Prioritizing Exterior over Interior

Original bath:  notice the duck taped corners.

Because we have been living inside of the home we are rennovating, it has affected the priorities of the job.  We needed a clean bathroom sink and shower.  We have spent our first year using the original bath.  I cleaned the fixtures so that we could even consider using them.  In the last few months, the roof on the side wing of the house had begun to leak when it rained and it is the section we have done the least amount of work outside of removing the drywall. 

This lower roof is the "wing".  It now is dripping in several places with each rain.

 Our month of September brought an abnormal amount of rain to Charleston.  After weeks of intermittent rain, one afternoon the roof of the original bath gave way.  It was only two weeks after our guest bath and utility room shower were completed.

We were very quickly faced with open drywall.  Someone asked about insulation.  This Freedman's cottage had no insulation throughout the house.  Little protected the owner's from the elements.  Greg is working on electrical to finish up our mechanical inspection, but realized he had to work on the exterior because of the lack of layers.

He tore off the aluminium siding, then removed the wood siding revealing the inside of our house.  This section is located on the back corner next to our neighbors home.

View from inside to our neighbors courtyard.

Greg spent last Saturday working on this side of the house.  To drywall without getting the exterior sheeting and moisture barrier in place would leave nail pops on the drywall when we did it later.  With winter coming, we need the protection from the elements.  For me, it has been a new experience to be warm around the heating element, yet the walls be cold from the outside temperature.  I understand now what insulation does for a house.  Below is the new sheeting and Tyvek-type moisture barrier.  We plan on using a cement board siding to help with the maintenance.

The original layers of the exterior.

These pictures show the process of properly layering the house for element protection.  

The goals for the rest of October are to finish electrical and get electrical and plumbing inspections.  Then, we want to hang drywall in the center two rooms to provide a central insulated space to face the coming winter months.  Before moving forward with further renovations, Greg feels "the wing" section must be shored up to prevent mold and rot from the water.  As much as we would like to make the living area more comfortable, we have to complete the shell.  Replacing the sill, raising the wall height, and setting a new roof are in the near future.  Up to now, our neighbors have not seen much change with the exterior.  We are sure to evoke reaction to the difference.  Until next time, know on the weekend when you may be playing, we are investing sweat and tears to our little white Freedman!

A Renewed Ceiling and a New Rear Entrance

Prior to prep work as seen previously.

After the first coat of Kilz2

Each weekend we are seeing continued progress.  The highlights of this week's progress is the finishing of our kitchen beadboard ceiling original to the kitchen (circa 1940).  After removing the gypsum to see the original beadboard below, we were filled with excitement to preserve this find.  Restoration is so much more time consuming than putting back new sheets that replicate, but there is something Charlestonian about keeping the old materials when possible. I have 10 hours of preparation in order to paint.   Below is the clean ceiling ready for design ideas.  We have to fill in the joints yet for a uniform look.  Some of the boards have separation that is more obvious with the first coats of paint.

We are considering painting the ceilings a blue color to bring in a punch of color and create personality.  We are planning on most of the wall color being in the white/gray scale to open up the space.  We felt a ceiling color would break up the white pallet.  We would love to have your personal input on this idea.  Feel free to comment.  I am leaning toward a color that occurs somewhere between these two hues.  The lighter one is SW Vast Sky and then next one darker in that same family.  The darker gray would be above the chair rail and the lighter to cover the beadboard below the chair rail.  This is no where set in stone, but in our thoughts.  Greg set this idea board up for both of us to consider.

The sheeting is installed.

Siding being removed.

 The back door was the bulk of Greg's work this weekend.  He tore off the house siding and closed in a back window.  We have decided to remove both windows on the back of the house for privacy with the close neighbors and to give us more usable wall space. 

 The original house had no sheeting under the siding.  The sheeting provides a foundation for the air barrier material which seals the house. This should already begin to make a difference in our heating and cooling issues though we have much left to do overall.  I have wondered how previous dwellers had handled the elements during the heat of the summer and coldest days of the winter.  The house has been very drafty since we have lived here.

The internal picture of the new back door.  We have been closing it with a metal bar at night.  This feels more secure.

Until next time, this is Charleston Renovators signing off.   This has been such a large project.  We are anxious to see our electrical and plumbing inspections completed and insulation and drywall being installed in the coming weeks!

