The changes we made in the first few years include finishing half the basement; the other half was insulated and sheet rocked leaving the floors and ceiling unfinished. We added a third full bathroom downstairs. Before beginning this downstairs project, we corrected a house-settling problem we observed. This involved adding new support beams in two places to hold up the main floor while we repositioned the old beams in their proper place. The builder had placed the beams on minimally reenforced cross boards. This had caused one metal beam to slightly bow out. From that beam, a minor crack in the concrete floor traveled across half the basement floor northward. We repaired that crack. There were also some electrical errors that were corrected before the suspended ceiling was in place. The plumbing could have been better for one upstairs bathroom, but we put up with the slow flushing all these years and may change when that bathroom gets remodeled. Other than those two problems, the house was built good and has served us well.
Since 2000, we have added 30-year shingles to the roof and added a ridge vent, painted the exterior and most of the interior. We have replaced both upstairs and downstairs sliding glass doors. It is now time to plan the remodeling for this 30+ year old house.
We are currently working on the lower floor. The old carpet used in the finished half is worn and needs to be removed. I am in the process of organizing, labeling, and packing everything into large plastic containers that will be moved into a storage unit until the work is done. The larger furniture will be moved to the unfinished area. Keith will rent a machine that will grind the concrete to removed any remaining carpet glue and sealant. It will then be refinished. I will repaint the walls and the electrical will be repaired, ceilings panels replaced where needed and storage shelves added to one wall in the unfinished area.
The plan is to change the use of the 800 sf finished area from its previous use as my home office, family computer center, kids play area, multi-purpose activities such as raising puppies to fly-tying to storage. The purpose is three-fold: create a new bedroom area for when our children come home to visit and other guests, a living area, and storage space. There are no plans to build walled partitions as bookcases, furniture, movable screens will be the flexible dividers. The bedroom will also serve as a 'safe place' during tornado warnings. The living area will also be an activity area for fly-tying, art projects, TV & media center, sewing area and any other projects. The storage area will begin at the bottom of the stairs with the freezer and food storage close at hand using the storage shelves back-to-back with bookcases to separate the bedroom. The goal is to have this project done by winter 2012. The other half of the basement will do good to have storage shelves along the wood framed wall side to keep all the plastic labeled storage containers. Future plans include removing the chimney and wood stove which will open the area on both floors. Cleaning and organizing this 600 sf area will be necessary to redefine its use and/or potential uses.
The next remodeling project involves expanding our current master bedroom into a suite. With the guest bedroom now downstairs, the bedroom on the northeast side can now be combined with our bedroom on the northwest side. This will be done by removing the back wall to our closest and possibly moving our bedroom door so that it opens in direct line with the other bedroom door. This would create a natural air flow. The closest in the former guest room will now be used as a genealogy storage center with shelves built and a computer center on a work table alongside. A new closest could be built from the space created by moving our bedroom door over and building a wall along the whole side that shares with the master bathroom. Have not decided yet if access to this potential new closest should be from the bathroom or the bedroom (or both). Later, when the chimney is removed, more bathroom space will be available for a walk-in shower to replace the tub/shower combo. I want a shower large enough to not need doors or curtains. The bathroom remodel will include more efficient storage and new counter top/sink and tile floors. This project will begin early in 2012 and may continue into my first year of retirement in 3/2013. We can sleep downstairs if it gets too messy with that project done first.
When the master bathroom is being remodeled, plans will be made to remodel the other upstairs bathroom. These plans will include removing the old tub and replacing with a larger jetted tub, smaller sink and more efficient storage as well as a tile floor. Maybe we can once and for all correct the odd plumbing for that toilet once the chimney has been removed so access would be better. The odd plumbing may have had something to do with getting around the chimney during original construction.
The kitchen has all new appliances in recent years except for a stove which is expected to be in place by the end of this year. Since Keith has taken up cooking and spends as much, if not more, time in the kitchen than me, he has some ideas for making more efficient use out of the space here and there. For sure, the sink area needs replaced. Any other changes would be minor as it is a lovely kitchen with beautiful cabinets. Increasing storage downstairs will free up space in the kitchen.
