Wednesday, April 2nd, 2008
Building Castles
In early 2006, my wife and I embarked on one of the most interesting projects that one can do, a full knock down and rebuild of our dream house.
Despite all of the horror stories that we heard about contractors slipping, being over due and over budget, we experienced very little frustration and consider our project to be a huge success.
In the end, we moved into our dream house two weeks ahead of schedule and only 8% over budget, including landscaping, blinds, an entertainment center & an alarm system.
This ebook presents a simple guide to the steps that we took to achieve our dream. While we don’t guarantee that this is the one roadmap to success, we do feel that by taking the time early to plan out exactly what it is that you want to do, you will find the entire process to be less stressful on you, your relationships with your significant other & contractor and you will be in your home more quickly.
Our perspective is based on our remodel. All projects are going to be different.
Our original home was slightly over 1,000 square feet of 1940’s nostalgia. The roof was starting to leak, the plumbing was outdated and full of sediment, the electrical system could barely handle modern appliances, the windows were drafty and with the addition of a second child, we were a bit cramped.
When we finished, we ended up with a mid-high end home, just over 2,100 square feet and, crucially, 2 bathrooms.
This is the story of that project. As we did our construction, I kept a blog of the progressions, but life got in the way and I never really closed it out. Building Castles, this ebook in blog format, is that closure.
If you like what you have read, and it has helped you with your project, consider making a small donation to buy me a beer or a cup of coffee using the PayPal button below. Or you could buy an easy to print out, copy for your spouse or SO, write notes on and ‘read in bed copy’ of the book.
