Days 4, 5 and 6: A Hitch

[Stay tuned for pics. Our DSL is on the fritz.]

It had to happen, of course. But why did it have to happen so soon?

Our first run-in with the contractor. Seems Contractor Menny doesn't remember that we specifically said that, per Glendale rules, we have to widen the garage from one car to two. Every other contractor got it. And while his garage quote was slightly less than everyone else's, it wasn't enough of a difference that we saw any red flags (he quoted $20,000; another quoted $24,000; a third, $27,000). I finally realized on Friday, however, that he wasn't talking about widening -- just mocing the garage back.

The foreman looked at the plans, and also noted another bummmer: We need to push the garage back eight feet, not five feet as originally thought. Bye-bye, yard.

Back when Menny thought he was just moving the garage back, he thought we'd be able to leave our stuff inside, no problem. Now, both him and the contractor think we have to demolish it entirely. (Which the other two contractors we interviewed thought. I guess that should have been a red flag, but we figured Menny knew something that these other guys don't).

This is a weird situation, because our contract never technically spells out that the garage needs to be widened. It's a pretty simply list of things to do (we do spell out having to push the garage back). Now, we're having to rent a storage container to stick on our driveway ($75/month, plus a $75 delivery fee and $75 pickup fee, for a 20 foot by 8 foot by 8 1/2 foot container) and temporarily move our stuff. And we still need to haggle with Menny on how much more he wants to charge us to redo the garage entirely.

OK, so that's problem one. The second one has a much happier solution.

While digging the foundation, the workers found a hole. A 6-foot deep hole. (Don't worry -- Evan doesn't go close to the work site. So no Baby Jessica situation here.) It's where the septic tank once resided. Apparently when the tank was taken out, the hole was never filled, just covered. Menny told us not to worry -- his workers will simply fill it up. But talk about bizarre.

Meanwhile... I'm beginnign to think that this job really is going to take four months. Because the workers haven't been showing up until noon! (They didn't show up at all on Friday.) Something else to bring up to Contactor Menny when we have our little heart-to-heart.

That's the latest from here... wish us luck with the garage!

Day 3: Digging in the Dirt

Contractor Menny had promised us that the workers would show up early on Thursday, and that we'd get a chance to meet them. "Cool," we said.

Uh, hello? They're contractors. We should have known better. According to Dora, they rolled in at noon, and stayed until 5:30. At least it appears like they got a good chunk more done. The foundation digging is beginning, while more remnants of the old patio has been hauled away (plenty is left, of course). More shots:





Today, workers came by this morning to dismantle the garage door; I also have the gardeners stopping by to move the plants away from the garage today. It slowly continues...

Day 2: Productive and Destructive

Looks like day 1 was pretty productive -- and destructive. The back of the house is now exposed -- and in one case, there's a hole in the cabinet under the sink (previously created by a plumber fixing our clogged pipes) now completely open to the world. Welcome, skunks, possums and rats to the Schneider house!

Obviously, we moved the trash out of the cabinet to avoid such visitors, and Menny the contractor has promised to plug up the hole.

As you can see, the patio we built just two years ago is completely gone, and suddenly the kitchen is bright again. Evan looks out the back door and points to the mess constantly, always with an "Oooh!"

But in a way, it feels good. This thing is starting. Demolition could be done as soon as today... then it's on to placing the foundation and adding the framing. As you can see below, they've also started work on the garage, stripping off the back's stucco. I'm still not sure how they're going to pull it back and expand it while keeping all of our stuff inside, but we'll see.

Meanwhile, what didn't feel good: Writing our "start of work" check. It was a whopper: $30,000.

More shots:

Day 1: And So It Begins

Construction starts today... and here's one last look at the calm before the storm. We just built this patio, not even two years ago. But we need a bigger house, period. So the patio has got to go, I'm afraid.

Today, demolition begins... and tomorrow, this calm scene will look dramatically different. For now, a few more "before" shots: