Honey, lets do a remodel!

Wow.... seems like we had been talking about doing a remodel of the house forever... we have lived here since 1998 and have never really made any improvements because some day we would do it in the remodel. Two years ago, we decided that we would need a new roof and so we got serious about the project.

After running numbers and talking about our location, etc. we decided that we did want to do a remodel versus move. We got a referral for a contractor that did design and construction from a friend and started talking with them... a husband and wife team. Well, to make a long story short; the project aborted when they decided to get a divorce and he moved out of the area. It really was a blessing, because after now working with our current designer, we see that the first team really did not "have what it takes" to get us through such a big project.

6 months go by, it is now early summer of 2010 and we get a referral for a designer named Walter Chapman from our friend David who has done several remodels. http://www.chapmandesignassociates.com. We meet with Walter and decide to proceed with designs. We signed the contract with Walter on July 1, 2010.

The process with Walter worked pretty smoothly and he came up with some really wonderful ideas for our home. Our main design goals were to utilize the space we have which is approximately 1700 square feet and to open up our home utilizing a great room concept. We also wanted to create more storage space and reconfigure our master suite. The other big change is removing the flat tar and gravel roof and putting on a pitched roof with attic.

During the summer and fall of 2010, we interviewed several contractors, but were not really excited about any of them. But one thing we were able to do through the process is get an idea of our budget which turned out to be about $100K higher than we had hoped. Then at the end of September one of my clients was raving about a contractor. Jack Cannon, we met with Jack and immediately liked him. After checking references and discussing the budget; we chose Jack to do the work. http://www.lynstar.net/

Now all we had to do was to finish the plans and go for our permit.......