On-site draft of front porch column details.

This is the length of time it takes a person to form a first impression.

This why curb appeal is so important.

This is why we pulled off the existing front porch, redesigned the space, and built a new, more welcoming one.

This is why we agonize over paint colors.

This is why we removed the ratty looking brick retaining wall around the front flower bed, rebuilt it and refreshed the landscaping.

Even though we are not quite finished, you can take a look below at the evolution of this area.

Check!

We love seeing these stickers. The electrical and plumbing work for this house is being done under permit, and these stickers confirm that the work has been both correctly done and meets our local building code standards. I can’t tell you how many times we have opened walls and found scary, dangerous work that needed to be corrected. We work to get it right.

Next!

Our local building codes require that projects receive these approvals before closing the walls. After passing these inspections, our sheetrock crew came back on site and began their work. The walls and ceilings in the loft were really a challenge to complete because of all the angles. The space is now finished and is being painted today. I am so excited about the way the loft is coming together.

A fenced-in back yard. Super. A driveway gate. Great. A dog run. Useful. A deep, two-car garage with an automatic door. Wonderful. A room on the back of garage with alley access. Amazing. The combination of these assets is not often found in this neck of the woods.

Look at this roomy garage! It is wide enough for two cars. You can see the doorway to the back room. We will clean out and fix up this bonus space so it can be used for an office or other purpose.

Not the kind of sky light one wants to have. We discovered this hole in the roof of an addition to the front part of the garage. Upon inspection, we found that this new-ish part of the structure was about to collapse, but the original building was sound. Because the garage was so deep, we chose to pull off the the add-on rather than try to repair it.

Since this photo was taken, the addition has been removed. The garage door has been cleaned, reset and is now in working order.

Granted, the garage needs a lot of help. At some point, an addition was built onto the front of the structure. However, over the years the addition’s roof had rotted out—so much so that the garage door could no longer work. Because the original garage was so deep, we decided the best thing to do was pull the addition off and reset the door. 

Over time, much of the Masonite siding on the east wall had disintegrated, so we pulled it off and replaced it with wood siding that matches the rest of the building and the house itself.

Off with the nasty garage siding! It has been replaced and is now ready to be painted.

We were particularly intrigued with the room built behind the garage. We learned from a former neighbor that two nuns had once lived in the home and had used the space for a prayer room. We plan to spiff it up so that the space can be returned to service. These days, a separate home office space can be the key to sanity, and this space would make a great one. It could also serve as a studio, a media room, a school room, a man cave or a sort of she shed. However it will be used, we believe the area will have a soothing, calm atmosphere, thanks to its prior occupants.

These new windows are already making a statement and will look fabulous when the work is finished. We will sand down the trim and add caulking when we paint the exterior.

We have replaced the windows in several homes, including our own. These windows fit the best and were the easiest to replace of all the projects we have worked on. Based on our experience, we had allotted to weeks to this task, and it was completed in three days.

This was a busy week. The sheet rock team was working in the loft, Mr. Rozelle was laying tile in the new upstairs bath and roofers pulled off the two layers of old shingles and installed a new architectural shingle roof. While all this was going on, Evan pulled out the old aluminum frame windows and installed new, made-to-fit replacement windows.

When original windows are still in place on a house, we most often return them to working order (Evan has become quite expert at this), caulk up any holes, and then add custom-made storm windows. This preserves the original character of the home while improving energy efficiency. However, in this home the many of original windows had been replaced. Some had storm windows, some did not, leaving a mismatched mess. So, out with the old, in with the new.

The new windows are Energy Star rated. If you are not familiar with Energy Star and why it is important, learn about it here. This is one of the best resources available.

We looked at the other homes on the street to make sure that we were choosing the correct style for the period.

And meanwhile… We anticipate that the sheet rock work in the loft will take the better part of two weeks to complete. You can see that insulation has been added to the walls so that the space will be cozy and energy efficient. Tarps protect the pine plank floors that will be finished once the sheet rock and painting are done.

When we purchased the house, it had aluminum siding that was really banged up in several areas. From day one, we wondered about what to do with the exterior. Our two choices were to fix the siding or take it off altogether. After receiving a quote for repairing the siding, we decided to cross our fingers and pull it off in hopes that we would find good wood planking and not another hot mess. 

Fortunately, good wood was there. 

We are in the process of repairing the rotten wood we found in places, patching holes and sanding down the existing remaining paint. Our first coat of primer looks amazingly good. The final coat will be a soft, creamy white color that will complement the bright white, energy-efficient, windows we will be installing.

