Just in Time for Cold Weather

Just as the cooler temps began, our Lake Murray rental property came up for renewal.  We decided to bite the bullet and update it for sale.  We need the infusion of capital to finish our Charleston redo and it's time to "Let it Go!"  We took 6 weekends and made it shiny new.  I have included a few before and afters. This was our family home for many years and our emotional connection is still here along with many friends.  It will be nice to see it enjoyed by a new family.  Notice the before pictures above and the after pictures below. Greg is truly amazingly fast and does quality work.  Our boys and an added friend came in for a Saturday to put down the bulk of the hardwoods.  It was amazing to see the degree of difference.

As we have worked to get paint on the walls, most of the finishes that have made the space livable is the tile in the main bath and the hardwood floors in both of the bedrooms.  Greg likes using the waterproof Schluter membrane behind the tile.  It replaces tile board and provides a better water barrier.  We were out to dinner with a tile provider and looking at Greg's work, he felt he had done a professional job.

The tile work is beginning

The finished look



We continued the same tile on the floor

We wanted a modern tile and went with a 12 X 24 using it on both the shower and the floors.  We are using a Charleston Historic Sherwin Williams color on the walls, Eliza Lucas at 125% in the bath.

After the tile was grouted, Greg installed the vanity which he had been refinishing for a few weeks.  He restricted the top drawers to accommodate the square sinks.  He added a back-splash made of a matching piece of mahogany.  We are happy we decided to leave it a stained piece for interest.  

Right before Thanksgiving, Greg invested a long weekend laying a hand-scrapped engineered hardwood floor that looked even better down than in the showroom.  We were very pleased with how it turned out.  Even though some of these finishes are helping with cleaning up our spaces, our trim and wardrobe are yet come.  

Preparing to lay the hardwood floor in the Master Bedroom

We are not finished, but it's looking so much better.  We are soon to be painting walls with a second coat and have all the trim to paint. Exciting days to see it all coming together.  Until next time, have a great holiday season with family and friends.

Moving Inside to Mud, Mud and More Mud

Getting the drywall hung has made the rooms come alive.  I am already considering colors and furniture placement though to some that may be premature.  A girl can dream, can't she?  

Back to reality because drywall dust and sheetrock mud have to be the most frustrating thing to renovators who live in the midst of the work.  As excited as we are to be picking out our bathroom tile and bedroom flooring, sweeping and mopping floors in the main area these days while Greg is mudding the walls, seems like a lost cause.  With each sanding process, it "rains" compound dust.  I have decided a good sweep at the end of the day is the best use of my time!

Last weekend, this is where Greg started.  After getting all areas covered with gypsum, the mudding process started.  He had what seemed like miles and miles to go before the first coat was on and the joints taped.  It was pretty much all he got done over the 2 day weekend.

For someone who does not do this on a daily basis, it is quite physcially taxing.  We are using fans to bring in air conditioned air from the main house, but up nearer the ceilings, it remains hot.

The spare bedrooms is waiting on it's second coat of mud.

Greg is nearing his final sand and ready for primer to seal the walls.  In talking about walls, we are going to limit our shiplap to one accent wall in each room.  We are using the wood siding for this treatment and will not have enough to do all three walls as we had originally thought.  We are considering what finish we will give to the wood.

These two pictures are of our half bath.  We added a antique crib to the wall for a multipurpose towel rack, toilet paper holder and magazine rack.  The cabinet in the back is one from the kitchen area sized to fit the space for added storage.

Some of the decisions on upcoming material finishes include our two wall colors for the bedrooms and main bath.  We want to keep all three rooms coordinated because of the small space. Currently, we are looking at these two main colors Aiken Ivory and Eliza Lucas, both Historic Charleston colors.  In the next blog, I'll show off more of the materials we are choosing for the finishes.  Stay cool as the dog days of summer continue.  We are excited to see some of this project come to  the finishing stages.  We are predicting at lease 6 months of weekend projects.

Framing Our Insides and Insulating it from the Elements

Spring has quickly turned into Summertime heat.  In these months, our daughter Megan graduated and moved westward.  We took sometime to bring the family together and hangout in Brevard, NC in a local, rustic cabin.  We realize our children must fly and live their lives, but I am so glad for the internal structuring and insulating that went on years ago.  Now, I realize these are the ties that will keep us together though we are beginning to be separated by distance.

We keep keeping on with our home in Charleston.  I can honestly say there are days now that are long.  Both of us are ready to move into our new bedrooms and have the rooms a bit more finished, but like all things it take time.  We have many projects we are working toward completing and we are doing the more major construction phases, too.  We are proud to say that we have passed our framing, electrical, and insulation city inspections.  This panel box is part of the new service Greg installed and the outside panel box is attached waiting on a new meter.  We are glad to have the knob and tube wiring become a thing of the past.

The electric meter and upgraded service cannot be hooked up until all the electrical sockets have been covered due to safety issues.  After our sheetrock is finished, we will cover those boxes.

The framing of the three rooms brings in view what this side of the house will look like.  It reminds me of two dorm rooms connected by a bathroom.  We installed frames for two pocket doors on either side to provide privacy without taking up floor space.  The vaulted ceiling provide a bigger feel to the rooms and the attic area will serve as new storage.  This space will be conditioned storage.

 Pictured above is the framing around the tub/shower combination and toilet room.

Insulation in the walls and ceiling.  It was amazing to immediately feel the difference in temperature.  The heat outside is intense already in June.  Part of the issue in working is our lack of storage.  We have a 9ft by 27ft backyard which means everything that cannot be in the rain has to be kept inside the house.

 Sheetrock is up and it's looking good.  We are in the process of picking out our flooring for the bedrooms and tile for the bathroom.  Big changes ahead for 139 Congress Street.

