When the kids were born, we said we'd add on to our 2-bedroom, 1-bathroom 1951 ranch style house when Felix started Kindergarten, because theoretically we would then have all this extra money not going to private preschool anymore... Well, a few curve balls came our way, but last summer (i.e. when he was just done with 3rd grade), we were finally able to begin!
We selected and began discussions on the design with our architect, Monique, we interviewed 3 contractors (all personal recommendations), we refi'd our mortgage with cash-out in October, and in February of this year, the "final" designs were done, and ready to submit for approval to the city for permit application.
Today, 3
½
months later, several rounds of design revisions done, many visits to various departments around the city, contractor selected, building permit approved, apartment rented... ready to begin!
We're having the bathroom moved, a master bedroom & bathroom added, and the enclosed patio replaced and made into a den and integrated into the house. Following are some pictures of the progress so far, 1 week in!
Day 1 - Moving day and demolition crew arrive
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| Getting our fridge up to the apartment |
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| Moti, our contractor, perusing the demolition plans |
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| The screens and blinds have already been ripped out. |
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| Goodbye, rotten, dusty, old enclosed patio! |
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There goes the roof that never kept the patio cool in the summer
or warm in the winter... |
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| Moving the electrical panel. The wooden pergola and the grape vine is now gone too. |
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| Goodbye concrete floor, that I had painted and decorated by hand... |
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| End of day 1, siding has been ripped out |
Day 2
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| All concrete has been jackhammered into chunks |
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Day 3
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| The shingles on the roof are gone and there's a hole in the wall! |
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| Ahhh a nice bright, open bathroom. Goodbye really ugly tile with black grout! |
Day 4
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| The old office area |
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| Looking the other way, the old dining area |
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Trenches for the footing are being dug. Goodbye lovely bougainvillea
and garden beds, where we grew vegetables! |
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| Another view of the trench |
Day 5
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| Demolition of our old bedroom wall |
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| Old bathroom (right) and old bedroom (left) |
Day 6
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| The front part of the house is separated from the construction area with this semi-opaque plastic to mitigate the dust |
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| This dumpster was full of concrete chunks before, now full of earth from our yard |
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| And this is where the earth came from: deep trenches for the new footings. This shows the new perimeter. |
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| For some reason, they've saved the aluminum/MDF door from the old enclosed patio. |
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| Looking through the house, roof is now off the old bathroom area |
And that's week 1 done! The construction guys have worked really hard, we are impressed with how much they got done in just 6 days. We all - including the kids - feel kind of sorry for our house!
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