meet our house

Story #2

Before we share the guts and (few) warts of our new house, let’s tell you about it. We bought a 3-bedroom, 2-bathroom ranch home with an attached 2-car garage, carport, and unfinished basement. The previous family lived in it for 43 years and took good care of it. While the house is structurally sound and clean, it hasn’t been updated in 17 years.

We plan to reuse some materials, like the original, solid wood interior doors and kitchen cabinets, but other things have to go, like the wood paneling in the basement. We’ll finish the basement with 2 bedrooms (with legal egress windows) and redesign the bathroom to include the laundry room, too. On the main level, we’re going to combine 2 small bedrooms to make a master suite with a large, walk-in closet and new ¾ master bathroom. Plus, we’re going to remove a wall between the kitchen and living room for a more open floor plan and loads of natural light.

The house was in good condition for being almost 50-years-old but the seller's dogs had beaten up the grass in the backyard. We see potential for several upgrades to the living space back here.

We'll reuse almost all of these cabinets in our new kitchen floor plan, but the doors and drawer faces will be updated with paint.

Living spaces in older homes were typically broken up into smaller rooms, but modern living favors open floor plans. This non-loading bearing wall that separates the living room and kitchen also blocks natural light flowing through the house. It's coming down!

In order to add a second bathroom on the main level, we're going to change the floor plan of the existing bathroom, including rotating this shower 90-degrees. Luckily, the tub can be reused without refinishing the surface.

These cabinets and shelves kept things organized in the basement. Our remodel plans include a large storage area out of sight from the rec room.

WHAT WE’RE MOST EXCITED ABOUT

We found a great opportunity in our hot housing market! We bought a home that’s about the same age as we are. With Josh’s 27+ years of experience as a master carpenter and general contractor, we’re going to update our first house with the features and finishes that current homebuyers want. The BEST part is that we get to live in this project, built to our top-notch quality standards!

← We bought our first house! What Happens on the First Day? →

OTHER STORIES

It’s great to save money by doing projects yourself, but you may have to pay for the materials, like paints and brushes.

Revealing Hidden Costs of Remodeling

We accounted for the big-ticket items, like countertops and subcontractors, but it also felt like we were always adding things to our rehab budget. Little changes can add up quickly!

IN PROGRESS We covered this countertop with contact paper to match the new combination bathroom/laundry room in the basement.

Reuse As Much As Possible When Remodeling

To protect the environment & our budget, we reused many of the original materials in our first house even though we completely remodeled it.

You don’t need any construction knowledge or even a ladder to notice these warped, wooden shingles and the white patches in the brick.

Homebuyers, Look for These Clues to Potential Costly Repairs

Homebuyers, you don’t need any construction knowledge to spot these clues to potential, costly repairs.

IN PROGRESS Everett installed snap-together, floating engineered hardwood floors on the main level of our new house.

What the Heck are Floating Floors?

Our flooring services are only for snap-together products that can be installed as a floating floor. We explain what that means and why we chose it for our first home.

BEFORE Josh & the home inspector both noticed that the basement floors were attached directly to the concrete slab, instead of being floated.

What the Heck are Floating Walls?

Building codes in Colorado require floating basement walls, but you don’t need magic to make that happen.

AFTER You don’t need to know anything about building to know that this doesn’t look right! The concrete company shouldn’t have filled the window well with dirt and rocks.

Some Things Didn’t Go Smoothly

Even though we regularly work with other contractors on clients’ projects, we still had issues with some of the new-to-us contractors & vendors we used to remodel our first home.

We made LOTS of drawings, lists, and plans to completely remodel our first home.

The Best-Laid Plans…

If you expect your plans to change, you may be able to roll with the design changes without freaking out.

BEFORE When you walked in the front door, these wood-topped pony walls made the entryway feel cramped and the living room feel smaller.

When a Wall Has Got to Go

You don’t have to live with a wall you hate! See what a HUGE improvement we made by removing walls in our main living area.

BEFORE: The stairs came down in the middle of the basement, awkwardly cutting up the space and limiting our layout options for finishing the basement.

Moving the Stairs Maximized Our Space

We knew the first time we saw the house that we wanted to move the stairs, but it took longer to come up with the best new spot for them.

AFTER: Foam insulation fills gaps between the egress window and foundation to keep insects and moisture out, while keeping in heat or air conditioning.

Digging into Egress Windows & Legal Basement Bedrooms

With “Basements” in our company name and window installation as an expertise, we are asked to add egress windows a lot. Let’s dig into what an egress window is and why it matters.