Monday, March 29, 2010

(Cement forms for foundation walls.)
(cement forms are removed after the foundation walls are poured.)
(View of the project with walls poured.)

(waterproofing and back filling).
(This is a house with the brick we're going to use: Summer Mesa Tumbled.)

The past week has seen a lot of progress in our remodeling project. The foundation has been poured and the dirt has been backfilled. Tomorrow they will start on the walk-out and patio to the south side of our home, so that on Wednesday, they can begin the cement cutting into the new basement rooms. Here are a bunch of pictures to show the progress. They begin with the cement forms, cement pouring, and then the continual progress as the walls dried and were back filled. I also have a picture of a house with the brick I want to use. Yesterday, I chose the doors and windows so that they can be ordered. Now we're getting to the fun part.


(The cement walls are painted with waterproofing. Tyler wanted in on the photo).

(South side of the house where the walk-out will be.)
(Storage room after today's work.)




(The mountain of dirt in front of our house is slowly decreasing. Initially the pile was one-story high.)

Tomorrow . . .

they will begin to pour the cement walls for the basement foundation. Yeah! There is a lot of work in putting up aluminum walls to form the cement walls. As a matter of fact, the builders spent all day Friday, Saturday and today putting up the forms to pour cement tomorrow. Then, when the cement dries, they'll take the forms down again. I will post pictures tomorrow. We are out of AA batteries so no pictures until I replace them. The good news is that soon the story high pile of dirt will be returned to the ground and the death drop will be no longer. The bad news is that in a few weeks, the mess moves inside as they cut into the cement in the basement and cut through walls in living room to connect the addition. Its good that we're getting closer to finished, but that means that we have to adjust our schedules and activities to the work the builders do inside. At least it means we're getting that much closer to completion. I don't want to get to ahead of myself though. They said we'd be done in July and a friend today said "so expect them to be done in September." I hope she's wrong!

Basement Walls

I am really feeling sorry for the builders! The weather does not want to cooperate! Wednesday, before the permit came through, was a beautiful sunny day. Thursday was rainy and snowy. Friday, rainy, snowy and even colder than yesterday! Oh well. Since the permit became official, the progress seems to be much better. Yesterday cement footings. Today, we even have some walls coming up in the basement area. The builders are coming back tomorrow to finish up. I am impressed. Here are a few photos to document today.

When people come by, they say, "Wow, you weren't kidding when you said a big project," and "you must really love your house to do this." I do love my house, our ward, the schools, our neighbors and neighborhood. Plus, this has been something I've been thinking about and through for the last four years. Do I move or make this house my dream house? My family wanted to stay put, and financially, this makes the most sense for us. To move, we would take a loss on the work we've already done. I designed and remodeled my dream kitchen. I can't find that without building myself, and lots in this area cost about what we paid for our entire house. Therefore, the best decision for us was to stay and add those things we wished we had, rather than start over or sacrifice our great lot size. All things to think about before you undertake a big remodel like this.

The Foundation

Bright and early this morning, a patriotic cement truck began to pour the cement footings into the "death drop." Now we have rebarb projecting from the cement, so the death drop has become even more dangerous! I am told that we are about 1 more week of danger, then the porch cap will be laid and the study will have a wood flooring. I can handle one more week of danger. I'm just happy that our permit is officially approved and we can move on with the project! I told Pete to give up on reviving our lawn. Its been covered in hundreds of tons of dirt and rocks for the last week and half. We need to let it go!! I'm okay with that. I've begun drawing up landscape ideas for after this project is completed. Did I mention I have home improvement ADHD?

Another Quiet Day Today

Nothing happening today, but the good news is that tomorrow they will begin to lay the cement foundation. Our permit was approved on Tuesday, but they couldn't get someone out from the county to inspect our home until tomorrow morning. Without the county's involvement, I would have had a foundation a week and a half ago! That's okay--as long as they can start that this week, I'll be happy. The builder said that the foundation should take about two weeks before they can begin building the upper level. I'll update more tomorrow.

