How to Survive ….and Live to Tell About Your Home Addition, Part 1

Our 2-Story Center Hall Colonial Home - B.C. (Before Construction)

Two years ago, our home was feeling increasingly small, but because of the plummeting prices of homes we weren’t going to sell. Our home was nice.  We had only built about 10 years before and had tried to keep it in good shape.  sure we had some repairs to do and maybe some new flooring would be great, but all-in-all, our home was fine except for the size.  And with 4 kids, when it's feeling small, you REALLY feel it.  So, I had the brilliant idea that we should just add on to the one we had.  Oh, I had heard that adding on to your home was hard, but those were people who hadn’t built a house before.  And we had!  I was so much more prepared than them! (ha ha)  

B.C. Family Room

So, June 24^th, 2009, the fun began.   As our days were filled with the busyness and excitement of an excavator coming out to dig out the foundation, I could visualize the new rooms and their potential.  Then, we began the removal of the old siding and prepped for framers to begin as soon as the basement cement was poured.  It was all very exhilarating.  A little tiring maybe, but it would all be worth it!  My husband’s job began to be more demanding than earlier and he was working long days and a few long nights, but this was just temporary, and besides, I could certainly handle the house on my own!

B.C. Kitchen

Then, the framers began showing up at 6:30 blasting their rock music to begin their day.  But the walls went up fast and it was still exciting to see so much progress every day.  We joked about feeling like we were camping because the entire backside of our house was open to the elements.  Even finding out we had to install a new beam that wasn’t planned for didn’t break my stride, there are always unexpected surprises!

B.C. Living Room

As soon as the sheathing was up a windstorm came on suddenly, we hopped into action and nailed plywood to the open window areas. We were on top of it. My husband’s job continued to be demanding and would often consume his nights as well as his days. We began to wonder what we had done, but life had thrown us curveballs before, we were certainly tougher than that! We soon began the work that would take longer, but I knew what I was in for because we had built before so, no problem.  Ripping out the kitchen cabinets started my realization that I had bitten off more than I could chew. The mess soon overtook the entire home when the electrical work and plumbing began.  We were beginning to get tired of the constant chaos, but we still had hope...