Extreme Home Makeover visits my neighborhood

Yo, fellow Californians . . . check this out.

I live in a neighborhood built in the 1940-50's for the most part. A small early "planned community," tract-like neighborhood. Pre-tract building for the post-WWII generation of first-time homeowners. Does that make sense? Most were originally at 800-1000 square feet, including an often detached garage building. The history of the owners is also interesting, IMHO, and I've actually initiated a search of the history in years past in order to connect with the original owners (now in their 80's-90's). I've known and worked with some of these "oldesters" (gotta be careful with this tag. . . as I'm gettin' to be one) in community-based non-profit orgs as volunteer board members, for example. I would like to be able to outline some of the neighborhood history to be added to our community's Historical Society's data.

One such home is the house directly behind me and sharing the brick fence bordering my rose bed. It was built and loved by home builder/contractor Wathen (I can't recall which Wathen at the moment) of Wathen Brothers Builders. Two others of the brothers also lived within several blocks, having built their homes here. Another was designed and built by Martin Temple, if my sources are accurate, an architect of local reputation specializing in commercial building design (one in which I actually work at the moment, BTW). That house is at the foot/head of a cross street just down the street from me (I live on a corner). There are a significant number of other prominent locally and regionally prominent professionals who built and occupied their first homes here, had their first babies, as well. My own family, for instance, moved from the East Coast (I'm a Maineac by birth) when my father was transferred by Massey Harris Ferguson in 1952 to Stockton. There was a considerable shift of our country's population from states east to California in the 50's. Think "Babyboomers."

Why send this missive to California Gardeners forum? Well, just kinda interesting perhaps to fellow Californians.

Attached is a daylight pic of the chaos from the end of the street on which I live. It is from the same spot I used for one of last night's photos http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/941653/ . There will be an opportunity tomorrow for us to go sit in bleachers (geez) to watch the beginning of the construction. The lot is, at this moment, void of any hardscape and the work of stabilizing the ground space and laying the foundation concrete will take place this afternoon and overnight.

The link included herein will take you to the DG Repair/Maintenance forum, to which I posted initially, where there seems to be little interest in the activity "Extreme Home Makeover." I'm thinking my fellow Californians might be interested . . . then again . . . perhaps not [snivel]. If you are, and you'd like to see the local newspaper article go to http://www.fresnobee.com/local/story/1119941.html


Warmly, Linda (constantly trying to quiet territorial doggies living with her)

Back when I lived in Martinez they did a house near me--close enough that I could walk my dog up the hill and peek at what they were doing, but not so close that it interfered with me getting to and from my house--it was a hilly area and even though it was only a couple blocks away, the way the streets were set up there wasn't any direct way to get there from my street or the main road I lived off of. I could hear some of the noise from the construction and if I was driving in the evening I could see the lights, but it wasn't close enough to be bothersome at all. They also did a house in Livermore a couple years ago--I wasn't close to that one but the landscaping company that I hired to do my yard had done the landscaping for that house.

Omg! Are they raising the whole house, or just doing landscaping? How long is this supposed to take? From the looks of the equiptment on the street, it looks like they plan on doing the whole thing in a weekend!

In most of the episodes I've seen they usually tear down all/most of the house that's there and build a new one, add new landscaping, etc. They're supposed to do it in a week, but since the show airs on Sunday and they're already working on this one it seems like maybe they cheat a bit and get an early start! When they did the house by me I didn't know about it until partway through the week so I don't know if they cheated on that one or if they actually did it in a week.

That's what the newspaper article said, from the ground up - special fast-drying cement. Looks like it's a lot of volunteer work, too. I sure wouldn't want to be next door, but at least it won't last long and sounds like it is for a good cause. The lady will feel like she's in heaven being able to get around in her wheelchair much more easily.
Nice story.

i watch alot of the home improvement shows; they really have some great ideas and some for very little money..just effort. I be interested to know who pays for the materials, do they get all the permits..that being said how (?) do They get the county, city and anyone else do the inspections so fast. Money talks?! sounds like a great thing to watch; and thanks for the little history lesson.
My dad was from Prescott MI, came out to Fresno for WWII training, married my mom and then after the war they settled in Bishop. We ended up living in the Redding-and Quincy area. I now live in Wilton (think elk grove) & if that doesn't work..think galt.
**jo

As far as who pays for materials it depends on the show--for some of the shows on HGTV the homeowners do pay for materials but they get the labor and design for free. But for Extreme Makeover I know the family doesn't have to pay anything. As far as permits and inspections--permits can take time but you can do those in advance so I'm sure they know how long that process takes and have it done well enough in advance. And for the inspections, I don't have a ton of experience but the two times I've had to have someone come and do an inspection, the instructions I had said to call them the day before you want them to come out, and they'll show up the next day. And if there are some inspectors that you need more notice than that I'm sure the network is able to arrange in advance that there'll be inspectors available when needed.

