Attic Investigation

I'm not anxious to climb into the attic itself; I bought a Tyvek outfit for that. I snapped some photos from the comfort of the attic access.

Photo 1. Sorry it's so blurry.

Photo 2. This one's better

Photo 3. BA1, BR2

Photo 2 shows the wall behind the headboard of the bed. I've looked inside--it's a 2x4 @ 16 stud wall with a 1" air gap at the brick chimney. The vertical 2x4 is all that holds the roof where it meets the chimney. The rafters that are interrupted by the chimney rest on the little 2x4 header. I imagine there's a similar support on the downhill side. The main roof structure on the east side is the rafters on either side of the chimney.

Photo 2 also shows a 2x4 brace from the hip rafter. If that rests on the wall we want to remove, we'll have to replace it with a brace that rests on another wall (the headboard wall).

Notice that both bedrooms feature "strongbacks," which were more common back in the day. The ceiling joists are 2x6@16, but a 2x4 running perpendicular gives them added strength and protects against the joists rolling over (just as solid blocking would).

Next step: Tyvek coveralls, face mask. Climb into attic, move the debris over the BR1 vestibule and see what's there.

Update: October 1.

Looks like the vestibule wall is not load-bearing.

2x6 CJ bears on BA1 wall. Soffit 2x4 CJ bears on that wall, too. Nothing bears on the little protruding wall where the bedroom door used to be.

They cut off the CJ over the vestibule--we can sister up another 2x6 and rest on the BA1 wall.

Your intrepid explorer.

The flat 2x6 provides a drywall nailer.

Molding vocabulary

When I remodeled the bathroom in 2021, I thought simple ("Shaker") molding made sense, but I've come to realize that, as a 77-year-old house, we need to respect the existing woodwork. I am so looking forward to replacing all the molding in BR3, for example, with trim that's consistent with the rest of the house.

Let's match the existing casing, for example. They matched the molding on the sliding glass door in BR1, but they installed it backward, sloping away from the door.

This casing is everywhere now and luckily it's still widely available.

Most of the house has a basic 3-3/4" baseboard with a quarter-round top and a shoe molding to hide the edge of the hardwood floor. I'd like something a little taller, and a little more interesting to better go with the casing. If we go with LVP flooring, we won't need the shoe because the new baseboard will be installed after the LVP. Since we're not matching existing base, it will be all new, everywhere.

5-1/4" x 9/16" with a simple ogee should do it.

I'd like to do the "flat crown" molding throughout. It's just a 1x4 with small cove moldings at the wall and the ceiling.

Like this, but with the same size cove on both sides.

I think I'd like panel moldings in the living and dining room, but I'm not sure. Maybe a chair rail, maybe bead board wainscot. I don't know, but if I have any of that, the moldings shown above will fit right in.
 

 

Bedroom 1 En Suite

Update: Closet System video: How to install IKEA AURDAL system / Closet (youtube.com)

It would be nice to settle on a plan for Bath 1 (BA1). I know the house should have a bathtub somewhere, but I don't want it and it's hard to make it fit.

1. Peggy's plan from the end of August.

2. Move the closet inside? WC room?

3. Hard to access the tub with glass walls at the shower.

4. This is the most like the existing.

Most of the layout flexibility is in the closet--the other fixtures are fixed size. It has a 90" pole now, but part of that is less than accessible. I could make 60" work. One way to make a small closet work is to add a free-standing Ikea wardrobe in the bedroom. I'd likely insert an Ikea reach-in closet organizer to whatever closet is left. 

BRIMNES 46x75x20 $200

SKYTTA (doors) / AURDAL (shelf and pole) reach-in wardrobe, designed for an existing closet. 60" wide. $720

 

No more workshop

What if we turned the "Workshop" on Peggy's plan into a Mudroom? If it's raining, you pull into the carport, open the door and walk into the warm, dry mudroom and up the stairs into the main house, or the apartment. Cabinets would provide storage for things like vacuums, brooms, mops, skis, and hooks would hold jackets and tents and skis. Grappling hooks. I'm not an outdoors guy.

Mudroom entry

The workshop--the power and hand tools, fasteners, accessories, and long tools like levels, would be in a 4' x 8' shed out in the driveway space. Shelves along one wall, hooks on the other side. Work with a table saw or miter saw would be in the carport space.

Putting the apartment bedroom closet in the old "Workshop" space makes things roomier in BR3.

More room in front of the bed. Will they miss a sink? I don't sink so.

I'm thinking that the workshed would have a blank wall facing the driveway, with 36" doors on each side, out of view from the street. If we extended out 72", we could have shelves on both long sides. This plan shows 48" x 96".

