Home Remodel Project

December 2007 - Spring 2008

May 2008 - We're done!
Here are some final pictures of the house. We still haven't finished decorating and we are getting some new furniture, but for the most part the house is done! It was a long winter, but we are definitely enjoying being finished this spring. We love it! You are also more than welcome to drop by if you want a peek. We love company!
Final Pictures - May 2008


April 20, 2008 - Pretty much done!
We're not completely finished putting the house back together, but I thought I'd show some pictures of the house. There are just a few more odds and ends to take care of and of course, we have a ton of stuff to organize. However, most of it is now clean so that feels good.
Pictures - Sunday, Apr 20


April 9, 2008 - Almost done!
These pictures basically show from March 22 up until the end. I think the only thing not shown is the carpet installation which took place on April 10th and April 16th. I may come back and fill in those pictures, but wanted to get these put up for now.
Pictures - Wednesday, Apr 9


March 22, 2008 - Day 55+ (Saturday)
After a couple days of no activity, things are starting to pick up again. They installed the door to our screened in porch. It is so nice. It lets a lot of light in and just it just feels good to not have it blocked off anymore. They also started priming the walls. They will finish that on Monday. The big news is that the siding is finished! Yeah! It looks really good. I was nervous about it matching, but I think it looks great. They found our exact siding, so the only difference is the fading aspect, but you can't really notice it.
Pictures - Saturday, Mar 22


March 17, 2008 - Day 51
It doesn't seem like much has happened recently. We are pretty sure that they won't be done by March 31st, but we don't have a new date yet. We were originally told that the drywall stuff would be done maybe by Wed of this week. Then there is all the painting, trim and staining that needs to be done. The fireplace needs to be started up (which will happen Wed after it is cleaned) and then the tile needs to be installed. The cabinets also need to be installed. We need to have our patio door installed and the cedar in the screened in porch done. Also the remaining part of the deck, the railings to the deck and the E-Z screen windows need to be put in. Plus there is the siding. Hmmmm, what else? Oh and the carpet. It seems like a lot. I guess I would say that I hope they are done before we go to trivia. Last week they did the drywall on two of the nicest days. We just stayed away from the house as much as we could and fortunately we were able to play outside. On Wednesday, the concrete floor was poured. The guy told us we could write in it if we wanted, so we did - even though it will be covered by the flooring. I don't have a lot of specific pictures of the drywall process, but you can see it in some of them.
Pictures - Monday, Mar 17


March 10, 2008 - Day 46
A lot happened today. We headed out of the house to go swimming as fast as we could. Then after Emily's nap we went outside to the park for an hour and then over to Jill's. It was a day to get the kids out of the house! The sheetrock guys were there right away. Boy the house looks different now. It's also dusty! The electricians were here working on finishing some things up (although they are not done). They worked on rewiring our microwave today too. The heating guys also stopped by later in the afternoon. It was busy outside. Mike and Mark worked on one part of the roof that needed to be fixed. Then there were others installing the fascia? and prepping the house for siding. Tim the cabinet guy stopped by to measure. Carol was here as well. They had to work out a couple of electrical issues with the built in's. It's all working out though. The house looks great. I'm guessing it's going to get worse though! We need to figure out what we are going to do tomorrow to get out of the house as it's spring break and Adam and Emily don't have school!
Pictures - Monday, Mar 10


March 7, 2008 - Day 45
It was kind of a day to wrap up. They will be sheetrocking on Monday. Mike and Mark finished the soffits in the basement. Everything else is ready. The sheetrock was delivered at the end of the day.
Pictures - Friday, Mar 7


March 6, 2008 - Day 44
A lot of work done this week. All the windows are now in, including the sliding door in the basement. They've also demolished our old master bedroom closet. The new window in there looks great. We love it. Today they took down Emily's closet and built the half wall. We are having the wall instead of a railing becuase there was a water pipe going up through that area that couldn't be moved. It will be hidden in one of the posts. They also took out our fireplace and framed the new one. However our fireplace won't be hooked back up until Monday so it's a little cold in here again. The insulation helps, but we still get the chills in the evening. They will clean up more tomorrow as well as build a wall in the basement and do some soffits. The sheetrockers come on Monday!
Pictures - Monday, Mar 3 thru Thursday, Mar 6


