Several people have asked about the remodel so I’m posting a quick update with pictures. Like our backyard construction site?

We are 21 days in, so this is our three-week update in what we originally thought might be a two-week timeline. We didn’t expect the renovation to be this extensive, so I’m not stressing over it at this point. Randy has been working really hard with the help of his buddy Rick. I love Rick coming over to help, he totally gets me off the hook when Randy needs to talk through a problem. He actually understands, where I would just nod and say things like “That sounds like a good idea….”

Floor before, notice how far apart everything is and the pile of splintered wood? It was like termite Thanksgiving!

New floor isn’t going anywhere

Old furnace room turned into new closet.

I love the new ceiling height, all of the beams will be gone eventually which is going to keep the room much lighter. We’ve decided not to add the wall back in, the space is more useable without it.

There are new windows are in boxes in the center of the floor, which is a Home Depot score! They were a returned mis-order so we got a heck of a deal. I’m always frustrated at the lack of windows and their tiny size when we buy a house, which as you know has been way more often than we like to think about. So my goal in this remodel is all about light. I’m thinking this will be a wonderful studio down the road.

The goal is to be done with the structure and electrical by the end of this week, then we can start putting it back together. Insulation and drywall next week, and it will start to look like real space again!

I realize that I’ve never posted before and after pictures of our “new house” and it’s almost been a year that we’ve been here. I promise I will do that soon, but time is at a premium at the moment. I’m working full time and graduating with my masters in December. We have a LOT more people living here than we originally planned, and so that means all of our main house projects are on hold while we renovate what we call the “little house” out back. (It really needs a better name…….)

Renovation is always fun at the beginning. This is no different, even though it was going to be a quick project, mostly a spruce up. (Stop laughing) so of course we started by gutting the space. We didn’t really intend to, but once you get started it’s hard to stop, especially with what we were working with.

Before

Here we have our 20’ x 14’ guesthouse with a bathroom, walled off space for a bedroom and living room about 14’ x 12’. Our two main problems were that the ceilings were just under 6’, and the floors were really soft. We figured water had gotten to the sub floor since there was considerable water damage to the paneled walls. So our original plan was to remove the ceiling and the subfloor. Maybe replacing a few floor joists as needed. Which translates to……….. we gutted the place. You know how that works? In order to take the ceiling down, the center wall had to come down. And once we looked at the water-damaged paneling, it wasn’t worth salvaging since there was more to replace than save.

So this is where we ended up yesterday. I haven’t even taken pictures of what was done today. Picture this with no floor and with termites.

Its going to be fantastic I swear. The potential is absolutely there and with the sweat equity we bring, the added value is significant for the investment. My problem is that I can see it done and there are many steps to get through in the meantime. And there are a lot of people living in this house…….

I will keep you updated, both about my sanity and the renovation.