The bungalow project

[eclecticcottage]

Thank you!! Me too!! So far it's been the damage I anticipated and a little bit along the gutter because it didn't have ice and water shield (although it's above an unheated open porch, it must have been clogged with leaves and backed up anyway). They are about half way up the front (putting new shingles back on, the ice and water shield and underlayment as well as repairs are done). There were some places that had 5 (FIVE!!) layers. Best guess is the previous roofers didn't want to either deal with the T&G in those spots (no plywood decking) or they were most apt to leak (like around the chimney-which did leak anyway). That accounts for the wavyness I was seeing and worrying about being rotted decking-at least up front. That is all remedied now. They plan to come back tomorrow to tackle the back. I don't have an ETA on the garage roof yet or siding (different crew and the boss isn't there, just the foreman/roof crew). These guys are doing the garage, but they are trying to do the house first, so that roof depends on how long the house takes.

I also like natural wood, but here, the painted seems to work. It was a hard decision to white wash the living room paneling at the Cottage but it was SOOO dark otherwise. I certainly wouldn't paint it unless it was already done or damaged enough to make it a replace or paint situation (like the doors are).

I ooo and ahhh over Italianates and Gothic Revival cottages and would love to get one or the other (probably more the Gothic Revival than the Italianate) as a project but for me personally, I like a more relaxed style like the Cottage or this Bungalow, or a true log cabin. I don't like it as bland as a typical ranch or cape, but I don't like too fussy either. The best part about the Cottage is, just about anything (outside of modern, or MCM) fits fine. I like vintage so all the old stuff looks like it's meant to be here-even the 70's era cone stove doesn't look weird in a room paneled in rough cut. I didn't even flinch (although I did laugh) when my 6 year old niece dumped a whole big container of rainbow sprinkles all over the table and floor by accident when we were making cookies. It didn't end up staining, but even if it did, in the Cottage, it's character. I think the Bungalow won't be as "full of character" but will still feel very livable for a family, in the same way. You can put your furniture in and not feel like it's it isn't up to the "standards" of the house.

I think you'll find once you move in and get settled, you'll find ways you never even imagined to make it your home. And then things you DID plan won't seem to fit-or so I've found. I like to art and craft on stuff myself, so I get where you're coming from. One thing I used to do that helped keep me from figeting with stuff on the house was to pick up furniture that was solid wood but maybe a bit beat up and recreate it into something more fun, then sell it. I just passed a waterfall dresser the other day I wanted to snag (I curb shop my projects so my investment is time and stuff I already have like paint) but I have no place to put it right now, unless I put it inside at the Bungalow-but I don't want to do that because it's not "mine". My shop/shed (small garden shed) is full of lath right now

[eclecticcottage]

[Lily left the valley]

Well, looks like the roof will be done this week. Someone seems to have forgotten to tell me though lol. I've had some out of town family in for the holidays so I wasn't there yesterday. A friend drove by just now and thought I would like to know my shingles and roofing materials are in my yard . Hopefully the siding also appears and makes its way onto the house so all that is at least done. I have been really wanting it all done in one way, but I've been happy leaving that bit of money in the bank too .

The family left this AM so I should be back to being able to work on the house regularly again too. I really need to get drywall started so I can get the cabinets in so I can get the counters ordered-or I'll need to go with butcher block or something with a shorter lead time. I love, love, love the butcher block look but I don't know how it is for resale, what with pretty much every "house" show extolling granite and other solid surfaces (I will probably go straight black laminate, but the molded kind so there aren't seams).

Found this article again that discusses counter top choices (and other kitchen and healthy upkeep stuff) while looking for something else on that site. You could always include a print out of it in your home selling book in case the buyers wonder why you didn't use granite.

[eclecticcottage]

Thanks! I probably won't leave it and point out the lack of granite, but it's always been a trend I've scratched my head over. Of course, I'd be hard pressed to find a counter I like more than the tile at the Cottage, even though I originally hated it. Aside from sealing the grout now and then, it's tough stuff. I do love soapstone for looks, but I can't see it holding up to DH deciding to bang frozen things on it to break them apart like the tiles lol.

