Top Ten Lessons Learned During Remodel

10. You might save money using an unlicensed designer to develop permit-ready plans rather than an architect, but you lose a lot of time, and potentially negotiating power with the City and your sanity as well.

9. Expect the unexpected. We encountered, among other things: a 35 year old tract home which encroached on a City drainage easement, a foundation excavation that looked like a swimming pool was being installed, and a furnace and HVAC ducting that needed to be replaced completely.

8. It always costs more than you'd like ... and possibly more than you have.

7. Meticulous planning pays off. We lived in the house for over five years and really knew what we wanted to do with it. We also were almost entirely in agreement between ourselves as to what it was going to look like and how it would function.

6. Change order is a four-letter word.

5. Moving out during construction would have been a good, but expensive, idea.

4. All we are is dust in the wind. Dust. No way to avoid it. It was everywhere, all the time. We're still cleaning up.

3. You can get some great hotel deals on Priceline. Best buys: 4 Points Sheraton in Pleasanton ($40/night) and a one-time score of the Walnut Creek Embassy Suites ($55/night).

2. It takes longer to move back in than it did to move out, but it's a great opportunity to declutter.

1. A great contractor is the key to the project's success. Thanks, Dennis, we couldn't have done it without you.

Happy New Year!

Veni, vidi, vino

Never content to rest on my laurels, or even really rest, I decided to convert the ridiculously narrow hall closet (complete with towels folded "Livorna Estates style" in order to fit) into a wine closet as a Christmas gift for my husband. Our wine collection had previously been stored in the hall coat closet, which was reduced by 50% during the remodel to give us more space in the Master Bathroom and thus no longer was large enough to hold the wine, and other assorted closets and cubbies. We really needed the space in our closets for clothing, towels, and the other sundries for which they were designed.

I realized that if we moved the doors out a couple of inches, the wine bottles would fit. So, our contractor came back over and we cooked up a plan. We put in bi-fold doors and added shelves and cleats. It's an imperfect design, but one that'll work well for us. I'm still working on getting labels made so it can all tie together with my husband's already organized inventory system.

Sante!

FINAL-ly: We Passed!

In an almost anti-climactic finish, we passed the City's Final Inspection of our project without any delay or issues whatsoever. Have I mentioned what an amazing, exemplary job our contractor has done? No problems, no worries, everything looks great, works great, and we're done. Hooray!!

Now there's nothing left but the punch list. Which is fairly short and full of fairly minor items, most of which our guy is well aware and in the process of fixing. I'm sure a few more things will be added as we assemble, test, move in, etc., but it's not worrisome.

Have I mentioned lately how completely gorgeous it all is? My husband and I are so very pleased with the result. It took all of our resources, but we essentially have a new, beautiful home custom-made for our family.

I am a bit overwhelmed at all the moving back, unpacking, etc. but I'm lining up help and making a plan. Once we're back in, I'll get the place gussied up and "staged" a bit and take some final final photos.

More "After" Photos

Final Inspection Tomorrow

It's hard to believe that we're just about ready for our final inspection. Today, all sorts of last minute things were installed and a cleaning crew came and cleaned up the place. There's still a lot of little things to do and the punch list is about a mile long, but overall everything looks fabulous and works very very well.

The enormity of the task of moving back into the space and actually living well in it is weighing on me a bit.

Check out our "new" place.

6, 5, 4...

Four days to go and the pace has picked up again, if that's even possible. Fortunately, I was at work most of the day (except for the part where I was getting my hair done in anticipation of the photo shoot for the web site ... rough duty!). The floors are done, and except for a few craters filled with not yet clear finish, they're dry and they're stunning. Baseboards went in today, more lights were installed today, glass on cabinets and glass shower doors were installed. Even the elusive skin and missing top cabinet were installed.

My computer has been returned to me. It took about 5 days total, which amazes me. Until I got in the mail the class action notice and the class consists of people who had exactly the computer problem I had. Did a class action suit actually benefit me? Stranger things have happened. The computer seems to work now (witness the photos finally posted) and I seem to have lost no data in the process, a small miracle, but it definitely feels messed around with. Worth the price of getting it fixed for free under the warranty. Just wish I hadn't paid for the new battery and ac adapter that turned out not to be necessary, but a small price really. I'm just glad to have my trusty friend back in my possession. I'm sure the kids will enjoy playing the new Lego Star Wars game over the weekend, too.

