June 7, 2021. Canyon Lake, Texas. Lake House Renovations.

The home we four purcased was ordinary and ugly but we lived with it for a year or so mainly because we had no money. Ken and I hired a local architect to come up with ideas and a plan which we liked. When I was talking with my friend Butch about the renovations he urged me to not even ask David and Suzanne to share the costs because by then Sarah had come along and Abigail was soon to be born. He told me that if Ken and I wanted to renovate the lake house we should pay for it ourselves. We started getting bids from Builders and we selected the cheapest and also the youngest. He got the job done and on budget but hidden defects appeared over time. We turned the house upside down by putting one room on the second floor overlooking the water, so living room, dining room and kitchen were open. The lower level now held two maser suites with full bathroom opening on the large deck just below the deck off the main room. We extended the house 8 feet and the decks were large. An ugly shed was attached to the side of the house which we removed. That left us with a guest room, office and large childrens room. When the renovations were complete, the house was just what we wanted it to be. Because Ken and I paid for the renovation, Suzanne and David took over paying the mortgage but for a few years we kept our pot of money. Fifteen years after the renovation was completed, David hired a good carpenter to correct the defects all done by shoddy work. If the rain was beating down and the wind blew from the lake, water seeped in the windows of David and Suzanne's bedroom. But not any more. It was an expensive fix. In the future we will never select the cheapest builder. But the house fits our purposes for both family life and for entertaining. We started with a tacky little house with great acess to the lake. After the renovations, we had a lovely home overlooking the lake but still with easy acess to the lake. We accomplished our goal.