The roof is done, with no major disasters. Siding will hopefully be done soon, then it's between me and the weather to get the rest of the outside finished up.

This giant mess came off of one of the bumpout roofs



I painted the porch over the weekend (who'd have thought that would be possible in January), it's drizzling now so hopefully it cured (it was warm enough), or the water didn't really make it up there to sit on it to cause water spots.



Drywall has also begun



And in the process of hanging drywall a piece of door trim had to come off. This is the back side-plain old pine.



I couldn't get a good pic to show where the paint line was on the front from the other trim, to show the paint drips that made it under. It just didn't want to focus.

I also managed to clean out behind the garage (I will have to see if I ever took pics of the mess) with the nice weather, and my contractor let me use the left over space in the dumpster for the rest of the garbage, which was huge.

The (tile) floor is out in the "kitchen" bedroom, leaving just the full bath left to get flooring out of then I think (hope) demo is officially done. I still have a little cleanup to do, and some insulation to put back that fell out of the ceiling will all the pounding and whatnot from them doing the roof, but it's getting closer to just putting it back together.

[Lily left the valley]

This giant mess came off of one of the bumpout roofs

Now that's a lot of layers.

Hopefully the warmer weather does help out.

[JRC]

This giant mess came off of one of the bumpout roofs

Wow! When my mom had a new roof put on her 1924 house, the roofer said she had 11 layers! (looks like that's about what you have there...) I suspect this was only in certain spots, like your example. I'm not sure the house could have stood up to 11 complete layers of asphalt shingles on the whole roof.

And in the process of hanging drywall a piece of door trim had to come off. This is the back side-plain old pine.

Yup, that looks the same as what was in my mom's house. (but, without a finish, of course)

[eclecticcottage]

I know, when I found it I was like The bumpout roof sheathing is a T&G bead board, and the flashing has to go up under the siding. I imagine the previous roofers didn't want to touch the siding to try to re-flash it so they just piled it on top. Since I'm residing, they didn't need to worry about it, so they could take off the siding to flash.

One side of the main roof had one layer, the other had two.

Our Old House had three or four over the original shake, mostly because I imagine no one wanted to deal with the shake. We did a tear off on that one too.

Siding was put off by an all day rain. Hopefully soon! The porch floor looked fine with no spotting yesterday. Whew! Now if only I can get the rest of the windows scraped and painted...

Tossing around the idea of doing the body of the garage in red, doors and trim in white. I have to do something with it, one way or the other. They put a new (matching) roof on that too. I need to do something with the left side too, where the dutchlap is missing and replaced with plywood. Leaning towards board and batten-I can paint everything in the basement then install it. This is an old pic from the listing, it now has a nice black roof like the house.



I was originally going to replace the missing dutchlap with more dutchlap, but I couldn't find a matching profile quick enough. Now there MIGHT be another day where I can squeeze in scraping and painting the remaining window trim, but there's no way I'll get the whole garage done-and the back really needs it (yes, there are broken windows-those I will fix, the local hardware store cuts glass):



It's either 4 over 4 like the gables and dormers or board and batten. I think the B&B would be nice-although I'm adding a "maintance item" (gotta paint the garage), it's just the garage so I think I'm ok.

The older neighbor stopped by with her helper (she also sent more cookies over the weekend). She said she watches the progress daily and is really happy someone is (her words) "bringing it back to life". She said it used to be a really beautiful house and she's glad it will be again. She also knows one of the kids that grew up in the house in the early years and is going to get in touch with him to let him know it's being fixed up.

I think my pre-listing party is almost a given now. I think it's going to be hard to top this place, at least with neighbors anyway-unless I get a house very close by (most around it are in decent shape and not for sale anyway).

[eclecticcottage]

I didn't disappear, BUT I did get some crazy head cold bug thing that sidelined me for a bit. Drywall is plugging along (a lot of the downstairs is hung-not mudded/taped, but at least it's on the walls), siding has begun, stupid but needed little things like pulling the million different ways to hang a curtain (there were at least four hangers for curtains and blinds per side, per window) are still happening. Still not fully over the ick so that's all for now...I'll update the blog sooner or later lol.

