In case you missed it, here are the previous links for this now-completed project:
Last weekend, the contractor came back and finished our front steps. I should say “front step” since it’s only one now. But it came out awesome – we love it. He made it wider than the old steps, which means I can put plants on one side and have room on the other to put down my groceries while I open the door – hooray for small conveniences!
Since our new wooden step [stoop?] is awesome for relaxing on with a cup of tea while Darwin is out on his leash, I needed to find an easy way to keep the outer door from slamming shut. We have an inner door and an outer door, with a little entryway & coat closet in between. Darwin doesn’t like to be out on the leash unless the outer door is propped open so he can bolt into the entryway when anything scary comes along [dog, mailwoman, wayward leaf]. Our old method was to haul a cinder block up onto the brick steps to use as a door stop, but that’s not the most pleasing to the eye. So this morning I screwed an eye hook into the side of the house, dug a bungee cord out of the basement, clipped one end around the doorknob, the other end through the hook, and voila! Door stays open, Darwin stays happy, and mummy doesn’t have to stare at a dirty cinder block:
Last week I did something similar by screwing an eye hook under the mailbox and attaching a mini carabiner clip to it. Now I can clip Darwin’s leash to the carabiner, forgoing the need to constantly hold it. And since the eye hook is so close to the door, he has freedom of movement to hang out inside the entryway, outside on the new front step, or roll in the dirt under the mailbox:
I love how our new front step/stoop came out! It’s pretty awesome. When the pizza delivery dude came last night he was quite thrilled to not have to teeter on crumbling brick steps. Win!