In 1980, just before we were married, my husband bought an old house, built in the late 1930s. It had a large picture window in front, a built-in cabinet in the living room, and an arched-hall. There were three small bedrooms with miniscule closets, one bath with no shower, and a large kitchen with little storage area. There was also no garage but the house had a half basement, accessed only from outside. The price was right. He used his eligibility for a Cal-vet loan. After we were married, he added me to the title.
Our first
major project was to remodel the kitchen. There was an alcove off the kitchen
area that was likely meant for breakfast nook. Because the area of the kitchen
was not dimensioned so we could put an island in the center and still have room
for eating, we decided to put a Pullman kitchen in the alcove. That is where
the cabinets and sink are. We couldn’t put in full-sized cabinets and countertop on both sides, so Norman ordered upper cabinets for the lower and build a
frame for them to fit in. Countertops and
appliances were ordered in almond.
During those
first few years, we purchased earthquake insurance because the cripple wall
between the floor joists and the foundation were not bolted on. The foundation
needed work first.
When it was
time for foundation work, we had a house mover come and jack up the house.
Norman tore out the old foundation and built framing for foundation walls. After
the concrete was poured, he worked on building new cripple walls, this time bolting
it to the new foundation walls. Our house is much sturdier now.
We decided
to finish the basement and he worked on putting in a concrete floor. With the
outer walls sealed and a concrete floor, the basement stays dry enough to use
as storage, with is helpful when one does not have a garage. We also put in a
new driveway, so our cars have a nice place to park off of the gravel road.
Earthquake
insurance got very expensive so it was nice to have a safer house to live in
and drop the insurance. Sturdy foundations make for sturdy lives.
#52Ancestors-Week 1: Foundations
You can see the cribbing holding up the house behind the workers Local concrete supply company
This is my fifth year working on this
year-long prompt, hosted by Amy Johnson Crow (https://www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/) at Generations
Cafe. I write each week in one of my two blogs, either Mam-ma’s Southern Family
or at My Trails into the
Past. I have enjoyed writing about my children’s ancestors in new and
exciting ways.
That looks like quite an undertaking, even for the pros. We had EQ insurance in the early days, but you are correct. It got so expensive and covered very little with the huge deductibles.
ReplyDeleteAnd you are still in that home 40+ years later? The investment in the foundation was well worth it, then. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteYes, we are.
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