Once upon a time there was an adorable young couple who thought it was time to move. Even though they loved the charm of their 1926 bungalow and the delightful people who surrounded them, the desire for a lot somewhat larger than a postage stamp eventually outweighed the benefits of their first home. So they set out to find a budget-friendly 4-bedroom home on a lot with a big yard, in an area with top notch public schools where they could raise their kids.
Ha! Dummies.
The charming bungalow sold in 28 days. The 4-bedroom homes in the couple's area of choice were about six figures more than they could spend. They saw a lot of really crappy houses in their price range. They were screwed. And what do young families do when they're screwed? They move to West Allis. And the wife might get a little depressed.
What to do? Change the parameters. Why yes, 3-bedroom homes sounded FANTASTIC. But...can we add on someday?
Yes you can, and that day was March 19th, 2014.
 |
| before |
 |
| after. poodle not included. |
We started comparing bids last November and December. And I'm glad we looked around because the ranges from low to high were more than double. DOUBLE! Regardless of how that is even possible, we signed a contract in December and hoped to get going in February. ::insert polar vortex here:: What a joke, the fact that we were able to get going in mid-March was a miracle. But dangit, with Kieks well on her way we were all on the clock. Fortunately our contractors came in swinging. I actually had no idea that March 19th was 'The Day' until they swarmed my house at about 8:01 that morning. Thank goodness I wasn't in my jammies (not always the case as they would later find out). They had the floors papered & taped and the doorways throughout the entire first floor plastic'd off in no time. Then the greatest thing ever happened for Lukie:
 |
| the dumpster arriveth |
 |
| placement of this behemoth kept L occupied for a good 8 minutes |
I wanted to get out of everyone's way so I took Luke to Target at about 10 that morning. When I left there was a roof over the whole house. I returned an hour later to find this:
 |
| it's cool, i didn't really like the way that roof kept heat in anyway |
 |
| um you guys...? something big took a bite out of our house |
Day 1 was spent setting up to keep things "clean" and creating the access to the new bedroom via what used to be the linen closet. Good thing boys of all sizes like to smash stuff, because the crew made short work of it.
 |
| let's climb the slippery paper a hundred freaking times! |
 |
| looking into the new hallway. the hanging lights show where the closets for each of the kids' rooms had been |
 |
| the opposite view, out into the preexisting house |
 |
| attic space before |
PS - you know what happens to all the stuff in your kid's rooms when you're expecting their closets to disappear? It goes in your room. All over the place. For a loooooooong time. Not unlike college, but more mind numbing.
Part of the crew who arrived on day 1 was the HVAC sub. Thanks to the monitor in Luke's room I overheard them talking with the contractors about where in the holy hell they were going to run heat and return vents. Besides a lack of space in the walls of this old house, the new room was on the complete opposite end of the furnace making temperature control very tricky. They spent HOURS downstairs trying to figure out the spaghetti factory that was our duct work. So I wasn't entirely surprised when the guy said to me, "hey, has your house been cold this winter?" Well of course it had, but I attributed it to the negative bazillion degrees for months on end. Which was part of it, but the other part was our failing furnace. And leaking duct work. And 30 minutes later there I was: signing off on installation of a new furnace, new air conditioner, whole house humidifier, all new duct work, and zoning all three floors. At a mere 25% over budget.
ON DAY 1. That night, Matt left for a 4-day boy's weekend in AZ and Lukas was up sick the entire night. So good times all around.
 |
| back of the house, before. when we bought the place matt immediately identified that upstairs window as perfect access for teenaged lukie to get in and out of the house without us knowing. that window no longer exists. pity. |
So there are two big expectations that one must always keep in mind during this kind of addition/renovation. 1 - it won't be on time or on budget. Deal with it. 2 - no matter where in the home's layout the work is happening, all rooms will somehow be affected. Example: since the entire new space had to be rewired and the joists sistered with 2x8's, we took the opportunity to add some can lights to the kitchen. Pro: better lighting to view our culinary masterpieces! Con: can see daylight through kitchen ceiling in March. High temp: 30.
 |
| that would be daylight. watching the heat just get sucked right out of the house. |
 |
| all doorways sealed off as well as they could be. kitchen temperature, approximately 45 degrees. also totally convenient to waddle in and out with kids who need snacks and juice every other minute |
 |
| day 1 view from inside the former attic |
 |
| living room floor aka mini-kitchen. save the caffeinated beverages first!!!! |
So...that was day 1.
