The Suttle Home : If I Knew Then What I Know Now
My “Suttle” Design - The Suttle Home
The last few years home has really been an imagination. We have been living in chaos for years at things point. As I imagine all the possibilities and dream of what could be. It seem to have this expanding timeline, never ending work and pause’s I would not anticipate. We left a home we were just finishing, didn’t get to enjoy the fruition of our labor. Moving to a home that we had big plans for! Those plan were postponed for various reason but we unfortunately already started Demo and as always the surprises popped out. Not only did we have to pivot on our renovation plans our family dichotomy and how our lives took a slight change. While interior design Is my true love Real estate has been my main business for so long design has to take a back seat. While I spend my time being a full time mom, Being a high producing real estate agent and helping James with the AC Company, Doing all the backend and accounting for my other company Pilot Car Unlimited, Interior Design It can get a little hectic.
IF I KNEW THEN WHAT I KNOW NOW
If you had a crystal ball and knew then what you know now, would you chance the course of actions? Do something different, choose less, take a different road?
I sit here writing this and can honestly say ‘no’ We all want the road with less resistance. We all seem to want something easy, fun, and be comfortable doing what you like and want. I have learned what comes easy doesn’t always give you the most rewarding feeling & being comfortable doesn’t allow you to learn. Changing what I did wouldn’t necessary change the out come for better.
“Some People work to Survive, and Some people work to THRIVE.”
When you see that beautiful house, car, vacation and think how do they have that!? It is a grind that some people just don’t have & THAT IS OKAY! Simple, happy, and content life without all the Material things is intriguing on it s own. I on the other hand have always saw more. My husband might say that I constantly think of how I can do something to change and do more. We share the common goal of simple at some point but to get there it will be a long haul. Now that I have said my peace. Here is the SKINNY!
WHEN IT RAINS IT POURS
Have you ever heard the saying ‘when it rains it pours’? That no matter what you do it seems like nothing can go right and that one bad thing after another goes wrong in 3’s. Our excitement everything seem to have been paying off with our hard work, perseverance and drive that it can all seem to crumble in the blink of an eye…….. Well It did. No pretty way to say it, we got rained on and started drowning ( almost did a couple times) Swimming like crazy just to keep our heads above water. Sept. 16, 2022 we closed on our new home & massive renovation project.
We were eager and excited to start a new chapter in life where we had all the freedom and drive to get it done. We closed on a Thursday and by Friday we were demoing the house. Ripping up dirty carpet, old laminate/ engineered flooring & tile. At first it felt great to be starting in on a new project! Then the instant Panic set in….. What just happened?! WIth in 2 days we realized there was some issues we would need to address.
We found a very large crack in the foundation running from our master patio door (shown in the picture above ) To The front of our house. NOW don’t yell at me and ask about the inspection. Yes we saw small settling cracks by some windows and doors but seem completely normal for a 35 year old home. We also couldn’t rip up carpet flooring during inspection…. There is just no telling what could have been under there. Once uncovered we stopped and re evaluated the situation. Our Original plan:
Close on home
Demo all flooring, walls & kitchen
Order cabinets, flooring & Appliances
Move in 2 months after closing to give time for all demo and to start rebuilding
live in renovation for 6-12 months
renovate one bath at a time (kids bathroom while away for holidays breaks or summer)
Our plan halted in a matter of minutes after discovering the crack. We need a foundation specialist to come and evaluate the severity and come up with a plan & budget.
At first I saw the crack and thought well I don’t see big cracks in the wall or uneven bulges and we would get it looked at come up with a plan of action and cost. That is what a contingency budget is for. Little did we know…..
We ended up having 4 quotes I am only sharing the middle two. We did what is called a manometer survey, this measures the difference is floor heights across your home to see if settling or bulging of the foundation has happened and how severe it is. We had 2.9” difference in the front of our house to the back. Since we had flooring in some areas and not others they compensated for the difference. Below is an Idea the house as it sit. Our front side of the home is sinking.
The real problem was that when we were getting estimates that ranged from $87,000 - $7,500. With such a huge discrepancy we were more confused and in a panic. If it cost 87k to really fix it we just blew up our whole contingency and more. Meaning we had to sacrifice some of the things we really wanted. The second thing that came up was that our landscape design needed to change, oh and don’t do anything till you fix the problem! If it settles more you will ruin all cosmetic work! So how do you choose? Do you take the more expensive route and make sure it is good. Take the cheapest route? mind you they only wanted to stitch the crack with carbon fiber and epoxy the crack, or take the middle roads. I am sharing the 2 bids that were in the middle .
Bid 1
Bid 2
This is a lot to unpack but as you see they had similar but also different approaches. There is the obvious how do we raise the section fall down! But then there is the next obvious, that when we raise it we lose and compromise the foundation. So the fix is dig up the whole front section of the house, place 22 pillars. Once placed they will put A Poly foam that will stabilize the foundation and compact the soil, then use epoxy & carbon fiber bands to help stabilize the cracks in the home.
AN ETERNITY LATER>>>>>
What feels like an eternity, we have officially made plans to get the foundation fixed. We had hoped that the foundation was stable and not moving. Where we could work around and prevent it from further damages. It was unrealistic as the cracking in the walls just kept getting bigger. This plan is no longer just prevention but raising the foundation, removing all the plants and changing elevation.
Picture taken 9/9/22
Hurry Up & Wait
Leading up to the foundation we have tons of plans to finalize. We have to hurry up and pick out all the material, get our HOA approval prior to starting the foundation. Then we have to wait 6 months to start anything. The whole renovation life is a lot of hurry up and wait, it can be daunting and frustrating to get the leg work done and then small stride at the same time.
I seriously cant wait to share the design’s and process!
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