As spring settles in we've begun our first big project. The roof over the main part of the house is newer and in good shape but the two wings, 3-season porch and back porch all had roofing issues that needed to be fixed. The wings include the kitchen, office, master bedroom and master bathroom. When it rains hard it actually rains in the office! But a house as old as ours always comes with extra complications and it became obvious very quickly that one of our biggest challenges would be addressing sagging roof-lines. Nick discovered that the 3-season porch roof had sections that sagged 6 inches; the back porch sagged 4 and 5 inches in spots. All of that had to be fixed before the new roof shingles could be put on.
As Nick and his dad, Don, started working on shoring up the 3-season porch they realized that the office ceiling really needed to be re-done as well. As they started tearing into that they discovered the water damage was worse than we originally had thought, and we also found the source of a foul odor that we noticed coming and going since we moved in-the sewer vent pipe cut off (open) in the attic space. The office ended up being mostly gutted and over the next few months new insulation and drywall will be installed. We're also going to tear out a wall and add French doors, to connect the office to the 3-season porch. We'd like to make better use of the 3-season porch and we'll be insulating and re-doing the walls in this area. With these renovations we'll really be adding living space to our house!
Nick also decided to go ahead and install can lights in the living room because access was open due to the other projects. He took a day off of work and installed 9 can lights. The electrical in our house is very old and cobbled, (lots of knob and tube wiring), and the living room had no main lighting. Adding can lights has made a huge difference in our living room, and a vacation day and a couple hundred dollars most likely added several thousand dollars to the value of our house! He also installed light fixtures on the 3-season porch, which previously had no lighting at all. We picked out some vintage looking fixtures and I can't wait to hang them once all the 'dust' has settled.
The back porch was also gutted and will need to be rebuilt literally from the ground up. The windows were really old and cracked, so we bought new ones that slide open with screens, which will be nice in the summer. We also bought a new screen back door to replace the one that was shredded due to the previous owner's dogs.
I had no idea that a roofing project had so many bits n' pieces involved! Standale Lumber is delivering a large load of supplies over the Memorial Day weekend and lots will be happening over here in the next few days. In the midst of all the construction mess I'm also dealing with a bout of shingles and end of school year chaos. You'll never hear me say that my life is dull!
As Nick and his dad, Don, started working on shoring up the 3-season porch they realized that the office ceiling really needed to be re-done as well. As they started tearing into that they discovered the water damage was worse than we originally had thought, and we also found the source of a foul odor that we noticed coming and going since we moved in-the sewer vent pipe cut off (open) in the attic space. The office ended up being mostly gutted and over the next few months new insulation and drywall will be installed. We're also going to tear out a wall and add French doors, to connect the office to the 3-season porch. We'd like to make better use of the 3-season porch and we'll be insulating and re-doing the walls in this area. With these renovations we'll really be adding living space to our house!
Nick also decided to go ahead and install can lights in the living room because access was open due to the other projects. He took a day off of work and installed 9 can lights. The electrical in our house is very old and cobbled, (lots of knob and tube wiring), and the living room had no main lighting. Adding can lights has made a huge difference in our living room, and a vacation day and a couple hundred dollars most likely added several thousand dollars to the value of our house! He also installed light fixtures on the 3-season porch, which previously had no lighting at all. We picked out some vintage looking fixtures and I can't wait to hang them once all the 'dust' has settled.
The back porch was also gutted and will need to be rebuilt literally from the ground up. The windows were really old and cracked, so we bought new ones that slide open with screens, which will be nice in the summer. We also bought a new screen back door to replace the one that was shredded due to the previous owner's dogs.
I had no idea that a roofing project had so many bits n' pieces involved! Standale Lumber is delivering a large load of supplies over the Memorial Day weekend and lots will be happening over here in the next few days. In the midst of all the construction mess I'm also dealing with a bout of shingles and end of school year chaos. You'll never hear me say that my life is dull!
