Rebuilding in Burbank after 'the Great Flood of '06'

Click to see the latest on Kathy's Remodeling Blog

Three days before Christmas 2006, as chef Matt Beville was sliding a tray of pastries into the oven at work, he had no idea events were unfolding at his 1924 Burbank home that would displace him for 18 months and lead to a $209,000 whole-house remodel.

The first sign of trouble came when a neighbor called to say that a roofing truck had backed over the fire hydrant in front of Beville's house and a geyser had sprung up. Beville, who is 42 and bought the house when he was 27, recalled saying: "That's cool. I wish I could see it."

A series of follow-up phone calls from the neighbor suggested -- with increasing intensity -- that Beville should come home. When told that water shooting from the sheared hydrant was falling on his house, he thought about the pastries in the oven, which were for a catering job, and asked if the neighbor could shove some towels up against the door sills.

But towels would be useless against what would happen next, which was witnessed by neighbors and later recounted by them to a local TV news station, which aired a report.

A sort of sink hole developed underneath the hydrant, causing it to tilt toward Beville's house and point nearly its full gusher onto the flat roof covering the rear of the structure. Falling inside parapet perimeter walls, which stood a few feet above the roof, the water collected into a pool that became heavier and heavier until, all at once, it crashed through, into the house, and forced its way out through doors and windows, taking out some walls.

Beville still remembers the final call from his neighbor: "The side of your house just blew out."

(See all photos)

Coming Sunday: commodes and cancer

______________________________________________________

Click to see the latest on Kathy's Remodeling Blog

______________________________________________________

I want to let you know about the Pardon Our Dust feature coming up Sunday in the Real Estate section. It's about two bathrooms that were gutted and redone in 14 days. But I also want to share with you something that did not fit in my article but that touched me personally as I reported and wrote the story.

As you'll read on Sunday, Meg Moreta, a mother of two small daughters, was diagnosed with Stage 3 cervical cancer, and then breast cancer, while still in her 30s. I don't want to give away too much of the story, but after what she had gone through, she really needed a fresh start with her bathrooms, which were reminding her of bad times.

While I sat and talked with Meg at her pretty and peaceful Los Angeles home (her two daughters were on a play date), I was astonished at what she had gone through. And what she continues to go through. Late-stage cancer, chemotherapy and radiation really take a toll on a body.

Talking to Meg reminded me of how important it is that we all stay on top of our healthcare. Meg's advice to readers: Request your medical reports. Read them and ask questions. And keep your records in a binder. In other words, take charge of your own health.

(Photos: Rod Foster)

The $5 starting point

______________________________________________________

Click to see the latest on Kathy's Remodeling Blog

______________________________________________________

Isn't this bedroom yummy? It's in the Rosarito Beach vacation condo that Don and Gigi Maurizio remodeled.

Gigi, an administrator with the Glendora Unified School District who lives in Claremont, told me she found the headboard (which is really a footboard) for $5 on closeout at a Pier One Imports store. That was the starting point for the room.

To make reading in bed more enjoyable, Gigi's husband, Don, a professor in the technology department at Cal State L.A., mounted the headboard at an angle. He joked about spending more on the lumber to mount the headboard than the headboard cost.

I love what Gigi did with the "canopy" treatment. It looks so cozy, but it's really just two rods sticking out of the wall with a piece of fabric hanging from each, and tied back at the wall. (Click on the photos for a larger view of this.) And the starfish hanging overhead came right from the beach just beyond the condo patio.

On the floor are ceramic tiles that look like slate; this tile is found throughout the house. To the right, you see a small table and chairs that might not seem in sync with the rest of the room. Those pieces were not bought new (as were most of the pieces for the remodel) but hold great memories for Gigi: The table is where she wrote her PhD dissertation.

Just above the table, the curtains — with seashells tied onto them — are quite in tune with the sound of the ocean waves just outside the window.

(Photos: Los Angeles Times)

Where the money went: Rosarito Beach condo remodel

______________________________________________________

Click to see the latest on Kathy's Remodeling Blog

______________________________________________________

How Don and Gigi Maurizio spent the money on their Rosarito Beach remodel:

Construction

Demolition: $3,000

Scraping textured plaster walls: $500 (labor)

Staining beams: $500 (labor)

Cabinets: $7,200 (materials)

Tankless hot-water system and connections: $1,800 (materials)

Tile for floor, patio, shower and bath countertop, including grout: $7,700 (materials)

Granite countertop in kitchen: $2,000 (materials and labor)

Tube-type skylights for bathrooms: $500 (materials)

Glass block for windows, shower: $250 (materials)

Exterior doors, windows, screens: $2,000 (materials and labor)

Interior doors and hardware: $2,100 (materials)

Mirrors, mirrored closet doors: $700 (materials and labor)

Closet shelving systems: $300 (materials)

Sinks, toilets: $1,000 (materials)

Plumbing fixtures: $900 (materials)

Lighting, bathroom fans: $1,900 (materials)

Forced-air heater, ductwork and specialized vent covers: $2,000 (materials and labor)

Window coverings, shutters: $1,000 (materials)

Appliances: $3,200 (materials)

Fireplace gas logs and propane adapter: $340 (materials and labor)

Change/move plumbing and gas lines: $1,200 (materials and labor)

New electrical wiring, outlets and switches: $1,100 (materials and labor)

Painting: $1,500 (materials and labor)

Additional labor: $5,000

Miscellaneous and hardware: $5,200

Related costs

Duty fees to declare items at the border: $1,000

Gasoline/insurance for weekly trips: $4,000

Termite fumigation: $200

Lodging until condo was habitable: $2,000

Furniture and electronics: $6,800

TOTAL: $66,890

Rosarito Beach condo remodel

______________________________________________________

Click to see the latest on Kathy's Remodeling Blog

______________________________________________________

How did Don Maurizio puzzle out the cabinet installation in his Rosarito Beach kitchen? Click here to read the whole story.

