Yes, given time, everything eventually gets done. The house was all packed away. We found a Realtor® & a contractor. I shoved all of my stuff away as well. Packed what I needed into a duffel bag and have come to San Francisco a for a month or so while the house gets remodeled before sale. While there is nothing wrong with the house, it needs updating. I really didn't want to take the chance of a builder coming in and scraping the lot & putting in a McMansion. That wouldn't be good for the neighborhood. It's a Nice Neighborhood. We grew up there and wanted to keep the feeling of it. So the Realtor, Alex Lehr, came in & said, "You've got to take out this closet. you want to open that wall up,and then...." Five minutes later he had a battle plan....   ...Read more

We are Just over 5 weeks into this thing. There was a shocking lack of activity between Xmas and New Years, then again, everybody deserves some time off during the holidays. I just need to chill out a little.

I spent New Years Eve day until dark limbing the pistache tree in the back yard. It's gotta go. We have replaced that tree every 20 years or so but since we are going to extend the deck the length of the house it is now in the way.
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We're not talking the Eiffel Tower here. We have no need for iron workers, cement trucks or dozens of unionized workers.This is a small little remodel. Nothing more than tearing out a wall or two and putting parts of them back, tearing out some cabinets, putting new ones in. Tearing out some closets... Rewiring the entire house,... Putting in a bathroom where the giant closet used to be..... Tearing out the porch and putting in a new one... OK.... Maybe not so simple.

There is an analogy to watching water boil that might be appropriate here. Maybe it is something about time flying when you're having fun. Originally, we were supposed to be done about a week ago. But things change. We had some really good ideas and decided to implement them. Adding more tasks to the todo list means you are going to miss those deadlines. I guess we're not in such a rush anyway.   ...Read more

There is a saying that if you ask a contractor how long it will take the answer is always "Two Weeks." While that might not exactly the case there is an element of truth in it. Enough so that it stopped being funny for a bit. I'm thinking it might come from the thought that when I ask I have the scope of the entire project in mind and He has the scope of only one or two elements that he is working on right now. I'm not complaining. Robert Stimple and crew did a fantastic job at a very reasonable price and it turned out wonderfully. I wouldnt' hesitate to recommend him & anybody who can get onto his schedule is pretty fortunate.

It was pretty miraculous coming back to the house after the floors had been finished. The floors for the entire house matched. Areas where there had previously been a wall or a closet or nothing at all were all woven into the existing flooring so that it looked like they had never been there. Tranh really was a wizard. Here it is, March 25th and it seemed like the house is actually going to be completed.   ...Read more

May 5th, the house is completed, staged and opened for sale. It was interesting seeing the house like this. It was nice seeing the house filled with furniture. Someone else's furniture. Furniture that I didn't have to move.

Walking throush the house a week ago was curious. All grey and white. Crown molding, mirrored closet doors. The walls were naked. The house was alien and vacant. Now, with the staging furniture, generic art and accesories it was like a diorama. A story was being told. One of the bedrooms had a crib, another was set up for an older child and a third for a teenager. My, what neat and tidy children these kids were. Perhaps there was a marketing thing going on here. But the furniture gave it balance...Suddenly all of the little things that drew my eye were obfuscated. I was distracted into seeing the bigger picture.   ...Read more