CoSar Casa

We had three major fears when embarking on this project: 1. Our 57-year-old sewer line would need to be replaced.  2. Our existing roof trusses would have termite damage.  3. There would be bodies buried in the backyard. Angry at being disturbed, they would turn into zombies and eat our brains. Aaaaaaaaaand the winner is*:  The entire sewer line needs to be replaced.  Because it looks like this: That rusted, crumpling, pipe-looking thing? That's a section of what remains of our cast-iron sewer line. But look how pretty that new pipe is! The plumber for Ritz is going to replace the line from the house to the city. The ACTUAL worst case scenario would be the sewer line under the foundation of the existing house cracking significantly, because that would mean tearing into our foundation and then having to do a major remodel costing tens of thousands of dollars. We're hoping not to have to do that for a few years!  Oh, and hey, in ca...

Don't you hate it when you get home from work and someone's torn up your yard and dug a big trench through it? Not us. Aren't you glad you're looking at a picture of a trench for a new sewer line? After we signed off on the designs, it seemed like it took FOREVER for the plans to go to all of the engineers and for the city to issue a permit. (Real time? Five weeks. Slightly less than forever.) Then we had a kickoff meeting, and the next morning all of the contractors came over to walk the property. Jules and Mommalinda stayed inside (it was pretty early) but I was out there, taking pictures and asking questions. Matt in the background, then Billy, Dale, Ed, and Sharzad Juan and Billy, Billy and Ed. Yeah, Billy is in EVERY PICTURE. I suspect vanity.  You could tell this crew has worked together for a long time and I loved listening to them problem-solve. Little things, like the electrician musing, "Maybe we should put a subpanel on the...