Search Results for: label/Renovation Roadtrip

So, What’s Next?

August 11, 2014 4 Comments

The time comes in every renovators life when the first project is done. Our house isn’t DONE, but it is pretty close. The nook is now finished (I know, I need to post about the light we hung and a Before & After of course), and all that’s left after that is Chris’ office and the second half of the laundry room. Chris’ office should be really simple – a couple patches on the walls, ceiling repair, then paint. And the laundry room just needs the rest of the flooring, cabinets, new paint, and some other small things here and there. Still two rooms, but in the grand scheme of things, not a lot of work at all.

Then of course we are now a family of three, we need room for working on projects and we need room for storing materials for future projects we will be working on. We have a two car garage, but now that we’re working full time on our handyman business, that workshop is getting used daily and we’re running out of space for the tools and materials we need on a daily basis. On top of that, we regularly buy large quantities of materials for projects we’ve got down the line in a couple of days or weeks and we are running out of places to store them. Our front room is a regular storage spot for materials waiting to be organized, installed or built for a client. It’s not that our house doesn’t have enough space, it’s just not laid out great for us. For instance, the front room is probably a few hundred square feet of space that we don’t really use ever – except to exercise in with our recumbent bike and free weights and pile building materials in. And I always feel bad about that.

So what comes next? Well, I posted on Facebook last week that we did something CRAZY: we put an offer on a house. We didn’t get it, grrrr (I’ll fill you in later in this post about it), but it did let the cat out of the bag that we’re beginning to think about where we are, what we need, what we want and what comes next. Some of you commented on the post that you were wondering if we were going to move soon because we’re almost done on this house (and that seems to be what crazy renovators do). And the answer is: yes, we would like to move. And here are the details:

If it was up to Chris we would move away (probably to Michigan). Chris has always wanted land and to be self sufficient. We both really fell in love with Michigan while on the Renovation Roadtrip and now are lucky to have (what I would hope to call) friends living there And in neighboring states as well But I just can’t do it. I am a Bay Area girl at heart (4 generations here) and the thought of leaving makes my heart hurt. 90% of my family lives within an hour of our house. And I love that. So I have made Chris stay in the Bay Area

Then comes the question of WHERE in the Bay Area. Again, Chris wants LAND, so we had thought about moving to the outskirts a bit where we can get more land for A LOT cheaper than around here. However, now that we’ve started our business, about 95% of our clients (and just about all of our regulars) live in the city of Oakland. That’s super nice and super convenient. On days when we need to drive around to several client’s houses it’s nice knowing that it will never take more than 20 minutes to get to someone’s house. However, if we lived in another city (if you know Bay Area traffic), that commute will significantly change. And building up a new client base is always a question mark. And even if we did, it isn’t like we would leave our existing clients, so it would mean driving to and from Oakland to “INSERT HERE” city, very frequently. And end up costing a lot more in gas. And a truck doesn’t get great gas mileage.

Not to mention, I have the deepest soft spot in my heart for Oakland. I did not grow up here, but instead grew up in Albany and Berkeley. I moved to Oakland when I was about 21, lured by the affordable rents. And I loved it. I loved how diverse it was (4th in the US), how there was always something going on, how proud people were to be from here. It just kind of felt awesome. I also have a soft spot for the underdog, and Oakland has definitely had struggles (I did my senior thesis as an art major as a video installation on the social and economic differences of living “above” or “below” I-580 that goes through our ‘town’). I get sad when people get well paid jobs, have kids, “grow up” and decide to leave Oakland. And I didn’t want to do that.

So we will most likely stay in Oakland.

We definitely want to get the biggest lot we can afford. Again, if it was up to Chris we’d have 500 acres and a bunch of goats, sheep, chickens and an orchard. So if we can find 1/500th of that, that would be awesome. The trouble is – at least around here – whenever you’re able to get a big lot, the house is ginormous, and we don’t either want or need that. To us, the size of our current house is great (1600 sf), it’s just not laid out the way we use. If we could find a 1600 sf house laid out differently than ours is now and on even just 1/2 acre with good workshop and storage space, that would just be downright awesome. Of course that all comes with a price because the Bay Area is NOT cheap. Our budget for a fixer would buy us two finished 2000 sf houses in OK City for example. Oy.