Narrowing the hall eliminates the need for the iron railing.

Wood carport might be a custom steel frame with polycarb roof.

To avoid having three doors to the street, I'm thinking that the "dog run" on Peggy's plan needs a fence but no gate. To be explored.

Who needs a Workshop?

 Here's what's in the Workshop at the moment.

• Table saw (Kevin's)
• Miter saw and stand (stand isn't working out)
• 3 brown tables with folding legs (2@30x72, 30x60)
• Hand truck
• Brooms, levels, sledge hammer, iron digging too
• Telescoping ladder 19"w x ~42"h
• Little Giant ladder 22" x 69"
• Shop Vac
• Compressor (and pin nailer)
• Paint cans (lots, incl some 5 gal)
• Paint stuff (sandpaper, brushes, rollers, roller pans, drop cloths)
• Light bulbs, batteries
• Screws, misc in 3 organizers
• Chargers, li-ion batteries
• Power tools: Circ Saw, Drill, Impact Driver, Oscillating Tool, Router, Sawzall, Sander, blades and bits
• Hand tools: Saws, pry bars, hammers, screwdrivers
• Sharp tools
• Gloves
• Measuring tools
• Electrical misc (+ 2 bins of parts)
• Plumbing misc
• Clamps

If we had a shed and we made better use of the basement, what would go where? We need room for working with, not just storing:

• Table saw
• Miter saw
• Shop vac

The Basement is for storage of items like the 3 brown tables and any boxes of things--maybe paint cans.

A Shed could handle a lot of this stuff.

• Ladders, brooms, levels
• Brooms, levels, sledge hammer, iron digging tool
• Chargers, li-ion batteries
• Compressor
• Shelves and/or wall hanging
• Pin nailer
• Paint cans (lots, incl some 5 gal)
• Paint stuff (sandpaper, brushes, rollers, roller pans, drop cloths)
• Screws, misc in 3 organizers
• Power tools: Circ Saw, Drill, Impact Driver, Oscillating Tool, Router, Sawzall, Sander, blades and bits
• Hand tools: Saws, pry bars, hammers, screwdrivers, socket wrench
• Sharp tools
• Gloves
• Measuring tools
• Electrical misc (+ 2 bins of parts)
• Plumbing misc
• Clamps

A Shed with 12" shelving, a aisle, and hanging things--that is, about 48" wide inside might work if it was long enough. Would 6' be enough? That's the room shown on Peggy's plan. There is 8' available between the West side windows on Peggy's plan.

Measurement Takeoffs

Overall, without allowing for interior walls, and not counting the Breezeway, the house is 1480 SF (1100 main house, 380 western addition). 

Ceiling Height: 7' 8.5" (Main House)

Room	Ceiling (SF)	Walls (SF)	Base (LF)	Crown (LF)
Living	284	350	53	68
Dining	105	160	14	41
BR1	184	231	43	53
BR2	133	247	41	46
Hall	60	260	32	41
Apt	174	380	47	53
BR3	110	260	32	42
TOTALS	1049	1888	262	344

Totals do not include Kitchen, Breezeway, BA1, BA2, BA3 or Workshop.

Lowes has 5.25" MDF base for ~$2.50/LF, or $655 for the house.

Lowes has LVP flooring for $3.50/SF or as cheap as $1.79/SF. That's $5,180 for the house (excluding Breezeway), or as cheap as $2,650.

Looks like 2937 SF of painting, about 8 gallons. Say $480 in paint.

What if we didn't refinish the hardwood floors?

Thanks to a Perkins Builder Brothers YouTube video, I started thinking about an alternative to sanding and refinishing the existing red oak flooring.

Option 1, Refinish the 77-year-old floor. This can look great. Lane Flooring came out in 2015 and offered to patch and feather-in the flooring invisibly. He bid about $4.75 per square foot back then, but just the carpet in the hall--I didn't ask him to run into BA2 or the Kitchen. Say about $5,000--I'll bet it's $10,000 in 2024 and including the extra rooms.

Option 2, New floating floor over the oak. More color options. Consistent everywhere, like BA2 and the Kitchen. But the big deal, light bulb over my head, is that you can do a room at a time, or start the living room with the couch pushed toward the dining room, then place the couch on the new floor and finish the room. This would require new baseboards, but a) I can do baseboards; b) they would be consistent throughout.

Shaw Butterfly White LVP

Mohawk LVP

Mohawk Pepper Cliff 6" planks

ADU Apartment

 

Let's tear into the west side of the house. Notes on Peggy's plan:

• Sliding door to the deck is 8' 0" high (Marvin Essential)
• Egress window in BR3 is a casement
• Window above the headboard is fixed
• French doors into Workshop are frosted glass
• We'll need to remove the pocket door at Bath 3 to get the wider shower unit in
• The "kitchenette" can't have a drain without a lot of work, so no sink.
• The Workshop is getting so tiny, it's more of a mudroom. The Workshop may have to move to a standalone shed in the yard.

