Every place I've ever lived has been designed for that "average American family," with lots of bedrooms, living room, dining room, family room, etc. The problem was that I was a single person, not an average family. I needed space, but for hobbies, not people. And because I'm over 6'2", bending over to use sinks designed for children was a constant frustration. Over the years, I collected a list of things I would change if I could have my dream house. As I approached retirement, I realized time was running out for that house; it was now or never.


Dreams are not always perfect, however. I could never afford my dream house, a spacious Southern California home overlooking the Pacific Ocean. But I could afford a modest ranch house, with a 20-mile drive to the beach. It was a very long way from perfect, but it had potential.


This blog documents the process of turning that small average house into something that matches my lifestyle. It will be as close to my dream house as I can make it. I'm doing all the work myself to stretch my resources. By not hiring contractors, I can afford high quality materials, and I'll know the job is always done right. The remodeling will be my primary avocation for a few years, even as I try to fit in my writing and other hobbies.


It promises to be an interesting journey, and a challenging one!

Saturday, December 6, 2014

New Laundry/Mechanicals Room - Part 7

I saw my eye surgeon a few days ago, four weeks after my detached retina was repaired.  He pronounced my eye fully healed.  The bubble inside my eye is getting to be pretty small; the gas should be completed absorbed within the next few days.  My vision will then be back to normal.  Hooray!

Work on my house remodel has just about returned to a normal pace.  After stripping out the circuits from the old laundry room sub-panel breaker box, I started running the new circuits, and hooked up a temporary 240 volt, 30 amp circuit for the clothes dryer.  The photo shows the old box on the left, and the nice new one on the right.  The new laundry window will be installed above the old breaker panel.  You can also see the furring strips for the new ceiling attached to the roof trusses.


This next photo shows the wall framed for the new window and new electrical cables routed through the studs underneath.  Some of the wires go through to the workshop on the other side of the wall on the left (where I've started stripping the drywall off the wall, and installing boxes for electrical receptacles above where the future workbench will go).  At this point, I've also put up the new ceiling drywall in the laundry room.


Once the new wiring was run through the walls, I added insulation.


And then put up drywall.  You may recall that I recently had (among other things) twelve sheets of drywall delivered.  It didn't last long, and I've run out again.  On the left side of the laundry room, I did not have a full sheet left for the last panel, but that worked out okay because I still need to install the new hot and cold water supply lines to the washer outlet box.  They go behind the wall.  The drywall on the right side of the room has been up for a week or so; I painted that part so I could finish installing the electrical receptacles over there (trying to get past running extension cords all over the house).  In the middle of the left-side photo, you can see the blue plastic electrical boxes for the washing machine and clothes dryer.  They are high up because the washer and dryer will sit on a 24" high platform.



  We're going to have good weather for the next five days (sunny and high in the 70s), so I'm going to work on putting in new windows (including the one in the laundry room).  After that, I'm hoping to resume progress on the laundry room floor.
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