Avondale Construction, llc

03/12/2026

Well, it has been a while ... I promise to get quicker at the keyboard ...
but anyway, alot has happened since the last time I posted.

To start, we bought a small bungalow in old-school Ortega, FL which has the most adorable neighborhood at the foot of the Ortega River Bridge, and just across the river from our boat at Port 32 Marina. Joi, who is our good friend and realitor, mentioned that she had a house that might be worth looking at. It is a classic 1930's craftsman 1,000 sf house with a odd floor plan.... thus, she knew we were hooked.... lol The house has so much potential and she knew what we could do with it!!!!

So behind the scenes, I started working with a new architectural program called Chief Architect. It has been a slow learning curve but I must say that it make pretty renderings and 3D illustrations but still not sold on the full delivery.

12/24/2025

It's been a while since we've updated our progress! Here is a year in review. Cheers to 2025!

09/14/2024

09/12/2024

Well, it has been a long journey but we finally made it! This week we installed the towel bars, touched up the doors and are now sweeping off the sidewalks. We are proud to know that the new owners will be good for at least ... another 100 years!
I also wanted to answer a question that I was so often asked. Many of you know how much work it took to get us here, so I was asked more times than I can count as to why I did not scrape it and start over. My response was simple: Yes, it may have been cheaper and faster but that has never been my style.
When I walk through the house, I see the history, I see the original family from 1922 that bought this lot, went down to their local hardware store and thumbed through the new Sears & Roebuck building catalog to find their dream home.
Our goal was to add to that history with the same spirit, style and character of the house ... not to erase it and start over.

08/24/2024

When you're in the final stretch and in your mind, everything is a perfect Michelangelo painting ... but when you put all the pieces together your biggest fear is that it looks like your 5 year-old's preschool finger painting.
Anyway, all the final pieces seem to be fitting together pretty well. We installed the shower glass enclosure, kitchen backsplash, appliances, plumbing fixtures, butcher-block tops in the laundry, pantry shelves, landscaping, and installed our v***r barrier in the crawlspace ... with a dehumidifier. The painters are adding the detailed finishes to the interior, and this restored home from 1922 has come back to life.

Our major milestones this week included passing all our Final Inspections leaving only our building final. We should be wrapping everything up by the end of the week, so stay tuned for our final pictures of what has been a very rewarding project.

07/20/2024

We've been hard at work on the interior of the house. Everything is really taking shape, and all of the special touches really give this house character of the time period, 1922.

07/20/2024

Things continue to move forward! Last week we added some gorgeous touches to the exterior. This neighborhood's walking mail carrier now has an official spot for the mail. We wanted to celebrate the history of the property by adding Circa 1922. Rubricx did a fantastic job on the pavers. The herringbone pattern adds so much to the house. Next week, landscaping and sod will really finish off the exterior. Stay tuned!

07/09/2024

A lot has been going on since our last post. The exterior of the property has been graded, and this makes way for the landscaping which will go in next. On the interior, drywall and trim work has been completed, as well as some beautiful tile work in the bathrooms (pictures to come). It has been a challenge working without air conditioning, but we are awaiting our electrical final. Once AC is running, we will be able to lay the wood flooring. Next up: cabinets, countertops, flooring, landscaping, pavers, and more!

05/16/2024

Everything is moving along nicely. We have been working on the interior for 3 weeks with blocking, backing, hangers, clips, structural screws, etc. to get ready for our Framing Inspection which is the hardest inspection and a major milestone ... amazingly, we passed on the first try! Now onto insulation, drywall and then interior finishes.
On the exterior, the brick masons finally finished, making way for the siding and roofers. (They delivered the shingles at 7am and roofers finished at 2pm that same day! It was amazing to watch!)
We were also able to get rid of the construction fence which really opens it up!

The next steps on the exterior schedule will be the grading, landscaping, the pergola and pavers.

05/05/2024

The house is starting to move quickly and the house is now framed, roof and walls sheeted. Then we chose to use a new exterior wall system called Zipwall. The plywood is treated with a special green paint/waterproofing that once the special black tape is applied over the joints, it bonds to the plywood and is "weather tight". They make the system seem simple but the lumberyard only sent 8 rolls of the black tape with our order... we went through about 50 ... lol
Once the tape was installed around the window openings we installed the windows so we could be "Dried-In" and start the interior work.

Now that the framers are done we had the electrictricians, plumbers and HVAC contractors install all the things you don't see that are in your walls and above your ceilings. We passed all our inspections, so now we move onto our framing inspection.

The next item on the schedule was getting the brick ordered, delivered and start the mason. To do things a little differently, we had the masons use the bricks as a form for the concrete porches and requested a Salt-Finish. This is where they add rock salt to the top of the concrete and trowel it into the finish just before they are done to give it an old look.

04/22/2024

It was now time to remove the landscaping so we could continue framing the sunporch ....
I am a decent carpenter but it is amazing to watch professional framers at work, they do more in one hour than I can do in one day ... lol. They simply asked a few questions, worked through some frame issues, never complained and got the job done!
While they were finishing the roof and wall sheeting, we met with the plumber, electrician and air conditioning contractors so we could schedule them for their rough-ins .... Those are the all the things that gets hidden behind the wall, under the floor or in the attic that never gets seen unless they breaks.