February 29, 2008 - Day 40
A lot has gone on since I last posted. It's harder and harder to keep up! I don't even know that I can remember the order of when everything happened, so I'll just fill in where we are now. Emily's room is becoming a loft. They broke through the wall and we now have a nice stairway. We've moved Emily's crib to Adam's room and she is napping there and sleeping there at night (Adam is in our bed). It's working so far. Just today they started the demolition of her closet. Our master bedroom finally had the wall broken through. There was an issue with a beam and a load bearing post so we've had to make some changes. The stairs now come quite a bit into our room and we have a half wall for the railing. We had to move them over some more so to use that space we are putting a little storage closet with some shelves. It's nice because we are losing our linen closet because of the loft so now we will get that storage back. The electrician has been here all of this week so we have made lots of decisions about where lights and switches and outlets go. The heating guys are also here working hard right now. Today they were working on getting heat to the new addition off the back of the house. The insulation guys were also here today. It's still a little cool as the windows are not in, only covered, but you can tell the difference. Let's see, what else? The security system people also stopped by to start working on installing the new system. We've also made some decisions about the built in bookshelves and fireplace. I've put in a picture of the tile we're going to use. We were able to go see it on a fireplace at a home in the Parade of Homes. It was nice to actually see it instead of just looking at a sample tile. We are also considering different paint colors that we saw at some of the homes. Monday will be quieter as I think only the heating people will be here, but Tuesday it will get busy again. We believe that we will start having the walls sheetrocked next week. Yeah!
Pictures - Friday, Feb 22 thru Friday, Feb 29


February 21, 2008 - Day 34
It was a busy day here! I don't think I'll go back and individually update each day. I'll just fill in on what has been happening this last week. At the end of last week they started putting down the deck - at least the part where the screened in porch will be. They had to get that put up because of finishing the roof. On Saturday Jeff crawled up and looked around a little. This week they've been busy finishing the framing of the screened in porch as well as doing some work on the interior of the second level. Tuesday they took off - we're assuming because of the frigid temperatures! It has been cold. Yesterday the new furnace and water heater were installed and they continued to work today. A lot of up and down through the house. They worked in our front door closet and in Emily's room as well as the storage room downstairs. We were also told to start clearing out the rooms as they were going to break through this afternoon. Emily had to take her nap in the guest room in the basement. Unfortunately she only slept for an hour. I hope she can get used to it as she'll be sleeping down there for naps until they are finished. They began breaking through in Emily's room. They have to double check some structural stuff before breaking through in our room. I do have a lot of before and after pictures of the two rooms. We didn't have to empty them completely, just make room for them to work. Emily's room got pretty cold (they shut her door), but the put up some insulation so she can sleep in there tonight. It's already warming up. They did come and talk to me first too and let me take some pictures of the landing before they closed it up.
Pictures - Thursday, Feb 21


I am behind on updates, but here are some recent pictures...
Pictures - Wednesday, Feb 20
Pictures - Monday, Feb 18
Pictures - Saturday, Feb 16
Pictures - Friday, Feb 15


February 14, 2008 - Day 29
When we got home from preschool today, Mike came and told us that they have to remove our dining room patio door in order to put the flooring in and build the screened in porch. So we played upstairs for a while as they took it out and then put up some wood and insulation to cover the space. I'm not sure how long we'll be without it. We now can't see what is going on out there as well. Fortunately we can see from our master bedroom so I got some pictures of them putting the screen down for under the room and actually putting the decking down. Exciting!
Pictures - Thursday, Feb 14


