Category: Plans and Permits

Developing floor plans, getting permits, working with our architect, and figuring out timelines

Looking Ahead

July 22, 2011 / / 2 Comments

We’ve been talking to the structural engineer, and while we haven’t figured out the exact plan we’re hoping to get the basement shored up. If we’re lucky we’ll find that the footings under the wall go a foot down below the basement floor. If that’s the case we’ll get the new steel header and steel support posts, as well as new concrete footings under the posts. Those new footings will be set deeper than the current floor, so that down the road we can dig out the basement floor and gain about 8″ of height. I was relieved to find out that we could do those two separately, because digging out the basement is expensive, and not something we really need right now. The support posts need to be done now, though, because the house needs to be leveled before we can remodel the first floor.

So far we’ve been working on the second floor and everything has been temporary stuff to make the house livable. The structural work is the first thing that’s actually fixing the house up, well aside from exterminating roaches. The exterminator told us we can move in, but I was disappointed to hear that we probably won’t completely eliminate them until we tear down the walls and then call the exterminators back to spray again. That means we’ll be sealing everything on the second floor up as tight as we can with caulk, wood fill, spray foam, and whatever else it takes. He said it was one of the worst infestations he’d seen.

Once we’re moved in and the condo is rented we’ll move forward on the structural repairs. Then we’ll work with an architect and plan out the rest of the project. In addition to the obvious stuff like new walls, drywall, and floors, we need to install new heating and cooling. We’d like to put in hydronic radiant heating and high velocity forced air cooling, but they aren’t cheap. High efficiency boiler, pumps and manifolds, condensers, blower and ductwork will run tens of thousands of dollars. We can do some of it in phases, but it’s probably the single most expensive part of the project. We’ve spoken with an HVAC guy and gotten some ideas, but it’s tempting to just go with traditional forced air, even if it means installing bulkheads.

We’ll figure it out once we get closer. Right now we’ve got more pressing needs, like getting the rest of the trim back up and the second floor painted, plus a laundry list of little tasks that add up to a lot of work.

The Plan: Getting from Here to There

June 27, 2011 / / 0 Comments

Before taking on this project, we spent a fair amount of time working out the hows, whys, and how much. At a high-level, we’re going to go through several phases to gradually convert the house one floor at a time, inside-out.

Phase 1 is Moving-in. Because we want to rent out our condo (and not just pay two mortgages), we’re trying to quickly get the second floor into a livable state. On the surface that doesn’t seem too difficult because there was someone living there just a month or so ago. However, the way they were living isn’t quite the way we’re prepared to live. We’re willing to make sacrifices, but the toilet should be attached to the floor, the roaches have to go, and something has to be done about the smell. As a result we’ve got a bunch to do, ideally in the next month, to get us moved in. Better yet, because our long term plan involves gutting the whole house, everything we’re likely to do in the next month we’ll have do again down the road, so we’re not doing anything permanent.

Once we’ve moved in we begin Phase 2: Preparation. First we need to address some structural problems in the basement. We’re going to bring in a structural engineer to take a look and make a recommendation on replacing the column supports and basement header and re-leveling the house so it doesn’t slope to the back. While that’s going on we need to talk to an architect that will draw up our plans and get the plans approved by the city. Once that’s done we can get permits.

That brings us to the start of the real fun: Phase 3. Phase 3 we gut the entire first floor (while living in the relatively undisturbed second floor unit). We’ll rip down the walls, take out electrical and plumbing, and redo everything brand spanking new. We want to put in a modern open floor plan with living room, dining room, a big eat-in chef’s kitchen, and an office.

With Phase 4 we’ll move downstairs, using the eventual office as a bedroom. We’ll gut the upstairs, put in a master suite with tub and walk-in shower, upstairs laundry, and a shared full bathroom for the other three bedrooms. At that point we can start occupying the entire house.

After that we’ll focus on the exterior, with new roof, siding, front porch, and back deck. Down the road we’ll rebuild the garage and landscape the yard. When we’re done we hope it will be a beautiful single family home. We know this will take us years, especially doing so much of it ourselves. We plan to live in the house for the next ten years, so if everything goes well, at least several of that will be in the finished product and not the work in progress.