We are currently working on a remodel on Mercer Island.  It's a rambler.  Although the square footage increase is minimal (less than 150 SF), the home's volume will change dramatically.  Part of the "make-over" includes removing and replacing the roof.

Here are some photos illustrating the series of events.

Then, it's installing a new ceiling, build frame for the shower and set new shower base and then tiling the floor. Wait a while, grout floor. Wait a while and move in new vanity, toilet and remainder of shower. Finish work will likely be prolonged by the necessity of use. So, be ye not surprised if I am quite for a while; I'm only working diligently elsewhere.

Solo Deo Gloria,
jason

I love what i do.  I really enjoy orchestrating the building process to completion and having pleased clients and a beautiful product at the end.  When i get business i do very well.  Which brings me to the core of my problem.  The "when" part is most capricious.  I've been telling myself that i haven't been in business long enough (3 years) to develop a solid referral base. 

I've had a handful of referalls turn into actual work.  But honestly, i've had a good bit of work come from online referal services.  It's great when i get work, but i hate the 9 out of 10 losers that just want to kick the tires.  Most of the time these people want a handy man to do a small project. 

Here's the deal.  I cannot do well for myself or others if the job is below 50k.  Even that is pretty low. My best work is done when the project is over 3 months and over 100k.  I know there are builders above and below this scale, but this is where i think i fit in.  Truthfully, this is a bad niche.  This is the market where people care more for their money than getting the job done or their relationship with their builder.  Sadly, i don't know how to break out.  I don't borrow money at all so i can't grow through debt.  Is there a way to muscle my way out of this market and still keep the cash flow going?  I hope to find out soon.

So to answer the question..."how's business today?"

Not great.  I'll be honest.  It's nearly month to month.  I've got a wife who stays home with my children (5) and i've got to do it all (so it seems with regard to revenue generating).  Since i'm being honest i will add that a large part of my life is Jesus Christ.  To say that he is a part is truthful, but i struggle to to live as though He is all.  With that said, I believe that God is in control.  I'll put my best foot forward.  do what i can to live wisely.  and pray for rain.

I have heard on the news,got multiple home center advertisements, and have seen the ads. 

Now is the time to remodel!  Prices are down at the retail centers.   Many homeowners are reluctant to put money into their home for fear of house prices falling. 

However, that can be far from the truth.  If you are planning on staying in the home the improvement is well worth it.  Or if you are planning sooner it still could be worth it as well.  It all depends on the numbers.

The bottom line here is if it is time for you to remodel, now is the time to get a good deal.

We're still eating out

The back of the house is painted - the front is still in work (darn rain)

And we have a view again from the back

The rest of the pictures would just be sheetrock so they're not very exciting but progress is still being made, just slowly!

God has been faithful in providing work. This is a whole new arena in the construction industry for me, i've never been a project manager but i really enjoy seeing projects come together.

We do residential and commercial construction. I'll post some photos soon of some of the stuff we are up to.

jason

These are the "before" pictures:

Since some of the readers seem to have experience or opinions about where to find good contractors.  This is an open call for people to comment with information on good contractors.  If you have had work you like please post a comment.

Please include the following:

• Name or Company
• Location
• What type of work they do
• Timely, Costly
• Contact Information, if you have it.

Thanks.  - Adam

Can you guess who's eating out this weekend?

Yesterday they hung all of the sheetrock

And today they started mudding it
Master Bedroom

Looking down the new hall/former master bedroom

Kitchen into dining room

Our ceiling will now be consistent through the whole house since we're having the kitchen and family room ceilings smoothed to match the rest of the house. Unfortunately this meant we had to move all the furniture out last night. And by we, I mean Craig.

The rooms are taking shape and it's great to be able to visualize the furniture going in them. We're looking forward to a cleaner house in the next few weeks too - sheetrock dust is the worst!

Amazing just how ugly a great big hole in the side of the house can look.

[caption id="attachment_203" align="alignleft" width="225" caption="Opening number three, creates a problem."][/caption]

Opening number three is on the basement level and presents a little bit of a problem, when it is discovered that we might have a weak header over the old window.... What to do?  

