In the Beginning

Thirty-five years ago someone added a room to the back of my house. See it there on the right? Now, I�?m sure these were very nice people and otherwise bright, but what possessed them, here in the heart of earthquake country, to stick that sucker way up in the air on stilts?

If the concept was questionable, the execution was downright scary. It looks like something I might have built. After a bottle or two of Veuve Cliquot:

Ever since I moved into this house eight years ago, I’ve lived in fear of what would happen if The Big One hit. Probably this room would fall, and the rest of the house — not wanting to be left behind — would come along for the ride. That would be a major bummer.

So at the beginning of this month, Dan the Contractor began the job of sticking a room beneath the room, to stabilize the whole house. This here blog is a visual chronicle of the transformation.