Showered with Tile!

Our tiled shower is a mishmash of tile products found at the local Restore and Home Improvements in locations throughout South Carolina.  Our Freedman's is fast becoming the "poster child" of what you can do with a little of this and that as you find materials.  We decided to put a permanent shower in the back of the house.  This will give us a shower until the Jack-n-Jill bath is finished on the wing of the house and we decided would be a great added advantage while entertaining.  The heat of August in Charleston continue to make our progress difficult.

Reminded of where we started prior to this weekend.

In the band of colored tile, Greg fashioned an alcove for soap and shampoo.

A fuller view of the shower.  He has to grout and install the fixtures and we have a clean shower!

My job over the weekend was to remove nails from that load of hardwood flooring which I started.  I find by using leverage, the nails come out easier and with less damage to the flooring.  What was amazing was the number of 8 ft lengths.  These are special order now and in 1954 the majority of the flooring was longer lengths.  At the home improvement stores the entire bundles are not more than 6 ft in length total.  I had removed my gloves and cut my thumb pretty deeply.  Personal Protective Gear is essential especially on feet and hands, and on occasion eye wear.

This hardwood stack is slowly being cleaned and culled for the best boards to salvage.  Below is the stack that is emerging from the mess.  We are covering both stacks with a high mil of plastic to prevent water damage should it rain before we are ready to install.

Seek and You May Just Find!

I had to share quickly about a great development that happened Thursday.  We had been seeking some seasoned hardwoods to finish out our floors.  Greg felt the dried wood would be a better match to our original flooring and we wanted to go with a sanded version over the more modern engineered products.
We hit the jackpot with a salvage find of over 500 square feet of hardwood flooring from a 1954 home on James Island.  We had been looking for several weeks are thankful this homeowner saw the value in selling it as recycled material.  Some of the fun is the hunt...it's exhilarating!

Remember the clean backyard from just a few days ago.....

Now filled again both on the saw horses and across the path, all that beautiful recycled product.  This weekend will be filled with removing the nails and preparing the boards for installation.  We are hoping to salvage most of it!

Hanging in There with Life Happening All Around!

It's been awhile since our last post.  We didn't get our July landfill run in until the last Saturday in July.  Our backyard had accumulated a host of items.  As you can see, it is ready for more work again!

 The intense heat of summer and our own need to see our family, rest and relax has interfered with the tasks that are ever before us.  We have enjoyed watching the Riverdogs on several occasions.  We have felt the need to runaway from this little Freedman's cottage that seems to each up our ability to rest.  And let our financial reserves build back up as we continually are pouring money into this cash cow!

 

The weekends in July and the beginning of August saw us out on Lake Murray with our family on more than one occasion.  Our home there has been for sale for these last several months.  We got an unexpected call that it had been leased and we had days to move our things into storage.  The race was on, but not only was it a task to get things stored, we had some items that had to be brought to our Freedman's though we were not nearly ready for them.  I had perishables that we had to find a place for and it was very discouraging.  I was told this past weekend, I was not publishing enough pictures of what things look like and perhaps some of that is to shelter you from seeing just how we are surviving.  Greg and I try to focus on the goal and the worthwhile diamond in the rough, but the length and depth has caused us to reflect.  As we brought in the ten boxes from our lake home, I couldn't even consider how we could incorporate these pantry and other items into our living here.  Above, you can see our sleek stainless appliances, the shelves filled with my pantry items and the plastic lined walls Greg constructed to keep the dust from falling!  If you look closely, our deep freeze has been moved into our center room.  We are concerned about having to move these things around as we attempt to move forward.  Below is a set of shelves we brought to help us store more of the items brought from our lake house

In the rear of the house, Greg is continuing to make progress.  He has installed the shower tile system and laid the floor portion of the shower.  

 

This step has required several days worth of work and the main portion of the shower will be done in the coming weeks.  Along with this installation our focus has been the half bath just off the main area of the house.  We are wanting these done to be able to dismantle the original bathroom which makes camp baths look upscale!  I have not shown those pictures for a reason....I wouldn't want to freak anyone out!  Be thankful!

Greg is constructing the door frame for the half bath and in the background is our vanity which has been upfit for our vessel sink.  A large piece of cultured marble has been fit for the top to avoid water damage from hurting the piece and to make it able to be cleaned.

