All I want for my Bday is my House! (day #31)

Living room- the fire place use to be there. We took it out because it threw off the symmetry and furniture plan off the room. We could have left on the dry wall, but i hate the look of texture so instead of trying to sand it all down to fix it we just removed it. Who ever did the construction before did a really half ass job, so there was quite a bit to fix....

All lighting and electrical is done and Sheetrock is going back up!!!!
This is the sink wall of the kitchen. (Below)








Recessed cans are installed in the ceiling and the ceiling is reinforced.










Pocket door hardware is installed in TV room

Electrical and Plumbing

Plumbing on island.















Plumbing at main stink (TV/Guest room behind)





Ceiling is taped out to show where the lighting will go. When I drew the lighting plan I didn't know where the studs were in the ceiling so unfortunately some of it had to be reworked.

The journey to a new home

The wall for the island is built. This will allow us to run plumbing over for a second sink in the Island. A temporary structural support wall is built while joist in the ceiling are being removed, replaced and reinforced.

All 50 year old insulation is rotting and is removed. The sliver stuff was put in more recently when the previous owners did an expansion.


The drywall, ceiling and cabinets are removed

One thing that is really interesting is to see each layer stripped off your house. It's really interesting to try and figure out what they were doing or what they were thinking using certain materials or building things certain ways. Last year when we removed our large, beautiful but unfragrant tree I found that something under the carpet had warped to make a big hill in my carpet. After removing the carpet we found that they used some really cheap plywood, I don' t even know if you can call it plywood and so it swelled when i over watered the tree. I' m not sure we'll do a tree again. It's a lot of work, but i really love it.

The journey to a new home

Well we are going on day 21 of being out of our house. The crew, unfortunately hasn't been able to be there the whole time due to another job that has needed attention. In the time they have been there though they have really done a lot. The first week was the most exciting. The feeling that comes over you when you see your house torn down to studs is one of sheer terror mixed with a rush of excitement. It's like nothing I've ever felt before. I had a lot of wacked out nerves and stress but I am feeling much better now.

Here are some before pictures:










Week one- Demo- a wall came down, and a new one was built creating a tv room behind what is now our current kitchen. All the carpet was removed and taken to a local recycling center. We wanted to donate our cabinets but no one from habitat for humanity would return our calls so they were broken down and sent to the dump. The raised floor that created my dining room was removed.

Week two- the ceiling where we had a some really bad damage from a rain storm (only EIGHT months ago) was removed and we found that the one by ones holding the roof up were sagging so those were replaced and reinforced.



Week three- the plumbing is installed and the electrical is in progress. All new recessed cans will be put in. A cove for perimeter lighting will be built. Praveen researched and purchased the speakers which will be in the ceiling throughout the house. I am really excited about that part. I can't wait to listen to fox news in my bathroom in the morning! All the speakers have separate zones so Praveen can sit on the new sofa bed in the new tv room and watch tv while I jam out in the kitchen.

Money is flying out the window like crazy. It's very strange to spend so much money on a daily basis. We've been saving for this for a long time, so it's rewarding and exciting at the same time.

Govi, the poor guy's apartment that we have taken over, has been very chill. I'm sure he can't wait for us to leave but you'd never know it. He leaves next week for Europe for three weeks and hopefully when he gets back we will be ready to move back home.

If all goes well this will be our schedule:
This week- finish Electrical, lighting- start drywall
Next week- Dry wall
Week of 22nd- Put down cork flooring
Week of 29th Finish floors install cabinets- start finish work- template counter tops (7-10 days to fabricate)
Install tile back splash- install under cabinet lighting
Oct 6th- Finish cabinets- paint/ finish work-
13th Counters installed- finish work
Week of 22nd and 29th- finish work
First week of November move home.

I'd say one of the hard parts about your house being under construction is not knowing where anything is. We packed and moved two car loads of stuff to govi's and since then probably three more worth of forgotten stuff. I had forgotten that September is pretty hot around these parts and I packed the SF usual, cashmere sweaters, jeans ect. Finally Sunday i broke down and broke into my closet which the contractor had nicely taped up so nothing would get dusty. I grabbed a bunch of summer stuff and guess what now its cold again.

I went back to the house the other day to get my bike, my biking shoes, all my gear, but when i got home i realized i had forgotten my padded shorts.

When i went to NYC i was missing my travel pillow, my backpack, my sleeping pills and host of other things....anyway, life goes on, but it does make it interesting. I want to post more pictures for you but last week i couldn't find the batteries to Praveen's camera so i started using my camera but now i can't find the USB cable to down load the pictures! It's fun!

This weekend we're going to Yosemite and it looks like i might need new hiking shoes or something as i can' find those either! The funny thing is when i pack, i remember where everything is, but Praveen actually did much of the packing while i helped a friend with a wedding party. If I packed it I generally know exactly the box it's in but now it's all fair game.