Page 23 of Screwed (Dad Bod Contracting 4)
I feel a frisson of excitement at what he’s describing. “That sounds amazing.”
He grins. “Oh, I’m just getting started.” He turns and indicates the load-bearing wall. “The wall we’d take out currently contains your stovetop and such, and it works well here, if you think about this as an open-concept room. So we rip the wall out and put in an island—lots of under-counter storage, a built-in cutting board with a garbage can beneath it, an induction range, a prep sink, an overhang facing the living room with some bar stools.”
The frisson becomes a shiver. “You can do all that? Without costing, like, a quarter million dollars?”
He cackles. “Yeah, I can do that. And no, it won’t cost even a fraction of that.”
I want to squeal and clap my hands in joy, but I don’t. “That sounds incredible. I’ve been dreaming of pretty much exactly that since I moved in, but I’ve always assumed it would cost an arm and both legs.”
“Not to toot my own horn, babe, but the boys and I are pretty damn awesome.” He indicates the wall on the other side of which is my second bathroom. “This part is where I’m getting a little…daring.”
“Ideas are easy,” I say.
He nods. “So, the bedroom and bathroom setup is weird. There’s no clearly defined master, and obviously no master suite.”
“Nope.”
“And for a house this size to have two full bathrooms is kinda silly. Especially since this one on the other side is kinda oddly big, but again a lot of unused space, just open air that you can’t do anything with. And when you’re talking a three-thousand-square-foot ranch, dead space is the enemy. So my idea is to take this bathroom down to two-thirds of its current size, make it a three-quarter bathroom, just a toilet, vanity, and shower.”
I frown in confusion. “And do what with the space you’re taking from it?”
He smirks. “Pantry.” He swipes his pen up and down in a couple of spots, side to side in others. “Walk-in pantry.”
I blink. “A walk-in pantry? I didn’t even know I wanted that!”
He laughs. “That’s why they pay me the big bucks, babe.” He angles away from the counter and heads for the hallway. “Next up, a master suite.”
I grin. “No. Really?”
He nods, shrugs. “Easy enough. The other bathroom shares a wall with your bedroom, so all you gotta do is move doorways around. Close off the door from the hall, and open up the wall between. I was thinking a nice rounded archway, just for a cool visual effect. That, or one of those barn doors on an exposed powder-coated black steel rail.”
I’m vibrating with barely suppressed excitement. “A rounded archway?” This time, I do sound breathless.
He laughs. “Guess it’s an archway, then.” He goes back to the living room, where there’s a small doorway leading out to three narrow steps down into the backyard. “You’ve got a great backyard out here, but only this one sad little doorway to get out to it.” He grins, drawing an X in the air across the wall and doorway. “Boom, gone. All of it. The whole wall, from one side to the other, living room to kitchen. I found these awesome glass walls on this distributor website, and I’ve been drooling over the idea of putting ’em in somewhere—and your place is just begging for them. Basically, you’ve got glass from side to side, and certain panels swing open. It’s pretty cool. Kinda thing you see in those multimillion-dollar mansions in LA or wherever, just on a smaller scale.” He glances at me and then at the backyard, a speculative expression on his face. “You know, you have a huge lot, here. You could do an addition off the back, add a couple bedrooms and another bathroom or two, and attach the garage while enlarging it—taller door, for one thing, so you can get the truck in there.”
I shake my head. “I think I’ll have to stick with the original plan, kitchen and master suite. Maybe do the addition someday, but for now, that’s just more than I’m thinking I’m ready for or need.” I frown at him. “I’ve only got so much saved for this, you know.”
“What’s your budget?”
I roll a shoulder. “I…well, about seventy thousand, but I’d like to keep a bit as a nest egg, so under that if possible.”
He nods. “Easy. You’re getting us for materials cost, so you’ll spend…well, a shitload less. And for that, you’re getting a shitload more than you could otherwise afford on that budget.”
I sigh. “I was planning on just getting the kitchen for that, and was thinking I’d have to settle for less than what I’d really like.” I eye him with another sigh. “What you’re describing should be…a hundred thousand, easily.”
He nods, waves a hand. “Probably closing in on two, if you factor in the high-end materials I’m gonna use.”