Look to neighbors for ideas on vintage architectural details

______________________________________________________

Click to see the latest on Kathy's Remodeling Blog

______________________________________________________

The nice thing about remodeling an older home in a neighborhood of such homes is that you need simply walk around the area with your eyes open to find ideas for exterior architectural details.

That's what Aaron Raymond did when he remodeled his 1942 French Normandy home in the Windsor Hills area of Los Angeles. While previous owners had taken off the decorative corbels on the front porch, Aaron noticed them on other homes in the neighborhood that had similar architecture. So he asked his carpenters to re-create them.

He used a similar tactic when thinking about his second-story addition. In other homes of likewise vintage, he noticed the second story hung over the first by several feet, with decorative corbels visually tying the two together. See that here.

We're not all lucky enough to live in neighborhoods with older homes, but if we are so fortunate, the homes themselves can be a great inspiration.

See the whole story of Aaron's remodel.

(After photo: Jay L. Clendenin, Los Angeles Times; before photo: Aaron Raymond)

Bachelor homeowner currently off the market

______________________________________________________

Click to see the latest on Kathy's Remodeling Blog

______________________________________________________

I guess I'm not a competent matchmaker, as I seem to have violated a major principle in the art form: timing. (Or, as comedian Steve Martin pronounced it in one of his routines, ti-MING.)

My gaffe was in telling the story about bachelor Aaron Raymond, seen here showing off the travertine backsplash he had installed in his kitchen, but not checking up on his dating status just prior to the article running last Sunday in the Real Estate section.

Funny thing is, an editor suggested that because I was making such a big deal in the article about Aaron expanding his home to accommodate a future wife and family, that I should contact him and check on his singlehood situation. I rejected that idea as I didn't want to embarrass him, but in hindsight it would have been wise.

After getting several inquires from professional women about Aaron's status, including a homeowner who said she wanted to throw her hat into the ring, I decided it was time to ask Aaron: Are you seeing anyone?

Brace yourself ladies: he is. Between the time I interviewed him for the story and the time it ran, he had resumed dating a former girlfriend. And although he's very flattered and intrigued by the attention he’s getting from others, he wants to give this a chance. That's what decent guys do.

If other bachelors reading this post wonder how to attract quality women, I'd say a whole-house remodel and second-story addition with about 100 square feet of empty closet space is a good place to start.

(Photo: Kathy Price-Robinson)

Bachelor expands his 1942 home in Windsor Hills

______________________________________________________

Click to see the latest on Kathy's Remodeling Blog

______________________________________________________

Want to read about a really nice man who wants a family? Here's the story.

Click below to see more photos of Aaron Raymond's home.

(After photos: Jay L. Clendenin, Los Angeles Times; before photo: Aaron Raymond)

Rate This Remodel: $20,000 Northridge kitchen

______________________________________________________

Click to see the latest on Kathy's Remodeling Blog

______________________________________________________

First, here are the facts:

• The kitchen remodel in this 1971 Northridge tract house cost $20,000 and was done in three weeks. (Click on the photos to get a larger view)
• Homeowner Dani Taylor did none of the work herself, but hired a contractor well known in the neighborhood.
• Dani had many years to imagine how she would improve her kitchen as other remodeling projects and additions to the house took priority.
• Rather than investing in new cabinets, Dani had her cabinet boxes refaced and got new doors and drawer fronts.
• She added an amazing amount of extra counter space by designing the new, angled cabinet section you see on the right of the remodel photos.
• While most of the appliances are new, she opted to keep her dishwasher, which worked fine, and got a new panel for the front.
• A few concessions were made to keep within budget, including keeping the existing tile floor and not pushing the kitchen into an adjacent breakfast area.
• But Dani did not have to give up her dream of granite counters, which were fit into the budget.

Here's a chance to offer some feedback:

Dispatch from New Orleans: The polls have closed; the ayes have it

______________________________________________________

Click to see the latest on Kathy's Remodeling Blog

______________________________________________________

The polls are now closed on this question:

Would following the restoration of an 1870s Katrina-damaged home in New Orleans be interesting to readers of this blog?

The votes: Yes: 89%; No: 11%

The ayes have it by a landslide.

Ariane Wiltse, the homeowner, is also setting up a blog so she can chronicle her home's progress in more detail than we can handle here.

This kind of reminds me of the 18-month-long Dream Home Diaries in the New York Times, which followed a Boston couple's building of a $1-million dream home on a small island in Florida.

The difference here is that this is not a new home and Ariane doesn't have $1 million. Her budget is more like a wing and a prayer. And all this makes for a more fascinating story, at least to me.

Thanks for voting. If you were among the 11% who indicated this story would not be of interest, I'd like to hear why you voted that way. What is your perspective?

As for the rest of you, welcome to this journey.