February 13, 2008 - Day 28
Today we had a busy morning. The heating and cooling guys were here this morning, so Mike and Mark broke through the wall in the closet on the main level and in the closet in Emily's room. I'm not sure what else happened, but we now have 2 holes in the wall. Later in the day Mark asked if we had seen the upstairs yet (which we hadn't since it involves climbing a ladder on the outside of the house) so he took my camera and took some pictures of the framing that was done. Later in the afternoon they worked on the roof of the sunroom.
Pictures - Wednesday, Feb 13


February 12, 2008 - Day 27
Yesterday and today they continued framing upstairs. We found out that they have all the interior walls done so when they break through from the house we will be able to walk through there and see them. Demolition is scheduled to start tomorrow, but I'm not sure how much they'll actually be doing. We will meet with Chip in the morning to find out more of the schedule. These last two days have definitely been loud. They have been working on the roof above Emily and our room's. Emily was able to nap yesterday, but today she woke up with one of the bangs. She only got an hour and boy, was she crabby. It will be an early bedtime tonight. The pictures were taken at three times during the day. The first three were from before Adam went to preschool. Then the majority were taken when we came back around noon. The last ones with the really blue sky were taken when I walked the kids over to Kelley's before my piano lessons. They were just finishing up for the day.
Pictures - Tuesday, Feb 12


February 10, 2008
We are back from our week in Bismarck. We left Friday, Feb 1 and returned today. Our neighbor Jill told us on Wednesday that there were walls on our second story and did take a picture for us, so I'll go back and post that when I get it. These are pictures we took when we got home. There are also pictures of the inside of the house. Looks like we had a little water damage. We can't really see what is happening inside the walls, but we should pretty soon. Demolition is starting on the inside on Wednesday. Andy emailed on Friday and said they were right on schedule. Also, at the end of the outdoor pictures I added a picture of the house being built across the street.
Pictures - Sunday, Feb 10


Pictures - Thursday, Jan 31


January 30, 2008 - Day 18
No work on the house today. It was -15 this morning and I think it only got up to -1. Mike and Chip both stopped by though. They will be working inside tomorrow so we had to clean out the front closet.


January 29, 2008 - Day 17
It was cold today! The guys working on the house across the street stopped early. Our guys said it wasn't as bad because they were blocked from the wind by the house. Only a couple pictures because we weren't outside much.
Pictures - Tuesday, Jan 29


January 28, 2008 - Day 16
They started demolition on the roof today. The tempurature was 40 degrees.
Pictures - Monday, Jan 28


January 27, 2008
It was a nice day out today (above 30), so we headed outside to check out the house.
Pictures - Sunday, Jan 27


January 25, 2008 - Day 15
The electrical demolition was today. They took out the lights in our living room so we will have to use lamps for a while. They also put a new box in the basement. Our current one was in the garage. Mike and Mark continued by framing the deck today. It's fun to actually see it take form.
Pictures - Friday, Jan 25


January 24, 2008 - Day 14
Today they continued framing the sunroom. They also began framing the deck. In the middle of all that the insulation guys came and removed the insulation above the living room. They basically cut a hole in the roof and crawled in there and sucked it out. There are pictures, of course, as well as some video. I was trying to get the noise on the video, but it didn't work too well. It really wasn't that loud. The banging around was what we heard the most
Pictures - Thursday, Jan 24
Removing insulation
Adam watching the removal of insulation


January 23, 2008 - Day 13
It was cold again today. They started framing the sunroom (2nd level of addition off of the living room). They also did some work on the roof. Tomorrow the insulation is coming out with demolition of the roof starting on Monday. We're glad it's warming up, but we'll definitely be using our fireplace a lot. I know there are a lot of pictures and I don't know that I'll be documenting every little step of the way, but this has been the fun part to watch. Jeff also doesn't get to see what goes on during the day so I like to give him something to look at!
Pictures - Wednesday, Jan 23


