going to be doing this stuff also, if we get our new house. keep fingers crossed. yah, my dad will get to live in the guest cottage behind the pool. he is 88. wow. i hope make it that long.... anyway, so i have been doing a lot of research on this... totally open to any ideas for our house if we get it... a thought. the deck is in complete feeling, because it has an unfinished look, because you have not had time to decide how to end it. so after reading and looking at all the great stuff. i really would recommend a gradual decent down to a small patio eating area [edged by flower beds and the lawn, maybe shade tree.as well]. from the deck You would start by expanding the sides somewhat, doing this by large different sizes plantar boxes. Some higher that others - With the tread of the stairs, starting to go out in to yard. Between the planters-sorta like a fan, a bit. Then low risers. Have fun. cut some stiff paper into square's and oblong shapes. then longer ones for wide steps. remember you wont different widths and hight. mix in the planters ... be creative. make colored cut outs so u can see where green and flowers would help break up all the wood. if u wont, make the treads at least 14 inches. up to 36'', could be a landing but be consistent ...DO NOT MIX STAIR WIDTHS. CAN MAKE PEOPLE STUMBLE. So, example.... stair x 3 then 36 ''' in. landing , then stairs again. When you reach the ground, you could create an organic shape with flower beds, around the patio area. Then it becomes a focal point. Keep the [maybe brick due to the style of house] landing/patio round or square. Which ever feels better. Just big enough for the furniture you wont, to fit and feel spacious. Then you can send paths out from that area into yard. also someone made a good statement, as all were, it is a great idea — good point, if you are going to make a rail out of seating for the deck, make them deep, for comfort and cushions fitting. and also, the correct slant on the back, for peoples comfort... Have fun ... you can use spray chalk or something like that, to lay it out in your yard area first. Xoxoxoshray, send pics when your done.

Walking path needs to be wide enough so that 2 people can walk comfortably side by side. I suggest curving it both ways where it connects w sidewalk that way you can enter it from either direction. Get a landscape book from the library or book store for your specific region before picking any plants, shrubs, flowers etc. I learned the hard way that if you plant the wrong regions planst they won't do well. Taller shrubs by the house w thorns - think about barbarry bushes, are great if you want to keep people out. If you get shade try the hosta family. Try staying w/in 3 colors for plants, that way your yardscape won't look to busy. Drought hardy plants are the best. You will still need to water, but your bill won't wipe out your income. Plant taller to smaller that way you can see it from any direction. Don't get rid of your tree, just trim it - cut all branches off that are below 6'. This way you have provided much needed shade to the house, but have allowed people to see the entryway from the street. Paint the house a cream color or pale shade, pick a color that is slightly darker for the trim, and paint the stutters painted a dark brown or black. This will allow your landscape to pop! I suggest driving around your favorite subdivisions and looking at their paint colors to see which one pops for you. Don't go too far off the color palate for your area it may make you house harder to sell. Also, don't paint ur house the same color as your neighbors, you want it to be a bit different. Think evergreens for some areas or it will look blah in the winter. And yes, Add some grass area back in, it doesn't have to be a larde area, but it will look better if you do. If you'd like more ideas/help from me, just say the word and I'll give you more info.