After removing the aluminum siding, we found the worst damage to the original wood planking on the front porch. It has now been fixed. (We also have plans to refresh the front flower bed.)

Before

This house had a deep front porch with a two-person swing. John and I would sit on it as we talked through ideas for the project, enjoying the view and speaking to neighbors who walked by. 

We knew the porch needed some repair, but soon discovered that it was a big and dangerous mess. When we pulled off the soffit, we found broken rafters that were poorly repaired and rotted boards. Some of the rafters were not nailed in place, but merely resting on what we thought was a support beam. Only it turns out that it was not a beam, but a box. A box that we did not believe was sufficient to carry the weight of the porch roof, and certainly not the additional weight of two people on a porch swing.

What we first saw when we pulled off soffit.

Knowing all this, we concluded that the porch roof could not be adequately repaired. So, off it went. On a Friday afternoon, John, Evan and crew figured a way to flip the roof off the front of the house so that it would not squish the plants in front bed. By evening all the debris was cleaned up and in the EBOX dumpster. 

We have reassured the neighbors that we will be putting back a new, sturdy and period-appropriate front porch. And it will have a porch swing that can confidently hold two people.

When finished, the porch will have new, period-appropriate columns.

We have added insulation in the wall and roof. Recessed lights have been installed in the ceiling. We will match the existing pine plank flooring and then finish the entire floor.

John and Evan check the placement of additional collar ties. These will strengthen the structure.

We love how sometimes life brings a project together in unexpected and surprising ways. This renovation is one such instance.

Before we begin working on a project, we consult with our appraiser to make sure our renovations do not exceed the home values in the area. When we bought this house, we knew that the attic space had great potential. The stairs leading to the space are wide and not steep. The ceiling height is great, wide pine planking covers the majority of the deck, and windows on all four walls bring in great daylight.

We asked our appraiser to do an additional consultation with us about renovating the upstairs area. She told us that she had recently seen a similar attic space in the neighborhood that had been converted to a loft and showed us a photo of it. This prompted us to talk with an architect friend about how we could do this too. He told us that he had converted his attic space and invited us to come look at his finished room. Turns out that the photos our appraiser showed us were photos of the architect’s space. What a small world.

His space is fabulous, and we decided to use it as a model for converting the attic into a loft. But, overhauling this area is a big upgrade and was not a part of our original plan, nor our budget. However, seeing that we could add more than 600 square feet of living space in a super cool way persuaded us to take on this challenge.

Prior to our purchasing the house, someone had made a first attempt to capture the space for use by installing board insulation and partitions in some areas. We ripped all this out and then laid out the area so that plenty of attic storage space remains.

A new full bath is now located at the top of the stairs.

The plan takes advantage of the ceiling heights, going from 8 ft. in some areas, and to the peak of the roof in others.

Because of the windows on all four sides, natural light is abundant. Careful consideration has been given to the placement of outlets and lighting fixtures to make sure all areas are properly illuminated.

Like our architect friend’s home, the finished loft will have an industrial look. We will finish the existing pine floors and install black hardware and bath fixtures.

The space will have its own heating and cooling system that can be remotely operated. The thermostat is built in to a hand-held remote.

Altogether, this makes a great living area that can be used in many ways. I imagine it being used as bedroom for two children with a killer play area, as a media room, as a master bedroom or a multipurpose room. 

This is the final posting about the Sheridan renovation. This home has sold and is now being enjoyed by its new owner.

Here is a link to the finished project page.

When we bought the property, it had been a rental home for several years, and the landscaping was very overgrown. As we have progressed through spring, we have seen many beautiful plants come out of hiding and put on a show of colorful blossoms. We guessed someone who loved to garden owned the home at one time and have learned from long-time residents of the neighborhood that this was so.

This is the second pile of pruning from the week’s work.

This past week, I have been working in the morning hours while it is cool to reclaim the beds and front yard. So far we have removed fencing, cleaned up fence rows, pruned bushes and pulled weeds. Plants, including knock out roses, day lilies, peonies, iris and cannas, have been transplanted to new areas of the yard.

I have pruned back the holly and box woods and azaleas back to their original cutting lines. While they look severely whacked back right now, with luck they will have plenty of healthy new growth by the time we are ready to market the house.

The poison oak and poison ivy are gone. Where we were unable to pull out the weeds, we have sprayed. The clematis and climbing rose have been staked. The beds have been mulched. Things are coming along.

