Every time after we finish a big renovation project, we say "No more." Then...a year or two or three passes...and suddenly we're starting something again! This time it's our carriage house, which we've been wanting to finish into a proper apartment for only 14 years.
Our brick mason turns out to also have worked as a licensed plumber and electrician and he has built his own house start to finish. He's eager to help us with this project, which is a first for us. We've always done pretty much everything ourselves. But his prices can't be beat, and his quality of work is great. (Plus he gives us free tomatoes and cucumbers from his garden! Bonus!)
The goal this fall is to get all the framing, plumbing, and electrical done, and maybe also the insulation. There are only a few small areas to frame (2 bathroom walls, 1 kitchen wall). Anyway, I submitted the plans today to the city planning department so we can officially start.
Next summer and fall will be the finishing work, which I'll be a lot more involved with because I'm super picky that way.
The history of the carriage house is interesting. The living area next to the garage was labeled as a "gardener's quarters" in the paperwork, and it used to be a gorgeous finished living space. We met someone whose family bought the house in the 1920s. Soon after we bought the house in 2011, he was in town for some sort of school reunion. He was in his late 80s at the time. He recounted all sorts of memories from living in our house, including that they used to have a maid who lived in the maid's room (now a laundry room, off the back staircase). The gardener's quarters back then was a music room with a piano.
When we bought the house, the previous owners had left a 7 foot wide hole in the roof of the carriage house when a tree fell on it during a tornado. I suspect they collected the insurance money but never repaired the roof. We had to rebuild the roof and unfortunately the entire room was in ruins. We had to pull out everything: decorative moldings, flooring, furniture, woodwork...everything was rotten. We took it back to the bare studs and floor joists and are essentially building an entirely new living area.
Dio and Inga both had sectionals today. Inga's team won, although apparently they didn't play very well. Dio's team tied 0-0, went into overtime, and lost in a shootout.
Zari called tonight and related that she was a bit tired: "I stayed up until 2 am talking with my roommates." Ah, college life!
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