FEBRUARY 2004
The plans have passed the city's Design Review process and are now waiting for the final
plan check and building permits. By the end of this month, we should be ready to roll for
real. While waiting for the permits, we'll be getting contractors ready, ordering the windows
and buying up a lot of other materials. We can also get some work done on the site and
start building the new fences.
02.15.04—The whole family spends Sunday afternoon at the house starting to clear
out the rest of the existing plants. Earlier on, we weren't sure of which plants would
stay or go. Now we know that only a couple trees will stay and everything else will
be replaced. Today we're attacking the northeast wall where the garage will be built.
Don starts in on the gigantic shrub/tree in the corner while Quinn snips.
Julian usually doesn't like to help out, but putting a chainsaw in his hands changed
his mind quick.
Two trees and the big shrub fill up the gutter quite well. Lucky that Sacramento has
unlimited garden clipping pick-up service. Diana surveys the newly exposed wall.
The 20' x 16' garage will attach to this wall. From this view you will be looking
straight at the garage door. The pink marks on the concrete behind Diana is where
the left corner of the 1-car garage will be.
02.20.04—HEAVY EQUIPMENT!! Yeah! The concrete demo crew from DSI arrives with
two Bobcats, a few jackhammers, and three 20-ton garbage bins.
Two days later nearly all the exterior concrete is gone... driveway, parking pad, and
walkway all gone. Over 3,100 sq. ft. of concrete surface (and 16 tree and shrub
stumps pulled out. In a few weeks new concrete forms will be put in place and
a new driveway, walkway and patios will be poured, along with the foundation/
footings for the garage.
The place looks like a war zone now and we're feeling kind of bad for the neighbors
who have to look at it every day. We always saw what the house COULD be, but not
what it would have to look like to get there. We thought the library looked so ugly...
but now when you compare what it looked like seven months ago... it's so scary!!
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Also visit Don's portfolio site: www.designbutton.com
