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...

Okay, so I kind of started in the middle with the whole, "we're tearing down the pergolas" thing because I was all exhausted and proud at the time. But I never got to the "Why we're doing this" thing. So let's back up. My in-laws have been living in the same enormous 6 bedroom house since they purchased it in 1979. It was great when they were raising three kids and had various other relatives living with them throughout the years, but as they grew older, it became increasingly apparent that it was just too much house for them. However, my father-in-law was firmly planted and rather stubborn, so we helped them when we could but for the most part, let them be. When he died three years ago, it became increasingly apparent that things had to change. If it was too much house for two people, it was waaaaaay too much house for an elderly woman who had, in keeping with her generation, left most of the home maintenance to her husband. We spent many weekends...