Adventures in Renovation: Week 1

Here we go!

This past week, all the necessary pieces finally fell into place to begin the long-awaited renovation of Mars: final plans complete, permits filed, & garage appliances moved out of the way of the excavation crew.

The project has three main goals:

1. upgrade and repair the deteriorating foundation and structural elements under the kitchen and porch -- this will improve earthquake safety & enable the house to stand for another 100 years. It will also allow us to covert what is currently two storage areas full of possums into usable space.
2. improve energy efficiency by replacing crappy existing windows, and replacing the existing free-swinging doors on the first floor; we will also be removing part of the wall in the kitchen, which will allow more of the heat from the afternoon sun to heat the house, in addition to improving the feel of the space in the kitchen 
3. improvement of the drain and rotten sewer line under the kitchen -- not glamorous, but obviously important

Number 1: Here is what the first floor storage rooms currently look like:

Here's what they will look like when we're done:

The terrace steps will come down from the yard because we will be excavating two feet down in order to get eight feet of head room in there. We're also taking the opportunity to add a bathroom to the space, to make things nicer for our house guests.

Number 2: Here's what the back of the house looks like now:

Crappy single pane aluminum windows up top, & rotten wooden single pane windows below.  Plus 25 year old warped vinyl siding.

Here's what it will look like when we're done:

And goodbye vinyl siding.

Here is the wall in the kitchen that will be changed:

We'll be removing part of the wall with the window to open up the space, to let the sunshine & heat in. The remaining wall will end up being a counter.

Number 3: Lucky for you, I don't have pictures of the nasty sewer line problems.

Step one was to move the hot water heater, washing machine, & dryer away from the back wall of the garage, so that when the excavation crew is ready to start, they can drive a bobcat right in there to dig around.

The hot water heater ended up on the outside of the house:

With a new vent attached to Adrienne's office.

Ok, no problem.

Washing machine & dryer are currently in the middle of the garage:

Our contractor, Mr. Bunkport, assures us that they will be hooked back up shortly. Shortly, as in two or three weeks. Ok, no problem.

This is the wall they are going to drive the bobcat through:

This is definitely going to be interesting. That's for sure.

Meanwhile, we completed clearing stuff out & otherwise getting the spaces ready for the havoc that will ensue:

Ready for action!