Bringing down the house—the rest of the story*

It was time to think about phase two of the house remodel.  Earl's retiring next year, but still gainfully employed.  It was now or never.  We love everything we did in 2010, but now had a big two–bedroom house.  That's just goofy, considering the eventual value.  Not that we're planning to sell, but we wanted to be responsible.  There was plenty of "camping out on the floor" room, but could we do something more conventional as well?  The big question was, could we get more usable space without more house?

Could we house family/guests? Yes. Could we house family/guests and afford some privacy? No.

Did the grandchildren have a play area?  Yes. One they didn't have to share?  No. 
Could we have two grandchildren for a sleep over.  Yes.  All four?  No.  Would we want to?  Probably not.

Was there an affordable way to make the former master bathroom accessible to more rooms?  Yes.

Was I very attached to the big master bedroom window? Y-y-yes.  However, it became clear over time that the old window had to go to accommodate two rooms, each needing new windows.

Fortunately for us, the Dust brothers, Cliff and Dan, could work us into their schedule and had creative design ideas. Together with Earl, they came up with a doable plan—again. There is a major advantage to leaving the impulsive, opinionated woman (that would be me) downstairs and available only for a few final questions.  Whereas I can eventually get upstairs, my ataxia makes it slow going and I often choose not to.  As the 3 men headed upstairs, I noticed they didn't ask me to join them twice.  The old master bedroom with walk-in closets could become two rooms with generous, but not excessively generous closets.  There was a way to make the big bathroom open to a common alcove outside the bedrooms.  Finally, Cliff assured me that the new windows would be pretty as well.

Bonus Room

We decided to open the area above the downstairs master bedroom to give the kids their own play room. Certainly Earl and I could hear activity on the second floor, but that wasn't very different from what we could hear before. The grandchildren would still have their chalkboard, the Wii games, and the stuffed animal menagerie.  We could keep our exercise area and fitness equipment adjacent, but unchanged.  No sharing required.

The view from below

One day, while taking my customary rest, I listened to Cliff and Dan work upstairs.  Glancing up at the ceiling, I mused, "Wouldn't it be funny if someone fell through the ceiling?"  Bad news. One of the brothers tripped over a construction joist and almost fell through the ceiling.  Good news.  There were no serious injuries and they were good-natured about it.  My rest was over when it happened and I was on the other side of the house–out of the way.   At least I thought it was funny; no one else was laughing.

The Big Dig–Before (actually, during)
and After (filled in)

We also wanted to attend to whatever outdoor concerns we could afford.  Given the time of year and increase in water usage over the summer, we felt it was prudent to pump the septic tank.  I made an appointment to have that done on July 7th–after the holiday and house guests.  We had plans on the 4th.  Heidi, Michael, Sarah, Kyle, Jason, Elizabeth, Zoe, Lexi, and an out-of-town couple were coming for the holiday.  Unfortunately, the septic tank failed on July 3rd.  So, at 5:30 on the morning of the 4th, Earl was supervising the digging up the septic tank.  It was twelve freakin' feet down!  After 3 repairs within 5 days, we now have a functioning septic system, and only lost a few plants.

We have over 1000 square feet of exposed aggregate deck around the pool.  Because it had worn down over 30 years, it was rough on little feet, heated up on 90+ degree days, and was in need of some restoration.  Earl and I researched several options that didn't require tearing up the ugly, but still serviceable, concrete.  We finally settled on resurfacing.  But, jeez, money was flying out the door!

The Schuman B & B–guest ready (sort of)

The lesson:  It's always something, usually everything happens at once, and it no doubt costs more than you plan.  I'd like to say, "we're done", but we've learned homeowners are never done.

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