10, 9, 8, 7 ...

We're exactly a week away from completion! I can hardly believe it.

Right now, we're almost completely displaced, however, as the floor people finish the floors. So far they have installed and stained it. They may have put one coat of sealer on. Or maybe it's two coats today. In any event, the rain storm slowed drying time a tad due to high humidity. Since we're not planning on staying in the house tonight, though, they'll be able to finish. Finish the finish, that is.

I'm at the public library right now, since I can't be in the house. I've been dashing back to feed the dogs, and grab extra changes of clothes and other necessities. To say that I have a renewed appreciation for the homeless is putting it mildly. After all, I have money to throw at this problem and have been able to stay in hotels every night (even if the so-called three star hotel we stayed in the past two night didn't bother to have maid service -- they mis-recorded which room we were in). It still is very very hard to get the kids to school every morning clean, dressed in uniform, with homework done. I can only imagine how impossible it would be if one were in living in a car and had no money.

The floors look great. They're a bit darker than I thought, but I think any change of that magnitude is a bit shocking. I felt the same way about the paint initially.

Our contractor remains confident that cleaning people will be in next Thursday and the final inspection will go off without a hitch next Friday. Sounds great to me!

Carnegie Hall West

I think I've mentioned before that we're a family of musicians. One fun thing the past couple of days has been playing our violins and cello in the new great room, which has the wood floors and is completely empty. It sounds like a million bucks. I'm tempted to live without furniture just so I can enjoy the sound whenever I want. Fun!!

So Close, Yet So Far Away

The trades descended en masse on the house yesterday, working busily to finish up. The tilers grouted the kitchen backsplash (except for the part that couldn't be installed because the cabinet skin is still AWOL and the upper cabinet can't be installed, and yes, I'm really beyond annoyed at the whole cabinet thing). It looks so beautiful. I keep saying it, but it's really true. I love it.

Electricians put in lighting in the new great room, kitchen, and laundry room. It's going to take a while to learn which switch turns on what (I haven't decided whether to label yet, might), but it's wonderful. The laundry room is completely operational and I've started doing mega-loads of laundry.

The painters have been painting, notably the front door, which looks stunning.

The hall bath is up and working. Woo hoo!

Everything kind of grinds to a halt next week while the floor refinishing happens. I think we'll be in a hotel again at least for part of the week because it's just not healthy to hang out around that amount of dust and smell and we don't want to wreck the floor finish before it's even done. Thank God for Priceline, I've really learned to work that system to our advantage.

Letter From Mumbai

My laptop has died, same old garbage, doesn't recognize the AC adapter so the battery just drains completely and it's game over. I called the Dell tech support people. Took two hours (I kid you not), three techs, and a whole lot of exasperation. Like I haven't had enough of that lately. The worst part was when I couldn't divine the exact account information they had in their records so they told me that for security reasons they couldn't help me any more. This for a computer I purchased directly from Dell and had delivered directly to my current address. Yikes. Anyone, once that got all figured out, the verdict is: broken. Thanks, guys. Unfortuantely the fix seems to be a new motherboard. I don't think I'll have lost too much irretrievable information, I've got all those photos elsewhere. I'll keep taking them, but I won't be able to get them on this blog until my computer is returned to me in a couple of weeks. It's quite likely that we'll be completely done with the project by then and that is a lovely amazing thought.

Light At The End Of The Tunnel

Installation of various items is occurring at a record pace and the place is really starting to pull together. We are now within two weeks of being completely done. Wow. Whew. (My computer has died again, so photos will once again be delayed, sorry.)

At the end of the day today, we will have not one but two working sinks. That'll sure make the tooth brushing easier! We also have a working dryer (it has already dried a load very nicely). The bathroom vanities will be installed tomorrow. The painters are still painting, today the front doors. The doors are completely off right now and the effect is so wonderfully light that I'm putting door with window system on our future wish list.

The hardwood is completely in. It looks amazing. Next week it will be sanded (lightly, we like the distressing), stained (lightly), and sealed (heavily, I hope!).

The dogs got out, with all trades pointing the finger at the others. Asta came home on her own, Cato had to be retrieved by a very kind work guy. Cato seems to have a brain 10 years younger than his body (don't we all). Needless to say, he's dog tired. Me too!