The “Home” Stretch - Construction Column #4 November 2018

            It’s starting to feel more normal. So, normal that I’m actually able to sit down and write a column for a change, my apologies for the hiatus. The house addition is nearing the ‘home stretch.’ We finally have a kitchen sink, which I installed just hours before we threw a surprise 70th birthday party for my mom with rental tables and chairs and catering by Tacos Por Favor. It was more like a “Surprise-we-have-a-sink-and-it’s-kinda-sorta-habitable party.”

            “So what is your expected date of completion?” Is a question that Wifey and I get asked all the time.

            Wifey cringes and says, “Meh, a couple months,” something she’s been saying for the past couple months.

            I usually respond with some version of “Well, that kind of depends on your definition of completion.” Which is true. There are fun elements of our house on which I want to take my time and get exactly right, like cubbies in the mud room or some of the eccentricities we have planned for kids’ bedrooms.

            Our kiddos, Michael and Jane love the house too, especially that we carpeted over some of the old chalet roof decking inside one of the rooms. The result, in their words, is a “slide,” which they have found every conceivable way of entering and exiting.

            “Watch this, Dad. I call this this one ‘The Race Car 360!” Michael, our 8-year-old says before catapulting himself backwards into what is essentially an awkward space where two roof lines (old and new) meet that doesn’t really have another use; so it might as well be fun for our kids.

            Before our addition, we could describe our home correctly as “the little chalet at the end of the street,” now… not so much. One of our neighbors called it “The Half Dome House.” Which is cool, but definitely triggers some self-consciousness. It’s true that we’ve built what can rightly be described as a “big” house, but we did so with lots of sweat equity and frugality. I salvaged old material from the demo stage, pulled nails and reused boards to the chagrin of carpenters; I’ve even been reinstalling our beat-up bamboo flooring as finish trim in a few places. This stubborn penny-pinching isn’t just to save money; I like the character and feel of repurposed material.

            “Where did that massive window sill come from?” One of my mom’s party attendees asked.

            “It’s one of our old 4x12” roof beams.” I responded. “It looks kind of fun, right?”

            “I guess so.”

            Family life has gone on outside of our construction odyssey as well. Over the course of the summer, Jane lost a crazy combination of teeth leaving a smile that made a few adults wince. One tooth fell out while swimming in her cousin’s pool. The ensuing treasure dive for her tooth definitely made our kids better underwater swimmers and occupied them for a long time, but to no avail: no sunken tooth treasure was recovered. 

            Jane decided to write a note and draw a picture to the tooth fairy explaining the whole sad swimming situation in hopes that she could still get some money out of the deal.

            In the morning, she ran up to Wifey saying, “Mommy, Mommy! Guess what?”

            “What’s that Jane?”

            “I tricked the Tooth Fairy!”

            “How did you do that?”

            “I put a little glue on the picture right where my tooth was and the Tooth Fairy took it!”

            “Very clever, Kiddo.”

            Doing a remodel/addition as massive as this really brings everything into focus and I’m grateful for that new perspective. True non-construction-related time with my children has become essential to my equilibrium. Just going for a bike ride or to the climbing gym or reading “Call of the Wild” which Michael brought home from school, makes the pace I’ve been keeping possible.  

            Friendship also has been brought into greater clarity for me. Having friends tackle certain projects at my house has been wonderful and I feel so grateful for their contributions even if it was just a few hours of painting or being an extra set of hands when handling a heavy window or appliance. Or lending me a commercial sprayer or scaffolding. I’m really in debt to so many incredible local folks.

            “We’ve been thinking about adding onto our home. It’s been great to watch your progress.” We get innumerable comments like these from neighbors and passers-by. I’m not always sure how to respond. There have been times that I regretted doing this project at all, the proverbial toll on my personal, professional, and family life has been significant. But looking across our half-finished kitchen, with plywood counters, finished cabinets, raw electric boxes, and working stovetop, it’s worth it. To have the home that you’ve been saving for and dreaming about for years, does feel amazing. 

            So, go ahead and pull the trigger: do that remodel, but don’t be afraid of cutting some corners, leaning on friends and family, and putting in sweat equity: pull nails, reuse material, and be creative in your thriftiness. But have competent and reliable partners who can get you to the finish line. There is no way I could have done my project without Brunner Building, Azul Electric, Riley Plumbing, Sierra Sustainable Builders, and lots of friends and even a hitch-hiker from Dusseldorf—yup. On a business trip, I picked up a kid with a new-looking backpack in Berkeley in order to use the H.O.V. lane and he ended up visiting and working a few days at our house.