The Original Back Door of The Country Victorian

I've/we've been working to finish The Country Victorian since filming wrapped in the spring of 2015.  It makes the most sense to do everything right the first time.  However, there are situations when that's not possible and in those circumstances you have to be up for the extra time, expense, and effort to go back to fix and finish things as necessary or required. 

On one hand, it really stinks because I just prefer to address all the issues in my normal sequence that comes with rehabbing an extremely run-down home.  However, getting to do one of my projects for TV is such a special opportunity, so much fun in a different way, I've been willing to set some things aside  to experience the adventure of renovating a Pig's Ear on television.

The original back door is a good example of how things were different from the start for the TV House.  We filmed the test reel in early Nov. 2013, before I actually owned the property.  This took a day and a half for a three minute clip (similar to a short movie trailer).  In December, the network producer from HGTV/DIY called me with the exciting news that our renovation would be a four episode series and that'd we'd start filming in January!  From there our four episode series grew to six!   ...before it just about got scrapped completely.  :( 

From almost nothing, we were simply thankful to be given the green light for the pilot and decided that the most practical thing to do on this episode was an exterior makeover.  The pilot was filmed in March and took two weeks.  We finished filming with a strong mixture of expectations and confident assurances for us resuming the filming/renovations in May or June.  April, May, June, and July came and went as I tried to keep busy renovating the detached garage.  Near the end of the summer with school about to start, I needed to stop waiting and get to work, but my communication with both the network or the production company was sparse.  This concerned me and made me feel I was wasting time waiting.  In addition, I'd been contacted by another network through a completely different production company in the spring so I'd been mulling that over as I waited.

After the kids went back to school in August, I was excited to get started with the demolition phase and relieved to be making progress.  Then DIY called with an air date for American Rehab Charleston and I was pleased, most notably because I was aware that a lot of my friends and family were skeptical of me actually being filmed for a television show  (... and who wouldn't be?)  There is a difference between excitement and simple relief.  From December to August I was equally aware that my optimistic enthusiasm about future TV work had cooled considerably.  I took news of the air date for what it was and just kept working on the house.  Then ARC rated well enough for the pick-up of the remaining five episodes and my producer at the network asked me to stop my demo work.  This was mid fall and we then started to plan for how we'd move forward with a third of the house gutted, not just to the studs, but to the dirt below the crawl space.  This get's me to the original back door, since during this time, I put it back up in the hallway where it had hung for over a hundred years.

I'm telling all of this history to explain how this back door story got overlooked for the filming.  In so many ways this twelve month process was overly nutty; from four episodes to six, to maybe nothing, then down to one, waiting, no communication, with interest from another network mixed in, I took the door down and put it back up several times so the producers could tell our renovation story in a way that would made sense to a viewer in three hours of television.  This served as good prep for filming the show because there's some inefficient use of time for the sake of TV and doing  the same things repeatedly is hardly efficient or practical, but when it turns out good for television, it feels worthwhile. 

My houses are bad and require so much work.  My approach makes them economically practical, but renovating them for a television show forces a lot of that practicality to be thrown out the window.  It's very expensive.  After three cumulative months of filming there was no money left to finish the back of the house, which included a bedroom, the hall bath, the mudroom, laundry, and a couple closets.  So after filming I started to finish the house, working my way out the back door as I progressed.  The door to the LR was one of the last things, but I had filmed my thoughts and plans somewhere in the middle of the chaos when my wife Diann and I were there with the kiddos. 

 

The Country Victorian

aka The TV House

Related Posts:

The Trentovation of the Country Victorian (11/13/13)

American Rehab: Charleston
(8/27/14)

American Rehab: Charleston 2.015
(8/13/15)

The pictures I took along the way help tell the rest of the story.

Ready for a new color.

View of the Mudroom/Laundry Room Door.

This is where the old door used to be.

This old wooden back door was too great to not incorporate in the rehab.  I'm really proud of how it got included into the renovation and to make this door even better it has crystal knobs that still function beautifully.  It's a cool part of the oldest part of the house, it's another way to allow more natural light into the mudroom, and you can check on the status of the laundry without opening the door.  I really enjoy the challenge of figuring how to wisely reuse something into the rehab and people seem to appreciate this effort.  Plus, it just feels right to me to do things like this.

The work on the Country Victorian is still ongoing.  Stay tuned.

Rehab Addict Nicole Curtis: Restoring Homes to Their Former Glory

In the early 2000's, before all the popular house flipping shows, I told someone that I was self-employed buying and renovating run-down houses.  "You can make a living doing that?" the person asked surprisingly.  I didn't know how to answer back except to shrug and say, "I don't know, but I'm doing it."

Then, not too long after this I started hearing about the people on TV that bought, renovated, and quickly resold houses in a 30 minute episode.  Folks would learn a little about me and ask excitedly, "Oh, are you a house flipper?"  However, I'm really not a flipper.  To me that's always a quick turnaround kind of deal that takes a few weeks or months.  That's not what I do.  Taking on properties that no one else wants is my thing.  These are houses that need seriously reworked.  Realtors, other general contractors, investors, dreaming DIYers, or want-a-be house flippers pass on the properties I take on because their wrecks.  Houses that are really bad have been really good for me.

