Construction Recap: Part 3

Behind the Scenes of our House Remodel

So far our construction updates have focused on our bakery, and for good reason. This is, after all, a baking blog! But, today, I thought it would be fun to show you some of the behind-the-scenes work that we’ve done over the last six months to remodel other areas of our house.

If you missed Part 1 and Part 2, feel free to check them out to see all the progress we’ve made in the bakery. At the same time that we were doing bakery construction, we were also remodeling our attached house. We reversed a stairwell, remodeled two bathrooms, added a third, painted the entire house, redid most of the plumbing, and redid the floors. Whew! As you can imagine, having all this construction happening simultaneously was tremendously challenging at times. Yet, I’m so glad we were able to transform our living quarters so quickly into something really special. Here are some of my favorite moments of the house construction project.

Our front yard looked like this many times over the past six months. This photo is from mid-fall when we were beginning the multiple bathroom projects. You can see the former bathroom sink and tub as well as miscellaneous other items of trash. Note that the old tub had to be cut in half to be carried down the stairs! Watching all the trash get hauled away every evening was such a relief, but then, without fail, we began a new pile the very next day.

Our upstairs bathroom sprung a leak two days before the tub was scheduled to be removed, and fortunately, the leak ran straight down into the downstairs bathtub. What are the odds?! We were left with damage only to the downstairs bathroom ceiling which honestly needed to be replaced anyways. This picture shows the remnants of the original lath and plaster framing hidden behind the newer framing, and I think it’s so cool to see the layers of history of our house in this way.

While the construction workers were preparing the bakery space, they turned our attic into their work area. This meant that they could escape the cold winter air for tasks like sawing, and it minimized dust in the bakery and in the house. But, it also meant that we had nonstop construction chaos on the other side of our master bedroom wall. Thankfully, the workers played good music, so we didn’t mind. For the record, yes, I do like ZZ Top.

Mauricio did the vast majority of painting in our house, and let me tell you, he has become quite the excellent painter! This picture is from many months ago; the closet wall behind him has since been replaced with a doorway that leads to our new master bathroom. There are many instances where Mauricio painted something only to have additional construction work change the basic wall layout, requiring him to do even more painting. But, he has taken it all in stride, and his work has helped to bring a sense of calmness and beauty to our home.

Next week, we’ll share more bakery updates. Stay tuned!