If you'll notice, the floor has been stained a red oak and is drying getting ready for the several coats of polyurethane.  The walls have been painted a very light gray.  All these to make finishing easier after the fixtures are installed.  The door was a find from Restore as well as the new Kohler medicine cabinet.  We were excited to find it still in the box and a good fit and color for this space.  I had intended for a custom mirror, but a medicine cabinet provides needed storage in such a small space.  Greg had to redo the framing and make a space for the medicine cabinet to be supported which was a design change.  Below is the finished product and the faucet below.  This was found after much searching and is a modern vessel sink wall faucet, black with square knobs.

More pictures are coming after the bathroom fixtures are complete.  Greg was missing a washer on the faucet itself.  Our Freedman's Cottage while daunting at times as we fight the heat and the Charleston bugs and try to maintain our health and sanity is fun and exciting all at the same time.  Our son, Ethan joins us this weekend and we always seem to feed off our young adult children's exuberance when they show up to lend a hand!   We want to shout our a BIG thank you to Bob and Ruthie for their help during our recent move as well as Chuck, Danny, and Tom who gave up their Monday night gathering to get us safely stored and on our way!

The vanity has been modified from family Drexel cabinet and topped off with cultured marble.  The vessel sink reflects the color in the front of the vanity.  It's one tiny room in a small cottage.  

First Finishes

It was so exciting to see some of the first finished construction beginning to be installed in our half bath and the ceiling of our kitchen.

Greg began to install our hardwood after mudding the half bath.

This is the floor installed and ready for the sink and toilet set.  The sheetrock has been mudded and is ready for primer.

 The current plan is to open up the ceilings, expose the larger rafters, and finish the cathedral off with bead board.  The kitchen ceiling seen here will remain the original beadboard in both finish and height.  I have sanded it with a palm sander.  There was some fire damage on the ceiling from many years back.  Greg removed those boards and was able to repair with beadboard removed from the half bath.  We decided to leave some of the wear and tear providing depth and character.  We are considering painting the ceiling two shades of blue.  The kitchen ceiling SW6506 Vast Sky and a lighter shade for the bead board on the ceiling SW6505 Atmospheric.

Have a great celebration for July 4th!  The intense heat here in Charleston make work slower with the need for hydration and periods to cool down.

Water, Water Everywhere and Not a Drop to Drink!

In the weeks that have passed since our last post, Greg has been framing in our laundry area and our half bath.  Our open floor plan does not require many walls to be built.  Fortunately, the water has not been running freely inside of the house even after the water pipes were pressurized.

Half Bath and Sinks for future Jack and Jill Bathroom

Plumbing from left to right:  Washer, Shower, and Refrigerator Ice Maker

Greg has been busy installing the plumbing that will bring water into our half bath and our shower as well as our Jack and Jill sinks which backup to the half bath.  We are just about ready to call for a plumbing inspection.  The cold water has been tested with success. The hot water will be tested before the inspection happens. He is able to begin to hang sheet rock and mud as long as the plumbing is able to be inspected on the backside of the bath.

Inside of the Half Bath being mudded.  This is the sink location.

Along with moving to make this half bath and shower operational is decisions about design and style.  We decided to up fit a family piece that was used in our foyer previously for the half bath vanity.  It is a Drexel piece given to us by my mother several years ago after she downsized.  Greg plans on covering the top with a piece of white cultured marble to protect the cabinet from water damage.  Our vessel sink color matches the green highlighting around the insets of the door panels.

We also purchased our tile for the shower.  We went with a moderately priced porcelain tile for the walls of the shower accented with a smaller patterned tile for the floor and a decorative band around the center of the shower.  The smaller accented tile were a wonderful Restore find we picked up months ago. 

 We have enough of it to tie into the design we'll use in the Jack and Jill bath between the bedrooms.  We are always open to finding a bargain at the resale stores, but you have to know your needs and pertinent measurements when you are there.  We will be sharing more of our treasured finds in future posts.  I have slowed down our posts considerably because the work has become more tedious and due to the extreme heat of Charleston during "Dog Days" when indexes hit 100+, our ability to work in these conditions has been difficult.  Early mornings and late afternoons seem better.  The summer brings family events and time away and those times are too precious to skip!   Until next time, I wish you the best on your next project!