Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Future dreams

This morning my contractor called with his estimate. I took a deep breath as I heard him say, "fif...." and thought he was about to tell me it was going to cost fifty thousand dollars to finish my attic. Nope - $5500 on the high end; $4500 on the low. How is that possible...? Full insulation, ladder stairs, floor, window. I stupidly told him that was way less than I expected, to which he jokingly responded he would have to revise this estimate. In reality he will - he is going to come back this week to further investigate the old knob and tube wiring up there and see if it's dead or hot and needs to be upgraded, also we have to talk built ins, since I do want storage and a built in twin bed/reading nook under the window. Oh, and a skylight. Oh, and a swing suspended from the center beam. And finally hang the hammock my father sent from Brazil years ago. All of these ideas courtesy of Pinterest, btw.

I picture a bright, sweet room with lots of cool things strewn about, like hot wheels tracks and bean bag chairs and vintage boy stuff (in a very clean Scandinavian IKEA-like way). Oh, it's just going to be amazing. And for what I've already saved for! This means I can save future monies to finally replace my sewer line and shore up the foundation. You know, practical home repairs instead of the vanity projects I keep doing.

He says he can start right after Christmas. I'm sure he's glad to have work at this time of year when no one in their right mind would take on a construction project. Honestly the idea of 2+ weeks with contractors tramping in and out of the house fills me with dread, but hey, at least they will be upstairs! For once my bathroom and kitchen will be unaffected.

Can't flippin' wait to have this done. Ever since I bought this place in Dec of 2001 I wanted to build an upstairs space; to me one-story houses are kind of like glorified apartments. An accessible upstairs would make this place really a HOUSE, you know? And for so little money! Who knew?

Um...could I have my son's childhood, please?

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4 comments:

  1. AliDecember 18, 2012 at 7:16 PM

    I love architecture and interior design projects. Be sure to take before and after photos!

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  2. The Riveting MamaDecember 18, 2012 at 9:42 PM

    How exciting! Ditto on the loving indoor projects. HGTV is my secret addiction..shhhh! Interestingly enough, did you know that Scandinavians spend the most money on interior decorating than in any other part of the world? My Norwegian teacher thought it was because it's so expensive to go out. They see it as being economically savvy.

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  3. TiaraDecember 19, 2012 at 5:02 AM

    I once read that the best time to secure a contactor was December/January because they are hungry for work & will give a better price to have a job than later in the year when thy have jobs coming out the ying yang. So perfect timing for you!!! I can't wait to see photos!!! be sure to take lots!!!

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  4. AnonymousDecember 19, 2012 at 5:35 AM

    That's great news! I am officially tired of having workmen coming and going from the house (my part-time housemate has a lot of improvement ideas), but it's worth it in the end!

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