Potential Phasing Order

Where to start.......

Everything influences everything else. Yes, it seems that even projects that are relatively isolated somehow bleed into each other. It is a combination of several different reasons that has made us stick to our guns in saying that the "Phasing idea" should be possible.

Primarily, it is easier for me to see the potential for improvement in something that already exists, rather come up with the whole plan from the beginning. It seems less risky, and also more in line with my need for less chaos and more control. With Phasing, I can concentrate on a little at a time, and be very detail oriented in smaller spurts. In this new financial climate, it also seems more prudent to have control over multiple smaller stopping points, rather than one big one. As long as there is a master plan governing the process, I am fine with working slowly and efficiently toward the final result.

With that said, We have had a really hard time deciding what the best route to that end actually is. We'd like to take care of a few things very quickly, but we would like to get the most bang for our buck too, without too much financial exposure or destruction of the working home right out of the block. Easy right? We'll see....

Here are some thoughts.....

The new garage wing is really its own entity. It can be easily priced by contractors and built pretty much independent of everything else. The connection to it from the existing home is so well planned, that we literally could open the walls into it once it is finished and start living in it after some doorway trim is installed. But, it is a pretty big first project and it needs approval from the Architectural Review Board of our community. On the plus side, it packs a punch in terms of giving us all sorts of functionality that we don't have now, so therefore, seems like a very practical place to start. Our current thought is that this is a great first big project, and we will start sometime in the first half of this year, pending no further financial disasters in this country.

That brings me back to the phasing of the internal reconfiguration. My two biggest pet peeves are the safety of the Staircase, and our Master Bath. Right after that, is the replacement of the very tight Kids' Bath, and an adequate space for Linens and Laundry. Removing the current staircase opens up all sorts of options for the Main Floor and enables us to close off the current foyer to expand the Master Suite upstairs.

After much discussion, we think we may have come up with a way to stay in the house during the upstairs reconfiguration and new Staircase installation.

1. Move out of our bathroom and closets. Have this space demo'd, including the opening of the ceiling for Devon's new bedroom, since this roof is an independent hip. Build the walls and new Kid's Bath, Hallway, and Linen closet per this plan. (We will use Devon's Bath and old Bedroom as our closets during the interim This is the space that will soon become the new staircase)

2. Once the new Bedroom and Bath are completed, we will move our bedroom into this location temporarily. Now, the re-engineering of the trusses could be addressed for the ceilings to be raised in the Staircase tower, the Master Suite, and new hallway. Bob tells me that this could be done without opening all of the drywall. It is basically that we would need a decent space to bring in long pieces of lumber. Once the new structural changes to the trusses are done, it leaves the dummy ceiling opportunities open to do something interesting in the new Staircase Tower and the Master Suite. The Hallway from the stairs to the two-steps down into the kids' Bedrooms will probably be just a flat ceiling, but it could probably be a 9' ceiling once the work on the trusses is done.

3. The dummy ceiling on the Staircase Tower is probably next. We could break through the ceiling drywall and set this ceiling before the floor is cut away for the new Staircase. This area can be sealed off from the upstairs by closing the door, and downstairs by positioning plywood over the room openings. The stairs could be installed. We have decided that it might be a good idea to maintain the current upstairs kids bathroom, and delay the hall trim work, until the new wing is done, since Larry and I will be using the new bathroom as our master for some time.

4. Once the Staircase is in from upstairs to basement, we can remove the old staircase. We need to work out exactly what we would finish on the Main level, anticipating the new Kitchen/Family Room going into this location. Upstairs though, it paves the way for us to set the new floor over the Foyer at the 10' ceiling height, and then raise the floor in the master and build the new walls and ceiling. Our goal would be for the Master to be completely finished and ready to unite with the new wing. The Washer and Dryer will go into the closet depicted as "His Closet" on the plan. It will stay here until Phase 4 gives us a large Utility Room. The moving of the W/D has a delay we have not figured out yet. There is no place to put it in the interim between demolishing the current Laundry and placing the new floor over the current Foyer. I am open to ideas here.

5. Begin the new wing, possibly as these other projects are going on.