[eclecticcottage]

Siding is still underway. It's a two man crew and one is down with the flu so it's slow going. One side is complete, but it's also the driveway side where the dumpster and trailer are parked, so no use trying to get a good pic. They give the windows a bit of depth when they wrap them, so in the end, wrapping the uppers actually made them look BETTER then before! It didn't get too "capey" with the 4 over 4. There was a minor incident involving the brackets, but I think we've resolved that-someone thought I wanted them wrapped (not an unusual assumption since I'm siding the gable ends but, um, no) but the owner set that right for me. It's going to require a bit of touch up paint to resolve, but the guy doing the siding said he'd take care of that for me.

The dormer bedroom is all hung in drywall. What a nightmare! Gotta love these old houses where nothing is straight and square anymore . A lot of rooms are partially complete, we took the "future us" approach and hung full sheets first, moving on the pieces requiring cutting and figuring now. Mudding and taping of the dormer room should start tonight.

I need to wrap my head around the kitchen at some point, the ceiling is a bit wonky so it's going to take some figuring to make it look right.

It seems everyone that comes to the house loves it though. Hopefully when it comes time to find it new caretakers the right folks will feel the same. I think my timeline hopes might have been a little optimistic, but we'll see. If it's early spring when it hits the market, so be it. At least I know I should have time to finish scraping and painting then! I might need to do a little landscaping at that point-it needs hydrangea in front imo. It had big green evergreens (boxwood? No...dang it. I can't think lately) but the PO removed them. It needs something more substantial than hosta and daylilies in the back to anchor it. If it does go that late, I am thinking of buntings on the porch with some hanging baskets, and a swing if I can find one at the right price (the hooks are already there). This place has great "warmer weather" curb appeal potential. Gotta keep it simple (and inexpensive!!), but I've seen that in my head for quite a while.

I was outbid on another Project It was a unique one, some Art Deco, some Craftsman, some very basic "working class vernacular". About 5-10 minutes away. Very tight budget, but a neat house. I hope whomever bought it actually fixes it, it needed some things BAD (but is also "livable" as is, so it's quite possible that, like many inexpensive homes, someone just buys it to live in until it becomes too unlivable then they just move on-like the cape I missed right before the Bungalow Project).

So I'm looking at another one tonight. Not sold on location or amount of work-it looks like a failed flip or homeowner reno. But the landscape is amazing and there's fish scales in the gable ends, along with some really great trim work. It's in a nearby city and comps are all over the board. It can go from 10K to 300K within blocks. I'm not sold on that gamble this early on (or the complete rehab it needs), but it's a dead end street by a park. It looks like a wreck at the moment. I really like the area I'm in now and this is a different area/city, but it has loads of potential. It looks like it was the original house on that street.

[Texas_Ranger]

I'm not sure some of those places were ever straight - they just didn't care too much. Ten years ago I was taught that acceptable tolerance in masonry is +/- 3 cm (9/8") so if that's measured from a centre line a wall could be off by well over 2" end-to-end!

That's why there's the old joke that steel machinists measure in millimetres, joiners in centimetres and bricklayers are happy if they stay on the right lot!

Sheet materials and steel studs improved precision a little but construction is still a business where a lot is just eyeballed. A few years ago I had the dubious pleasure of working in a 1960 apartment building, plastered concrete block and concrete ceilings with glued-on parquet tile and vinyl. Walls (mainly interior ones) curved horizontally by up to 1/2" over 2 feet or so and vertically by almost 2" over the height of a room! The horizontal diversions were the worst where different walls met, e.g where the exterior side wall of a rectangular bay met the interior wall - should have been a straight line but the walls met at an angle that they tried to hide with plaster. It became painfully obvious when we were to install shoe moulding though.

The vertical leaning was worse though - Imagine tall furniture sitting tight against the wall near the ceiling but with a gap of almost 2 inches near the floor! I suspect the bricklayers were piss drunk (like many folks in construction back then) and couldn't care less. The wiring was somewhat questionable too (doorbell wire used for mains wiring out of sheer laziness, one conduit was too full and they couldn't be bothered to run another expensive PVC pipe).

Edit: actually that's the very place the pictures of the crazy carpet tile install were taken in.