Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Demolition Summer: A Recap

I'd like to refer to the last four months as "Demolition Summer."  Because really, that's what it was.  If you're a regular reader of my little blog, you'll know that my husband and I bought an old house last winter.  A charming historic foursquare home, built in 1892, with a huge front porch, brick exterior, and an expansive backyard.  We moved in on January 24th.  Knowing that this home would need extensive renovation, we moved into the 1st floor (leaving the rest of the house empty!), we set up a bedroom in the previous dining room, and downsized our belongings.  We dreamed of the hidden potential, drew up floorplans, and after a few months we got down to fixing it up!  We started by working in the yard, trimming trees and pruning a massively overgrown landscape(We look forward to actually planting things next spring!)

In June, we began the major demolition on the interior of the house: removing the interior walls and ceilings on the 2nd and 3rd floors.  The plaster on both levels was in terrible shape (beyond repair), and it needed to go.  We also need to rewire the entire home, and having the walls down to the studs will make that process much easier.  Over the last four months, we have filled 3 giant dumpsters with debris and today I am happy to announce that we are making progress

Want to see?

Just so things don't get too confusing, I've included the proposed floorplan for the 2nd floor.  It's something we are striving for-- it includes more closet space, a master bathroom, and an open 2nd floor library. 

. . .

Master Bedroom: Outlined in orange, you can see the (future) master bedroom...



And, here are some snapshots of our progress in this room...

(that's my husband running out of the first shot!)


. . .


Upstairs Library: Here's the (future) upstairs library.  We want to scale the dividing wall (near the stairs) back about 6 feet.  In doing so, the room will feel more open, it will allow light to spill into the stairway, and it will make our home feel more spacious.  *This room cannot be an extra bedroom because it holds a door that leads you into our laundry room (and, hopefully, a future addition).



And, here are some pictures of that wall coming down!



. . .

 
Master Bathroom: This room will be our future master bathroom (currently, there is only 1 full bath in the house...  so, adding a bath should make a huge difference). 



The ceiling is gone!


. . .

 
Guest Bedroom: When we moved in, this tiny guest bedroom had a closet that wasn't even large enough to fit a standard hanger!  We will eventually build a regular sized closet to fit this cozy bedroom.  And here are the proposed plans...


 And, our progress up til now!



. . .

Here are some additional shots from Demolition Summer:

(from the landing, looking down the stairs. the open library will be on the left,
and the stairs going to the 3rd floor are on the right)


(coming up the stairs, looking towards the door of the master bedroom. the door just to it's left will be closed up, as that space will hopefully become the future master bathroom)


(standing in the library, looking through the walls into the master bedroom!)


(me, cleaning the floors for what seemed like the tenth time)


(i couldn't get them clean enough--
I think it took about 5 moppings to eventually pick up all the dust)


(the protective plastic/paper that had covered our floors all summer,
finally was rolled up and taken to the dump)


(the final dumpster, being carried away)


me, being silly in the mask.  :)


...

22 comments:

  1. Kelly, this must be very exciting to have the awful part out of the way! I love the proposed layout--the master bath especially. Looks like it's an already great house that will only get better!

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  2. you are a brave one. Looks fantastic, well will look fantastic. Love the new layout.

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  3. Wow Kelly, you've got a lot done already! The layout looks great. Looking forward to see the next steps! (oh, and you're rocking that mask ;))

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  4. The floors are beautiful! And what a relief to be done with the gutting - you can finally start to see what it will look like. This is like my homeowner fantasy, but bf looks scared when I start about ripping out walls.

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  5. Wow that is quite an accomplishment! I admire the scope of the project you guys are taking on...wow. It will be amazing...already can see the beauty.

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  6. Hi Kelly,
    It must feel GREAT! A lot of work I know but such progress! And I had to laugh about the photo of your husband running out of the shot - Mike must not move fast enough cause he's usually a blur in the middle.
    And I remember those masks well. We wore them so much that we had these deep creases on our cheeks. They made Mike look rugged and handsome but they just made me look old. : +
    xoTrina

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  7. I know it must feel sooo good to mark that off your to do list! Great progress!!

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  8. I'm so jealous of your HUGE vintage house! I love it so much! Congrats on all the progress! It is going to be soo gorgeous!

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  9. Wow! Your side-by-side comparisons of the rooms are so impressive. I would have no idea where to start! And to catch a glimpse of those gorgeous wooden floors hidden underneath protective plastic all summer long... beautiful!

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  10. You have done a lot of job for a few months. I'm curius too see the end result (wall paint, floor material and furnitures). I'm sure once renovations and after builders cleaning are over your house will look amazing.

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  11. Congrats! How are you handling the lead containment issues that all of us in PA. are now required to follow?

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  12. Thank you ALL for your wonderful comments! I'm so excited that you all approve of the new floorplan too! It felt like a logic puzzle when we were trying to work everything out... we only had SO MUCH room to work with, we wanted to added closets, we needed an extra bath... ugh. :)

    Trina- It's true! The marks from the mask stay on for hours!

    Anonymous- Thank you! Regarding the lead paint issue: we spent weeks researching, and many days of 10mm plastic containment.

    xx
    Kelly

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  13. I LOVE the new floorplan! How nice it will be to walk up the stairs and have that open library (rather than a narrow hallway)!

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  14. I absolutely adore the new floorplan! You guys are doing an amazing job and it's so nice to be able to follow along. It's going to look amazing and will be interesting to see how you decorate it all. :)

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  15. Hi Kelly, I'm right in the middle of renovating my farmhouse, as well (with 2 kids under 2! Smart move). Right now we're dealing with the logistics of moving a fireplace and raising an entire roof 4 feet. A few tips, if you'd like:

    1. We wait and do most of our landscaping in the fall (planting-wise). Most readily-available plants (hydrangea, roses, etc) are still around come Sept/Oct, and we get them really cheap because everyone wants to liquidate. Also, it's better for the plants to be placed in their new homes in the fall.

    2. I have a Hoover floormate, and find it's the best at getting all that plaster dust up. I highly recommend it.

    Best of luck!

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  16. Oh, Kelly. I love it all!!! Did I tell you we completed our first flip? It was hardly the dramatic makeover you are planning, but we did take a little foreclosed house and make it a place the new owners will love for years to come. Sadly, 80% of the budget was spent on structural, electrical and plumbing changes. Hardly the fun stuff. :)

    You're the best!

    xoxo, kate... the one and only. hee hee!

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  17. Wow--I'm impressed!! The plans are amazing and the right girl is heading the team of two. The design of the dream team--and probably the only team that could pull it off with such style. Speaking of style--great mask and I find that only on Kelly could it be worn with such a flare and unique beauty (how fun). Mary

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  18. Wow. That's about all I can say. I can't even order a lamp. This project is amazing!!!

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  19. This is so random I don't even know if you read your comments this far back but BUY A STEAM CLEANER ! dont bother with the mop anymore, I have a HAAN but the shark one is great too. You will love. I have very old wood floors and this is what works to get the dust off.

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  20. Oh my gosh! I LOVE your home and am so jealous of your renovation. Can't wait to follow the progress!
    best,
    Amy

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  21. Hi,
    I just found your blog, and I have to tell you how much I love your house! Are there some after pictures that I'm missing?

    Londen

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  22. Hi Londen! I don't have any "after" pictures YET! But, I am looking forward to creating them! :)

    We are in the middle of the renovation right now... moving inch by inch. I'm so glad that you like the blog! And, thank you to EVERYONE for all of your wonderufl comments!

    xoxo
    Kelly

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