**Follow up - Okay, it's been one day since I posted. (Practically) and the neighbors started up again with their music. This time, rap, with their bass so high it was shaking my son's bedroom door. So, I opened my door, and knocked to tell them to just please turn it down. Of course, no answer. Called my hubby, he told me to scream out in the hallway to tell them to turn it down or I'd call police and they would make them turn it down. So, I followed his advice. And before I could even shut my door, Mr #4 screamed at me, (with beer in hand) And said he could do whatever the *^ he wants, and if I give him any more problems he will see me in jail and hurt my son. So, I said bring it &!!hole and locked my door. (Hubby, heard the whole thing, over the telephone) So, with that said, I called the police. Of course, as I dialed, I had a panic attack - and fianlly the police showed up. I had them come to my door FIRST (or at least one officer) Because for some reason I just did not feel safe anymore. Told the police what had happened, they actually called me down - So, I made an incident report. I asked for an order of protection or something, they told me no - I guess it's only used for couples, boyfriend girlfriend type things ect. BUT - I made an incident report. Then they asked me about my landlord. I told them about the Landlord, and they said to tell him one more time, and if he doesn't listen to call them back and THEY will talk to him. So, they knocked on their door and of course no answer. So, like usual. The cops left. Twenty minutes later someone pounded on my door. I figured it was Mr #4 so I ignored it. My brother was over, and he took a peek out of my kitchen window (It faces out to the front where their bicycles are 'parked') and seen them scurry off down the street. I figured good. Now I can take me and my son out of here. I got him dressed, and as I eft, the stupid idiots put a note on my door. This is EXACTLY what they put. I have the letter right here. "Well, since you have become a problem, Harrassing me, I am telling "Landlord" & DCFS that you and "Hubby" have other people living with you and also MARIJUANA smoking in the house with a child present and all the traffic coming and going! Drug dealing - and aslo have DCFS give "Hubby" a Drug test screening. Also - it is a FELONY for filing a FALSE POLICE REPORT - I will file ANOTHER complaint with DCFS since you have a case already. =] It's not 10:30PM. I can play music ^$@^$!!!!" I have never touched a drug in my life. Ever. My hubby was a dumb teenager back in the day, but ever since he graduated hiughschool he left it in the past. As for 'traffic' coming and going, sure. I have company. But never really on a regualr basis. SOmetimes a babysitter here, a friend there. My mother-in-law shows up..That's it... As for "Other people living with me" There is none. Just me, hubby a toddler. Sometimes my brother comes to spend the night (He lives in wisconsin, comes down for visits for a week, and leaves). Filing a "False" police report is a felony. But it wasn't false. I just don't understand these people. I took the letter to the police station, and they said it's enough evidence to book him in jail. But, the cop told me (It was the same guy that was over earlier) "Fine. We can put him in jail. But his bond is $100, He'll be there overnight, get out on bond...and slash your tires, or burn the place down or worse..." So, he basically gave me a choice. I didn't know what to do. So I chose not to. I want to move so bad... I guess for the meantime my landlord can eat crap - My life is in danger, as well as my son. I already paid November month's rent, I'm leaving tonight. I'm putting everything in storage, and staying with a friend a few blocks down until I can save up and move out. As for my neighbors, I hope they rot in hell. I live in Kankakee County, Illinois. I live in Bradley.

LOL!! Moonshadow, you are too funny! In case my idea of a photoshopping career doesn't appeal to you, you should really consider some kind of creative writing! One thing's for sure -- you are not lacking for creative talent. I think we need to get Moon to come to Atlanta too. I need in-person moral support and she and I can cheer for the PnD team together. After the victory over the GWP, the PnD team can enjoy homemade Savannah crabcakes for lunch and pecan pie and peach 'n berry cobbler for dessert. Of course, served with sweet tea, and shared on our back porch with the scent of honeysuckle and jasmine from the gardens rather than paint fumes in the house. :) Funcolors, thanks for your moral support too! You're welcome to join the PnD team in Atlanta also. :) In all seriousness, you are so right that I had the knowledge of everyone here behind me. With everyone's input, I felt like I knew what I was talking about, and the contractor really wasn't left with any valid argument. I am VERY appreciative of everyone's advice. I also appreciate the humor -- it's helped to keep me sane through this. We met with our usual painter this morning. He's happy to take on the job and finish it properly for us, and I know he will. He actually spotted a few more problems that I hadn't noticed. He's proposing to prime the previously wallpapered wall and do two coats of paint. On the spots primed on the other three walls, he'll sand and/or feather the primer better than they have (they left distinct edges, which he said will result in texture problems), then he'll roll just those sections and feather that. Then he'll cover all three of those walls with another coat of blue. He said he thinks that will cover everything evenly, since the primed spots will still end up with two coats, but if it's not good, he'll do another coat. The trim is in such bad shape in so many places, including spots that weren't painted at all, he said it'll be easier to just repaint the trim than try to do spot fixes. And he found an area of the ceiling that wasn't painted and some areas that have scuff marks, so he's going to repaint the ceiling. He's also going to paint the vanity in the bathroom and give all the walls one more coat of blue. He thinks they may have just done one coat so far or he suggested that they may have watered down the paint. He's going to send me his estimate on Sunday. We told the contractor today that we're going with someone else, and once we get the quote, if it comes in lower, we'll pay him the difference. He said ok. I can't tell you what a relief it is to have that conversation behind us and to know that everything will be finished nicely from here on out. Thank you again to all of you who posted and helped me with this. I'm so glad I found this board!