I've watched the show a few times---it always makes me want to revisit the house in a year and see how it's held up!

Aaaahh, ecrane, more "outside the box" contemplation of potential risks and difficulties thinking you are so good at, girl! ^_^

Well, here's what I CAN tell you. Keep in mind that I was home ill with a really nasty head/chest cold on Wednesday, so am familiar with the entire project from the beginning.

WEDNESDAY: The City of Fresno wandered about the street and adjoining streets that big/high equipment would travel and trimmed low overhanging branches in trees. There were five potential properties in the lottery. I just kinda figured that (especially given the requisite permits and utility companies' needs in order to shut stuff off) they weren't gonna wander about five different properties and trim overhanging tree limbs. I mean, get real, puleeeease!!! The City is NOT inclined to spend such resources needlessly (or with need, for that matter) and doubtless already knew which property was involved. Thus, the street work. So, I'd already figured it out when I spotted the sawdust in my driveway where they'd lopped off a limb in my tree. There were trucks from utilities of all sorts wandering about Wednesday. At the end of the day the street sweepers swept up and down my street and the involved street, including the cross streets. I have never seen so much busyness hereabouts, except when we have streetside pickups of "stuff" (such as washing machines, fridges, old tables/chairs, yard trash, etc.) and the "stuff-stalkers" drive about picking up "stuff" before The City comes to do the expected pick-up. Too funny!

THURSDAY was highlighted to be day one: announcement of the winner, begin removing the owner's personal property for storage. Send 'em off on a vacation.

FRIDAY: Finish removing personal property and inspect property, prepare for demolition. SNAG: asbestos present which required special removal today, of course.

SATURDAY: Demolish existing structure, prepare ground for new foundation; quick set concrete pouring announced to be 11:30 p.m. when they build foundation frame and pour quick-drying concrete. SNAG: ground is thought to be too soggy to handle planned construction. I suspect they will have to remove some of the existing ground and back fill and tamp down trucked-in dry soil, but what the heck do I know? UPDATE: soggy ground cleared out, dry soil poured and tamping/settling progressing at this very moment. Concrete pouring re-scheduled for 2 a.m. It is presently 37 degrees (dropping to 31) and won't be getting above 50ish tomorrow--eeeeek! Sure am glad I'm not pouring concrete, despite having a patio's worth of experience with such materials {{chuckling}}.

Turnover "move that bus" Day is scheduled for this coming Thursday, one week after family was moved out. The show doesn't air until March, ummm 8th, I think. So, it would appear that the timeframes for a particular property are not necessarily related to that property's particular air date, which makes sense, as I think about it. I mean, it's not like we're filming a news story for a 5 o'clock news 75-second news clip, afterall.

The City of Fresno deems this event to be a wonderful piece of publicity for the city and is donating all services with staff on-site at all times for required inspections and approvals. ALL manpower is volunteer, including construction workers and services, foodstuffs, security staff, temporary office modulars, yadda yadda yadda. Materials? Have not heard that materials are paid or donated? Have read that there is a local campaign afoot for donations to pay off the woman's mortgage. Sweet!! 4,000 volunteers from within our community, including all professional services. Impressive! But hey! Construction is off right now and the good publicity for a home builder, if payroll is fiscally feasible, is doubtless priceless when it turns around.

I am a block away and, frankly, couldn't hear a thing to speak of, despite the noise doubtless generated by the demolition. But it's winter and the windows are all closed. The lights on the exterior walls and windows after dark, on the other hand . . . . And tonight's moon?! Unbelievable light coming off that little star tonight!

So, ecrane, that's the update on the timing as I understand it from the media. And a coupl'a answers to some of the other questions I can remember. But it's late and I've probably missed one or more.

So, that's all the wisdom I have remaining on a Saturday night. I'm off to bed.

It's been a while since I watched the show--for some reason I had been thinking they did a live finale where the family came home on Sunday which is why I thought they were cheating by starting earlier, but if it's taped that makes sense. I'm not surprised that Fresno is looking at this as an opportunity--many cities probably have that same reaction so it's a good way for the show to get a lot of free help! You'll have to post some more pics as they make progress on the house, I'm interested to see how it turns out.

