We Have a House!

We officially closed today!  I went right in and tried to demo.  I hit the wall that we are taking down twice with a hammer and gave up (in my defense, it's tile and cabinets on one side and wood paneling on the other...I'm sure I could have done plain drywall!).  I don't think demo is my "thing". ;)

We hired our contractor today as well!  So here is the general schedule of things...Gary is starting demo tomorrow with another guy we hired to help.  They will work on that all week and probably next week.  Our contractor is pulling the demo permit tomorrow.  Our structural engineer is out of town until Friday, but he will come measure the entire house next weekend and start on the plans, which our contractor says will only take a few days because we pretty much know exactly what we want.  Our contractor will then submit the plans to the county to obtain the rest of the permits.  In the meantime, we will be working on a 3D kitchen design with the custom cabinet maker, as well as a design for the vanity in the master bathroom.  While we are waiting for our cabinets to be made and our plans to be approved/permits issued, we will be working on the kids' rooms (which unfortunately involves a lot of demo b/c there are awful built-ins everywhere)- demo, painting, paneling, etc.- and the kids' bathroom, which is just a gut job.  That way, as soon as the kitchen and floors go in, we can move into the 4th bedroom and live in the house while the master bed/bath addition is completed and other minor things are completed.

Our contractor gave us an estimate of 2 months to complete and 30 days before move-in...I think he is GROSSLY underestimating the time, but I certainly appreciate his understanding of our rush to move in!  Oh, and "complete" only involves the inside of the house- we have A TON to do on the outside (all new flatwork, walkways, pathways, California room, all new landscaping, painting the house, adding shutters, creating a pitched roof porch with columns, etc.).

I'm super excited and super scared/worried all at the same time!