Week 3 and 4-The "Death Drop"

You know you are an official construction zone when you have a porta-potty in your front yard and trucks parked in your yard.









During week 3 of the renovation, I was in Vancouver with my 3 nephews and my niece having a fabulous time. I came home to what we now jokingly refer to as the "death drop" out our front door. Since it looks like a swimming pool, I've contemplated just making it one--throw some floating stairs across the pool to the front door. It would definitely be original. Though who wants to skinny dip in their front yard and isn't that the biggest benefit of a private pool? Oops! I really wrote that.

I'll get back to the remodel. Here are the pictures from the third week of remodeling. The footings for the new deck and front addition are in place and the water line has been moved. The progress was slowed a bit with permit delays. They better sign-off the last few items for the permit soon because our front yard has become a pretty dangerous zone.

As for this week, we are hoping to have the permit signed off tomorrow so they can begin to lay the foundation on Wednesday morning. That means a quiet morning tomorrow. Yeah!!

Out of town and out of the loop!

So, I am in Vancouver, Washington with my niece and nephews while my sister and her husband go to Cancun. I brought Tyler along so it'll be a fun week. I will, however, be unable to update the progress of the remodel. I've asked Pete, my husband, to take pictures each morning and night, so I should have pictures to show next week when I get home. We are anticipating that the permit will have come through on Monday so that the basement excavation can begin. Despite the mess, this part of the plan is really not so bad, since our living has not been inhibited in any way. I think when the headaches will begin is when they tear through the living room wall to connect the office space with the existing house and the cement cutting in the basement. Our kids have been troupers though. They just shrug and go on with life. My oldest son asked if he could invite some friends over on Thursday, and I said, do you think our house is the best house to play at right now? He looked around and said, "Yeah, I'll see if I can play at someone else's house."

The issue that I still question is the finish on the house. Do I incorporate shake shingle or stick with a more European/French style with stone, stucco and brick? I don't want the house to be too busy, but I don't want it to be boring either. I know, I know . . . I have plenty of time to make those kinds of decisions. My dad asked me what brought about all of these changes and I said, "I guess just because I wanted to." Yes we gain storage space and a main floor office, but the truth is, none of it is necessary . . . just nice and satisfies my need to design and change things up. The one necessity is that our porch was a previously a slab that had sunken with time, causing the roof of the porch to swagger a big. This addition will give us a nice porch with cold storage beneath--something that needed to be replaced eventually. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I feel lucky, in a time of a hard economy, to have the opportunity to do this remodel. I put a lot of time and effort into deciding whether to buy an already existing home, or stay where we are and take advantage of our great lot. I feel like we made the best decision for us, so I hope all goes well! I will update the blog on Thursday or Friday when I get home.

And then it snowed . . .

The past two days have been very productive. All of our patios are heaps of cement piled in the snowy front yard. We officially have one way to enter our home--every other door has a "death drop." Pictures tell a thousand words, so I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

Week 2, Day 3--A surprisingly quiet day.

I left the house at 8:30 am this morning, expecting another day of loud construction, came home at noon to quiet. No work today--I'm sure that made Tyler happy. The noise is already starting to bother him, so I suppose we really ought to get out of the house tomorrow when they plan to jack-hammer away the cement on our porch and back patio. I'm taking down pictures and some of my decorations in fear that the vibration will cause things to fall. I'll be sure to post pictures tomorrow evening. On Friday, I look forward to the gas line being changed, so that on Monday of next week, they can begin digging the new foundation for the library/office and new cold storage. My house looks like its been hit by a tornado, but I don't mind! Its exciting to see the changes. I'm writing that down now, as I anticipate that as the project goes on, I may have my days of frustration! Its always good to write down the good days, to help you remember on the not so good ones! Happy remodeling!