 

 Just build a temp wall on the inside to help hold everything up while the work get done.  Luckily, the wood was in better shape than thought and the temp wall was not really required, but then waiting to see if things fall down is not really a good idea.

[caption id="attachment_205" align="alignright" width="300" caption="What happened to the entry?The front Entry is not imune to the raviges of remodeling.The Batcave become Swiss Cheeze"][/caption]

No side of the house is save from the Batcave remodeling project. 

Yes, just as Scotty said to Captain Kirk, "There Be Whales of Holes Captain!".  Well it was something like that anyway. 

Just when it was looking safe out in the back yard, along comes the Batcave's new windows and doors project. 

Say, just how long are they supposed to leave these big opening in the house anyway?  Sure hope it doesn't rain!

As you walk out of the landing area you will find yourself in MiaSnow's new home and garden area featuring some new items. The new items from by miaSnow include several Chandeliers, Flower Skull Rugs, Mushroom Lamp, Flower Field, and the smashing Midnight Garden Romance Room. From there you can walk into the general miaSofia play yard or walk to the main entrance of by miaSnow. At by miaSnow today you will find the new Big Beehive Hair (pictured below) set available in 16 different colors ranging from silver and black to green and bubblegum pink. Also new at by miaSnow are four sets of eyes named, future sight, glowing, candy, and alien. Finally, on the second floor there are some wonderful paintings created by miaSnow's dad.

As you leave by miaSnow at miaSofia you'll find a dock or wooden pathway leading to the new lurveBite store. Oh, you can pickup a copy of some in-world magazines and see some magazine spreads from miaSofia. And why not, click the big miaSofia sign to join the group too. New at lurveBite is a new lucky chair prize of the cereal accessories from the cereal and milk dress set. Also new is the Toast Bread dress for the month of August's Fashionable Food Couture Collection.

Finally, miaSofia is offering two freebies this month of August. One is the Spicy Toast by Dakotah Yue, and the other is the Toast Bear Chair. The Spicy Toast is at the main entrance of the lurveBite shop. The Toast Bear Chair is a group gift for members of the miaSofia group in world.  To receive your Toast Bear Chair simply join miaSofia and look in the notices section for the notice named Group Gift.  Ok that's all for now.  Oh yes, you should know that mia and i are planning something super fun during September.  ;)

Siding is done

The old door into our bedroom is now opened up to make a hallway...

Our old master bedroom closet is now opened up for a built in desk in the office...

Insulation is done...

Lots of other things including making our floor more level in the kitchen. Old houses aren't level anywhere which makes matching a floor up impossible but we're close to level now thanks to a car jack. We weren't home for the process and were holding our breath all day that things would go well - and they did.

Tomorrow starts sheetrock. And it was supposed to start the exterior painting but it is pouring outside and expected to continue through Friday so that's probably on hold. We'll keep you posted :)

A certified kitchen designer is someone who has had extensive experience within the kitchen and bath remodeling industry.  These are people who have an active involvement with the National Kitchen and Bath Association.  The NKBA focuses on creating spaces that are comfortable and welcoming while reflecting the needs of your lifestyle and personality.  The NKBA has created guidelines and rules to better create a comfortable work space with ergonomics in mind.  They should be the basis of all kitchen and bath remodels.  A certified designer will take these guidelines into account when working on your space.  They have studied these details as well as the details of building.  Certified designers pass tests relating to guidelines, electrical, plumbing, and basic buildign requirements. 

It is very important to utilize their knowledge so you can have a well thought out kitchen or bathroom.  Ask as many questions as you can think of and speak up when you have a concern.  Your designer is there to guide you and help you make the right decisions.  Remember, in the end it is your home and you are the one paying for the remodel and you are the one living with the decisions.  A good designer is one who listens to what you want and tries to apply the guidelines to your needs. 

Overall the designer you choose should be someone you feel comfortable with and someone who has your best interest in mind.  Any remodel will take weeks from the planning stage on so you need to find a certified designer that has the best personality for you and your family.

