In Texas, a porch is only comfortable for a few months a year. Once the summer heat strikes, it's pretty unbearable to linger long, and soon you find yourself fleeing for the relative comfort of climate control. In addition, my house is situated near an arroyo which appears to house a large and particularly blood-thirsty ... Read More »

When last I left you, the bathroom had plumbing, but we were using moving blankets for walls. Up until this point we'd squeezed through the stud walls to get to the bathroom because there was not actual, proper door. As I'd mentioned, when we first bought the house, the only bathroom opened into one of the two bedrooms. In ... Read More »

This blog thread has become less about remodeling, and more about refinancing. But I justify it this way -- a refinance would afford us more money and a remodel costs money, so there's your relevance. Sadly, however, our refinancing options have dried up a bit. As we'd suspected, the appraiser was unimpressed with our ... Read More »