In the last year and a half, others have started to compare what I do to Nicole Curtis' projects and what she does on Rehab Addict.  For me, this fits better than the house flipper comparisons.  My wife was the first to make this link.  We'd have RA on, Nicole would start preaching her wisdom and my wife would say, "That's what you always say."  Or it would show the freelance renovator salvaging something that had been thrown out and it was like my wife started to get me a little differently as she said, "That's something you'd do."  Maybe it looks better on camera than the way I explain at home, covered in dust and dirt at the end of the day.  I don't know, but I appreciate the way Nicole Curtis has helped people understand what we do. 

Nicole Curtis in Action on
Rehab Addict (HGTV, DIY)

In the Rehab Addict intro, Nicole explains how she restores homes to their former glory. I've loved all of my projects, but I don't really think they've had much former glory.  So in that way I guess we're a little different.  My Pig's Ears have all pretty much been jacked up messes with nonconventional or unorthodox additions that have people shaking their heads and questioning my sanity.  When someone's really being nice they might say something like, "What are you gonna do with this thing?"  I recently tried to explain how the Rehab Addict and I differ like this: 'I don't restore homes to their former glory, but I do make them better than they've ever been before,'  However, to be clear, these houses are beyond fixer-uppers with no where to go but up.  (See my Projects.)

So when I get mentioned with Nicole in a blog like Mom and Her Drill or someone hears me describe what I do and says, "Hey, that sounds like what Nicole Curtis does,"  I like it.  We're saving houses that others don't want or can't save, showing people it can be done.  I'm proud of that.  It feels good and a lot more natural than being called a house flipper, that's for sure.

See Rehab Addict Nicole Curtis on DIY

Welcome Back Rehab Addict

As I've written plenty of times before, I like listening to sports radio while I'm working and my preference is discussions about college and pro football over anything else. 

The completion of Super Bowl XLVII marks the end of football season and the return of the DIY network to our house.  Rehab Addict Nicole Curtis and the network that broadcasts her popular show are not two things that get considered together regularly, but around here they do because of our pay television packages.  In the fall when football starts back up, we upgrade our pay channel package to include the sports channels.  I only want ESPN and ESPN2, but I have to pay for ninety-eight other channels and to make things worse, they pull DIY from our list of options as part of this upgrade.  We still get HGTV, but Rehab Addict is really a DIY show. 

If I wanted to have ESPN and DIY we'd have to jump up to an even bigger package, and this doesn't make sense for our family.  It's just a waste plus a lot of what we'd get is no good for a house with small kids.  And along with this I'm not interested in writing checks for hundreds of TV channels we won't watch any more than I like wasting time or throwing away building materials that can be salvaged.  

Rehab Addict is a show I really like sitting down for.  I love the attitude of the show and the can-do spirit of NC.  Rehab Addict features my kinds of projects and the people who watch Curtis' show are the same types of DIYers that read my blog; hands-on rehabbers or people with a dream of renovating a rundown home of their own.

Like Nicole C. I love the challenge of buying and resurrecting houses most others don't want and we consistently preach similar messages; we share a fondness for ignoring naysayers, we're big on salvaging and recycling things others send to the landfill, we each take pride in solving issues with our heads and stretching our dollars, and neither of us hesitates to roll up our sleeves to get down and dirty when we're the best person to knock out a task.  In addition, we each have our own time-tested approaches we're proud of and comfortable with.  And I think Nicole enjoys encouraging others to do what we do as much as me.

I really love to renovate run down homes and I feel like I get a little fix of my own each time I watch an episode of Rehab Addict.  It's great to see someone take on their projects the way I do, and I especially love the moments when my wife watches along and says, "Hey, that's what you always say."  

So as much as I'm sad to see the football season end, I'm glad to have the DIY Channel back. 

Appreciation for the Radio (January 26, 2012)

Rehab Addict Nicole Curtis on DIY  (April 24, 2012)

The Mystery Plant from the Duplex

Can Anyone Tell Me What Type of Plant This Is?

I appreciate trees, bushes, and flowers a little more with each passing year.  And, as much as I enjoy watching things grow taller and fuller, I'm also aware of the value these plants bring to my properties.  Whether I'm building a spec home on a vacant lot or renovating one of my Pig's Ears, I make a serious effort to leave trees stand when possible and I'm mindful of salvaging the living things in the ground much the same as I do with valuables inside the home or around the property.  

While I was renovating the Bungalow/Duplex, Lisa (one of my favorite realtors) stopped by to review my progress.  Lisa is clearly the E.F. Hutton of all of my projects because when she talks, I listen.  Over the years she has unleashed a solid list of valuable suggestions, so when she told me to save a plant in the front yard at The Duplex, without a second thought I made plans to dig it up and relocated it to our yard. 

I replanted it at the base of a magnolia tree we have and it blooms every summer about this time.  However, I don't know what it's called.  Neighbors have asked me, but all I can give for an answer is a shrug to go with my crooked smile.  

So if you know, tell me in the comment section below or send an e-mail.  (Link found with profile).    

