Back of Our House: A Photo Chronicle

Here's a shot of the back of our house as we began our renovation. It seriously needed work! You can see the foundation for the new square footage. We decided to make the house square to the sunroom, which is the white portion to the right in this image. This is giving us a little extra room in the kitchen and the new kid's bathroom.

Here, you can see we're moving the electrical box. We were not happy with how the panel was moved the first time. So, our crew had to redo what was done by the electrician. It was much neater when completed as you can see in the next pic.

Here, the new square footage addition is framed out and we've added our doors and window. They've not yet started the concrete landing yet, so it was a little tough getting in and out of the house, especially with a new baby. Our dog Loretta had the worst time, though. She's 17 years old!

Here we have the plywood going up. Originally, we installed the French doors European style, which means they were opening in as they are meant to be. But, we regretted this install immediately. They took up too much room from our new bathroom space. Ugh!

Here's what's left of our old concrete back steps. Good thing we could use this concrete in the front yard. It helped to build up what will later be our veranda. 

Ahhhh, the concrete back steps. This required so much cement, we had to bring in a cement truck with a hose. That was an exciting day! These are so much easier to walk up and down. Our dogs love to lay on the top deck and sun themselves. By the way, that single three-lite door enters into our kitchen. Notice the roof is gone!

Here's a shot of the new roof going up. Always worried about the next rain, we couldn't get this on fast enough.

So many decisions when building a house: What did we want to do above the concrete back steps? We opted for  a small awning with corbels. We had to sacrifice a little bit of sunlight. But, it provides some nice rain protection should we need it. And the corbels are pretty.

Here's a shot with the black paper and lathing. Who knew there were so many steps?

Here, you can see the nice detail work on the rafters peeking out. The corbels were installed later.

I was getting really excited by the time I took this photo, but I admit I did start doubting my color choices because I do like the modern look of this gray coat. It's called the scratch coat. It still required a brown coat on and then, the final stucco or stone treatment on top of that. I could imagine a nice gray exterior with lightly stained doors. Modern, clean and nice.

Another view of those corbels.

One more shot. Stay tuned: We're not yet finished with the back of the house. Getting there!