Old House to New House

[Headshot 27,317]

In this thread, I will attempt to take you through the process of performing a major remodel on my house. When we first purchased the property in 2010, I was looking for potential more than for finished product. Of course, if I had discovered a great house for a great price, I would have jumped on it, but those deals are really quite rare. For me, it wasn't in the cards. So, I went into my search knowing what I would need to create what I wanted rather than settling for somebody else's picture of perfect. I knew I wanted a fairly large, fairly flat lot. I knew that any existing house must be built well enough that additions and remodeling would be possible. So, that was my starting point.

 

I will try, in this thread, to give an overview and show some of the houses details and systems.

 

Here was the house I selected to start with...

 

House and Lot

 

First Floor Plan

 

Second Floor Plan (over corner bedroom and maid's room)

 

Front of House

 

You will notice that the floor plan had been chopped into a number a small rooms. What the original owner had built as a master bedroom was turned into two smaller rooms by the second owners who also converted the walk-in closet into another small bedroom. There was another small room on the second floor that opened onto the balcony above the maid's room. That room was used as a music room.

Edited March 26, 2014 by Headshot

[Skywalker 19,176]

Awesome.  Was this originally a 2 plot piece?

[Headshot 27,317]

Here are some pictures of the interior of the house from before we bought it. The previous owners had put in cheap ceramic tiles in the front of the house and baths, while they used wood parquet tiles in the back of the house (bedrooms and hall).

 

Entry

 

Living/Dining Area

 

Kitchen

 

Hall

 

Bedroom

 

Bedroom

 

Master Bedroom

 

Master Bath

 

Main Bath

 

Side Passage

 

Edited March 26, 2014 by Headshot

[Headshot 27,317]

Awesome.  Was this originally a 2 plot piece?

 

Yes, it was two lots, and the side lot was completely undeveloped. The exterior wall on that side of the house had been built higher to create a fire barrier. You'll see that when I post the next part of the project, but I'm tired right now. I'll post more tomorrow. One of the things that drew me to this house was that the walls were poured steel-reinforced concrete, so I knew they could support a second floor.

Edited March 25, 2014 by Headshot

[Mr. Mike 10,417]

Looks like a very nice home Headshot...now please let the little dog back in the house

[Kuting 330]

looking forward to seeing how this project progresses thanks for sharing it with us x

[Headshot 27,317]

After we purchased the property in June 2010, we immediately remodeled it to bring the original master suite back (with improvements), totally remodel the kitchen, replace all of the flooring with marble, and redo the front wall and gates. That meant we took the house from five tiny bedrooms to a large master suite and two tiny bedrooms. We moved the wall separating the walk-in closet from the master bath to make the bath larger and the closet smaller because the original bath was too small. We put marble in one of the bedrooms (now the maid's room), but left ceramic tile in the other bedroom since we knew it would be demolished in a later remodel to make room for stairs. Prior to this remodel, the only way from the house to the side yard was to go through the front gate to the street and then back in through the front gate of the side yard. That made the side yard pretty much unusable, so I had the niche wall in front of the house demolished and replaced it with a pedestrian gate, so at least we wouldn't have to go into the street. Here are before and after plans of the first floor. We didn't do anything to the second floor in this remodel.

 

Before         After 

Edited March 26, 2014 by Headshot

[Headshot 27,317]

I didn't take pictures right after the 2010 remodel, but in early 2011, we added a water tower (to increase water pressure) above the back storage room and added anapog to the side yard to create a good foundation for the future garage. Here are the outside pictures after the 2011 remodel...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[motorboy 2,325]

nice house, looks very comfortable. The bedroom with the green walls looks like the color of my living room a few years ago. Ex was Mexican, so she went a little crazy with the colors. I loved it, but my brother thought I was crazy letting her "Mexicanize" my house. I guess he didn't understand it was her house also.

[Headshot 27,317]

Here are pictures of the inside of the house in 2012 which show all of the changes from the 2010 remodel...

 

Dining Area

 

Living Area

 

Kitchen

 

Entry

 

Hall

 

Master Bedroom

 

Maid's Room

 

Spare Bedroom

 

I didn't have any pictures of the master bath and walk-in closet from that time, but nothing really has changed, so here are some pictures from this year...

 

Master Bath

 

Walk-in Closet

[Headshot 27,317]

In 2012, the only project was to replace the septic tank (which we couldn't even find at the time). We built a large septic tank in front of the house, so it is easily accessible in case it ever needs to be cleaned (which probably won't be for a long time. In the process of digging a trench along the entry side of the house to connect the existing sewer lines to the new tank, we found the existing septic tank (which was almost full of sediment and buried under concrete directly in front of the main entrance). We ran the sewer pipe directly through the old septic tank, filled it with anapog, and covered it with steel-reinforced concrete to seal it. When the landscaping is complete, the access covers to the septic tank will be in the garden area in front of the house (so they will never again be covered by concrete. I will put a couple of artificial rocks over them to hide them and mark their location.

 

Edited March 26, 2014 by Headshot

[Headshot 27,317]

nice house, looks very comfortable. The bedroom with the green walls looks like the color of my living room a few years ago. Ex was Mexican, so she went a little crazy with the colors. I loved it, but my brother thought I was crazy letting her "Mexicanize" my house. I guess he didn't understand it was her house also.

 

Keep reading. That was just the first stages of this transformation.

[billy 1,690]

Looks great. Something you can be proud of. Its nice to see peoples construction proajects, whether from new or additions. Thanks

[contraman 28,990]

Keep reading. That was just the first stages of this transformation.

I will certainly keep reading.

It's far more interesting than my bathroom door thread

[Headshot 27,317]

Here is the 2013 construction project. We took the single story house, added a second story and a garage, and brought the whole design together with a Spanish Colonial flair. Again, here are the before and after drawings. 

 

Before and After First Floor

 

 

Before and After Second Floor

 

 

Final Site Plan

Edited March 26, 2014 by Headshot