One Sixty: PlyDown

PlyDown

This past Sunday, work continued out on the garage addition. This time, with the addition of plywood. I arrived late in the afternoon after a weekend away to find that the wood portion of the show was nearly complete.

And I'll tell you one thing - with that roof on there, that addition looks BIG. I feel like I have no backyard left, even though there's been that concrete slab of the same size there for years. Must be the inability to see through to the other side of the yard. Then again, there's all the random junk still littering up the remainder of the back yard. None of that helps any.

In looking at it now, it almost appears that we just purchased a dang big shed and installed it at the butt of the garage. Hopefully when everything's painted up it'll look at least a little more cohesive. Maybe I can add some shrubs there on the side and the back. Oooo! There's an idear. Or we could get a canopy to attach to the side there, string up some lights, and put down one of those nifty fire burning tables. Oooooo!

Of course the whole place needs to be cleaned up.... again. Doesn't it just feel like we just cleaned up the yard?! I told Mike, once this garage addition is finished, he's got to get the trucks done and out. Sell one, drive one, sell two, buy a better one - I don't care. Just doooo it and lets be done with this giant vehicle fiasco we've been dealing with since LAST SUMMER.

Uuuhh. Makes me sick just to think I've been looking at this junk pile for near to a year.

On the bright side, the front yard is looking lovelier by the day.

The trees are in bloom! (And certainly not dead, which is a very good thing.) Most of the lawn is looking good, save for the spot where we removed that old tree and the spot where we had a trailer fulla siding for half of last summer. Luckily, even those spots are starting to come up now thanks to one of those "grow anywhere" seed products.

I only wish the porch was done. My hope is dwindling there though.

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Blog Story

My now husband Mike and I purchased this quaint home back in spring of 2004 - our first home - and, being the handy folks we are, expected to have the entire thing renovated in about a year or so.

And here we still are... renovating away.

This house needed a complete overhaul. Its plaster walls were uninsulated, its attic floor covered in 2" of bat guano, its basement - dirt and snakes, its exterior - asbestos siding, and lead paint windows in every room. The electric had not been updated and light sockets hung bare from the ceiling. Plumbing featured cast iron radiators - and only one for the entire upstairs.

We began by gutting almost the entire house from top to bottom. (sans bathroom - we needed to pee) We rebuilt the entire upstairs, with a new floor (not new carpet or wood - the once unstable framing underneath) and turned 3 small rooms into two. We reinvented the downstairs by turning a closet into a hallway and eliminating interior exterior windows and doors from old half-assed additions.

New insulation, windows, electrical wiring (including phone and CAT-5 internet), plumbing and baseboards, and drywall were all added.

We purchased kitchen cabinets from a yard sale. (None existed previously.) Our families helped us replace and purchase new appliances including the once also missing washer & dryer.

Then we had the entire house lifted - straight into the air - dug out the dirt, and had a real basement foundation poured. We updated our oil tank and burner and created heating zones.

Outside, we took down trees and planted grass. We dug out an awkward hill to create a 2nd part to the driveway and used the rocks our house once sat on as a retaining wall. We electrified and repainted the garage.

And of course, we spent many an hour on finish work like paint, trim, closet doors, lighting fixtures, hardwood floors, curtain rods, dimmer switches, and many other things everyone else takes for granted. We are still working to complete all this final finishing, but happy to report that we are FINALLY nearing completion of all little things in all rooms!

In 2008 we began overhauling the exterior by creating a new french door entryway and building a farmer's porch and garage addition. We replaced our roof and then stripped off our siding and replaced with new clapboards. We then planted two new flowering trees and a maple in the front yard - our first major landscape purchases. I'm happy to report that here in 2011, the porch is nearing completion and the back yard is on the road to recovery with some new loam and grass. More plantings soon to come!

In 2012 we plan to attack the last MAJOR (emphasis on major) job in the house - the dreaded BATHROOM! We plan to first add a second bathroom in the basement. Then, demolish our current bathroom and rebuild it, adding a second bathroom on top for the upstairs.

And that pretty much brings you up to date. The battle continues day to day as we try and complete everything.

5 comments:

Mega Builders Remodeling University said...: Very nice post and a very practical addition.
Thanks!; 8:42 PM
Mike said...: Great addition! Good work.; 1:29 PM
Los Angeles Heating And Air Conditioning said...: great job on the addition. adding value. looks nice; 10:05 PM
los angeles lofts for sale said...: this a cool looking renovation. definitely works aesthetically i think. and you right, it adds value...like any renov; 12:37 AM
custom homes Los Angeles said...: Valuable information and excellent design you got here! I would like to thank you for sharing your thoughts and time into the stuff you post!! Thumbs up; 3:09 AM