Saturday was Vengeful Mother's 64^th birthday. I played the dutiful son and called to wish her Happy Birthday and to inform her that a gift was not to follow. Things have been really tight for me lately. True to form, she took advantage of a moment of vulnerability on my part in which I told her of the financial difficulty I've been experiencing, to tell me that I wouldn't be in this situation if I would just pay my tithes. Because after all, when I'm having trouble making ends meet to begin with the smartest thing I could do is write a $250.00 check, twice a month, for which I'll receive no goods or services in return. Why wouldn't I want to be $250.00 shorter per paycheck than I am now?

She tells me things would have been worse if she hadn't done it, but I remember watching her write her tithe checks regularly, spending her last $50.00, and then having to scrape the cupboards to try to find something to feed her three hungry children. I guess she was "leading by example" by writing the checks, but what she was trying to instill in her children, that God will bless your finances if you tithe, didn't come through. As far as I can tell, she's still waiting for the blessing.

I suppose I was meant to accept not suffering homelessness, not having to go to school in rags and not starving to be a blessing. Now, I know I'm a bitter old dolt who has a fucked up sense of obligation but as far as I'm concerned, if Vengeful Mother and Dead Beat Dad weren't prepared to guarantee those minimums, they should never have procreated in the first place. They probably shouldn't have anyway. No, to me, being blessed is having all your needs met and having ample opportunities to make the most of your life. Those are the things I most certainly did not see happening when Vengeful Mother put her last few tuppence in the offering plates. Those are the things I didn't have, period.

Tithes are supposed to be the "first fruits" of your "harvest" or the first 10% of your income. In other words, pre-tax. So my take home pay may be $1500.00 every two weeks, but I earn closer to $2500.00. Uncle SAM (as in Stole All my Money) takes the first nearly $1000.00 and then I'm supposed to hand over $250.00 more than that, before I do anything else? It's impossible!

We had a luncheon at work today. I work in a small office of about five people. If you've read my blog, you've already been "introduced" to that group. We have a counter part group who works in another building. We don't like them. They don't like us. We have a mutual don't like for each other and it's a permanent condition.

Since my manager, Douche bag, is on vacation, the diminutive manager for the other group has been in charge. He decided to buy lunch for everyone today. So we gathered for sandwiches in a conference room. Midway through the lunch, he decided to announce that he was going to make this a monthly thing and that we'd meet for lunch monthly.

Every couple of months this comes up. Douche bag and his fun sized counterpart talk about how we should work together and have team building orgie-- er, exercises and be BFFs, like that's all it takes. Personalities and hard feelings be damned. I'm not sure why they can't get it through their impenetrable skulls that we do not enjoy each others company and no amount of forcing the issue will change that. In fact forcing it on us will just make it harder to change things.

I had a couple of very peculiar dreams the other night. The first had to do with a forced entry situation at Vengeful Mother's house. CPA sister and I were both there and it was bed time. CPA Sis was getting into bed in the living room, and Vengeful Mother was in bed in her room. CPA sis came across some papers in the living room that had some significance to a former boyfriend of hers; we'll call him Breastplate (Explanation to follow). Vengeful Mother and I were reviewing the papers and realized that they were incriminating for Breastplate and some other guys. Suddenly, we heard loud noises as the front door was being broken down. I grabbed the papers and stuffed them under Vengeful Mother's headboard.

I don't really remember what happened after that except that the guys were tearing the house apart trying to find the papers and there was threatening and violence going on.

The second dream had a similar theme. I dreamed that Vengeful Mother and I were in a drug/grocery store and we had separated. The store was taken hostage by a group of ne'er-do-wells. I do not remember what their motivations were, but I remember that they were very rough. They were armed, but they had some sort of poison darts that they used to kill some of the hostages.

Once again, I do not remember the details of the dream but I remember that Vengeful Mother was killed with one of those darts. The dream ended when the police broke into the store and took out the bad dudes. I had managed to kill one of them in the course of my dream so when it was clear that the evil doers were going to die, their leader shot me with one of the darts, a moment before a policeman shot and killed him. Then just as everything was going dark I felt a sharp prick and shortly after I recovered. The police had the antidote for the poison and were able to save me, but not Vengeful Mother.