January 22, 2008 - Day 12
Another busy day. They continued framing the basement addition. The walls are up as well as a roof. They also drilled some holes for the deck posts and I believe poured some cement. At least I saw a truck arrive as I was leaving and it was gone when I got back. We had met Mike yesterday, but today introduced ourselves to Mark. Adam was asking what his name was and when I said I didn't know told me that he thought we should just call him Chip. So I leaned out the window and found out his real name. :) It was cold again today. High around 10. In a couple of days it should be warming up though.
Pictures - Tuesday, Jan 22


January 21, 2008 - Day 11
Busy day today. They started framing the basement. It was cold too! I think the high was around 9 degrees.
Pictures - Monday, Jan 21


January 18, 2008 - Day 10
Not much today. Chip just came and covered the ground where the deck posts go.
Pictures - Friday, Jan 18


January 16, 2008 - Day 8
It's been a pretty quiet couple of days. We've been told that on Monday they will start taking off the roof over the living room and I think things will be pretty busy from then on. Today Chip was out putting stakes down where the posts will be for the patio. He then surrounded them with charcoal and burned it for a while.
Pictures - Wednesday, Jan 16


January 15, 2008 - Day 7
Not much today. Chip covered the floor area and marked the area where the deck posts will be.
Pictures - Tuesday, Jan 15


January 14, 2008 - Day 6
Today the excavator was back. They backfilled all the dirt. Our friends Heather, Logan and Brayden were over to see the excitement. The backyard looks kind of normal again
Pictures - Monday, Jan 14


January 11, 2008 - Day 5
Not much activity today - just a little insulation added to the footings.
Pictures - Friday, Jan 11


January 10, 2008 - Day 4
Today they put the block footings in (I think that's what they're called). The big news is that there was a measurment incorrect in our original house plans. Because of that the new wall would go right through our sliding door. Our contractor is taking care of fixing the problem and we will be getting a new door because of it. It actually will work out pretty nice because now we won't have to reuse our old sliding door to get into the screened in porch. So I guess it all worked out.
Pictures - Thursday, Jan 10


January 9, 2008 - Day 3
After no activity yesterday, they were busy today. Bailey and Ben were over so the kids had lots of fun watching them work! They got to see the excavator dig out more dirt and then the cement mixer came in the afternoon.
Pictures - Wednesday, Jan 9
Kids watching.
Kids playing some music for the workers.


January 7, 2008 - Day 1
They arrived this morning just before 8:30. The kids and parents walking to the school bus got to see our excavator arrive and start working. They marked the spot and started digging up dirt. The kids have had a lot of fun watching.
Pictures - Monday, Jan 7
Adam and Emily watching the excavator.


January 2, 2008
Pre-construction walk-thru occurred this morning. Andy, Bill and Chip arrived to do the walk-thru We have been working with Andy so far in the design process. Things went very well. They had lots to discuss and things seemed to go smoothly. We had a few questions that got answered as well. Andy will get us the updated plans soon and we should get a schedule in the next week. They are set to start the excavation on Monday. They will probably be around this weekend to take down our deck.


December 2007
Here are pictures and video of our house before beginning.

Photos:
Exterior house pictures
Interior house pictures

Videos:
Front and side of house
Back of house

Adam and Emily pushing the wall out


Introduction
We have been thinking about a home remodel for awhile, but have been unsure of exactly when it would happen. This summer we really started talking about the possibility of spring 2008. In October we went to the Remodeler's Showcase as well as Parade of Homes and seriously considered the pro's and con's of buying vs. remodeling. We chose to remodel our current home. There are many things we love about our home and our location and we don't want to move.

In November we began interviewing builders and chose Brunn Remodeling to do our project. Our original plans included an added sunroom and basement addition (a two story add-on to our existing living room). We also talked about the possibility of adding another bedroom upstairs. After a couple different considerations, we are basically transforming our modified two story into a full two story and are adding another bedroom, a loft area and a new walk in closet for our master bedroom.

This webpage will show the progress that is made for those that are interested in following us on this journey.