"The Perestroika/Glastnost Approach"

The properties I've bought to renovate have always come with existing additions or modifications and I haven't necessarily been wild about what the previous owners did.  However, for mainly structural reasons, my predecessors decisions have always factored into my changes.  Sometimes their remodels have been a dominant influence on how I re-worked the layout and on other projects what they did to the house has played a more subtle role in my final design.

Each of my Pig's Ear renovations have been different.  However, they've all been similar in that my visitors routinely comment that my finished homes feel bigger than their respective square footage sizes.  Someone probed me once about this openness.  They were curious and seemed to really want an explanation for why I tore out walls and redesigned the floor plan with multiple columns and headers.  I didn't have a well thought out answer and I ended up saying something like, "It's sort of the perestroika/glasnost approach, I guess... I tear it all down and then I try to open things back up when I rebuild it."

The expression on my interviewer's face seemed to say, "Sorry I asked."  My answer was just what popped into my head and it came out of my mouth as I thought it.  It was what is was.  All I can add to that today is that I've never given that answer a second time.  I have an associate degree in construction engineering, but also have a B.A. in international affairs and although my two degrees are not alike, maybe they come together in my mind in moments like this when I mutter an off-the-wall answer like, "It's sort of the perestroika/glasnost approach."  

Finally, I'll admit that I've heard the late President Reagan's voice during the demolition phase.  It's echoed in the back of my thoughts in a grandfatherly way, very supportive and full of encouragement as I've swung my sledge hammer.   "Mr. Renovator... tear down this wall."


See Step 6 - Sketch Out Your Floor Plan

See Step 8 - Redraw Your Floor Plan

Step 14 - Revising the Floor Plan

Making a revision to your desired floor plan may not be necessary.  The need for Step 11 will be determined by how extensively you'd like to change the home, the issues you're addressing, and the complexity of what may have been discovered during the demolition phase.

As I mentioned before, I like to re-work the layout to make the shared living areas feel like one big open space by adding headers and columns.  Moving electrical and plumbing lines as well as the re-routing of HVAC duct-work has been a large part of each of my renovations.  

In some projects, a major gut job was required because the home was outdated and needed to be brought up to code.  In others, there was extensive fire damage, mold, or some other point of concern.  These are some of my own examples, but you may have other issues that you're better aware of after Step 10 (Demolition), challenges that might require some adjustments to the drawing you created in Step 6 - Sketch Out Your Floor Plan.

I mentioned in previous posts (and above) that plumbing, electrical, and gas lines may be discovered during the demolition phase (see Step 9 - Know Your Limitations).  All of these things can be relocated, but that does not mean you'll absolutely want to spend the time and money having them re-directed.  It might be a big change, a small modification, or something in between (like you need to rotate a closet 90 degrees or alter the size of a wall opening).  

The point is, that once you get finished demoing the walls, you have to be prepared to make adjustments to your plans.  At the beginning of The Bungalow renovation, I had a completely different plan than what I ended up with because the home was radically different structurally than what I had anticipated.  Although I was solid in my take on how one part of the house had been added, there were other additions that I understood more sufficiently after the demolition phase.  I had to install missing headers, totally change where the laundry room would be located, and move a bathroom to the other side of the house to accommodate structural members that had to remain unchanged.     

So, if you don't have to change your floor plan after the demolition phase, be glad and keep moving forward with your renovation plans.  However, if revisions are needed, don't be too surprised, and just remember the modified layout may leave you with a revised floor plan that you like better than what you ended up with after Step 6.

Jump to Step 12 - Line Up Your Temporary Services

My Favorite Part of This Old House Magazine

Although many things have changed over the past decade, for me one thing remains the same: my routine when I remove my issue of This Old House Magazine from the mailbox.  The first thing I look at, oftentimes before I even make it back into the house, is the last page:  Save This Old House.  The homes that TOHMag. features here are Pig's Ears; houses that most people don't want and properties that have been seemingly forgotten.  Many of these houses are vacant by the time they appear on this page.  They're not completely dismissed though, someone recognizes their value and has taken time to put out a call for their rescue by sharing photos and a brief write-up.  As much as I love taking on severely run-down houses, I also enjoy the stories and lessons of history and the STOH page nearly always has intriguing historical details included in the articles accompanying the pictures and ties these facts into the subjects of the back page.  

Sometimes these houses need moved, but they always need someone like me who's ready to dig into the challenge of renovating an extremely run-down home; properties that have in many cases been left for dead and are ready to be brought back to life.  We live in the Lowcountry of South Carolina near Charleston.  They featured a home in the Palmetto Sate once; a property up in Union that's about three and half hours away.  So, if you have a STOH near you, I'm envious.  I'd love to buy one of these places and head up the effort to breathe life into it and help transform it into a Silk Purse. 

One of these days, maybe TOHMag. will share a home on Save This Old House that is near us.  I'm watching our mailbox and waiting because those are my type of houses.