My therapist had the audacity to go on vacation last week and so it'll have been two weeks since I've seen her, when I get to my appointment tomorrow evening. It seems as though I may have a lot to talk about. I do not wish for Vengeful Mother's demise, but I do know that many things would be a lot easier on me if she was no longer part of my life. As I mentioned, she just turned 64 and some of you might be saying I don't have that much longer with her, but you'd be wrong. People in my family, on both sides actually, live very long lives. My Paternal Grandfather who just died was almost 92. My Paternal Grandmother was in her early 80s when she died of cancer. My Maternal Grandmother was 84 when she died. The only enigma, if you will, is my Maternal Grandfather. He was killed when a psychotic divorceé boarded his plane wearing a dynamite vest in 1962. Grandfather was in his late 30s. Who knows how old he would have lived to be?

I take comfort in the fact that I won't have to face the death of my parents for many years, and yet, there would be some comfort to be taken if I didn't have to deal with those troubled relationships any further.

After nearly a year of negotiation, my regrettably pink bathroom is finally going to be remodeled starting on Monday, August 25, 2008. I'm dreading it. It's going to be a major hassle for me. Their will be detritus everywhere while the work is happening. For a few days, my shower will be unavailable to me. Scared kitty will have to be closed up in the kitchen for his own safety and sanity, and the house will have to be thoroughly cleaned this week before my landlord sets foot in the place to meet with the contractor. I'll be thrilled when the work is done.

My house was built in the 1920s. And the bathroom may well be the original bathroom, save for a new-ish toilet that was put in fewer than 5 years ago. The floor, sink counter and backsplash, and two sided shower surround are all covered in 4" x 4" pastel pink tile. The counter has a beveled, raised, pastel pink tile boarder that is hard to keep clean, and the counter is only 22 inches deep while the sink is 26 inches deep, so there is an angled protrusion from the counter where the sink is. The tile is dirty with the kind of dirt that doesn't come out. Decade upon decade of use has resulted in a hue of grey that covers the pink such that only a power sand scrub or perhaps a dose of hydrochloric acid would make it come off, and then the tile would come up too. There are also what my landlady calls spider vein cracks in the tile. But most importantly, IT'S PINK!

Apparently, in the 1920s people were a good foot and a half shorter than they are now. The shower head, were it not to have an aftermarket handheld shower wand added to it, would hit me mid tattoo

and require me to bend down significantly to use it, and the top of the tile shower surround hits my shoulder level. Here in Oakland, we have a lot of mold issues to deal with, and it's been my concern all along that this is going to be an issue if left unchecked.  (By the way, no comments about my ogre head!)

When completed, my bathroom is going to have new shower head that is up about two feet from it's current location, the shower surround will be two single slabs of granite that will go up to 18" from the ceiling, their will be an entirely new sink console with a new sink with polished nickel fixtures including a goose neck faucet. A new wall mounted mirror will hang over the counter and the counter will be single slab marble. Their will be fresh paint, new light fixtures, new towel hooks and rods and a brand new pergo floor. When finished the bathroom will be modern and lovely and will match the rest of the renovated house. I can't wait!

And then theirs work. Douche Bag returns from his three and a half week tour of China tomorrow. When that happens, the respite I have had from all the shit that comes with his presence will be over. I do not look forward to that. I so desperately want to change jobs. I want to find something to do that is fulfilling and gratifying. I want to make a living being creative and inspiring to people. I would like to be a writer, but I don't know how to make a living that way.

What I need is a sugar daddy! I'm now taking applications! Serious inquiries only, please!

• Roof is shingled and sealed - NOW it can rain!
• Almost finished siding the new addition
• Preparing for sheetrock to be installed
• Windows and doors were installed
• Gas line for BBQ was run

The new roof and where our siding stands today

French doors installed. The blinds are in the glass to minimize dog slobber and dust - perfect for us!

Probably the most dramatic change - the kitchen is now open to the new dining room

Coming next, Sheetrock.

We're preparing for a dusty mess of a week but sheetrock also brings insulation which is sorely missing this week in Seattle. Temps have been in the mid 90s and with unsealed rooms on the back of our house it's been an oven. Everybody has been miserable - especially one very pregnant woman - and we're thankful and looking forward to insulation.