We added on to our home in 2024 and 2025. Everyone got a shovel, and our teenagers, my wife, and I rolled up our sleeves and got to work. The pics below show the fruits of our labor.
I wanted my kids to experience the trades as they neared adulthood and began to think about career paths. They got to experience it all as we hand-dug footings, mixed our own concrete from scratch (cement/gravel/sand), laid wall block, poured concrete slabs and finished the flatwork, framed, set trusses, sheathed, roofed (a little), insulated, installed windows and doors, siding, gutters, drywalled, installed flooring and mouldings, painted, decorated, set pavers, and landscaped.
While I’ve always appreciated all tradespeople and the work they do (I put myself through three college degrees as a construction laborer and steel erector), after this experience, I most appreciate concrete workers, masons, and roofers. Grueling! The feeling after 18 months—we’re kinda tired. But it was well worth it, and we had fun together. Everyone was so much help and always positive. Plus, we kind of had to do it ourselves. We aren’t rich; we live on one income and have two kids in college. So it wouldn’t have happened if we hadn’t done it.
While it’s good to reminisce now, it was also good not to dwell on it as we went along. Thinking back, holy cow, we were kind of driven—in a good way. We mixed our own concrete, laid 450 concrete wall blocks, re-sided our entire house (so it all matched), hauled 18 yards of gravel in small loads in our trusty 4×8 trailer, and laid 1900 pavers for the driveway, pathway, and small patio.
Philosophizing a bit, when we look at how much square footage we added on… If it were 150 years ago, we would have built an entire starter home all by ourselves.
The Finished Results
Step by Step