Where There is Smoke There is Usually Fire!

Our journey through this detailed renovation continues.  I feel like we need to sprint here as we come to the downhill toward the finish, but to rush is to put our project at risk.  Liked the picure which captures a similar thought!

I arrived home around 5:45pm after work a few weeks ago to the intense smell of smoke throughout the house.  I noticed it too outside, I walked around hurriedly inside and out, but I could not see anything.  I called Greg and fortunately, he was on Rutledge Avenue, just a few minutes away. As soon as he arrived, he looked under the house and a line of fire was running along the ground, but it had not ignited our foundation and piers.  He had installed a hose bib in our backyard during the winter months, so we went to work pulling the hose out to extinguish the flames.  He had it out before the fire department could have even arrived.  You may believe in coincidences, but I happen to think God was looking out for us.  Minutes later, and we would have lost the structure.  Greg's Dad said that cloth wiring should never be exposed to the elements. Below is an actual picture of the wiring.

It is scary to think people lived in here with this old wiring for years. We have many more electrical items being used than the former tenants, putting us at risk of overheating the wires, which is what happened.  One of the cloth wrapped wires like the one pictured above  had overheated and ignited causing the plastic barrier on the ground to catch fire.  Greg spent the evening pulling new wire and making sure none of the old wire had any degree of load on it.  He examined the breaker box, but to be honest, I did not rest well that night.

 I am excited to think we are almost at the point of a new electrical panel being set.  Our power company will be installing a new meter and a new line for us after our inspection has passed.

 Below is the existing panel that has been there for decades.  The breakers are on the outside of the house.  At one time, this house would have been fuses.

 This house's electrical is only a 120 meaning it isn't even capable of providing for a central HVAC unit or a laundry dryer, both large items that require 220.  It is good to know that our changeover is soon to happen.  The old electrical panel is located on the piazza we are setting a new unit this weekend just outside our back gate.  Greg has to prepare the new service prior to getting our rough-in inspection.  Most of our month, he has been running the wiring and putting the finishing touches on our plumbing so the inspection can be done.

 This is the new electrical breaker box that has been in our hallway, but new wires are being added daily.  Below, the wall in our bedroom that is bringing all of the wiring back to the above panel.

We had a dumpster next to our house and we believe our neighbor had it there for several years.  It blocked her driveway, but more importantly, We were unable to work on the siding.  In order to roof the opposite side of our cottage, we covered the dumpster with supports and plywood making it a platform.  

Greg on the backside of the roof installing the metal sheetingThis was a hard weekend.  His feet were very sore from this position on the roof all afternoon.  We are thankful there were no falls

 The dumpster was removed one day when we came home from work.  This is such a gift.  We did not complain, but we knew it would be an issue when we began to side this part of the house.

 Now the driveway is back, and you can see the roof is finished.  The pipe along the street is due to waterline work that is being done in this part of the peninsula.  Greg engineered this shelf looking mechanism to line up his metal sheets. (Pictured on the left)  A "helper" so to speak.  It took two hours to construct, but ended up well worth the time.

The piazza or "porch" has been part of our changes of late.  As Greg opened up the edge of the roof exposing some of the rot, he also tore off the entire street side of the piazza as well. He constructed the end out of treated lumber making it less susceptible to moisture and termite damage.  We intend to reintroduce a door on this end, bringing a larger amount of security to our entrance.  A locked gate on one end and a door with bell at the other. 

The piazza floor had to be replaced and we decided to go with a stain over a painted floor.  This area is bombarded with street dusk.  It will require blowing or sweeping several times per week.  On the right you can see the foundation of the piazza prior to the porch boards being installed.  Porch boards are a specific type of lumbar, cured to handle the wear and tear outside of a house entrance.  After looking at several types of wood, we decided on one with a grain.  The front doors, both will have transomes and be on the corner, will be stained the same as this floor.  Once he was done, I thought it was too pretty to be on a porch, it looks more like an interior hardwood floor.  He put three coats of sealer and we did not walk on it for more than 3 days to let it cure.

The porch floor as it looks currently.  We have all the rails to install and more siding to come in this area, but we are going to be moving inside soon to work on getting our rough-in inspection ready.

Greg is caulking the outside so he can paint prior to adding the new electrical panel.  We had expected rain (today was the Bridge Run in Charleston), but it is full sun now.  We are glad to be able to begin to paint.

Our color board has been here for a few weeks, and we are going with the center color only with the off white trim.  Historic Charleston color Weatherboard and Aunt Betty's China is the trim color

As it looked originally.  The bottom support we will remove.

After Greg initially stripped the piece

 Moving inside, Greg has begun to refinish our master bathroom vanity.  We found a antique mahogany dresser that fits the space exactly.  It has carved edges and the wood has a beautiful grain. We would like the stain to keep with the retro feel of the house.  The deep drawers will add much needed storage.   We plan on cutting off the platform wood at the bottom bringing it to the standard vanity height.  We purchased the sinks this week and are waiting on them to arrive.  We went with a rectangle square that is a partial drop in, but has the same feel as the surface square vessels.  I want Greg to make a mirror out of the salvaged beams from the addition we tore off several months back.  Our jacuzzi tub has been plumbed in fully awating our rough-in.

I'll add in another completion picture at the end of our weekend!  Hope you are enjoying this Spring weather.  From our Freedman's Cottage to your home....till next time!

UPDATE:

 Greg got the new service pulled from the outside to the inside of the box.  We are excited to have this heavy task done.  He set up a level pulley system.  It takes alot of pressure to get 20 feet of electrical cable inside the box!

I finished the paint on the end of the addition, and below is how far we got on the side of the house.  We will continue to work on getting it finished over the next few weekends.  Spring has sprung in Charleston.