I figured instead of filling up other threads with my stuff, I'd just make my own thread. I inherited the house from my father who passed away a few weeks ago, and I'm now trying to make it my own. It's the house I was born in, and was built by my father and grandfather just before I was born. It's basically as it was when it was built in 1986, which is outdated and run down, in much need of modernization and renovation. A few of the things that need to be done are structural, but most are just cosmetic. The front and back doors are rotted out, along with the masonite siding, from improper flashing on decks that were built ~20 years ago, and also not having gutters. Many of the wooden crank out casement windows are starting to rot from having not been painted recently, so those will have to be repaired and painted, until I can afford to replace them with more modern aluminum windows, and replace the siding to cover the gaps that will be left from going with different sized windows. Since I can't find a match to this old masonite siding anywhere, to repair the bottom 1' that is rotted around the sill/deck, I'll temporarily cut it out, replace the sheathing and custom build some 1x12 to recess and flash under the existing good condition siding.
The only other structural problems is a rotted subfloor and likely some stud damage where a water leak occurred at some point in the past, behind the drywall. That section will be removed anyway, since it's a hallway closet that only messes up the flow from the living room to the back bedroom and bathroom. So repairing that should be easy enough, and I can hopefully find an obvious source of the leak, which is likely the shower drain from the upstairs bathroom. The floor joists under the rotted section are in need of replacement or patching, which can be handled at that time too.
So far, over the last week or two, with the help of my mother, who is a pretty able decorator and DIY renovator, we have gutted the living room and kitchen down to bare subfloor and drywall. We also removed a wall that was put up ~20 years ago that blocked off what used to be a wide open kitchen and living room, with a bar. I have returned it to the original floor plan, just in a more attractive and modern look. Walls are almost complete, ceiling is getting a final coat of paint tomorrow, then all that is left in the two main rooms is flooring, crown molding and baseboards, along with new light fixtures, and new outlets and plates. Then I can start building cabinets, countertops, a bar top, and install the new (lightly used) appliances. Once these two rooms and finished and livable, I'll begin working on the new bathroom, which is one of the two downstairs bedrooms, as well as a laundry room (my fathers second wife began the conversion 20 years ago, but never got beyond framing in the walk in shower stall, and moving the washer and dryer in there). The old small bathroom will be turned into a walk in closet, accessible from the new bathroom.
I'll update with progress and pictures as I go, for anyone who might care to follow along. I wish I had gotten pictures of how it was before we removed the carpet and ripped out the wall, to really show how much in need the house was of an update.
Before
Now
The only other structural problems is a rotted subfloor and likely some stud damage where a water leak occurred at some point in the past, behind the drywall. That section will be removed anyway, since it's a hallway closet that only messes up the flow from the living room to the back bedroom and bathroom. So repairing that should be easy enough, and I can hopefully find an obvious source of the leak, which is likely the shower drain from the upstairs bathroom. The floor joists under the rotted section are in need of replacement or patching, which can be handled at that time too.
So far, over the last week or two, with the help of my mother, who is a pretty able decorator and DIY renovator, we have gutted the living room and kitchen down to bare subfloor and drywall. We also removed a wall that was put up ~20 years ago that blocked off what used to be a wide open kitchen and living room, with a bar. I have returned it to the original floor plan, just in a more attractive and modern look. Walls are almost complete, ceiling is getting a final coat of paint tomorrow, then all that is left in the two main rooms is flooring, crown molding and baseboards, along with new light fixtures, and new outlets and plates. Then I can start building cabinets, countertops, a bar top, and install the new (lightly used) appliances. Once these two rooms and finished and livable, I'll begin working on the new bathroom, which is one of the two downstairs bedrooms, as well as a laundry room (my fathers second wife began the conversion 20 years ago, but never got beyond framing in the walk in shower stall, and moving the washer and dryer in there). The old small bathroom will be turned into a walk in closet, accessible from the new bathroom.
I'll update with progress and pictures as I go, for anyone who might care to follow along. I wish I had gotten pictures of how it was before we removed the carpet and ripped out the wall, to really show how much in need the house was of an update.
Before
Now