As far as these kinds of projects are concerned it actually went really smoothly thereafter. Sure there were some "inconveniences" (it's possible that Luke and I both napped in my car while parked in my in-laws garage early in the demo process) but we dealt with it. And while it was messy and just
obscenely loud, I was glad to be home two days a week to make on-the-spot design decisions. Yes, I do want lights there. No, I do not want a closet door only big enough for a hobbit to use. And yes, save that original hardware or I will end you!
 |
| might as well add a proper microwave vent while we're at it |
 |
| view from luke's former window. who doesn't love a good sub-floor?!?! |
 |
| the
one day in my entire pregnancy that i left work early because of a
splitting migraine...i came home to find that it was 'sawz in the hallz'
day. peachy. |
 |
| load bearing walls! headers! who's excited?!?!?! |
 |
| "yes mrs. maio, the tarp is on so well it will definitely keep tonight's rain at bay" [until the sprinkle turns into a monsoon and you get home at 10 that night to find water dripping into your kitchen via the new can lights. oopsies] |
 |
| a huge priority in this design was maintaining the design integrity of the old home. it's never going to be seamless but i can't stand it when additions are obvious. to that end, hi dormers! |
 |
| ahh yes, allow me to introduce you to the lead rough carpenter, shawn. or as the kids called him, mr. shawn. a chatty fellow (interested in his life story? i can tell it to you whenever you're ready) but great at his job. mr. shawn was here past 7 many nights and several 12-hour saturdays. i kind of felt like i should cook him dinner sometimes. i didn't. but i DID bring him and the crew donuts. if their love was for sale i was willing to pay via pastry. |
Part of making the design legal was incorporating a 36" hallway when we had only 30" to start with. So Luke's interior wall had to be removed and reconstructed a whopping six inches to the east. Which meant his whole doorway also had to be moved six inches. Really, really irritating.
 |
| new closet goes HERE |
Let's take a minute and reflect on the sleeping arrangements for about six weeks during this crazyathon. Because of the huge amount of work (and subsequent dust, debris, etc) going on in Luke's room he and GG had to bunk together for quite a while. He started out on his cot just fine, but soon got really irritated with it and wanted to sleep with GG. No, not with GG. Yes, with GG. No. Yes. No. Yes. Kick each other. Scream. Wake each other up way too freaking early. Don't go to sleep without a fight. Make mom and dad lose their schmidt.
Finally get to have individual rooms again. Cry for two days that you miss the other and want to sleep together again.
 |
| just put that stuff anywhere guys |
 |
| night 1: wheee, isn't this fun?! |
 |
| sometime mid-reno. gates back up to keep luke in; stealing of covers, hogging of space, the works |
 |
| maybe a little fun to be had |
The space was almost weather-tight which meant a milestone: round 1 of inspections. Let's get 'er done!
 |
| starting to resemble an actual room |
 |
| view from the backyard. no sneaking out now, teenage lukas (or at least, slightly more complex sneaking out) |
 |
| rough electric approved, bitches! |
To save a little coin Matt would handle all of the insulation, flooring, painting, and finish carpentry (doors, mouldings, windows, etc). So after dinner every night I would do baths, teeth brushing, stories and bed single-mom-style while Matt would spend every spare second working, working, working. Not fun for either party. But we did it!
 |
| at this point we have gone from freezing open-air space to insulation-filled windowless sweat box. people pay good money for that kind of 'hot yoga' experience you know. |
 |
| glad he's enjoying it |
 |
| maio &; son, at your service |
 |
| luke's room with new wall. a thing of beauty. and have you ever seen a more impressively functional vent?? |
 |
| throughout it all the kids LOVED helping dad. luke kept proclaiming he wanted to be a worker. "mommy, i wear dees gasses so i tan be a wor-tur lite daddy and mistuh shawn" |
 |
| check check |
 |
| that is a ton of drywall. it took the drywall guys a solid week to get everything installed, mudded, sanded. side note: adding a texture to the walls and priming the walls are apparently NOT the same thing. i told matt that i vetoed any texture and chose for the contractors to leave smooth walls (so glad i was there for that particular on-the-spot design decision. i would have raged if i had come home to textured walls. #firstworldproblems). he totally gave me the big eyed 'what the hell' stare and told me that that i had, and i quote "added about twenty hours of work" to what he had to do. fortunately karl totally backs me up on this contractor-to-client miscommunication. thanks big k! |
  |
| wow, this is looking like a room! |
 |
| crap, these are not! (notice this room got to keep its window but still had to move it a few inches. oyyyyyy) |
 |
| see above under, "all other rooms will be affected". sigh. |
 |
| a man can't do all this work without the proper new toys |
This is about the point where Matt found me standing in the hall with a vantage of all three rooms in their various states of deconstruction, debris, and general mayhem. His super supportive response to my look of obvious terror was to get in my face and start singing, "Cuckoo!! Cuckoo!! Cuckoo!". Thanks babe, love you too.
