Thank you all, I will research further now with your suggestions. We are buying a fixer which has a long driveway to a detached garage. We want to seal off the mud room door which opens to the driveway, it takes up driveway room (the stoop & stairs) also because there are 2 doors to outside in this mudroom. It would be a good time to seal one off as we are remodeling that mudroom & incorporating a laundry area. The other mudroom door goes towards the back patio, which is only a few steps to the gate and then to the driveway. That back patio door is actually almost as close to the driveway & garage, just a different path and a few more steps, so not a real biggie to lose one of the doors. I was just thinking of a quick way to transfer groceries. I remember another GW poster years back who used something similar to pull up to in her vehicle for unloading her groceries without there being a full size door there and they actually loaded into a walk in pantry, which made putting them away easy, as well as less carrying. I suppose I could just leave the 2 doors as is I hadnt thought about fire codes (although my DH is a GC so he could handle it if it was allowed). It would be nice to have some more organized storage space and look better in there if one door was sealed up. Thank you all again for the responses.

So good to see your posts here, Pal! This is an interesting house, despite of the budget shortcuts. I like the modernist interior design and the hidden terrace. I'm a bit confused by the comments on the parquet floors. Apparently, this type of parquet would be considered a good quality in the US, while to my Russian standards it wouldn't. Perhaps because this pattern was used as a builder grade parquet in Soviet apartments (made from low grade wood scraps, not color matched). People moved in, tore it out and replaced with a "proper" parquet. The "proper" parquet would be of larger planks (not scrap), typically in a herringbone or chevron pattern and color matched (somewhat uniform wood tone throughout the entire room). I might be wrong, though.

Looking at your requirements, I would suggest you install ornamental iron fences. You can easily customize your fence by choosing different designs, colours, height, etc. I think ornamental iron fences are the best options for residential properties as they serve the purpose of security, stability & durability, aesthetic value, all at the same time and that too with very low maintenance. Here are some more reasons to choose ornamental fences: https://www.totalfenceinc.ca/articles/4-reasons-to-choose-ornamental-iron-fences/

@worthy the tube runs about three feet away from the home into a pit lined with drainage cloth and filled with stone. That pit has clay soil all around it. Based on experience with the most severe rain, I think the pit will handle the load. If this were a new construction home, I would probably want a french drain system on either side of the house running downslope all the way to the street, and I would want to tie all of the downspouts into that drainage. This is an old home and it is not cost-effective to do that. I just do not want a lake up against the base of the home during heavy rain, and this new system should prevent that.