Whole House Renovation & Added Bonus Room (Phase I)

Structure: Walkout Rambler

Originally Built: 1958

Situation: A house of many remodels is in need of a face lift, some consistency, some added room and an overall final goal.

Objective: Plan out an 'updating' for the entire house; inside and out; to fit into manageable phases. The exterior needs a more current and timeless look including a more stylish roof line and updated exterior materials. The interior needs a consistent and flowing layout. There needs to be more storage, more personal room, more useful areas, and more comfortable means by which to move from space to space.

Solution: We have collectively (homeowners and ourselves) decided that "Phase 1" would consist of updating and completing as much of the exterior work as possible within the budget allowed. The rational is that we make the exterior 'sound' before refining the interior for two reasons. First, this method will result in the least amount of wasted exterior materials; though it also means making some interior decisions (window placements) that will affect future phases. For this reason, we have carefully considered each future phase/space, and made initial design decisions throughout the house even if those are not being completed in this particular phase. Second, we wanted a secure our future phases from possible damage due to failing exterior materials by simply replacing those now. However, we had to make some trade-offs in this phase in order to stay within the acceptable budget. We weighed the importance of different situations, for instance, the lakeside exterior has roughly the same amount of window and door costs as the other three sides of the house. Also, we felt it was best to add any desired additional space in this phase, so that we complete all of the major "open-to-the-elements" portions in one phase; eliminating the need to have to expose the interior in any future phase. What we decided upon was to add the new rooflines, the Bonus Room above the garage, and replace the windows on the north, east, and west sides along with new roofing and siding. This leaves the lower west side (lakeside) to be fitted with new windows and siding in a future phase. Again, in doing this later, we will not have to expose the interior to the elements. The interior, with the exception of a minor amount of cosmetic work around replaced windows, will largely be unremodeled in this phase. We had a couple other considerations we had to address, and fit into the budget. We've replaced the heating and cooling systems in the house with a new High Efficiency (95%) Two-Stage Furnace and 15 Seer AC unit because the aging systems were close to the end of their lifespan. We also wanted to prepare the electrical system for the work-to-come by changing to a 44 circuit, 200 amp service that will better accomodate the house as we work through future phases.

Outcome: We are nearing the end of Phase 1, and the house is coming together exactly as planned. We have positioned the clients to first be comfortable with the durability of their new exterior, and the efficiency of their new HVAC system; as well as, prepare them for the interior considerations now to be addressed more thoroughly. We are waiting for warmer weather to install the stone veneer, and painting will be in the spring, however, the house has been secured against the harsh Minnesota winter and typically wet spring.

Launch the Slideshow to see the current progress!