Home Addition and Remodel Part 2
Here is the second installment of adding on to our home. In the first post, I showed you what we accomplished in a year. Here we are in our second year, and this is what we have done now!
Videos at the end of the post if that is more your thing! This post contains affiliate links.
Insulation
We did all of the insulation ourselves, and it was a job! My husband was able to get insulation from the company he works for. However, it was all considered scrap, which means we were subject to what was available, and some of it wasn’t exactly the size we needed. This meant we had to do a lot of cutting the pieces to size. It felt very good to be done with that messy part of the work!
Sheetrock
We hired out the sheetrock, and I’m so glad we did! They had a crew that came in and had it done pretty quickly. They really did a good job too. I think we chose level 4 or maybe 5. This means it’s all smooth, including the ceilings. No texture at all.
We primed and painted it all ourselves, and that was actually pretty fun. Everyone in the family got to help! White isn’t our final color for the walls; those are just primed. The ceiling is painted though.
Removing Old Siding and Putting up New
This was the big job we had to get done before the wedding. Since it was an outdoor wedding, we figured we should spend our time and money on getting the outside presentable. This took a long time and was a tremendous amount of work. We got help from friends and family, and we are so grateful for them!
The siding on our house is Diamond Kote in Midnight.
Finishing the Porch
This was the last job we finished before our son’s wedding. I am so thankful that we got it done because not only was it a beautiful addition, but it was super functional as well! I stained the floor with Cabot Semi-Solid in Cordovan Leather.
The white I had color-matched with Diamond Kote white. I had this done at Benjamin Moore.
We had the food and drinks set up on the porch; this was so nice! It kept the flow moving nicely and made it easier to stock the food and drinks as needed. We also came in and out of the doors for the reception entrance.
Behind the Scenes
The boring but necessary stuff also got finished. We got HVAC installed and functioning! All of the can lights are installed and working, and all of the outlets as well! We also have all of the rough plumbing finished!
Groundwork and Planting Grass
This was ridiculously expensive! Who knew dirt would cost so much! We don’t think we even brought in enough topsoil to establish a good yard! However, we did get some grass established in time for the wedding. Even if it was a bit splotchy!
Also, we purchased the netting rolls that have straw attached to them. These were great for rolling out and getting the grass established. However, the netting is not biodegradable. We wish it were! We spent a lot of time pulling up the plastic netting!
Interior Work on the Old Part of the House
While my husband was working on siding, I was working on the inside of the old part of the house. My goal was to get rid of the golden oak trim and make things look more cohesive. I know some people love oak trim; my parents do. However, I lived with it for 14 years, and it didn’t really grow on me! I am very happy with the way it has turned out. I still plan to do more decorating, but I am pleased with what I have accomplished on a tight budget so far!
I also wallpapered and painted our front bathroom.
Front Entry Room
Here are a few pictures to give you an idea of what everything looked like before.
Family Room
This couch is my favorite Marketplace find of all time. I have had my eye on this couch for YEARS! With a price tag of over $ 4,000, I knew it would need to be found on a mega sale or used on Marketplace. I had just about given up and was considering getting a sectional for this room. If you came to my house, this is the story I would feel compelled to tell you.
I had been scouring Marketplace off and on, and then one day I opened it up, and there was this couch! I thought it was an ad at first because I had never seen one on there before! It was in Kansas City, which is about a 2-hour drive from our home. She had it priced at $450! I messaged the lady right away; she got back to me quickly, and we set up a time to pick it up. She told me there were several flights of stairs and that the couch was heavy.
I would usually ask my husband to come help me, but he was siding the house, and we were on a time crunch for the wedding. Instead, I took two of my daughters, and we headed out to get the couch! I figured three of us could move a couch! We’re strong! Ha!
Here is a picture of said stairs
Four flights of these stairs! The floor-to-ceiling at the bottom of the stairs was essentially the height of the couch on its side. Getting this couch out of that building was an absolute nightmare! The lady was so nice and called the apartment’s maintenance man to help us. He was a Godsend. There was no way we were getting it out without him!
We were all drenched in sweat by the time we got it out, and it took a few scuffs, but it is now in my home, and I love it! So, if you have your eye on something expensive, be patient and persistent; I bet it turns up for you someday!
Moving Windows in Family Room
The windows in this room had to be replaced and moved down. They were uneven with the rest of the windows on the house. Since we were replacing them anyway because they were rotten, we decided to address the height issue.
Opening up the Old to the New
One of the biggest changes was opening up the wall between the old part of the house and the new! This was very exciting. Prior to opening it, it felt like the addition was another place. We had to go outside to get into it. Since the sheetrock and HVAC were done, we decided it was time to open it up!
What’s Next?
We are pausing all big spending for now. We don’t want to be so far in debt that we can’t breathe! The next big project will be flooring for the addition. We would like to get the upstairs bedrooms and bathroom finished so that the kids can move into the bigger rooms. Plus, we could use another bathroom!
The kitchen is still farther off in the future! We do have plans for that, and I will share those in another post!
As we pay down some of this, we will continue. I am still working on painting the Golden Oak trim; our bedroom is next on my list, and I think I can tackle that soon!
