HOME RENOVATION DIARIES: WATERTON PROJECT
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Oh boy...it's a new year and that means it's time to get to work on a new project.
Who: A young family of 4 - Mom, Dad, 4 year old daughter and 2 year old boy.
What: A single story, 3 bedroom, 2 bath, 1352 square foot ranch style home built in the 1950s.
Project: Complete interior renovation including the kitchen, 2 baths, fireplace renovation, HVAC relocation, water heater relocation, laundry relocation, and new roof.
The 411: They closed escrow on this home in early December and the husband was tasked with managing the renovation project. Unfortunately, a month passed with no progress which created a lot of angst and stress on the wife. She called his cousins for help and they recommended that they hire me. I received a call on Friday, met with them on Saturday, brought 2 contractors to see the property and to provide quotes and this is the feedback I received from the wife via a questionnaire I have new clients fill out...Why do you think Alice T. Chan is the right Designer to assist you with this process?
You were able to meet us in less than 24 hours. After a thorough and detailed one hour consultation, you brought two different contractors to price out estimates. You did more than we did in our entire month of owning the place. I was ready to hire you on the spot. We need someone who is super detail oriented, can represent our needs and look out for our best interests, stay within our budget, manage and oversee contractors and work within our timeframe. We hope that person is you!
Pheww...ok, no pressure. Based on my experience, it was totally realistic to complete this project in about 2 months, 8-10 weeks...demo January 21st, estimated completion date of March 31st... Fast forward a week after visiting the permit office and yea, that's not gonna happen. Read on for more deets on what I'm calling the Waterton Project! Here are some BEFORE photos of what we're working with...you know you're jealous of the Liberace drapes! They've already sold them to someone who just thought they were perfect. Goes to show, one mans trash is another man's treasure!
One of the main requests is to remove the walls that separate the kitchen from the living and dining rooms to create one large, open concept living space which is more conducive to today's lifestyle. The wall on the left is non-load bearing, but the one on the right is load bearing. No big deal, just need to add a beam to support the house once it is removed, but let me tell you, it's going to be a doozy...a 26-30 foot beam is what we'll need. Everyone kept recommending they add a post to the future island that is planned for where that wall currently is, but the homeowners are adamant about keeping it completely open. The challenge here is the City requires us to get a Structural Engineer to submit technical plans and recommendations which will take a minimum of 2 weeks to receive after we have as-built floor plans created and even more fun, since this City outsources their plan check process, it's a 30 day review period. There goes getting this project started right away! Oh, and if there are any changes that are required, it'll be another 30 days...no Bueno! That's a minimum of 6 weeks before we even know if we get approval to remove the walls. I don't doubt it'll get approved, it's just a matter of how long it'll take. Patience Alice...I hear it's a virtue..
The kitchen cabinets are actually in great condition and we considered keeping some of them to save costs, but the cabinets won't fit the new layout once we move the refrigerator and stove to that back wall and relocate the laundry to the hallway so, new cabinets it is. Their aesthetic is much more contemporary anyway. Having the washer and dryer in the kitchen is just such bad design don't you agree?!
Can you see how much more open and modern the space will be without this wall?
Have you ever seen such fancy window coverings in a bathroom? Way to carry the theme throughout the house! And that he did...yes, this same style of jabot swag drapery is in EVERY SINGLE ROOM! Considering the age of this home, the bathrooms are in excellent condition. The tiles look nearly brand new. It's a very narrow bathroom, and that bump out on the sink does not help, but overall I was pretty impressed with the condition.
This is one of the smallest master baths I've ever seen. I despise enclosed showers like this...so claustrophobic and there's no light inside!
So another major request is to reconfigure the bathrooms to be more efficient. Usually this isn't that hard because you can steal some space from an adjoining area, another room, maybe open up a wall. Here, no such luck! Remember, this house is only 1352 square feet. All the rooms fit into each other like a very snug puzzle. Also, keep in mine we have a finite budget we're working with. I take budgets very seriously. I stress over every dollar that is spent so if you tell me you have $X and that's all, I will do what I can within that budget. In this case, that precluded any major moving of walls and plumbing. That left everything in the same layout, just new finishes which will be an improvement, but they did not like that. As it turns out, this is so important to them that they are willing to find more money and compromise on the level of appliances and other finishes to get better bathrooms. Well, ok then.
Before I show you what we ended up with...here's another challenge and major request. To relocate the furnace and water heater that is behind the doors on the left and move the washer/dryer to that location. The furnace will move to the attic (that requires structural engineering too) and the water heater will be replaced with a tankless version on the exterior of the house right outside the bathrooms. The reconfiguration of the bathrooms and this laundry area kept me up all night 2 nights ago. I want to make the homeowners happy, but my concern was how much it would drive costs up and also the delay in getting started because this all requires permit approval and plan check review...sigh! Ready? Here's what we came up with and the homeowners are thrilled! In fact, in their words "my prayers have been answered!" In case you're wondering, I was able to confirm that we can remove the HVAC chase from the laundry area as seen in the proposed plans below. This is because we are having new ducts installed and moving all the vents to the ceiling v. on the floor where they currently are. That will alsp allow for more storage space on the right side where the linen closet is. They have to go with a compact, stackable washer and dryer set, but we were able to create better bathroom layouts, keep the laundry indoors, and maintain much needed storage. So far, everything that was on their high priority wish list. Pheww...we did it! Now we just have to finalize the plans and get it over to the City and hope that the labor costs to make these changes are not beyond reach...wish us luck!
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