3D model of the existing home

I have tried to use SketchUp - mostly just learning by doing with occasional glimpses into the user guide. The program has a somewhat steep learning curve - and I may have been trying to use it for details it wasn't meant for. Anyway, I feel the tool was in the way, and for every hour I spent on creating my model I used 1-2 hours repairing things that had gone wrong; for instance, I constantly seem to be loosing "faces" on my walls.
I did manage to create a 3D-model of my house. The file is available here. Note how the roof is 3-level, with about 1 ft of separation between two levels.

Rough photo tour of the home

I am trying to organize many photos of the home as a tour. Here is the very very rough draft...
Tour

Landscaping - drought tolerant / native plants

I'll need to do some new planting. There are bare areas on both sides of the driveway (50' + 30', each 7-10' deep). And I need to plant screening shrubs to block out the down hill neighbors (to the east of the patio), and there is potentially 25'+60' of 5' deep planting area on the top of the retaining wall towards the redwoods. I have to do something to prevent people from accidentally falling down there: either a rail or a planted bed to mark the height difference.

Andrew and Shelley got me connected up with a whole sale nursery who will deliver. I have ordered some 70 plants -- don't know when they will be delivered. I also ordered from Las Pilitas nursery. And I am considering trying out this one as well: http://www.mountainvalleygrowers.com

I picked the plants by cross referencing multiple sources [wow, what an obvious challenge for a mash up exercise]
- PV's lists of recommended native plants
- the nursery catalogs
- Las Pilitas' advice on deer tolerant planting
- Las Pilitas nursery's general plant descriptions

The big question is of course if I should even consider any new planting without having a fence in place. The evening before last I had three bucks come through from the driveway to the back yard.

Speaking of critters, so far I haven't encountered any gophers, but I bet they are around. Which suggests that I get all the planting holes for the shrubs lined with chicken wire.


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Landscaping - cleaning up

The very first thing I did was to remove a huge concrete slab that made up the patio, and pull out juniper jungles along the driveway and to the east of the patio, and finally to remove the deer pruned photinias between the patio and the upper redwood grove. I think that happened even before I moved in.

I got town approval to remove the old Monterey pine NW of the patio (prominent in the view from the driveway) and the odd palm tree at the opposite end. Both got chopped up and is now used as wood chips to cover the patio (which is pure clay).

Next I put my attention to all the unweildy growth along the (upper half) property lines and in the redwood grove.
Toni came by the previous weekend and got enrolled in the initial pruning: we cut away some parts and marked more heavy areas for Juan, and last week I had his crew take down the two trees and start the pruning work. They also cleared the bottom of the redwood grove so no branch is below 6'. That provided a great opening and allows us to see the grassy meadow through the trunks. Much better. Unfortunately one of the workers got stung by a yellow jacket: he came upon a very active nest in the east-most redwood. I need to have it sprayed.

Roof make-over - reroofing

The current roof is in bad shape here and there. There are active leaks in the overhang in front of the kitchen, and looking at the paint in the bedrooms, there have been leaks all along the south side. And the ceiling in the added-on bedroom has marks of water damage.

The simplest thing would be to have the roof repaired, but that would not resolve two other challenges:

(1) there is very little insulation in the current roof

(2) there is no way of running electrical connections to the ceiling

(3) there may be active termite activity that should be treated and repaired

So, looking into options here, I first looked at Eichler-ish foam roofs. I got a bid from one foam roofer: $18,500 plus $1500 for complete tear down and $2000 for PV required class A fire rating. I.e., $22K plus, of course, the cost of termite repairs and new electrical installations.

The advantage of a foam roof would also be that I could put in a lot of skylights to light up any interior corridor. Each skylight would likely be around $1000-2000

Well, $22K is a lot of money to put into a roof I am not too happy with in the first place. I was thinking about what might make me love a flat roof more. And I thought of Green Roofs, grass or sedum roofs. I wonder if that would be even approachable in costs.

Another re-roofing bid was a bit lower, like $14000, and it would cover putting some composite membrane on (as opposed to the current tar&gravel).

But it is a lot of money to spend on a roof I don't like the shape of!!!

Roof make over - the entryway overhang

My original idea was to raise the entire roof, throughout the house. Vicky's contractor friend did a good job of talking me out of it, primarily suggesting that any substantial roof change would trigger a whole slew of addl. code compliance requirements - not to speak of the long wait to get the case through design review, neighbor review and whatever.

So I have been trying to make peace with the flat roof - at least part of it.

I really want to get some headroom into the entryway, and my immediate idea is to remove the current extension of the garage roof that goes over the entryway overhang, and instead get a new roof or overhang that is either the same level as the bedroom section (extra 1'-1.5') or perhaps even the LR (extra 2'-2.5').

When Steve came by, he was very doubtful about the feasibility of changing the overhang - suggesting it might severely compromise the structural integrity where the current garage beam meets the added-on bedroom wall. Hmm, I cannot see how that can be a major problem. The garage beam is of course resting on som post over there, and there may be a beam in the bedroom wall that, again, rests on the post + end-of-garage beam. But what is the big deal? The post just have to be extended with the height of the garage beam - which is carefully removed. The other end of the garage beam rests on a post in the corner of the garage, and everything there is fine. So the only thing left dangling is the ceiling of the overhang - which I would simply remove. Can someone explain to me why this is so impossible?

Fireplace make-over - bids

The rustic-ness of the current fireplace doesn't do it for me. I dislike the rough texture and multi-level recessed-ness of the concrete block; I dislike the upper mantel and I am not too crazy about the decapitated look of the brick section.

So I contacted Carl, the tile++ guy. We discussed putting slate up. He made clear that a lot of prep would go into getting a level surface for the entire wall section. It would amount to around $2000-2600 plus the cost of slate (~$1000). And it would take him 5 days

I also contacted Kirk, the wall prep guy. He suggested a similar replastering to create a smooth surface, and also possibly a finish with venetian plaster. I think I remember it was $2000 for the smoothing and an addl. $1000 for the finish.

Hmm, I am still not sure any of these solutions are the right one.

I wonder why it has to be so difficult to get an even surface. Why not just shim out with furring strips where the indents are now; put chicken wire on top and then plaster over it, making it smooth...