We finally got that darn permit to rebuild the front retaining wall and stairs! Good lord, was that ever a long and difficult process. We really had no idea what we were getting into when we bought the house. We could never have gotten that permit without the best wall & foundation people in town, Alpha Structural, who were at long last able to get all the various city desks to sign off on our project. The house was probably built on top of a little hill in 1895, near the dirt farm road that later turned into Glendale Boulevard. Then at some point somebody built Laveta Terrace, and paved it, and built the sidewalks, and gradually carved our hill into the steep little rise you see today. And for the last couple decades, the house has been fronted with pipe & board walls and lopsided stairs, which finally deteriorated to the point of condemnation you see here...
You can imagine why the city would be reluctant to approve a new wall for this site. Well, we can imagine it in hindsight... when we bought the place we didn't think it would be such a big deal. But a big, year-long deal it was. But finally, we got them to sign off on a rebuild, thanks to Alpha. So first we cleared the vegetation, and removed the ratty palm tree that was growing up into our power lines...
Kinda looks like you could fit the whole house in that dumpster, right? A trick of the photographic perspective my friend. Anyway, we do prefer it without the palm tree. We'll plant some cactus and stuff, you'll love it. So right after this photo, we finally got the darn permit, signed sealed & delivered, and demolition commenced immediately!!!
So far, it's speeding along... if all goes well, our last month in the apartment will be March and we'll kick off the springtime in April at 335 Laveta. There's still a crazy amount of work to do, we're not out of the woods yet, but we're almost there. Stay tuned to this station for more photos as work on our wall & stairs proceeds!
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