Guide · Based on the 41-update remodel diary (2003–2004)
Lessons from a six-month whole-house remodel, lived in
From November 2003 through May 2004, the Sherwoods remodeled their 1960s-era San Diego home — a new second story, expanded kitchen and family room — while living in it the entire time. What follows is the short version of what it taught them, drawn straight from the 41 photo updates of the remodel diary.
- Living in the house during construction is possible — with plastic walls, patience, humor, and a contractor your dog likes. Dancer and Craig got along famously, which let everyone escape when the saws started.
- Milestones happen when relatives visit. Nana watched the concrete pour; Uncle Ken saw the steel beam fly. Invite people; the house will perform.
- Photograph everything, even (especially) the tedium. Two tar strips, a leaking wall, a displaced Dancer — the "boring" days tell the real story.
- Refinance-and-remodel timing matters: the family started in wildfire season 2003, competing for crews and materials with hundreds of rebuilding neighbors. Add slack to any estimate you make.
- Small tools for big jobs are a humiliation: Keith's suburban rake-and-shovel collection never once won against a baseball diamond or a foundation trench.
What a live-in remodel actually looks like
Every other week for six months, the diary recorded the same rhythm: dust, decisions, a milestone, then the slow re-clean of the "clean half" of the house. The payoff — a kitchen with granite, a family room everyone fits in, and a bedroom with a view — got used so long it was almost forgotten it had ever been otherwise.
The diary preserves a level of detail no photo album would: the tar strip you couldn't walk on, the dog's opinion of jackhammers, the stove carried out the front door. Start at the baseline (November 22, 2003), or jump to move-back day.
Key moments, in order
- Baseline, November 2003
Before the first hammer swing: photographs of the house as-was, the numbers, and the loan that started it all.
- Jackhammers and new footings (January 2004)
The old patio came out by jackhammer. The dog did not approve. The new foundation went in footings-first.
- The 1,600-pound steel beam (January 2004)
A steel I-beam — 1,600 pounds of it — was lifted and installed to carry the second floor. Visiting family got to watch.
- New rooms above (February–March 2004)
Bedrooms, a deck, and a new view: the second story takes shape while the family lives below it.
- Kitchen month (March–April 2004)
Cabinets, counters, appliances: the kitchen rises from a plastic-walled zone into the heart of the house.
- Granite and final rooms (April 2004)
Granite counters, carpet, paint and stucco — the finish line appears.
- Tile week (May 2004)
Tile goes down on two-thirds of the bottom floor; nobody is supposed to walk on it. Nobody does. Mostly.
- Move-back day (May 9, 2004)
Old appliances return, new ones arrive, and the Sherwoods get a kitchen back — six months after the first jackhammer.