Scope of Work

I have been thinking about creating a huge spreadsheet with all the projects, todo lists, and current status (needs design, needs bids, etc.) and it's overwhelming. The idea was that I could sort by priority and then draw a red line and the rows below would be tackled later.

Instead, I've sorted priorities in my head and, although I don't know exactly what I'm going to do for many things, I have ideas about what problems need to be solved.

Phase One

• 100 Front Yard flat work and fences. This replaces the wobbly pavers, the cracked front walk. It gets us from the street and driveway to two stoops. Also, I'd like to improve the driveway and provide footings for a steel carport. Fences of some sort (maybe to be replaced later) complete the street appeal.
• 110 Basement door. This is a priority because I may need a dry place to store things during the interior construction. The current tarp involves ducking and it doesn't work.
• 120 Re-install patio lights.
• 130 BR3 remodel. This is where I'll live during other projects, so it comes next. Peggy's plan of extending into the Workshop seems good. Paint. Tiny kitchen. Decisions about BA3, the hall (remove railing?), flooring.

Phase Two

• 200 Core. Wall changes in hall, laundry, breezeway. BA2 remodel. Remove hall carpet and vinyl floor in BA2. Electrical for more lighting in dining, living, hall, BA2.
• 220 Kitchen. Exterior wall changes, rearrange cabinets, new appliances, change lighting, bring electrical up to code. Quartz countertops. Paint. Change tile floor?
• 240 Oak Flooring. Clear out the house, refinish, extend oak floor, re-stain. 

Phase Three

• 300 BA1, BR1. Remodel en suite and BR1 closets. Involves new window. Fix trim in BR1. 
• 320 Steel carport. I think we can custom-design a welded 8-leg frame that supports 2x4 purlins and SunTuf "roof."
• 340 Living, Dining. Repair mirror. New downlights. Molding. Hutch. Paint.

Phase Four

• 400 West Yard flat work. It would be nice to have a place for the trash cans, and to be able to roll a wagon from driveway to patio.
• 410 Front yard low voltage lighting. Maybe even a water feature.
• 420 Landscaping front yard; new trees, plants.

Wild guess pricing

100 $5000

110 $1500

120 $100

130 $9000

Phase One - $15600

200 $2000

220 $15000

240 $3000

Phase Two - $20000

300 $15000

320 $8000

340 $4000

Phase Three - $27000

400 $2000

410 $1000

420 $2000

Phase Four - $5000

Total (fictitious) $67,600

Say $75,000 

Interior Color Palette

Color consultant Anya Moller came by on Friday, September 13 and essentially agreed that an all-white interior would support my Coastal ambitions and increase the feeling of lightness in the house. As inspiration, I sent her some internet photos from Shutters at the Beach.

Bright white for the ceilings and trim, something not-so-bright for the walls. The walls should go warmer, not cooler, she said, because the gray skies and shadowy trees make all colors a shade cooler than if they were in full sun. She seemed to agree with my idea of painting the southern-facing bedrooms a slightly darker not-so-bright white as the north-facing rooms.

Ceilings 

Living, Dining, Kitchen, Hall, Bedrooms (including the dark wood Breezeway ceiling): SW 7757 High-Reflective White (Flat). 

Bathrooms: SW 7042 Shoji White (Eggshell).

Walls 

Living, Dining, Kitchen, Hall, Breezeway: SW 7101 Futon (Eggshell). Alternate: SW 7566 Westhighland White (Eggshell)

Bedroom and bathroom walls: SW 7042 Shoji White (Eggshell).

Doors and trim 

SW 7757 High-Reflective White (Semi-gloss). Anya said this should match what's currently there so we don't need to repaint if we don't have to.

The color I don't like (current BR1, BR2) seems to match SW 7561 Lemon Meringue (LRV 83 #f5eacc).

Paint

SW 7757 High-Reflective White (Flat) LRV 93 #f7f7f1

SW 7757 High-Reflective White (Semi-gloss) LRV 93 #f7f7f1

SW 7042 Shoji White (Eggshell) LRV 74 #e6dfd3

SW 7101 Futon (Eggshell) LRV 80 #ede6db

Alt: SW 7566 Westhighland White (Eggshell) LRV 86 #f3eee3

Anya Moller
Architectural Color Consultant
Anya Moller Color Design
Voicemail: 206.947.3187
Email: amcolordesign@gmail.com