Hi! At long last we are hoping to add on to our 1927 bungalow in Livermore, CA, but have had trouble finding both contractors and/or architects that want to do anything except start by ripping out all the plaster and replacing it with drywall! We have a half-remodeled bathroom, and want to finish that before we die (have done the electrical, plumbing, window repair and ceiling replacement, with plaster, but the plaster people didn't speak our language and did a really bad job of patching after the electrical). We also want to add on a master bedroom suite plus other functional areas. Would greatly appreciate the names of any sympathetic architects/contractors in the East SF Bay Area. <br> <br>Also, I'm from the Midwest where every house has a basement. We have a small cellar, that is packed to the gills. My thought is to build a compatible addition to the side and back of our existing home with a full basement underneath. Everyone else laughs at me. Seems to me this is a great way to add functional space to your house without totally filling up your lot or messing up the look of the existing house. I'm being told "basements just aren't done in California!" <br> <br>Anybody out there have any thoughts? Thanks! <br> <br> <br>

I'm a transplant from the midwest as well, been here 24 years now. I used to wonder why houses here in California don't have basements, at least new houses don't. I was told that because of the earthquake danger, building a basement with walls strong enough to pass earthquake codes is prohibitivly expensive. I think there might be some areas where the danger is extremely high that they don't allow them in new residential construction.

We live in San Carlos and we've recently hired an architect from San Francisco. We're still in the early stages of the project, but we've been very happy so far. The architect's name is Michael Froelich and his number is 415 681 8268. I don't want to bore everyone here with all the details of my project, so email me at gimmesomeshelter@yahoo.com if you want additional information. <br> <br>