Great surveilance; keep us posted.
Let's all to put this show on our Tivo "To Do List" so we'll remember that we wanted to see it.

My guess would be that most of the materials are donated----note that (unlike most of the HGTV shows where if you see something you like you can't find out for the life of you where it came from), EHM shows every single product logo, delivery truck, and store where the stuff is being bought. They sometimes go to specialty shops and do segments on location. So it's tremendous advertising for all these vendors. Undoubtedly they get tax write-offs for donating the materials, as I'm sure the show has set up some sort of charitable foundation paperwork to make that possible.

Please keep us posted, Twin! I'll definitely be DVRing this one. Maybe you can be in the "reveal" crowd with a Dave's Garden sign so we can see you...LOL!

Hope they are including landscaping with raised beds for her!

Landscaping is always included so she and her family will have the complete package. Many of the shows present them with a mortgage payoff, sometimes a new vehicle if needed. I've seen a few where college tuition for the children is donated.

So, OK, an update, fellow Californians!

SATURDAY OVERNIGHT: Soggy ground removed and replaced with dry soil! Quick dry concrete laid at 3 a.m.

SUNDAY: Framing of house starts and is completed. Insulation, interior walls, exterior wall base, lovely dark grey clay tile roof laid (gasp, I am so jealous) beginning about 10pm (this pounding noise I can hear through my closed windows). I didn't get out to take pics on Sunday; slept much of the day with my head/chest cold.

MONDAY MORNING: Stucco applied, stone trim applied, exterior trim paint completed, solar panels laid SNAG Clay tiles are breaking easily as they were only recently poured/cured; tiles must be replaced following each installation of solar panel.

MONDAY AFTERNOON / EVENING: All of above completed and interior wall installation, floating underway.

MONDAY OVERNIGHT: Installation of interior cabinets, wall trims, doors/etc., painting to be completed.

TUESDAY: Flooring, porcelain and such to be installed. Stairway and wheelchair lift to be installed. Special design decorating to start.

UNBELIEVABLE!! The original house was destroyed Saturday morning, they're applying stucco to the exterior of the new 2-story 3,200 sq ft house Monday morning!!! 48 HOURS!!

I'm going to post 3-4 pics with notes and then turn the lights out for the night. I hope I've got the details above accurate. I'll look at it tomorrow to fly-speck them once again. Doubtless someone will spot some kind of inconsistency which might help me spot a speck.

Linda and The MopTops


PIC: Lights from my backyard to the corner of the street directly behind me.

Monday morning on-the-fly photo of the structure at 11 a.m.

Look at all the little blue ants wandering about!!

Monday evening on-the-fly photo of the structure at 8 p.m.




This message was edited Jan 13, 2009 2:42 AM

Monday evening improved on-the-fly photo of the structure at 8 p.m. Sorry . . . just couldn't get through the crowd sufficiently to remove the crowd barrier blocking our view.

Cabinets being delivered for installation momentarily. Is this to be believed?!

Final picture . . . of the blue ant crowd. There are little bunches of them all over the place.

I'm off to bed.

What a beautiful house! Love the stone trim.

Takes me longer to build a planter box!

Sac, it would take you about 10 minutes if you had all those "little blue ants"...LOL!

Imapigeon . . . 3 minutes! LOL, ROFL!

don't suppose you could "accidentally" divert some of those ants to my yard in the dark, could you?

Darlin' Ima . . . I can't even get 'em to my yard in the light, girl!

So, OK, TUESDAY MID-DAY, my fellow Californians!

They seem to have completed the interior painting already and as I left the area after only 20-or-so minutes the truck carrying ceiling fans and lighting arrived. The skiploader was working the soil, apparently replacing the front yard hardpan with fresh brown fluffy soil {sigh}. Darn, but that guy moves about with bright animation. The driveway, walkways and sidewalk have been neither carved out nor poured at this point. We're at the end of Day Five by the time I leave the site to take care of business. Day Seven ends Thursday noonish!

And, now we're at TUESDAY EVENING: I'm walking down the sidewalk in high heels for the second time today, yikes! Walking sidewalks after dark in high heels is a tricky proposition, don'tcha know? The crowd is double the size it was last night, although I must say that without exception the crowds have been exceptionally quiet, approving, supportive and respectful, despite the obvious need to stand about on the neighbors' lawns. And I have run into numerous neighbors who greet me with delighted squeals and hugs.