I hope Theresa Joy found a good solution. Here is my 2 cents having dealt with basement water issues in my 200 year old fieldstone foundation house and having come full circle after several years on how to address it. Sorry, long post... Wet basements, foundation failure, and crumbling mortar result from some source of water intrusion into the basement. First, you absolutely must find out why you have water intrusion and solve that problem(s) first. Otherwise all of your efforts will just bandaid the problem and you will ultimately be back at square 1. Even worse, you might be led to costly/harmful solutions which either will fail or will have been unnecessary. Basement water intrusions usually come from issues with the roof, gutters, eaves, fascia, and downspouts (mine had all of the above), leaks via the chimney or a cracked chimney cap (mine had both) or exterior grading. Sometimes its from multiple sources and it may take some time (like months, seasons, period or rain) and sleuthing to discover all of them. Some leaks might consist of mere drips of water that wick down the wall and into the basement, which nonetheless will cause mold and mortar damage. You have to find all of them. Look for the obvious places but peeling or wonky plaster on the 1st or 2nd floor or mold spots are telltale signs of where to look. If a section of wall in the basement is affected, in all likelihood the water is coming in right above that spot. If you haven’t done so yet, put a dehumidifier in and see what dries up and what doesn’t. That might be your easiest and most-cost effective solution in the short term. Second, I know that cost/budget is factor for most of us so temporary or less desirable solutions have to be considered. But you’re better off treating the problem at the source than treating the symptom in the basement. So if your budget is limited and you need a temporary solution, focus on the leak first. One guy came out and wanted to trench an interior French drain in my basement. Without regard to the effect the excavation would have on my fieldstone foundation. Swore it would solve my problem. Didn’t look at the roof, eaves or chimney. Thankfully I declined. A prior owner had painted drylock or similar waterproofing paint on the walls and while it was a temporary solution, it just masked the real issues. Eventually, the lime plaster and lime stucco behind the drylock crumbled and delaminated. A prior owner had also made some repairs using portland-based concrete. The use of portland cement triggered damage to other parts of the foundation not directly affected by the leaks. Once you’ve solved your leaking problems the next question is how to fix the foundation failures, mortar failures and/or plaster or parging delamination. If you find sand residue between the stones or bricks and if you poke at it and it seems like it could go on and on, you have failed lime mortar. Old house foundations up until the early 20th century were built with lime-based mortar. You should repair only with lime-based mortar and plaster (here I mean lime putty-based or natural hydraulic lime (NHL)-based mortar or plaster, not anything containing portland cement or gypsum). I say “should” because (1) there is a cost factor in using lime products both in material cost and labor cost. Lime is more expensive than portland-based mortar or gypsum-based plaster; and (2) anything containing portland cement is detrimental to fieldstone and brick masonry in the long run. There is a ton of info on why portland should never be used on old masonry (plus several hundred years, if not thousands of years of building history) so I’m not going to hash it out here. But understand that there are many contractors who will unreservedly suggest a portland-based solution over lime, whether because of cost, ignorance, ego or a genuine belief that portland is simply superior to lime. You have to decide if you care if the damage or failure that results from using portland cement matters. If you are a purist and are completely into the historic rehab school it is an easy decision. It took me a while to come around to the lime-only school for the foundation repairs. Lastly, I solved my leaking problems temporarily at first. I caulked cracks and holes along the eaves fascia and chimney, fixed the gutters and downspouts. That fixed 80% of the leaking but over the next few years the other 20% of unaddressed leaking continued to wreak havoc on the mortar and soft bricks in my basement fireplace and firebox and the mortar in the fieldstone, resulting in 1-2” thick plaster/stucco/parging on the walls delaminating and misc. damage to the plaster walls elsewhere. It ultimately took a new roof and significant repairs to the chimney (at a cost of over $20k) to finally solve my basement water intrusions - correctly – and once and for all. But that cost did not cover the plaster and mortar damage and repair. If you have a similar basement problem as Theresa did (and I did), if you are least somewhat handy and want to save money on a reasonable solution then here’s what I would suggest - it will save you a ton of money and saved me thousands. (1) Start with one section of basement wall. Depending on the size and amount of work, it may take months or a couple of seasons to fix the entire basement. Remove the paint. If you can’t remove all of it remove the best you can. (2) You have to wear breathing protection, don’t skimp here. The paint could contain lead. And the mortar which will come out during the paint removal process contains lime, fine dust particles and general yuck. I'm not aware that asbestos was used in mortar historically, but I heard it was used in wall and ceiling plaster. (3) Clean out the loose mortar and repoint with new lime mortar (gotta use eye protection here too). You can stucco/parge over afterwards if that was previously done or that is what you want aesthetic-wise. Tons of info on the internet on how to do this. If you were unable to remove all of the paint from the stone or brick in step 1, you might need to use a mortar with a binding agent in it to help it stick. The lime suppliers will have a solution or recommendation. You can buy cheap, perfectly serviceable trowels and tools online. You can mix small batches by hand in a plastic bin or bucket, you don’t necessarily need a new mixing drill and paddle for small jobs. In the U.S., lime and lime-based mortar and plaster is hard to come by. You’ll have to order it and the shipping costs will exceed the product price unless you live in Pennsylvania or Connecticut where the 3 domestic suppliers (as of this post) are located. Unless you have a small repair, using lime putty or lime putty-based mortar may be cost-prohibitive. If you have large repairs and can afford the lime putty stuff, you can afford a professional to do the work too. Instead, use NHL (natural hydraulic lime) based mortar which will come in powder form (just add water). For smaller repairs, you can buy premixed lime mortar/plasters. If you have larger repairs, you should consider buying just the NHL lime, buying masonry sand locally and mixing your own mortar. All of the suppliers have info and will offer some level of support and advice for your specific project and needs. Last note: while I am personally a proponent of lime-based products for the foundation/brick work and repairs, I have a different view when it comes to repairing plaster walls or ceilings (even though the whole “breathability” thing about lime is still involved). If you’re not a purist, I think gypsum-based drywall muds and gypsum based-plasters for both the base and finish coats are very cost-effective and can produce excellent results. But that’s a different post for a different day.

Clean, well groomed, and well maintained…both hardscape and plants/grass. Flowers where possible…but grooming is everything. If you are in a drought stricken area and you have the means, there are some amazing artificial sods that look amazingly real, trade out that thirsty grass for drought tolerant or artificial turf.