There is a lot happening over at the Guest Cottage that I haven’t shared (or at least not all in one place), and it might be the stuff that only the remodelers will really care about (or those of you who just like to learn about the remodeling process). I feel like the design of the kitchen and what we are calling the “speakeasy” is at stage “5” – where we have ideas, but are still playing with them, so nothing is finalized. The bathroom is almost fully flushed out (lol), and then all of the electrical, foundation, framing, plumbing, and HVAC have moved along. It’s kinda the boring stuff, but many of you might be interested in how we are doing it, so here’s the latest:

Foundation Repair – Done

A few months ago, our contractors, “Foundations First NW,” finished the scope of work that was just meant to repair and make the foundation safe, but not totally redo it. There is still a slope in the old prop room (better but def still noticeable), and some other areas are wonky, but we knew all of that. We chose not to spend the $100k+ to make it awesome, and instead made it safe and better for a little over $20k. They built the new foundation in the bathroom and spent a few days adding supports underneath the house (using steel adjustable posts), replacing a huge beam, digging out a crawl space, etc. It’s done, and they did a great job.

Electrical

We have finished about 1/2 of the rough electrical, and the fantastic news is that they were able to put so many surface mount junction boxes without using conduit to cover up the wiring in the rooms where we wanted to preserve the original wood paneling (living room, prop room, and upstairs future office). Basically, we feared that we’d have to see some of the wiring since we didn’t want to open up the walls, but it’s all hidden! I’ll give out my electrician’s info after we are done with the work. So far we’ve been soooo happy with him and his team.

HVAC – Heat And AC

After having a Quilt mini-split AC/heat unit installed in our gym, we were blown away by how good the product is (and we are so excited that we can put our wood paneling over top of it so that it can really disappear into the design of this old house). So I pitched a partnership with them, and we have identified the rooms that need heat and AC (which is most of them, actually). Again, while it does require some light construction and electrical work, it’s not a massive ducting system that would require us to rip out walls and ceilings, etc. And we love that we can only heat or cool the rooms when we need to. The exact location is being figured out by GreenSavers (a local company that specializes in installing these amongst all other HVAC and insulation stuff). I’m psyched.

The Roof Is Being Repaired

Listen, it’s not in great shape, but we are hoping not to replace it and just patch it. The guys are out there literally right now giving us a quote (and I can tell they’d prefer we just redo it all). TBD on that front.

Framing Is Happening Right Now

We aren’t moving any walls or changing the layout, but a lot of the ceilings need repair before we can wire, add insulation, or put in skylights. Plus, we have to raise a door and a window in the bathroom, and get rid of two windows (they just don’t make sense and will cost a lot of money to repair or replace). Phase 1 is happening right now. Phase 2 will be after all the electrical, plumbing, and insulation are done, and they’ll panel over it all, then build out the water closet and shower room in the bathroom.

Exterior Repair

This house is old and could probably use a total face-lift, but then it would look like a new house, which is fine, but not really the intent (or just not necessary and would cost so much more). There was a lot of water damage from the rain just pouring off the roof of the covered walkway onto the corner of the house, and some of the posts on the walkway were totally rotted anyway. So we decided to just chop it off, taking off the rotted parts and making it so we can move the water away from the house when it rains (it still touches it a few inches, but not as badly). I’m 9% sad that we lost some of the covered walkway, but not enough to invest in what it would take to figure out the water abatement (the roof line hit the house, no room for a gutter, and everything was rotted). My crew also found siding that didn’t match perfectly, but it sure is close (which is good enough for me). So they are ripping off all boards that are super damaged and replacing them with ready-made boards. I’m sure someone with an eagle eye will be able to spot the difference in the profile, but custom-milled siding is crazy expensive and just not where we wanted to splurge. Once it’s all painted white, I doubt anyone will notice.

Wall Cladding

I’m so excited to say that we found some reclaimed wood that matches our existing wood almost perfectly. It’s reclaimed fir with a rough face, and while I originally wanted it to be a rich, more refined wood, once we held up this more rustic piece, it felt way more appropriate to the house.

All The Fun Stuff

Meanwhile, we have been shopping for tile, ordering a lot of Samplize paint colors, and playing around with the kitchen layout. I want to get a bit closer in the design process before I show you what I’m thinking, so hang tight for now.

The overwhelm is starting to sink in a little, but I’m still having so much fun dreaming up each room. But to finally have some real construction movement over here just feels sooo good. Progress!

*Photos by Kaitlin Green