08 Aug Aging in Place
Before Construction
Everything on One Floor
My husband, Bill, and I made the decision several years ago to adapt our Winston-Salem home to our aging needs rather than downsize or relocate to an active retirement community. Our seventy-year old house is modest in size and ideally located for shopping, entertainment, and medical care. And, it has a certain worn charm that only comes from years of loving it and living in it.
We’d already added a master bedroom and bath to accommodate for any handicapping conditions as we grow older. However, the laundry room is in the basement, and we needed to get everything on one level. In addition, there’s no garage attached to the house, and we felt that would become a necessity at some point in our aging process. Unfortunately, there is not sufficient room for adding on to the back of the house on the driveway side. Therefore, any addition we might consider would need to be built onto the front of the house.
Aging in Place Takes on a New Meaning
On May 16, coincidentally Bill’s birthday, we began construction on a two-car garage and laundry/utility room attached to the front of the house. Although the builder has done quality work, the progress has been excruciatingly slow. We’re three months out and the project is still at least six weeks from completion. Meanwhile, the term “aging in place” has taken on a new meaning for us!
I keep a basket filled with disposable shoe covers at the front door. Every day, we trudge through the front yard to our cars, over trenches and piles of dirt and building supplies. Bill and I continue to remind ourselves that all of these inconveniences will become a distant memory when the project is finally completed and we can enjoy our new space, all on one level. And to that hope we cling!
Pictorial Journal
Here’s a pictorial journal I’ve been keeping of the various phases of the project. It’s a good thing it’s not a written journal, because my comments would not be appropriate for publication.
Down with the Mighty Oak
The stump persists
Days and Days and Days of Rain, and Finally the Footings are Poured
And the Brick Foundation
The Framing
Plumbing and Electric
The plumbers have been here for the past two days, waiting for the city to inspect their preliminary work, and getting ready to cut another trench across the yard to lay the lines from the curb to the house. The electricians have almost finished the wiring, and the brick mason has prepped the garage for the brick to be laid next week.
To Be Continued…
This blog is to be continued. Meanwhile we age, as we prepare to Age in Place.
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