I love this lone purple spider wort growing the next door neighbor’s driveway.

The bride’s bouquet

An aside. Back in April, when the iris were blooming, a friend of mine postponed her wedding celebration because of Covid restrictions. Instead, on their originally planned wedding day, she and her fiancé choose to have a small private civil ceremony (Part 1) to legally tie the knot and rescheduled the larger, wedding celebration (Part 2) to the fall. I asked her if she would like me to make her a bride’s bouquet for the small event, and she said yes, mentioning that yellow was her favorite color. So, I fashioned yellow iris and ferns from the project yard, along daisies and rosemary from my own home, into a bouquet that became a part of the Part 1 wedding event. I believe the gardener who originally planted the flowers at the project home would be pleased to know her blossoms were part of this happy occasion.

One thing the Covid crisis has made clear is that having a dedicated place to work from home is more than a nicety, it is a necessity. We are believers. Being self-employed, we have a room set aside for this purpose in our home.

Early on when considering what to do with the former kitchen space, we decided to locate the laundry in part of the area as existing plumbing was available. We realized that the remaining space, approximately 8’ x 10’, would make a great home office. The area is next to the back door, convenient to the kitchen and away from the main living areas. It also has a great view of the backyard through the newly installed replacement windows. So, on one end of the room we will enclose a stacking washer and dryer in a cabinet so that it will not be distracting. The rest of this light-filled space will be devoted to office (or whatever the new owner chooses) functions. Tap on the photos to take a look at the evolution of this space.

“What is under that paint?” This was a big question when we considered purchasing the house as the floors in almost every room had been painted chocolate brown. While there was obvious damage in several areas, it looked like the former owners had taken the less expensive route of painting rather than fixing and refinishing the floors. After considering several options, and doing several tests to see what would work, we have chosen to repair the floors where needed, sand off the paint, and then do a buff and coat finish. Evan has become very skilled at the precise and tedious job of repairing wood flooring through his work on previous houses.

After additional head scratching, decided to use wood flooring in the former kitchen/soon-to-be office area. All the floor stain colors will complement the butcher block countertop we are using in the kitchen.

We are able to save the tile from the existing bathroom. The rest of the room’s design choices will be based on the floor.

Update: Look at the beautiful marquetry border we found underneath the paint in the main living areas! Usually our renovation surprises are not so wonderful.

One of our greatest pleasures is seeing the houses we work on being transformed. Often our memory is short; we look at photos taken at the start of the renovation process and think, “Wow, did it really look like that?” The gallery below is a great example of the existing garage’s resurrection. It was covered with a tangle of vines, and the exterior was in rough shape. However, the basic structure was good, even though it leaned a good 6”. John and Evan straightened it back up and strengthened the walls. Next came new exterior siding (we found material that would match the original wood) and the addition of two windows. The original doors had great style, but were in really sad and could not be salvaged. Evan built new ones of the same design and installed them. Tap the photo below to see how the work progressed.

Progress report - Lots of interior finishing has been taking place. Felipe and Walter covered the popcorn ceilings with 1/4” sheet rock, finished the new interior walls and made repairs to the existing ones. Mark and David have been painting pretty much anything that did not move.

Don’t you think this is a good look for John? During closing, we sat on opposite ends of the table, PPE in place, signing documents with sanitized pens.

We are cruising on this house, maybe because of the social-distancing guidelines, maybe in spite of them. If, big if here, all goes well we will have the house on the market in mid-June. It will have two bedrooms and two full baths, and wait for it, a home office, and a garage. It is located in the VECA neighborhood within a few blocks of Rhodes.

Demolition

Out with the old. We try and recycle as much construction waste as possible by using EBOX.

Scarce commodity

Yes, we have four rolls of toilet paper on site.

Powered up

We are using Victory Electric for this project. The house has passed its rough-in inspection.

Women build 901 too

Angel has worked for Victory Electric for 18 years.

Repurposed space

We captured square footage from a very small bedroom to make a brand new kitchen with a doorway to the back yard and a new master bathroom suite.

Repurposed space 2

Soon the former kitchen will house an enclosed laundry area AND a home office.

Tile repair

We will replace the broken tile before refinishing the tub surround.

Brand new windows

Usually we try to repair the existing windows, but these were just too far gone.

Instead

We have installed Energy star rated Pella windows throughout.

Exterior paint

Fresh. Clean. Cottage-like. Can’t wait until we get the pink (yes, pink) on the front door.