July 5, 2007
This is the last time I’ll see the house in its “before” state. We’ve cleared the rooms so the demo can begin. I met Kevin Johnson, the contractor, at my house this morning. In the 30 minutes I ran out to do an errand, the peninsula between the kitchen and the old addition was out. When I got home that night, they had built a temporary wall between the house and the addition, so the tear-off can begin! It’s exciting to think that after two years of planning, that we’re off and running. I hope it goes as swiftly as they say. I found out last week that I’m pregnant.

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July 6, 2007
Met with the electrician this morning to talk about the lighting plan. He preaches the importance of eliminating shadows in corners with lots of bright sparkling spots. I’m not sure it meets my simple, country girl aesthetic. I’ll have to think long and hard on this one. I love modern lighting, but I don’t want the finished project to look too remodeled. I want the house to retain its charm, after all. The big demo should happen Monday. I can’t wait to see what it looks like when I get home from work tonight.

July 9, 2007
Kevin is having trouble getting the permit. The city doubts we should build a two-story addition on the old foundation, which was originally designed for a single story addition. (Never mind that an architect and a structural engineer have both signed off on it.) The crew showed up for a short time and took out some cabinets inside the room.

July 10, 2007
The culprit, our 1950s brick grill that caused the foundation to sag and pull away from the original house, was in the dumpster tonight. The kids (especially Donovan, our 2-year-old) are taking great joy in climbing the dumpster’s ladder every night and looking for house parts they recognize. It’s like a game of Where’s Waldo? “Where’s the counter? Where’s the (ceiling) fan? Where’s the cupboard?” We make it back into the house, and he thinks of something else he wants to search for.

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July 12, 2007
The siding is off, and so is the roof. One of the enormous banks of windows is gone. They hope to get the permit issue resolved by next Monday. I need to make a decision on the windows. It’s tempting to go with a more modern grid, but I think I’ll stay true to the original house and do true divided lights in a grid that looks classic and cottage. Tip: Since I know I’m going to paint the interior woodwork, the sales associate at Pella (www.pella.com) advised me to order the windows primed on the inside, which will make painting them a quicker and easier process. If we have our contractor sub out the painting, this could translate into a considerable savings. And if we do it ourselves, we gain time on the schedule!

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July 16, 2007
It rained an inch last night, which translates into a steamy, 95-degree day here in Des Moines, Iowa. It hasn’t slowed down the crew, though. The demo is complete! The second dumpster is filled to the brim with the old deck, and the remainder of the original addition. I placed the window order today, and during my meeting with Pella, we had an 11th-hour conversation about the condition of the 70-year-old exterior sills. They’re soft and definitely decaying, but the degree to which they’re rotting is up to the pros. A team is going to stop out and re-evaluate to see if we should go with the full window replacement rather than the precision fit replacement. The cost difference is about $175 more per window in just labor alone, and we’d be looking at about 13 windows. Ouch. The trade-off on the budget will certainly mean a little more DIY than planned. But doing a full replacement is more cost-effective than having a craftsman rebuild each sill.

July 17, 2007
The sills are rotten and can’t be saved. We’ll rebuild the windows from the inside out. Now I’m waiting on the structural engineer to connect with the contractor to see if the foundation can be salvaged, or if it will need to be torn out and redone. The old addition is off, revealing the original foundation and what looks like an original sidewalk. Will we be able to rebuild on the old foundation?

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July 18, 2007
They haven’t started construction and already, they want more specifics than I have. Our architect, Linda Alfson, is on vacation and the structural engineer would prefer to visit the site and examine the foundation with Linda. So we’re waiting until she’s back on Monday.

July 23, 2007
The summit! Tonight we brought together the contractor, the structural engineer, and the architect to talk about the foundation. They dug down deep and unfortunately discovered the foundation is only 35 inches deep and needs to be 42 inches to be below the frost line and to meet code. In addition to that, the foundation is only 10 inches wide and it needs to be 12 inches. After brainstorming several different scenarios, we agree that we’ll need to trench around the existing foundation to pour a new one, which will change the size of the addition by making it 1 foot deeper and 1 foot wider. I’m bummed. Not only is it the ugliest kind of money to spend, but it also means that all the work we’ve done to figure out the cabinetry configuration in the pantry and kitchen is lost. The contractor will spend the next few days getting bids from concrete subs on the foundation.

July 26, 2007
After costing it out, we discover that it costs less to tear out the old foundation and pour a new one. That’s what we decide to do.

July 27, 2007
Backyard archeology. The kids continue to find fun junk relics in the backyard, including a collection of McDonald’s Happy Meal toys, GI Joes, Matchbox cars, and more. I’ve unearthed a previous owner’s receipt for a prescription drug and a certificate from the company who installed the windows in the addition 60 years ago. It makes me wonder what we’ll leave behind for the next generation to find.