Demolition--transformation underway
Carole and I did a slight detour on our way somewhere else on Sunday while she was here, and stopped by the old house. There were vehicles there which I recognized as belonging to the new people, so I stuck my head in and hallooed. I wanted her to get a peek at what was going on, and I was curious too, having only heard secondhand preliminary reports. We were invited in and took a tour.
They have gutted both bathrooms, which I pretty much expected. They had said at the outset that they would have to take out the shower in the bathroom behind the kitchen, because the toilet was in too narrow a space between it and the exterior wall for current codes. They have moved the toilet not to the center of its same back wall as I expected, but under the window. Upstairs, they have opened the bathroom into the closet of the small bedroom and put a new, jetted tub front to back in the room, perpendicular to where the old one was. The new toilet and sink aren't in yet, so I'm not sure how they will sit, but with clearance now for a normal door, the pocket door is history. The space it needed has now been cut out from the hallway wall to create shelves for linens, and I don't know if they will keep the linen cupboard between the bedroom doors on the other side. It doesn't have an actual door, just an accordion pull.
All the carpets are removed, and the wooden floors will be the last thing they redo, because they will just be scarred by all the back and forth of the work that is still being done. They intended to keep the counters and repaint the kitchen cupboards, but they found mold from an undetected leak down the walls from the upstairs bathroom, the kitchen, and into the basement. When they pulled out all that sheetrock, they found there was mold on the back of the one cupboard, so the kitchen has been gutted too. The stove will stay where it is because of the electric circuit, and I don't think they are moving the plumbing for the sink and dishwasher, but I don't know how they will set up the space. They have cut a longish hole, mid-height, in the wall between the kitchen and dining room to make a bar/pass-through. It looks really nice, but that's where our refrigerator was, so that's a big item that has to go somewhere else. The vinyl floor in the kitchen is still there for the moment, but it has been cut out from the front entry and back bath, and it will be replaced. (Front door to back door, that was a long stretch to mop.)
(Picture here--edge of basement door just visible on the right, cupboards above stove open, small bath behind where the stove is and a back door--just a quick snap on the last check for things left behind)
The attic is about done, half of it is painted, and they've put in a new skylight which looks amazing. The eight year old gets the attic for his domain. They have found problems they couldn't see until they got into it, but they have done several other old houses before, to sell, and knew that was likely. They're excited, and hard at work. It's a great house, and they are finding its potential as they envision it, and as they want to live in it--to create their own happy surroundings. I'm cool with that. All the best to them.
They have gutted both bathrooms, which I pretty much expected. They had said at the outset that they would have to take out the shower in the bathroom behind the kitchen, because the toilet was in too narrow a space between it and the exterior wall for current codes. They have moved the toilet not to the center of its same back wall as I expected, but under the window. Upstairs, they have opened the bathroom into the closet of the small bedroom and put a new, jetted tub front to back in the room, perpendicular to where the old one was. The new toilet and sink aren't in yet, so I'm not sure how they will sit, but with clearance now for a normal door, the pocket door is history. The space it needed has now been cut out from the hallway wall to create shelves for linens, and I don't know if they will keep the linen cupboard between the bedroom doors on the other side. It doesn't have an actual door, just an accordion pull.
All the carpets are removed, and the wooden floors will be the last thing they redo, because they will just be scarred by all the back and forth of the work that is still being done. They intended to keep the counters and repaint the kitchen cupboards, but they found mold from an undetected leak down the walls from the upstairs bathroom, the kitchen, and into the basement. When they pulled out all that sheetrock, they found there was mold on the back of the one cupboard, so the kitchen has been gutted too. The stove will stay where it is because of the electric circuit, and I don't think they are moving the plumbing for the sink and dishwasher, but I don't know how they will set up the space. They have cut a longish hole, mid-height, in the wall between the kitchen and dining room to make a bar/pass-through. It looks really nice, but that's where our refrigerator was, so that's a big item that has to go somewhere else. The vinyl floor in the kitchen is still there for the moment, but it has been cut out from the front entry and back bath, and it will be replaced. (Front door to back door, that was a long stretch to mop.)
(Picture here--edge of basement door just visible on the right, cupboards above stove open, small bath behind where the stove is and a back door--just a quick snap on the last check for things left behind)
The attic is about done, half of it is painted, and they've put in a new skylight which looks amazing. The eight year old gets the attic for his domain. They have found problems they couldn't see until they got into it, but they have done several other old houses before, to sell, and knew that was likely. They're excited, and hard at work. It's a great house, and they are finding its potential as they envision it, and as they want to live in it--to create their own happy surroundings. I'm cool with that. All the best to them.
Heehee...I love that they are doing the exact modifications that I had thought of for the house - with the upstairs bath being enlarged into the closet space, and the kitchen/dining pass through.
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