Hello !

Welcome to the Zwaal Family Site...

Change is the only constant in this household!!

The on-going saga of replacing a two-car garage with a four-car garage. Since we are expanding, why not build a 2nd level over the garage???

As you Drive By... will show you the progress made on the house ... and like all those little reno projects, this one has taken on a life of it's own - and will not be completed for some time yet.

The spring of 1998 was a normal spring - the smell of melting snow, longer days, the sounds of hammers and saws???

Down came the old garage, up went a new. Out came the old driveway out front, in went a new one off the back alley.

Then 1999 came along and new siding was needed ... after new windows went into the old bedrooms.

2000.... a new dining room window! No, not just a plain ol' replacement...

The summer of 2002 saw the Zwaal clan atop ladders and hammering and nailing again... this time - the veranda! October Thanksgiving weekend saw the last railing piece and last brick put in place. The exterior is done for now. At some point in the future, we will replace the front door - but it's working OK now, so no need to change it.

2003 Winter and 2004 Spring were filled with construction again as the upper level's wall unit cabinets were built, and summer of 2004 found Lee and Lez going through decades of memorabilia as they filled all those shelves and drawers.

Winter 2004-2005 was the time to reno the basement - toys and Lego® were no longer taking up space, and video games and movie watching were more to the liking of teens.

2005 ended with more change... Lee was home in November and December and the laundry room, main floor bathroom just cried out for change... well that's the story and we are sticking to it.

2006 - we really did just live in the house - without a lot of change. The planning continues though - and 2007 June sees major changes to the front room and front entry way.

2008 can't be left alone.... as our second level bathroom reno takes over!! OK, we changed a bedroom to a bathroom, abandoning the old bathroom.

2009 - we took it easy! Just lengthened the veranda.... tied the old part to the new part of the house, now people think it is a duplex.

2010 - we did some outdoor "mods"

2011 - a start on the kitchen!

Check out our summary, and construction process. Yes, we are still climbing ladders - and I'm almost comfortable atop one now to install curtains or finish trim !!

To see what occupies mom's time check out the quilt projects.

Thanks for stopping by!