Yes, I can probably do that. Design options for expanding the deck are not something I am going to guess at. I will need to have my experienced general contractor friend come over and tell me what the options and costs are.
@coralbrook, I would also like to see a floor plan of some sort. I’m not really clear on what’s where. I’m eager to see the floor plan so I can understand where you’re trying to add outdoor space. Of course I agree that the Liberace furnishings made the house look silly, but it also looks like it’s been well-kept and is in pretty good shape.
The first two photos on Zillow show views – are those pix taken from the LR?
Will it be possible to remove the wall between the kitchen and the LR? It appears there’s a pass-through there now. Or will you need the wall there for cabinetry and the sink? Is that a door from the kitchen, or is that a floor-to-ceiling window?
In the basement area (Photo #14) it appears there’s a huge window that allows a lot of light in. Is that the area you’re thinking of connecting to the rest of the house? That would be awesome. It would add a lot of livable square footage.
I need to go back through this thread and see what else you had to say about #18.
That would be another advantage of turning the lower level garage into habitable space; you could have a backyard where the driveway into the garage is.
Hahh! You guys are way ahead of me… I just haven’t had time to stand in the house and figure out everything that is going to happen, let alone figure out if I am in the Coastal Commission area and cannot get rid of off street garage space!
I do know that walls are going down between kitchen and living - there will be an open island there to allow for a sink, dishwasher and some cabinetry
That is a full length window in kitchen - have no idea why it is there instead of a door. It might have something to do that there is about 4 ft drop already at that point in the slope
Right at this moment I am in a little hissy fit with the agent. We had a meeting to get the keys at the property. He is refusing to meet until he gets ‘confirmation’ that the Grant Deed recorded. For some stupid reason, we haven’t received confirmation yet from the title company, they are too busy. Because they are all going around in circles about something else I put in the contract about Seller paying for X type of title insurance and now the title company ( after recording) is telling me that they cannot provide X type of title insurance. Long story, but I knew what I was doing when I clearly put the condition in the contract… I want the Seller to pay the cost of X, no matter what type of title insurance I get. Noone knows how to handle this situation, they are all pointing fingers at everyone and the Seller refuses to sign a ‘credit amendment’
HOWEVER, I clearly marked in the contract that I was to gain possession of the house at 11am on the date of close of escrow. He is choosing to ignore contract language and saying ‘it’s his broker’s policy’. Well, if it’s the broker’s policy, why don’t you pay attention to the details that I entered into the contract? You should have countered out the 11am and put whatever you needed.
There is one thing that makes me really mad… people who don’t adhere to the language of the contract and pretend that they can just do ‘business as usual’, “we’ve always done it this way”, “this is our policy”. I am very specific on certain things in the contract because I have learned a lot of lessons along the way.
If anyone wants a tutorial on title insurance… just let me know 
As homeowners with escrow and title doing ‘business as usual’ you get pinged with a lot of unnecessary fees
Since I am sitting here fuming and twiddling my thumbs, I drew up the original floor plan. It is the first photo loaded to our new Flickr group CC Flip Project #4
Just bust into the place.
Not hard to do because one of the things I discovered is that the front window was a strange installation. There is actually two windows installed for noise protection. You have to slide open two different sliders to get air flow. Both of them are not latching closed… I need to fix that right away.
You should invest a few dollar for sweethome3d or some thing like it to draw the floor plan. Its cheap, less than $10 on ebay. Very simple program to use, so you will have the exact measurement and can be the basis for a building permit application.
cb, I’ve looked at the floor plan but I’m confused. Where do you enter the house? Through the deck?
Also, the steep driveway I assume is steep going uphill, right?
The house is great.,the views are great. The furniture is hideous. As are all,the light fixtures…even the bathroom ones.
This house looks great but needs a facelift…and staging (when the time comes) with comfy bit not gaudy furnishings.
The first thing I’d rip out would be that bathroom light. Bet the owners left that one behind!
The left side is the street side.The front door is next to a window behind the wood enclosure (the slats). It’s a little hard to read because it is sideways.
The driveway goes down from the left (streetside) to the right, the second garage is under the house.
Well, now, they have a FEW nice pieces of furniture! The “hangings” are a bit much, to say the least.
Cb, do I need to “join group” to continue to have access to pictures?
Everyone should be able to access the new group. I set it up as Public with no restrictions. Let me know if you are having problems and we will get it fixed and create a new one really quick so I don’t have the issue I did on #3 where we had to switch in the middle of the project
Let me try to rotate the picture and reload it so that it makes sense. Deck is overhanging the big steep backyard.
If I have to get permits, believe me they are going to require a fancy draftsman with licensing to submit the plans. At the rate I pay those guys, they can figure out exact measurements and draw it out
Basically what I do is gut everything, including any walls that are in the way (while putting in the proper engineered headers). Then I am going to sit down and ‘visualize’ the space… it drives everyone crazy. They all fall apart because I don’t have a ‘plan’. I will stand in a bathroom and put chalk marks everywhere to figure out toilet/shower, etc. I want to be able to sit on a bucket and ‘feel’ how close the shower wall is going to be when someone is sitting on the toilet. I want to try all kinds of different things… instead of going ‘Oh, looks good on paper’. Most of the time it requires a couple more inches to be stolen from somewhere to make the best use of space.
I am called the ‘inch freak’ by my husband and the crew. My carpenter has gotten used to it, he gave up on wanting things on paper before we get started, and now just joins in on the brainstorming. In the long run it actually makes it easier for him because I will place marks and instructions with a Sharpie all over the walls, studs or floors. Noone has to go find a piece of paper… which, by the way, would be immediately lost in the mess my carpenter creates wherever he goes. Pig Pen redefined to the Nth level! I spend a lot of time pulling my hair out because there are tools and materials just randomly spread all over. I do create detailed kitchen designs because I want to make sure the plumbing, electrical, cabinets all get installed correctly. Every single set of design papers has always been lost. It’s never his fault… ‘someone took them’. They are now nailed and stapled to the walls so they cannot be removed.
This time I got smart and added the flicker photo link as an icon to my ipad homepage! No more hunting through 147 pages of remodeling dialogue thinking, damn, I thought the link was on page 87. 
So excited for another journey through the remodeling process!
Renovation permits are easy to get. I have used my own computer drawings to obtain them.
Thanks for posting the plan! It really does help in visualizing the space!
There really is no good place for a stair down to the lower level in that plan. 
If you end up keeping the garage down there, I wouldn’t waste precious floor space with a stair to the garage, since you already have a garage on the main level.
Is that a tandem garage down there?
I can only see the HI photo and #3. No photos of the new place on the flicker 503 photos.