Update thus far...

Yes, there's been a huge hiatus on this blog because...the remodel did not go through!!!

The main reason was that we could not secure a construction loan because a) due to the economic meltdown, banks were no longer issuing construction loans and b) we wouldn't be able to secure one anyway because of the way our income is earned. (No, nothing illegal. It's because we earn income through our own business vs. conventional employment with W-2's which is a big red flag for all banks these days.)

So the entire remodel was a big bust. All the money we spent on architectural and design fees, application fees, and soils testing all went down the drain. We were not thinking of remodeling again until.......

We were approached by my in-laws with the offer of a loan so that we could remodel our home (and hence, have a guest bedroom for them when they come up to visit.) After some debate, we accepted!

Here we go again... ^_^

Almost?

So...our designer emailed us today to ask to meet next week AND she wrote "We will be getting a permit in the next week or so." :)

Hopefully we'll get this project underway before the end of the year!

Permits and Basement Update

So we've ceased meeting weekly with our designer because now we're just waiting for the city to grant building permits. Today, we met for the first time in a long time with our contractor and designer to discuss the basement layout. The city had given us feedback that the basement did not have enough ventilation. grrr...so now we are adding a sliding door that opens up to a small patio from the basement. This means, of course, that our construction costs are increasing before we've even started. ;|

So why has it taken SO long for the city to issue permits?
Whenever we resubmit the plans to the city planning department, the plans go to a different person who evaluates the project and then either approves of it or comes back with a list of to-do's. Of course, each person is going to find something wrong with our plans. And no matter how minor the change, we have to resubmit everything again if they didn't give us an approval. Also, since the city has 30 days from the day of submission to return with a verdict, they've been getting back to us on the 28/29th day, barely within the deadline. I feel very bad for our designer who actually has to deal with all of this.

Precision Cabinets

Our designer drove us up to Brentwood today to take a look at ALL our options for kitchen and bathroom cabinetry. And we did make a lot of decisions so the trip was well worth it!

One of the showcase kitchens had exactly the type of wood and stain and cabinet door we were considering. It was valuable to see all of it working together. :) We looked at the other stains but we ultimately decided on the original stain we were considering.

Although there are many many options out there for cabinets, I'm only putting down the information that I learned from our trip.

Wood

• Cherry: hard wood and stains beautifully, also becomes richer in color over time
• Alder: soft wood and stains like cherry
• Maple: hard wood
• Oak: very "grainy" (a little too rustic for my taste)

Stained wood doors are cheaper than painted wood doors! Apparently the labor associated with painting (like painting all the layers) is more expensive.

Framing

• Inset: drawers and doors are flush with the frame.
• Face-frame: traditional look where there is a frame around the doors and drawers.
• Frameless: European look where there are very thin seams between doors and drawers.

Cabinet Interior

• Stained wood
• White laminate: cheaper and brightens the interior

Drawers

• Drawers that open 3/4 of the way
• Drawers that open all the way with side mounted drawer glides
• Soft closing drawers that open all the way with bottom mounted drawer glides

For the kitchen:
* Cherry doors in an amber cherry stain
* Raised door panels with an arch along the top
* Full circle lazy susan in the bottom corner cabinet
* White laminate interior
* Soft closing drawers
* Face-frame construction
Kitchen: using this wood and color but not the style

For the upstairs bathroom:
* Maple doors
* White laminate interior
* Drawers open all the way but not soft closing
Upstairs bathroom: using the wood and color of the top cabinet door and the style of the bottom cabinet

For the master bathroom:
* Cherry doors with clear stain
* White laminate interior
* Soft closing drawers

 
Master bathroom: cherry cabinets with clear stain aged 1 year(left) and
cherry cabinets with clear stain aged 6 years (right)

Approval!

When we came back from our trip to New Orleans, we found the city's approval letter in our mailbox! :) :) YAY!!!

It was approved on June 20. It's a conditional approval which means that we have to wait 14 days for any adjacent neighbors to complain or object to our remodel plans. THEN we will finally have the OK from the city planning department.

The next steps are to get building permits after the city reviews the structural plans and to get an approval for a construction loan.

Funny thing about the construction loan is that before the whole mortgage crisis, it was a lot easier to get one because most of the big banks had them. But since a lot of the same big banks lost a load of money in their mortgage departments, they have stopped giving out construction loans. I don't know if it's permanent but hopefully it's just a temporary over-reaction to the housing mess.

Meeting with cabinet rep

In light of the last rejection and the fact that the designer, contractor, and us would like to see this project break ground, our designer resubmitted the plans with the recommended changes.

We met up with a salesperson from the cabinet company that we'll be working with - Precision Cabinets in Brentwood (No, not the city near LA. It's the one near Walnut Creek.) He invited us to come up to the factory to see all our options. He also brought over a sample cabinet door in cherry which will be handy when we select our granite.

Our designer had asked for quotes from different cabinet companies and this was the one with the best pricing with high quality work.

Rejection #2

So sad...no approval even after adding architectural details to break up the mass of the second story's front facade. However, this time around, the city included a picture of what they would like:
- add corbels (an example) to the right and left upper story windows such that the roofs slope downwards there. We had gables there before.
- lower the gable of the middle upper story window
- add a gable over the front door
- remove the gable above the garage

Every change they propose is to draw the eyes downward so that the house won't look too large in the neighborhood. The only thing I can be grateful for is that they didn't ask us to change the interior floorplan. =/