This was my most challenging home improvement project ever. 14 months passed from getting the building permit (seemed at times like a big mistake) to the certificate of occupancy. It was a lot of work, but I saved a bunch of money, and I'm very pleased with the results. Because of the permit requirements, I hired an electrician and plumber. Everything else was done by yours truly, with a helping hand here and there. My next big projects are the bathrooms, I'm expecting they'll be a little easier and cheaper.
Finished, May 2003: View from den.
View toward den and bedroom (new doorway.)
View toward where there once was no floor (see 'during' picture, below.)
View from bedroom through new door to hallway and laundry room, this area used to be the back porch.
This is the finished exterior; I had to leave 2 feet of porch (on the right) because the house doesn't meet today's 7-foot setback requirement...even though the roof and floor were already there...silly, huh? I thought at the time that getting a variance to bypass this would have meant too much delay and red tape, but had I known the trouble I would have anyway, I would have tried to do that.
During: October 19: I sort-of have walls.
April 20th: getting the last of the sagging kitchen floor out.
April 7th: the point of no return, moving the back wall, windows and door.
Before: This was the back porch, after a few years of exposure to the dogs I used to have. I had already moved the steps and removed what was left of the screens in preparation for the project.
This was the kitchen in March 2002. It wasn't terrible, but it had to go eventually.