Thursday, September 20, 2012

Progress

The project is proceeding faster than my blog entries, but we'll do a bit of a catch up on this post with some pics of the new state of the yard including some  additions that Quinn & Nolan made last Sunday morning.

A couple of interesting notes before we get to the boring stuff. We hired a team of diligent Tongans who knocked out a new sidewalk, concrete planter boxes and a new wall to replace the gorgeous little bushes along the sidewalk and they did a bang up job. To add to the fun, we also had a new San Mateo Park day care center up and running in our front yard while the demo and concrete work was proceeding. As you can imagine, Mom was REALLY thrilled about this bonus operation. And she was ecstatic when one of the day care moderators freaked out when Tuggie greeted her in typical golden retriever puppy fashion. I'll let Mom fill in the details over a Fat Tire this weekend.

So as you'll see from the pictures, the front yard looks completely different, the cute little bushes replaced with a concrete wall and the even nicer boxwoods by the porch replaced with slick concrete planter boxes. I've included a couple of pics of the stone we're going to put down on the sidewalk and walls, that should happen in a few weeks. Maifu, John and the other guy (who was very large, very strong and very nice but couldn't speak a lick of English) will probably not get this job but who knows.

Plans are coming along for the new garage/bedroom addition, we're scheduled to see the next phase of the design on Oct. 4. People have been yelling at me for 30 years about how long it takes to do an IT project, it's clear they never worked with architects and city planners. The melting of the polar ice caps seems quicker. I'll post a picture of the design once it's ready.

In the meantime, here's a few snaps of the front remodel :

 Before Maifu and John

   

 What it looks like today
   
    Sidewalk Stone

 Wall Stone


Monday, August 27, 2012

We're at it again

We're about to start at it again, this one will be interesting as eventually we'll be doing an addition as well as some landscaping. A few "Before" pictures and a posting to light up the internet and see if we have any followers left from the kitchen phase.

Here are a few pix's before the demo began on this phase :


   
 Lovely driveway, almost hate to lose it.


Site of the new garage, deck and master bedroom expansion


The infamous tree which will become firewood at some point in the next few months


Not part of the reno but was in the same camera roll on the iPhone. Meg all dressed up. You can tell this picture was taken before Tug arrived because her hands are not covered in bandages,


More to come.