 |
| running out of time and taking things into my own super pregnant hands |
 |
| don't make me turn this sawzall around |
Things had to be finished sequentially: first Luke's room, then G's new room, then G's old/Kiera's new room.
 |
| assistants on hand |
 |
| teach 'em young |
 |
| we reused all of the old doors on the new closets |
 |
| taaaaaaa daaaaaa! |
At age 5 1/2 GG was really good about not going into the new space without permission or shoes, not touching tools, etc. Luke on the other hand made it his life's mission to go into the room as often as possible, no matter what supplies or debris were on the floor. And he knew full well he could high tail it in there and get a few laps in before his waddling mama could catch up. It's a freaking miracle no one ended up with a tetanus shot. Also not helpful: walking in to find Matt teaching Luke how to use a pneumatic nail gun.
 |
| free as a bird. yes there are loose nails and staples all over the floor. insert mom stroke here. |
 |
| making a sharp turn to avoid me. at least he's got good offensive moves. |
 |
| oh also we learned this. "mommy, i tan swing on da doh" |
 |
| the cutest flooring guy i know |
 |
| this is pretty close to the 'you added 20 hours of work' face |
 |
| toothing in the new hardwood with the old. now we need to sand and re-stain the whole second floor to make things blend. file it under "where do we end?" |
 |
| awww, lukie being a wor-tur with his 'bammer' |
 |
| off and running! |
Mother's Day 2014: The Day Luke Almost Died
What happens when your 5 year old is playing quietly, your 2 year old is napping, your husband is mowing the lawn, and you're happily staring idly at a screen? The sleeping boy wakes up, finds himself a Sharpie, and gets creative on several windows, walls, and the raw hardwood floors which were installed less than 24 hours prior. I know what you're thinking and no I do not know what a Sharpie was doing in the tool bag. But that is not the point because when hubs comes flying in the front door like a bat out of hell you know it's getting real.
 |
| not good |
 |
| even worse (and PS, is he Wolverine now or something?) |
 |
| and the worstest |
 |
| this is as luke went up to him and said "sowwy daddy" |
Death via Sharpie narrowly avoided, the HVAC project was finally under way (it required us to be sans furnace for 4 days which is why we held off until May. Doesn't mean it was warm, just means it wasn't death cold). Allowing access to the duct work meant a major purge of basement...stuff. Please don't ask me where anything is now.
 |
| shoving all the crap to the perimeter |
 |
| i know you don't care about this lovely new furnace and humidifier, but we find it gorgeous |
 |
| hello, appropriately sealed ducting! |
Time for some final phases on the new space so we could get GG in (a whopping two weeks before baby was due)
 |
| kjm to the rescue. he helped mix my color choice which ended up being a "custom custom". matt is 0% surprised. |
 |
| the final color is kind of like living inside a creamsicle |
 |
| carpet installation day! when i asked luke if he liked it, he turned to the installer and said, "dis is da best flo i evah seen!" so i guess that was a yes. |
 |
| also approves |
 |
| closet system installation |
 |
| someone's gotta read the instructions |
Finally, sort of on time and sort of on budget, we moved GG into her new room. Yahoo!
 |
| big
room for a big girl. she chose the curtain print, and i took all of
the colors from there. hoping it's something that will suit her until at least the tween years |
 |
| may as well get some new bedding too (the little above-bed vignette is the reason i chose not to go to the hospital while in labor. makes sense right??) |
But, what of the other two rooms???
 |
| one week from kiera's due date. not promising. |
 |
| wow, a lot can get done when there's a serious deadline. side note on the quilt: i'm not usually a fan of these things but a work friend of mine made it just for kiera and i love it. it's nice for the third baby, who will live a life of hand-me-downs, to get her own little gift upon arrival |
 |
| the bed will be painted gray a la the dresser sometime before kiera is done with her crib |
 |
| took the pulls from gg's dresser and some $0.50 goodwill frames for a little baby wall decor. suck it, pinterest |
And Luke's room:
 |
| now there's a closet. this room is all things little man luke: anything involving balls, wheels, or sirens |
 |
| hard to tell from here but i covered the letters with a blown up image of a baseball. the red is stitching, the tan is the leather |
Never ones to sit idle we've now turned back to the exterior: continuing to fill in the gardens and landscaping; f.i.n.a.l.l.y. putting in new exterior hardware on the front door (take that, Elm Grove rif raf); and Matt hopes to repaint the south side of the house by summer's end. Not that the mortar from last year's easy-turned-epic chimney work isn't a lovely shade of blah. But digging a few holes is cake compared to what you see above. Yet to be completed on Reno '14 are painting the hallways and refinishing the
upstairs hardwoods, which should be wrapped up by the time school's back. But otherwise stick a fork in this project because
she....is.............DONE!
