Activity at the new house has been a lot like one of the older wooden rides at Six Flags. Sometimes it is slow and steady and a bit underwhelming and then when you are not expecting it, the pace picks up so dramatically that you just grab on scream a little and pray that the whole thing doesn't literally rip apart. That my friends is not even the slightest bit of exaggeration and I LOVE IT! We've had so many things going on that between this remodel and our day to day running of the real estate team, I'll get home at night and after sharing with Dana for an hour still have forgotten huge items like the pouring of concrete or removal of her despised bathroom fur downs. It is fast and furious folks and we don't even have nitrous.
But, amid all of the ups and downs, wiring, piping, scraping, hammering, jack-hammering, sledge hammering, patching, inspecting, permitting, SPENDING and working have been a few quite pleasant surprises too. We were able to add about 65 square feet to our addition based on a fortunate miss-calculation early on. Those things more often go the other way. We've discovered a few new products that will make our home more inviting, comfortable, efficient and welcoming too.
Potentially the most strange discovery was when we found money while preparing to remove the old side-walk. Not only did we find money, we found it in four different places I'm not sure if somebody was tucking this away for an off-grid retirement or what, but it was a fun surprise. I've never encountered anything like this before. (At least the 2nd time I've said that on this remodel). I really haven't. Below, see pictures of our whopping $0.41 score that we can't even get to and other exciting happenings.
I had a buddy, client and great advocate for our company who is an engineer draw up plans for the best stinkin foundation we could possibly build for our addition and here are the massive piers being dug, filled with rebar and about to be poured. We are having to wait on the temperatures to rise on select days to be able to pour the concrete so it will set correctly.
In the midst of trying to time the weather correctly to pour very important concrete, we are attacked by vicious and almost unnoticeable earthquakes...
What are you going to do?
Below is a pretty good idea of what it looks like to entirely re-wire your house.
... and this.
Entirely new plumbing will go here to create our new master bathroom which will connect to the utility / laundry room through a small door. I will not leave clothes on the floor, I will not leave clothes on the floor, I will not leave clothes on the floor.
And then, sometimes you drive up to your massive investment and two dudes are beating the brick off the side of your house with sledge hammers. Sometimes. This was supposed to happen so we can add two more bedrooms, a craft room and a game-room, but still semi-startling to roll up on. I felt like a jerk for just watching for about 10 minutes, but not enough of a jerk to start swinging a hammer myself.
Fur downs, in my opinion, are almost always a sign of laziness. Builders would use them to run vents, wires, water lines etc. but at the risk of eating up valuable space in a bathroom, hall or even kitchen. We have a general policy that when we see them, we destroy them. New lights etc. coming to this wall soon. We may even build a pallet wall here if I can get my old Young Life guys to stop destroying every single slat they pull from the pallets.
This rear view of the house will only exist for a few more days as we prepare to pour the new foundation, frame new walls, skirt it, roof it, install all new electrical, air conditioning, windows, doors etc. We never wanted a huge house, so this will be exactly the size we were aiming for to accommodate our family.
The next few weeks should bring lots and lots of visible progress before we'll likely have a period of slow, plodding detail work to finish strong. In reverence to the process, I'm growing my playoff beard. I told Dana I won't shave it until we move in. I think the contractors think it is funny though that I look so ridiculous, so I may have motivated them the wrong way.
More to come!
Todd Tramonte is an industry leading communicator about real estate, marketing, client experience and business best practices. Through expertise, education, and a results-oriented approach, Todd and his team at The Todd Tramonte Home Selling Team have one common goal: Provide the absolute most valuable expertise, counsel and direction through the home selling and buying process and ensure that it is fun by working as a team of experts each complimenting each others' strengths. Find other articles written by Todd.