The Duplex Before - The mystery plant is at the base of the corner fence post.

The Duplex During.  The fence and plant are gone.

The Duplex After

See also:

The Detached Garage at the Bungalow

Subdividing The Bungalow and The Duplex

Step 4 - Pull Out the Valuables 

The Detached Garage at the Bungalow

Everyone who’s ever gone through a renovation project knows that you need space to operate.  I’m talking about a garage, carport, barn, shed, or basement.  Now with minimal thought you probably understand what I’m getting at: you need a place for supplies, tools, material, and equipment to keep them secure (so they don't walk off) and protected from the weather.  In addition to that you want to keep your environment somewhat organized and who wants to waste a bunch of time moving things around.  The value of this type of extra space on a renovation project may be immeasurable.  If you’re renovating a home and you don’t have this type of area to utilize, you’ll wish countless times that you had it.  Furthermore, if you do have this extra square footage to make use of, you’ll probably take it for granted.  I’ve learned this lesson the hard way and the Detached Garage at the Bungalow exemplifies how my approach has shifted slightly over the years.  For the reasons described above, I put this sub-project at the top of my list and at the front of my schedule before everything else. 

Before - The roof leaked badly and the place was jammed full of junk.   

Let me say that it’s easy to demo an old building and start over from scratch.  However, it can also be wasteful (haste makes waste).   In rebuilding the Detached Garage at the Bungalow, I wanted to save and reuse what had value and rid the property of what was not useful or simply beyond repair.  This is not all about saving trees and doing what's best for the environment.  Although that's really important, there's practical wisdom behind this approach (which I'll write about in better detail another time).  Anyway, what I started with was, in essence, a crudely built pole barn that sloped slightly from front to back.  I took everything down to the concrete slab and the nine wooden posts that made up the most integral part of the framing system.  From there I rebuilt it to something useful and of value.    

During - It was a great little project... like working inside even though I was outside.

I did all the work myself because I could, I wanted to, and I knew I’d really enjoy taking it on and knocking it all out.  The framing, roofing, fiber cement siding, vinyl soffitt, painting - that's all me.  However, I did pay someone to install the garage doors.  When I look back and remember this little sub-project, the thing I’ll remember most is the site where I was working because for me it was idyllic.  I wasn’t on the beach, next to a peaceful lake, or on the top of a mountain, but I was tucked back behind The Bungalow in a densely populated neighborhood in our city engulfed in nature.  I was surrounded by people, traffic, and the busy world but alone in a setting that was dominated by grand trees, colorful birds, and active squirrels.  And because of the canopy of trees forty or fifty feet overhead it felt like I was working inside even though I was outdoors.  It was great and I totally loved it. 

After - I made good use of this 500+ sqft. area from the beginning of the project to the end.

So, if you’re a home renovator and you have room to work from, appreciate it.  If you’re in the market for a project house, keep the need for spare space in mind from the start.  And, as always, don’t be too quick to pass up on those Pig’s Ears you come across.  Look at the pictures of the Detached Garage.  This thing was a wreck.  But after I was finished… 

The Picture Window at The Bungalow

It will come as no surprise that I am a big fan of This Old House; the television show, the magazine, and the web site.  The current issue (Jan./Feb. 2012) of my magazine subscription put forth a question:  How have YOU used salvaged architectural details in your home?

In 2008, I bought a Pig’s Ear to renovate in Charleston, SC that we call The Bungalow. Although this 50 year old house had not been condemned, it should have been.  The roof leaked, the heated and cooling system had been abandoned, there were plumbing leaks, the electrical system was a mess, floors were caving in, there were serious structural issues, and without question it was the ugliest and worst home on the street.

The Bungalow - Before

The Bungalow - After

After I addressed all the major issues, I had one minor matter that was solved with a salvaged architectural item.  My task: a space within the heart of the home needed some natural light.  The solution:  replace window panes in the home’s original picture window with equivalently sized mirrors and mount it on an interior wall to create the illusion and feel of a window.  I understand that this is not an overly original idea.  However, I will take credit for carefully removing the window during demolition and then storing (and moving) it safely throughout the two year renovation until I needed it. 

This mirrored pictured window not only added natural light into this part of the house, but it brought charm and an element of craftsmanship that was not costly or time consuming.  Since I salvaged the home’s original picture window my cost for the frame was $0.  It took a couple hours to safely remove the glass panes, a little time for two coats of paint on the frame, and two or three more hours to buy and install the twenty 11” x 14” mirrors which I bought from a glass shop for $3.50 apiece (although I had quotes for twice that).

Eating Area - Before/During Renov.

Eating Area - After  (Same view)

When renovating a house, I always make an effort to redesign it to feel bigger than its actual square footage.  The Bungalow was one of these homes and the mirrored pictured window helped to make this feeling come about.  The wooden frame made it look like an authentic window and the mirrors created an effect of openness and light that felt real as well.  Most people (but not all) weren’t fooled and knew what the mirrored frame detail actually was, but what made it so gratifying for me was that it created something necessary and at the same time special because I was able to repurpose part of the original house and incorporate it within the interior that was all (except for the wood floors) new.   

Picture Window with Mirrors Installed