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A FAMILY FIXER UPPER
A brief summary of the time I tore my grandparents' old house apart, and then put it back together.
I come from a long line of people perpetually in need of a project - whether it is fixing up an old car, turning a refrigerator box into a fort, or refinishing a front door - this need to get our hands dirty comes in many forms. Our do-it-yourself nature meant no one was surprised when I jumped at the opportunity to flip my grandparents' old house.
While I oversaw the entire project, my dad helped me every weekend, and my mom and brother pitched in whenever they could. From managing an ever changing budget, to dealing with lackadaisical contractors, or simply figuring out how to do something on my own, I learned a lot about both construction and design.
Bringing my vision to life - the majority of the time with my own two hands - was incredibly rewarding. However, nothing ever goes to plan when remodeling an entire house. I'll admit I felt like smashing a hole in the drywall on more than one occasion, but I resisted, mostly because I'd have to patch it and my to do list didn't need to get any longer.
The entire renovation process was quite a journey, but as my dad likes to say, the journey is the reward.
The House
Purchased by my grandparents in 1956, this house was a part of my family for 65 years. My dad grew up here and I spent a lot of my childhood here as well. Over the years this little house saw family holidays, birthdays, graduations, and much more.
65 years of memories made this house very special to my family. My grandfather passed away in 1998, but my grandmother continued living in the house until moving to an assisted living facility in 2014. Unable to part with the house just yet, it sat empty for a few years. A number of investors showed interest during this time, but handing the keys over for what would most likely be a cheap remodel never felt right. The desire for my grandparents' house to be properly updated, along with my inability to resist a project, led my family and me to take on this project ourselves.
Vintage, but not in a good way
There's really no way to put it kindly, the house was in bad shape. Sporadic updates were done over the years, but a lot of the house was still original. Small items like carpeting and wall paint were changed periodically, but big ticket items like the kitchen and bathrooms largely remained the same. The approach seemed to be "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." Why change the baby blue and yellow tile countertops if they still get the job done? I can't fault them for this approach, but it meant the house was very dated.
The Unavoidable Issues
The House
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Sinking foundation
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Ant and other animal infestations in the walls and attic
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Family room ceiling leaking and sagging
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Rotted or inadequate framing in numerous exterior and interior walls
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Rusted or inadequate plumbing in kitchen and bathrooms
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Rusted or inadequate exterior sewer lines
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Dated electrical system and some dangerous wiring
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Old, inefficient and poorly installed HVAC system
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Original, inefficient windows
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Broken sprinkler heads and valves
The Detached Garage
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Rotted siding and trim
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Damaged and dated electrical
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Damaged and inadequate lighting
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Animal infestation in walls
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Carport falling apart
The Plan
In addition to the previously mentioned issues, the house's layout also needed some work. At 1,800 square feet this 3 bed, 2 bath is one of the larger houses on the block, but it didn't feel like it. The house was dark and didn't flow well. The kitchen and dining room were narrow, doors would open into walkways or into each other, and the closets and bathrooms were tiny. The massive amount of unavoidable repairs and updates allowed for walls and plumbing to be moved around with little additional cost.
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COMPLETELY GUTTED
I love the idea of updating
a house while highlighting some of its original features; However, this house was built in an era of mass suburban growth. The increase in demand resulted in the construction of a lot of simple and unremarkable houses.
We reused things when we could, but most of the house had to be scrapped.
A FEW BEAMS
A great deal of thought was put into creating a new layout for the kitchen, living and dining areas. Plans that didn't involve removing a very long load-bearing wall were considered, but the space still felt small and disjointed. I wanted to give this house a stunning kitchen so the wall had to come down.
ALL NEW PLUMBING
We tore up the slab and ran new PVC plumbing to accommodate the new bathrooms, kitchen and laundry space.
These changes meant part of the sewer line in the backyard also had to be replaced.
ORIGINAL DOORS
The three exterior doors were one of the few original features worth keeping; however they were covered in multiple layers of paint.
After three bottles of paint stripper, a million sheets of sandpaper, and one frantic run to the sink after said paint stripper got in my eye, I had finally restained the doors to show off their beautiful grain.
BIG IMPACT CHANGES
My family converted the family room from a garage to a second living space in the 1970s, however, in many ways, it still felt like a garage. To remedy this, I decided to add a large window to the front wall and make the kitchen/family room opening wider and raised it all the way to the ceiling.
I made a million decisions throughout this project and these were two of my best. Now the family room is brighter and less closed off from the kitchen.