We tossed around the idea of building our own home and acting as the general contractors to save money. There were a couple lots we looked into that were “cheap” because of interesting obstacles. We went to the city to look into them, talked with a couple contractors, ran some numbers and ultimately decided that building from scratch probably isn’t for us. There are all sorts of question marks when you build from scratch (especially around here) that if you’re working on a tight budget can completely fuck you up. We made the decision that it would just be too tight of a fit.

I got my real estate license about 3 years ago for my brother’s company. With the prospect of looking for a future house for us and my dad and step mom relocating to the area I decided it might finally be time to get myself access to the MLS and start looking. About a week after I got access the most AMAZING fixer came onto the market. It was on an acre, in Oakland, ridiculously in need of fixing, off in a more “country” area (if that’s possible). And it was being offered sort of close to our budget. It was definitely a diamond in the rough. I called Chris about it while he was at work, we looked at it that night and I told my parents about it. We all talked about it, sent pictures, ran numbers, had them look at it etc. It was a DUMP

Yup, that’s a completely collapsed floor.

But there was so much potential

Because of the condition of the house, you absolutely needed 100% cash to make the purchase.While we’ve been really good savers, we do not by ANY means have enough money to pay several hundreds of thousands of dollars up front to purchase the home. So we pulled together and got help from family and presented an offer. We happened to meet the listing agent while checking out the house with my dad and step mom and she was really nice and we chatted for a while. She knew how much we loved the house and we were happy she had a face to go along with the offer we put together (along with a letter). There ended up being 9 offers, and we lost out to someone who was likely an investor that bid $135k over asking. Sigh. The agent called to let us know that we had lost and was very, very nice about everything. She let us know that we were actually second in line, which I’m not sure if that made it hurt more or less.

I’m confident in saying that Chris and I were COMPLETELY heartbroken that we lost out. I was at work at the A’s when I found out last week and literally cried quietly in the corner to myself. Luckily a girlfriend was working that game with me and she was amazingly nice while I silently sobbed. I had to call Chris during an inning break to tell him the awful news. And when I got home I sobbed to him. I sobbed the next day. And more in the next couple of days after. Our family was sad for us, our friends were sad for us. We were very sad. It was on an acre, with two out buildings (one of which was a full in law), more square footage than we needed and in a neighborhood that was completely family friendly and super cute and close to a city owned park.

It fucking sucked ginormous donkey balls.

But the same thing happened when we were looking for this house. We put an offer on one before this and we lost out and I was depressed beyond belief. I thought nothing would work out after and hey, we got this place and it is SO MUCH MORE AWESOME than that place would have ever been. So I know we just have to lift our head up and keep looking.

Of course, that means that at some point we will be leaving Picardy. That will be a VERY sad day. I have loved this house and it has been an amazing home to transform. I couldn’t have really asked for anything better for a first home adventure. Our house has so much character and I feel a great sense of pride to have brought it back to life. Our neighbors are awesome and our street is amazing. But it’s just not as conducive to how our family has developed and how we live our life.

So there you have it folks: we’re on the move. But first we need to finish some things up

It may take a while – a week, a month, a year – but there will be another project on the horizon.

4 Years. 4 Days

May 17, 2013

Tomorrow marks 4 years ago that I started Picardy Project. It also marks exactly 4 days till little Cashew’s due date. So here are 4 thoughts about each.

4 Year Blogging Anniversary:

1. I was so bad about blogging in the beginning

I’ve always liked blogging a lot so there was always a pretty high frequency of posts, but my blog posts were ALL OVER THE PLACE. One sentence was this project, then another sentence another project, the pictures were tiny, I had no idea what was going on…it was pretty funny. It’s interesting to have the blog start so soon after we moved in (4 1/2 months) because it tracks SO MUCH of the work we’ve done. There aren’t many projects that aren’t documented. It’s just a matter of how well they were documented…

2. I love my blogging friends

(I stole this photo from the awesome Sara of Russet St. Reno from here)

Is it creepy to have internet friends? I never would have thought when I started blogging that I would make friends with people on the internet. And then get to visit them. And continue to write emails and texts back and forth and like them a whole bunch. And love when people comment and continue to comment and then look forward to their comments. It’s totally weird to feel like I know people I have never met, and really like them. Does that make me a complete creeper?

