In the Trenches....

So, here we are in the trenching phase of our project. We are replacing the main cast iron sewer lines to the street.  After breaking up a few channels of concrete to accomodate the new lines, the concrete comes out.

From there we dug down a couple of feet to get the right slope for the drain water to the street.  Lots of sand, lots of sand....sand sand everywhere...I hate sand.  :)  What, do we live in a desert?

Anyway.......it stays in piles throughout the house until those lines get inspected by the City...and then we move to trenching outside for the new electrical panel relocation from the back of the house to the side of the garage.  Stay tuned !

The T & G Experience

Well, finally a day of building instead of tearing apart :) Since the new beam is in, we can now cover the addition area ( that used to be the breezeway ).

All the ceilings in the house, true to Mid Century heritage, are tongue and groove 2" x 6" planks locked together. It makes for a very nice ceiling, but trying to match a 50 year old existing ceiling turns out to be more of a challenge than we thought.

We started out with a few planks nailed into place, but realized there is an up and down side to T&G planks.

One side is meant to be facing down to create the groove, the other side facing the sky is meant for roofing materials and is total flat with no groove.

Thankfully we only had a couple of boards laid and fixed the problem right away.

Now, as you can see by the pictures, we have a really beautiful new ceiling to look at in the Master Bedroom.

Now...back to demo.... and getting ready to trench for new electrical, water and gas.

Here you see the temporary walls in place to support the roof while we removed the old exterior wall to make way for the new beam. Next....the bedroom beam goes in !



Welcome Back ! We're finally getting some important framing done and a couple of new beams in place to get the addition closed in. This is the old exterior wall of the Kitchen and Master Bedroom. Since that wall was coming down to expand the rooms, we had to get a new beam in place of it to carry the roof. Here you see one view looking towards the rear of the house and one looking forward.

Hey all.... I wanted to post a couple of pictures of the floor plan for the house so you can see where we started and where we're headed. The page labeled 'Demolition Plan' shows the existing house footprint.

The space between the garage ( on the right ) and the existing master bedroom will be taken over for additional Master Bedroom/Bath space, as well as additional Kitchen and Laundry.

The Floor Plan Shot show the revised floor plan moving the bathroom to act as a buffer for the Living Room. Currently in this house the Master Bedroom is right off the entrance, so the area directly off the living space and front door is where your bed would end up. By moving the sleeping area away from that and towards the garage allows for more privacy.

Not a solution for all, but it works best for this project. The Master Bathroom configuration is currently being revised, but will fall into the same space currently allocated.

We are also moving the Kitchen wall out about 1.5 feet towards the front of the house to gain a little breathing room in an otherwise tight galley kitchen. We are also extending it out towards the garage to get some extra space as well as adding a indoor laundry, which we are currently lacking.

More to follow with structural beams and seismic retrofitting. We're anxious to start on the plumbing and electrical as well.

Thanks for following along and come back soon !

Chris & Paul

Let the Demo begin....well....continue.

So we have a couple more pictures of the de-construction going on at the house...Here is Paul taking out the doors and door casings while our new friend in the truck waits.

The view from the old breezeway to the garage through the fence planks that used to support some old drywall and lattice sheets that made up that space.

Also a clear view of the kitchen with the cabinets and some of the floor removed. The wall with the blue tape on it was demolished and will be moved outward toward the front of the house to open up the space a bit.

And finally a shot of the kitchen and old master bedroom closet with the plaster removed. There will be structural work done to those walls and they have to be exposed to take care of that work.
I will get floor plans and some elevations up in the next few days so you can see the layout of the house and get a better idea of how things will look before and after.

Interior pictures before deconstruction.

Today's update will give you a better feel for the existing interior of the house. The master bath in pink, and the guest bath in swan white with Venetian plaster on the walls in mauve.

Not exactly our color scheme for the house remodel :)

So, all the bath fixtures, sinks, shower doors and mirrors were free-cycled to new homes.

As for the white melamine kitchen, that will become our new garage cabinetry. Otherwise the sink, lights fixtures and fan were given to my demo crew.

We cut out the carpeting carefully and another person came by to pick that up. All in all, we managed to give away most of the interior fixtures....more to come in terms of deconstruction and reuse !

Don't forget to try and recycle....you'd be amazed at what folks will pick up. Stop back for the destruction after the deconstruction.

Thanks to all who took part in the recycling of the materials.

Chris & Paul

Another day another few pictures....

Here are a few more exterior shots of the house as we clear away brush and trees that were rooted into our plumbing and foundation and uncovers the palm tree you could barely see before. It also allows you to actually see the front of the house and the butterfly roof line.

Notice the stately lions at the front door.....can't decide where those will go yet. :)

The second row of pics are the back of the property looking toward the pool and living room sliders and sideways across the lot.

Stay tuned...more to come and a history of the house and our plans for the remodel !

Thanks for staying along for the ride.

Chris & Paul

Welcome !

We are GreenGuys Construction and welcome to our Green Remodel !

I've created this blog to document our work on refurbishing this Mid-Century Meiselman butterfly roofed home in central Palm Springs.

Our goal is to work in as many green components for the remodel as we can afford, and to make the home as energy efficient as possible.

Over the next few months we will bring you the process via pictures and video, and share our experiences throughout the process.

Follow us on our green adventure !