The Ten Year Plan: Year Five
OK, the last of our major planning/review posts for the year, and I'm sure you're glad of it. (Well, we were traveling all over the US to see family last week, so we couldn't exactly post about work we were supposedly getting done.) This was the fifth year of our ten-year plan (which is not, contrary to popular belief, how long we think the renovation will take, but rather how long we thought it would take to get to the point where we could do the floors). With me finally done with school this year we did get quite a bit more done, and setting out ten projects to do at the beginning of the year gave us better focus than we have had in the past.
But we also removed stuff from the list by just deciding not to do it right now.
Paint exterior of house- Finish living rooms
In progress. We will do this as our first project of 2009, so next year we can strike this one off the list. Foundation replacementRemove Fright Box under house, redo plumbing- Redo upstairs bath and add half bath under stairs
We meant to do this in 2008, but it didn't happen, because everything else we did took so much longer than expected. But it could still happen this year! Or not. Remove chimney, replace furnace thing- Install gas fireplace in living room, upstairs
I think this will happen sometime relatively soon, at least for the living room, but probably not in 2009 because of the cost of the mantel I want. - Re-roof
Delayed until the Big Renovation because logistics worked out better. Instead we did a series of roof repairs to fix the major leaks. Can a roof from 1962 last fifty years? Let's see. I'm going to have to figure out some way of noting things we've moved off this plan next year. - Insulate crawlspace and attic
The attic will wait until we re-do the roof during the Big Renovation. The crawlspace we are procrastinating on because it is such a pain. Maybe we will hire somebody to do it. Or if we put it off long enough, it will get done with the Big Renovation work like everything else. - Remove fake wooden panelling, stabilize plaster, and repaint all rooms
We've got one room left with wood paneling (the dining room) and that will be coming down in February (along with the lowered ceiling). Look out below! Also, through some sort of miracle, we've been contacted by somebody who wants our paneling, so we might even be able to keep it out of the landfill. - Block air infiltration around various doors
OK, I give up. We have lots of holes in our house. Good thing it rarely gets below 30F here. This project will just not happen. Or rather, it will never actually be "done." - Replace window sashes
Now moved into the Big Renovation plans because of cost issues (turns out there are substantial savings to buying in bulk when you're buying very large custom windows that are fortunately all the same basic size). - Strip ugly pink paint from as much woodwork as possible
Another example of how I procrastinate on tedious jobs. We have this planned for this year if the limiting factor on closing the foundation permit goes over schedule. - Remove linoleum from floors/refinish wooden floors
The asbestos remediation in the Accordion Room was loads of hot, unpleasant work, but at the end of it we had a floor surface not distinguished by mysterious (and all-too unmysterious) stains and dents. I doubt we'll do any or many of the larger rooms if they have asbestos in them, but the Accordion Room was a learning experience. Also, we found the name of a really reliable asbestos testing place, and we know how to dispose of asbestos materials. Surely that must be useful information, right? Remove the concrete driveway extension into the back yardRelated landscaping/gardeningRepair front porch/re-rebuild front steps- Repair side porch, remove steps, and turn into a conservatory
Not this year. Mainly because it will require a lot of complicated drawings to show the historical people and planning. Also, we've modified the plans to just involve enclosing the porch as a conservatory; the stairs can stay, although the city wants us to replace them, and that may or may not happen this year. If it does, the "repair" part of this might happen as well. - Draw detailed plans for the Day of Glory
We've got the plans worked out, and I'm ready to start working on a set of construction drawings. Since we are likely to be doing most of the work ourselves, the drawings are just to get us through code review and planning review, rather than to instruct contractors. That said, we've got the longest phase of drawing production ahead of us (and by us I mean me).
posted by ayse on 12/31/08