3. It is cool when blogging gives you treats

I’m not going to lie, we’ve gotten to do some pretty awesome things because of blogging. We got to go on the Renovation Roadtrip and Chris and I are FOREVER thankful for that experience because it was just flat out fucking awesome. We got to participate in the recent USC documentary/research study about blogs, we’ve been nominated for blogging awards, Bobvila.com called us a Blog Star, it’s been pretty cool. Chris and I don’t actively seek any of these things out and we wouldn’t want to participate in anything we didn’t feel strongly about, but when a cool opportunity pops up, it’s fun to get to take part. I would never want to advertise for or work with a company or group whose products I wouldn’t actively seek out to use or try myself, so we really try to stick by that rule. Blogging actually takes up a lot of time, so sometimes getting a little treat makes you feel special and it’s a nice little reward

4. I wonder what I’ll blog about when housework is done

We never thought that this would be our forever house, so I’m pretty sure Chris and I will renovate again, but I’m sure at some point life will get crazy and busy and I might not have time to blog. And what about when there actually are no more house projects left to work on??? What will I bore you guys with???? That makes me sad…

4 Days till Due Date:

1. Holy shit I’m going to be a parent

I know this is completely obvious, but it’s still very strange to wrap my head around. Chris and I talked about having a kid for a while, so it was a really thought out decision and we were fully aware of what was going to happen, but it’s crazy that the time is just about here. In days or hours I could go into labor, and as a controlling person, that’s pretty wacky. I thought I would be really neurotic about being pregnant: worrying about everything, reading everything and doing entirely too much time wondering, dissecting researching, etc., but I have surprisingly just been like, “Whatever body, do your thing.” But now, the reality that I have no idea when I could go into labor terrifies me. I just don’t want to while at work at the A’s this weekend (my last games are tonight, tomorrow and Sunday). It would certainly make for a funny story, but I don’t really want to have my water break in the press box…

2. Moms and Dads

I have been very bothered by the whole idea of moms roles vs. dads roles during this whole pregnancy thing. In our birth class it was all about mom, mom, mom. I mean, I know I’m the one physically pushing the baby out of my body, but I found it so annoying that so much importance was placed on mom’s role, and for dad it was just sorta like, ohhh, whatever. I feel like it already sets up this crappy expectation of moms being the “primary” parent and dads being the “secondary” parent. And I really don’t like that. I was lucky to have an incredibly involved dad and step dad in my life and people always tell me how “lucky” I was because of that. I think that’s a little shameful. Not to take anything away from my awesome dads (because they are awesome), but it bothers me that awesome dads are a treat, and awesome moms are just sort of expected. If your dad is your coach, takes you to school, makes your lunch, helps you with your homework, makes dinner or actually pays attention to you, he’s a rockstar. Whereas mom is just expected to do those things. And if she doesn’t, people wonder what’s wrong with her. Chris and I have talked at length about co-parenting and the importance to us of each of us being equal parents, equally involved, equally responsible. Certainly there will be some things that one of us is better at, one of us has more time for, one of us is more interested in, etc., but the idea is to balance things out so that we are equally involved.

3. What the hell will happen to housework?

Well, that’s something I’ve wondered too. Chris thinks we’ll be able to get more done than I think we will, but both of us are hoping to still get projects done. I think we both have rose colored glasses thinking anything will get done in the first couple of weeks and months. I mean, I don’t want to break the baby, let alone figure out how to use the miter saw while paying attention to her so she doesn’t saw off her arm with a pullsaw I’ve forgotten to put away. In that way, blogging will definitely be slow in the beginning as we try to get a handle on how to take care of a new little human being, so I hope you all will be patient and understanding.

4. What’s the day-job plan once Cashew enters the picture?

The lucky thing about working for yourself is that you make your own schedule. With the exception of working A’s games, my other work is very flexible and I get to set my own hours. If I have a weird night of sleep and wake up at 4:45am, I can do a couple billable hours before Chris wakes up and go take a nap when I get tired at 9am. And I’ve still gotten work done. And because of my schedule, I’ll be the primary caretaker of Miss Cashew. I’ll also not really get much of a maternity leave. I’ll take 2 months off from the A’s, but work for my brother, a restaurant bathroom redesign, research for my step dad’s law firm, handyman/design work, etc. will just have to really slow down, but it will still be there. Luckily one of my boss’ is my brother, so he’s easier to tell to shove it if he wants me to do too much and I’m tired

