Flip Thy House

Flip Floppin’ Around

Spent a few hours yesterday kicking around in House #2 and got a bit of demo work done, but mostly I tried to firm up assorted plans, so that I knew exactly what to lay out to contractors later on in the week.

The theme once again seems to be scaling back of original plans, which is likely smart. Instead of doing a bathroom addition proper to the master, a better plan is likely to just frame out a bathroom using the existing foundation and walls.

That would make the square footage of the renovated master much less impressive, but it’s currently about 350 sq. ft., so it’d still be about 250 sq. ft plus a bathroom of 100 sq. ft. I’d obviously lose a little wow factor but it’d make the project infinitely easier and much less expensive.

Completely enclosing the back porch would be more hassle than it’s worth, and I can get 90% of the same effect by just screening it in. The extra square footage would be nice but it’s just not worth the headaches of dealing with existing windows, new roof and insulation, hiding the exterior siding that would suddenly be interior walls, etc. I’m not really hurting for square footage on this one, so there’s no need to make things too difficult in pursuit of such.

I still don’t know what to do with the garage and workshop. I’m tentatively planning on knocking out the ceiling of the workshop, vaulting it, and finishing it out, so that it can be a guest bedroom/office. It’s insulated and it’d be fairly easy to add HVAC ducting.

The gas water heater is currently in the garage, which is unfinished and a bit dark and scary looking. The water hookup for the washer is next to the water heater, but there’s currently no outlet or vent for a dryer. I’d planned on adding that, but I’m not sure potential buyers are going to be very thrilled at the prospect of hauling laundry to and from a dark, unfinished garage.

The garage and workshop currently share a wall, and it shouldn’t be too hard to frame in a half bath and a small laundry room where that wall is, so that the workshop (which would become a bedroom/office) has a door that opens to the half bath, and the garage has a door that opens to the laundry room.

Running the necessary plumbing, electrical, and vents to make that happen would be pricy, but I’m saving a lot of cash by simply carving out space in the master for the new bathroom there, as opposed to the original plan of adding on an entire new addition for the new bathroom.

The only hitch in the laundry room/half bath plan is that the existing foundation is a little dodgy, as it has cracked and settled some in places and I don’t think it was even that great to begin with, as it was only for the garage and workshop. If it needs to be jackhammered out and a new foundation poured, it’s probably too expensive; if we can work with what’s there, it might be feasible.

I was also too optimistic about the floors, as one room is actually fairly damaged and worn. Nothing refinishing won’t solve, but it’ll take more than screening to get it into shape, which likely means all the floors will be refinished. I’ll probably get quotes about having it professionally done, as some other patching will be necessary. There’s an old gas floor furnace in the hallway that has to come out, and matching hardwood will need to be installed. I should have enough original matching hardwood for it, as one closet is disappearing that has hardwood floors in it, but I may leave that job to an expert.

Speed is pretty critical with this one, so I’m not going to be shy or stubborn about hiring stuff out. Not only do I need to get it re-listed before winter proper gets here, but paying mortgages on three houses ain’t much fun, so I can’t really fart around with this one. I still plan on doing all of the painting (exterior and interior) and the tile work, but I’m just going to bite the bullet and hire out everything else.