The TV House

My projects have names.  For people familiar with this part of the state, I can refer to a house by a town, neighborhood, or street and they'll know which pig’s ear I’m talking about.  However, with people from somewhere else, nicknames have emerged.   

I bought The Fire House after it was condemned by the local code enforcement officers.  The Cottage got it’s name when my realtor called it that in the sales listing.  The Hurricane House was severely torn up when Hugo rocked the state’s coast in 1989 and it was condemned by building officials 16 years after the storm.  The Bungalow got it’s nickname by another realtor in her listing and I liked how it sounded even though I'd never thought of this house in that way.   

The TV House
(aka The Country Victorian)

My current project is an old country house with some hard to miss Victorian features, so I quickly tagged it The Country Victorian.  But then… we got on television together and people have started calling it The TV House.  We’re something of a team.  She’s the star and I’m the supporting cast member.  Was she a diamond in the rough?  I wouldn’t say so.  I knew she was pretty special from the start.  She’s a one-of-a-kind, like all my projects have been, but I believe that she will be the one people will remember.  She’s the oldest, had the most issues, and is the one folks will always want to talk about because she got me noticed in a big way.  However, she’s tied to the other pig’s ears because without them, I wouldn’t have been ready to make an offer when I walked in the front door.

This TV House is like The Fire House because they both survived a fire.  She’s like The Cottage because of the way both original structures were added onto by previous owners.  She’s a little like The Hurricane House because the roof leaked in both and I had mold issues that had to be addressed, not a big issue to me, but to some, it’s scary and oftentimes a deal breaker.  The TV House is also like The Bungalow since they both had severe floor system issues that required total demolition down to the dirt crawl space below.  So in those ways, as I was renovating my previous projects, I was practicing.

 

I've immersed myself in all these rehabs in comparable ways.   I loved buying them when no one else wanted to.  I loved cleaning them up and understanding how they were put together.  I loved taking my pictures and sketching up various options on paper.  I loved digging in, working early in the morning, late at night, and through the weekends.  It was fun, but I was unknowingly getting ready for The TV House; my biggest and most challenging project yet.  It was another seemingly impossible project.  A property that others didn't want to take a chance on.  A house some were ready to tear down and send to the landfill.  But like my other renovations, The TV House was too good to demolish, too unique and special.  With the help of so many people, too numerous to list, she's going to be a star.  Summerville, South Carolina is a special town, full of so many grand historic homes.  The TV House has become something here.  People make a point to come find her and see what she looks like in person.  They're excited about her.  They take pictures and video.  I hope this appreciation continues long after the work is done.

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

The Fire House - Before

The Fire House was vacant, yet For Sale when I saw it for the first time.  There was trash and abandoned children’s toys throughout the overgrown corner lot and a red tag on the front door that officially labeled it as condemned.  There was a charred hole in the roof over the laundry room as clear evidence of the fire that had caused the home’s demise and more than one window had been broken, likely by rocks thrown by kids in the neighborhood.  When co-workers learned of my plans to purchase and renovate the house, they tried to persuade me to reconsider.  It was the ugliest home on the street and people just had a tough time getting a handle on where I'd start and found it difficult (if not impossible) to imagine the place in livable condition. However, I saw a forgotten brick home with potential that would be transformed into an amazing place to live when I was finished.

I borrowed money to buy and renovate the Fire House.  My agreement with the bank included a twelve month time limit to complete the renovations and receive my Certificate of Occupancy from the local Building Officials.  More than one person advised me that I’d be unable to obtain my CO in that amount of time because I was doing so much of the work myself while working my full time job that occupied the majority of my time Monday through Friday and portions of my Saturdays.  In addition, I was peppered with warnings about the smoke smell that existed in the house as quite a few folks thought it was there to stay. 

I grew up in the Midwest and had spent plenty of time with my sleeves rolled up shoveling manure, baling hay, and detasseling corn.  In addition to that I'd also had a lot of fun on our small farm building tree houses and hay forts.  For me, work, building, and fun had been rolled into one for much of my life.  I heard what people said when I started to work on the run-down house, but didn’t really understand why they were so full of doubts.  I felt confident that the Fire House would look, feel, and be a real gem when I was done.  I didn’t sleep very well the night before my first day of work, but it wasn’t nerves making me toss and turn in my bed, I was simply too excited to sleep well.   

The Back of the Fire House where the damage was the most extensive.

The Front Corner of the Fire House

The Kitchen, next to the Laundry Room

The Back Inside Corner of the Fire House.  The section to the left of the bay window was a previous addition that added a Master Suite which turned the 3 bedroom, 1bath Ranch into a 4 bdrm., 2 ba. home.

Jump to The Fire House - During

Jump to The Fire House - After