Additional Updates and Changes
The House
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New windows
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All new electrical wiring and electrical panel
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Can lights
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Completely new HVAC system
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New insulation in exterior walls and attic
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New sheetrock in kitchen, dining, living spaces and bathrooms
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New gas line for cooktop and oven
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New carpet, tile, and vinyl plank flooring
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Air conditioned attic storage space
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French drains
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New gutters
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Numerous sprinkler repairs and a new control panel
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Drip irrigation in flower beds and planters
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Restained fence
The Detached Garage
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New siding and exterior trim
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New interior and exterior paint
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New electrical wiring and switches
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New light fixtures
A New House
(basically)
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After everything was said and done the house was almost unrecognizable. The exterior was inviting, the interior felt spacious and the finishes were from this century. The new finishes are light, minimal and appeal to potential buyers. I wanted to create a bright, neutral space that would allow the new homeowners to add their own personal touches.
The Exterior
I wanted the exterior to make more of an impression, and as a relatively plain ranch style house, the exterior was a blank canvas. Features like the low-pitched gable roof, along with the fact that the house was built in the middle of last century, made going with a mid-century look a bit of a no-brainer.
All of the overgrown holly bushes were removed and the pink brick was painted a light warm gray. To help break up the large areas of gray and add a bit of interesting detail, I added custom mid-century inspired shutters and planter boxes. The planter boxes covered the ugly edge of the concrete patio and helped bring a bit more attention and definition to a porch that had always felt a little lacking because of its small size and the somewhat hidden front door.
Overall, I wanted the landscaping to be minimal and low maintenance. After many hours fretting over what to plant in the front yard, we decided on a combination of dwarf loropetalum and Japanese aralia for the beds and coral bells for the planter boxes. I absolutely love the star shaped leaves of the Japanese aralia and the dark purple color of the loropetalum and coral bells paired with the gray brick and wood accents.
The side door leading in to the family room.
The detached garage.
The Kitchen
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Photos courtesy of CENTURY 21 Judge Fite Company
The kitchen underwent the most dramatic transformation; it's amazing what removing a 26 foot long wall will do to a space. Where the kitchen was previously dark, cramped and closed off, it is now bright, spacious and open to the living and dining areas.
There is now room to move around and plenty of countertop and storage space.
The backsplash tile is easily my favorite part of the new kitchen. The tile's shape and brick pattern layout are familiar, but the texture and slight color variation add a subtle, but interesting element.
We opted not to fully stage the house for the sale and just placed a few items in the bathrooms and kitchen area to add a little spice to the empty house. The custom built maple shelves were decorated with a few of my grandparents old items including a framed remnant of the original living room wallpaper.
The Bathrooms
The original bathrooms were small and there was not a whole lot we could do, within reason, to make them much larger. However, the bathrooms gained some space by moving a few walls around and removing an unnecessary closet and vanity area. We also shuffled around both bathroom layouts to accommodate larger vanities and maximize the two spaces as much as possible.
The hall bathroom. Photo courtesy of CENTURY 21 Judge Fite Company
The primary bathroom. Photo courtesy of CENTURY 21 Judge Fite Company.
The Bedrooms
The biggest change to the bedrooms came in the form of larger closets. As someone who has bounced from one small closet to another, I know how irritating a lack of closet space can be. We shifted around interior doors, walls, and even a window to create a larger closet for the primary bedroom and two identical walk-in closets for the middle and front bedroom.
The primary bedroom. Photo courtesy of CENTURY 21 Judge Fite Company
The front bedroom. Photo courtesy of CENTURY 21 Judge Fite Company
ALL SAID AND DONE
In the end, it was hard to part with my grandparents’ old house; I grew up there and developed a number of gray hairs in my effort to bring it into the 21st century. We opted to use a realtor, so I was not there for the open house, but I may or may not have taken a covert drive by to see how things were going. It was an absolute zoo; one family came back on three separate occasions to see the house that afternoon. We got a lot of positive feedback - potential buyers loved the spacious kitchen, roomy bathrooms, and the inviting exterior. However, I was most excited to hear that the open house attendees consistently pointed out the attention to detail and quality craftsmanship. There’s nothing worse than walking into a newly remodeled house only to find doors that don’t shut properly, windows that leak and floors that were poorly installed. I take a great deal of pride in my work, no matter the project, and I want things to be done the right way. In the end, all of our hard work was validated when the buyer’s inspector said he couldn’t find a single thing wrong with the house.
In total, the house received eight offers and sold for $30,000 over asking price after just one weekend on the market. I'll admit getting our money back and then some made handing over the keys a little easier, but not spending my days at the house patching this or painting that has been a little strange. To my surprise, the family who purchased the house invited us over not long after they got settled in. Seeing a new family in the house was admittedly strange, but it was time for another family to make new memories in this house. I hope it serves their family as well as it served mine.
I've undertaken a number of extensive projects in my time, but this one, without a doubt, takes the cake. Remodeling an entire house involves an unbelievable amount of planning and organization to ensure all the chaos stays contained and on track. I learned a lot throughout this project: a lot about construction, a lot about design and for better or worse, I learned a lot about myself.
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