As time and money for remodeling increase at my retirement, additional projects are planned. I have always wanted a sun room. I plan to have one built to replace the back deck. It will be 2-story with access from both upstairs and downstairs sliding glass doors. Decking will be expanded to reach across one end of the carport. This room will have 'green' features and wood heat in addition to its own wall unit for heating and cooling. I am excited about this new feature and am looking forward to making my retirement dream come true. Keith has some ideas about building a roof beneath the main floor windows in this back of the house area from the sun room across to the north side. Since this walk-out basement area is across the full back of the house, the siding gets too much sun exposure and needs to be addressed to keep our house cooler. This will also be the time we consider new siding instead of paint which is starting to deteriorate again. With this new roof area in place, the lower area can become a screened porch off the lower sun room on the north side.
The rest of the rooms in the house are fine except for flooring. That will be a large project that will extend to every room upstairs. We want to replace the wall-to-wall carpet with wood or a natural product and tile in all bathrooms and the kitchen. That project will include some reinforcement nailing in 'squeeky' floor areas.
We will have to address the heating and cooling issues sooner than later as our HVAC system is original with the construction of the house and not so efficient as modern systems. It has served us well and had sufficient maintenance to get the most out of it. Because we use wood heat, we have been able to extend the life of this system. It has reached beyond all expectations by now and can go at any time. Of course, we have not made any specific plans to replace until it is dead. It is a stressful situation I hope is resolved in the near future. We are discussing options now. Heat pumps are popular around here. I am more interested in keeping this house cool than I am about heat as we will always have wood heat. We are in the process of deciding for sure to remove that chimney in the unfinished part of the basement which has served us well. We are discussing to replace that wood heat source with an efficient, but aesthetic hearth stove in the living room upstairs. That would involve giving up 3' of carport space but would be a clean way to deal with wood transport. Also there will be a small wood stove in the new sun room as well as a larger wood stove in the lower floor of the sun room that will help to heat the lower floor.
With several house projects in place and in the planning, we know that we will progress as the time and money are available. In the meantime, we have spent a great deal of time and a fair amount of money all these years on our landscape. It has been and continues to be a highly enjoyable way to spend our time together.
Our landscaping began shortly after we moved into the house. The pie-shaped lot is located on a hill and had very little topsoil. We sold 50 acres nearby where we had lived the previous seven years and used some of that money to haul in 25+ truck loads of good river-bottom dirt. We built four terraced gardens and several native rock retaining walls. I obtained a load of 100-year-old common brick from Mt. Vernon in Lawrence County for a patio across the house front. I had the driveway concreted. Keith built some decorative fence accents. But most of all, we planted and planted and are still planting...
There was no established layout or a master plan to the final outcome. The landscape grew intuitively with us as we lovingly worked together and walked together and enjoy regularly. The key thread throughout the loose plan was to create a place we could access for the rest of our lives so the paths were made in both steps and ramps. Every part of our house and yard can be accessed without steps. There are many steps since we live on a hill, but also alternative routes around them. Biggest advantage to living on a hill is there is no flooding and almost always a breeze which means no mosquitoes. The view is awesome! The sound of water rushing down the hills into the river below is calming after a rain. The deer and turkey are welcomed (except when they eat more of our garden than we do). The songbirds are a daily joy.
I have included my favorite recent photos of our landscape:
Keith put me in the bucket to take some photos from a bird's eye view.
View from Lower Driveway - behind the red honeysuckle is my garden swing.
Terraced Gardens - in the bottom left corner is a composting area that is easy access with a large oregano patch next to it. The upper left area at the bottom of the gardens is our burn area nicely hidden behind Russian Olive bushes.
Arbor is under construction - searching for additional Osage (Hedge) Apple Wood because it lasts longer than other wood and is natural to the area; Fall project now.
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