but I definitely don’t want to let clients down (including my brother). There is of course a supreme level of understanding from them as they know, HELLO, YOU JUST HAD A BABY, but I really don’t want to let them down. I committed to jobs and so I want to see them through. And the downside of working for yourself is your maternity leave is really only as long as you can afford because I can’t give myself 3 months pay if I’m not actually doing billable work. Once “maternity leave” ends, I’ll try to get into the slower swing of things while also taking care of a baby. I obviously won’t get nearly as much done, I’ll have to do more work at night after Chris is home and he can watch her so I can be productive, and family members are already on the list for baby sitting on a given day during the week so that I can try to make those my super productive days. It’ll all be trial and error, but I’m hoping it’ll work out at least somewhat successfully. And it’s always been really important to me to maintain my own independence on top of also being a mom, so hopefully I can find that balance.

And of course, here’s your much desired 39 week pregnant picture. I’m about ready to pop

I promise when Chris took this crappy cell phone pic last night I was meaning to make a big dumb smile and not look like I’m trying to push my baby out already.

2012: A Year in Photos

December 31, 2012

Here is our obligatory 2012 in photos summary. I’m glad I’m writing this post before I write the post about how many of our 2012 goals we actually completed because that list looks pathetic and this post will make me feel like we at least accomplished something this year. Without further ado…

January – we mostly worked for other people

For my dad and Wendy we built and installed a second built in cabinet. And for Chris’ mom and grandma we traveled down to LA…

Where we installed a new cabinet and toilet and fixed the tile in his grandma’s bathroom. And…

Worked on refinishing his mom’s front door.

February – we spent the majority of the month refinishing the hardwood floors in the front room

It was quite the adventure. There were lots of existing stains on the floors, so the first round did not go well, and we tried several things in an attempt to fix them and, hooray, it worked, and in the end, they looked positively wonderful.

March – we moved on to start working on the TV room even though the front room wasn’t close to being done (a recurring theme of ours). But my oh my was that plaster ceiling detail a beautiful discovery

April – we had soooo much fun refinishing the front room, we spent much of April refinishing the TV room floors. This time it went much more according to plan, and they looked beautiful

May – we spent most of our time building our built in entertainment unit/hutch thingy. It took a lot of work, like this, and this, and this, and this

But by the end of the month we were getting close to completing it!

June – we FINISHED the cabinet! And it looked beautiful! (and we snagged a free wall-mount TV from my step dad)

And we started work on completely redoing our front yard

That dead grass is not appealing?

July – we were crazy busy working on the front yard: like digging a bunch of trenches and installing proper drainage, prepping everything to get planted, and then conning my dad, step mom, and two of our friends into helping plant everything. But in the end, it was so beautiful

August – we revealed that we’d be going on the renovation roadtrip! And we also did the big ol’ front yard before and after once we completed a couple last minute touches

September – In a mad dash to complete a ton of projects before we left for the trip, we refinished the side of our neighbor’s garage (while I was in a cast, very responsible), we decided to have our floors refinished professionally while we would be away on the roadtrip which gave us a to do list 40 items long to complete in 6 weeks, oh, and we built a fence

October – we went on the renovation roadtrip!!!

(read about our adventures with 86’n It here)

(our adventures with Turtle House here)

(our adventures with DIY Diva here)

(our adventures with Russet St. Reno here)

(and our adventures with Just a Girl with a Hammer here)

November – our “professional” flooring refinishers did a super shitty job (which you can read all the fun here and here because we made them do it twice). And in the end we didn’t pay them a dime because they continued to ruin things every time they stepped foot in our house. Then we revealed that Chris knocked me up and Cashew is (scheduled) to make her arrival at the end of May!

And we FINALLY started work in the back bathroom. Only 2 years after it had all been demo’d…

December – we’ve been motoring on the back bathroom the last month and I’ve been super excited about all of our progress. Walls can be very exciting you know

Whew! 2012 was a busy, busy year. It’s crazy though because when Chris and I went over our 2012 goal list on Christmas we were flabbergasted that we only got about half of it accomplished. Boo. This post makes me feel better about ourselves though.

Oh, and tomorrow I’ll show you guys the bathroom painted! We made good progress this weekend! The lights are even in too Hooray!