I don't stay long . . . I've got a trunk full of both frozen and hot food that needs to arrive home before they've exchanged places in their temps. They're pouring concrete within the lovely fluffy soil space, obviously preparing to begin planting. The blue ants continue to fill the visual space surrounding the building. It's a hoot to watch them move about. Doubtless much of the present work is being done inside now and progress is lost on us at this point. The solar panels run the length of the east side of the house roof and are lovely just above the gray clay tiles.

Not much more to tell or show tonight. There is only about a day and a half remaining. The schedule is to move the owner's property back in on Thursday morning and "move that bus" Thursday afternoon. I am going to try to snivel my way off work Thursday afternoon to watch them "move that bus," but my manager really wants me at our regular 3-5 staff meetings. We'll see. I'll try.

And I'll keep you posted.

PIC of Tuesday mid-day included.

HEY!!! Can you folks get to my DG blog? Here's the url: http://davesgarden.com/tools/blog/index.php?tabid=11058

It's a little picture show of the "Battle of the Skiploaders" I watched over a period of just a few moments while I was out there this afternoon.

The pics are kinda cute.

Linda

It says access denied.

Here's the correct link http://davesgarden.com/community/blogs/t/Twincol/11058/

You have to link it from your My Info page, where we would go to find any members info, not from your personal My Tools page, where only you have access to it's functions.

Fun series!

OK, Gugals (guys'n gals), this is the next to the last day.

WEDNESDAY: I actually spent the whole day at work for a change. So, I missed much of the work of day 6. On the way home at 4:50 I heard on the car radio that the contractor had just moments earlier turned the keys over to Ty (?), indicating that the house is completed! Fini! DONE! The building, construction, landscaping, is complete!

When I got there they had two furniture store moving vans there, full of the family's personal property. Apparently they will finish moving the personal property in overnight and then doubtless do some cleaning. Amazing! So the party's over . . . the excitement past . . . the chaos, cars (tonight) parked all around my corner lot nearly past.

I managed to get there at dusk, so caught some sunlight. Here's a pic of the house. It wouldn't be my choice of colors; kind of a butterscotch.

I hope you enjoyed my sharing the experience with me. I'll be providing just a few final updates over the next couple of days.

Warmly,
Linda


Edited to correct spelling (sheesh)

This message was edited Jan 14, 2009 8:04 PM

Edited to include proper day above from "Monday" to "Wednesday" (eeeek).

This message was edited Jan 19, 2009 1:14 AM

Thanks, ecrane, for the link update! You're the GR8st!!!

I've been lurking and watching the progress and reading the details of the construction. Today, I just had to read your blog. I don't know if I like the little blue ants with the white heads or the Battle of the Skiploaders best. Both had me LOL! : )
DH won't like it, but I'm going to have to watch that episode. The Butterscotch color does seem a bit bold, but perhaps it will mellow with time.
Great photo's and commentary!
Walk In Beauty!
SingingWolf

I actually like the color--it reminds me of the color that I was trying to find for my living room, but I never was able to get one that was quite right so I ended up going with a much more subtle yellow instead. If you find out when they're airing this one please let us know--I would really like to watch since we've gotten the behind the scenes info! I still think you ought to hang out there and get on TV holding a DG sign when they bring the family back, that would be really cool! It is flu season so hopefully you can use that to your advantage to escape from work for the afternoon...just act like you feel awful and are really contagious!

In days where war, conflict and financial depression dominate the news; a story like this warms my heart and shows me people CAN achieve good together when they want to.

Thanks for sharing!
Christie

I think you're right, Liz, the color just could grow on me. Kind of pumpkin, isn't it? I've never watched the show, but will probably watch this, too. Thanks for the 'behind the scenes' look, Linda.

Kathleen

You know, I went back and looked at the photo, and realized it had been taken late in the day. I bet it glows in the sunshine! Reminds me of a place down in Mexico. The walls changed color when the sun was out. Gorgeous!
WIB!
SW

I have been following your thread and I am looking forward to hearing about the family that was chosen.

It looks almost like the color I painted my living room (Behr Torchlight). Our LR is kind of dark, and this color brightens it up and it becomes really neutral when it's got stuff on the walls. I spent months looking at pictures of Mexican haciendas, as that's kind of the look I was going for.

This has been really fun to watch and get an "advance" view of the project---can't wait to see the program! Hope you'll be there waving a DG sign when they do "Move That Bus"!

I'm going to have to go look at that Behr color. I was looking at Behr paints, I must have bought 500 of their little samples trying to find the perfect color for my living room. Can't remember if that was one of them or not but it doesn't sound familiar. Of course I don't really want to repaint my living room now! LOL