Just buy the house next door and do a covered walkway between the two. It'd be a hell of a lot easier and cheaper ;) Because that is what you are essentially proposing to do. You're talking about building a nice new modern addition that is the size of a full house. And then attaching it to the old less modern settled over time existing walls and foundation and insulation house. If your neighborhood supports 1.5M comps, you would be miles ahead functionally and financially to do a teardown. You would actually be likely to be able to finance that through a bank if your income would justify the resultant note. If your income would not justify the note, then it's unlikely to be able to support doing the remodel that you envision, as that would be even more costly. And the mix of old and new will not appraise nearly as well as all new. So you spend 1M on this home overall with original purchase price and remodel costs. It won't appraise for that. However, if you spent that overall on a teardown, you would most likely be able to sell it for very close to that if you had to. Never think you won't have to sell. Live your life for you, sure. But, if you can, make sure the risks you take won't wipe you out completely if the unforeseen happens. The problems start, and the real spending of money gets escalated when you attach new to old. Attaching old and wonky to new and straight is a problem. Throw lots of money at it, and the problem gets solved. To do what you've envisioned, you will need all new electrical service from the pole and to redo a good portion of your existing wiring. You'll need all new septic plus extensive reworking of existing plumbing to get it to flow properly to the new septic (or city sewer connection). You will need all new HVAC, and additional reworking of existing ductwork. You'll need all new roof and siding, at least on the back half of the house, and that will make the front half look like a stepchild without it. (Then the new windows won't match the old drafty ones, and you'll be replacing them too.) You'll need to completely retrofit the old house to modern seismic standards. In other words, you're already completely rebuilding the major money portions of the old part of the house anyway, so going ahead and tearing down what's there makes it able to be completely rebuilt to modern wiring, plumbing, window, seismic, and insulation standards much easier for the tradesman. That equates to a lot cheaper labor to do everything when the walls are completely open during new construction than it is to fish everything in existing walls in old. That's the biggest reason why remodeling is much more expensive than new construction. Labor is high. Retrofitting is more labor intensive than new construction. And you live in CA. The red tape capital of the US. It just got even harder (and more costly) with the requirements that your state and potentially your muncipality requires. There's nothing wrong with spending your money on your home if that's where you want to spend it. You'll have more substantial visible results than if you had a crack cocaine problem. But, be sure you understand that you are spending your money with a remodel. You will not get the financial return on investment that a teardown or moving would give you. You're literally digging a big hole in your back yard and burying dollar bills. If you're lucky, you might get 1 out of 20-30 of those dollar bills returned to you in the ephemeral (but important) "resale value". If you are totally comfortable with those financial ramifications, and the increased utility and comfort in living is worth it to you to spend that money on, then do proceed with the plans as you've outlined. If the notion of burying that much money makes you uncomfortable, then you should definitely explore the other options here.

from florida, Can you possibly scan a layout/take a picture? I have discovered I'm not that great at picturing from descriptions- not even from layouts- but could tell you more if I saw pictures! :>) I may have a similar wall to you- in one sense- My front door/foyer looks directly up the stairs to my kitchen sink with greenhouse window which looks into my backyard. One of my pantry cupboards (I have two 18" ones flanking my fridge) creates an 'alleyway' into kitchen on the right side of the doorway, and I will have a lighted alcove with glass shelves on the other side of doorway- both are about 8" away from door edge. I, however, love the look of the side of the pantry- coincidentally- just before I read your post- I had just come from the kitchen where I had lovingly patted the maple and told it how beautiful it was! :>) In the old kitchen, that would have been the side of the fridge plastered with take out menus- magnets, etc. To give you perspective- this pantry extends all the way to the 8 foot ceiling, but at 24" deep, protrudes into kitchen less than the fridge did, so in a way, that's also better. We actually haven't moved into kitchen yet (still waiting for granite), but I left the side plain so that I may hang artwork- sculpture or something there. If you decide not to move pantry- could you do something on the side- hang a mirror maybe that would reflect light?