On 30 Sep 2006 17:43:23 -0700, "BobK207" wrote:


an-
:
TBT..

Done that been there?

:.....I own a 1930 classic home in Santa Ana. Luckily I have a
:concrete foundation & I don't have nearly the seismic exposure that you
:have.
:
:Honestly the commericial restoration of a old home is not an easy or
:inexpensive project.
:
:IMO you've either got to be really handy (& have the time & desire to
:do the work)
:OR
:have a fairly long time frame
:OR
:have sizeable chunk of $'s

I have some of all those, but not in spades.
:
:I'd do the foundation work first or concurrently with the other
:work.......you'd be pretty bad off if you did all the work (less
:foundation) on the house & it got destroyed by an e/q before you got to
:foundation!

Yes, I'm gambling if I roll the dice and just hope a devestating
earthquake doesn't upset my apple cart. Am I mixing my metaphors? Well,
the meaning's there.

:
:If the siding is coming off; that's a good time to do the electrical,
lumbing & insulation. I have stucco, so my "siding" most likely won't
:be coming off (at least in my lifetime) so my plumbing & lectrical will
:be soemwhat more trouble if I want to preserve (& I do) my artist
:textured plaster intact.

The siding is most definitely coming off. I have stucco on 2nd floor.
Half of the upper floor siding is shingles. Those are painted, some in
poor condition and ideally they would all be replaced... especially if I
install shingles on the first floor. Maybe the stucco can remain.
:
o you have the experience / skills to act as your own GC?

It would be a stretch, a huge stretch. Yes, I could, but I'm afraid I'd
make serious mistakes. I know several GC's (3, at least) who could
probably do a much better job.
:
:Search through this newsgroup....there is a fellow in Berkeley who
osted (& got answered) a ton of questions about old house work. He's
:in Berkeley as well
:
:I think this is one of his first posts....
:
:http://groups.google.com/group/alt.h...b 720acc0c967

I've made friends with him - Wayne Whitney. We've helped each other a
bit and visited each other's house several times. He's quite impressive,
a very bright guy and very level headed. His posts here tend to be
informed and well worth reading. The work he's done (and is doing) on
his house is top notch.

:
:My suggestion would be to look him up, he's got a whole lot of
:experience under his belt by know & he's put a lot of thought into the
rocess

I couldn't agree more. We've done a lot of email correspondence.

One of the guys I'm considering to do my foundation (and maybe act as my
GC) is the guy who did Wayne's foundation and new basement. That
contractor gave me literally hundreds of local references! Talk about
experience!

Dan

:cheers
:Bob