Farmhouse Renovation: Month 3 Update

It’s time for another update on the farmhouse renovation project!

For anyone new here, we purchased a c.1900 Iowa farmhouse 3 months ago and promptly tore down a large (sagging) section and have been putting it back together ever since. This has definitely been an interesting project, mainly due to there not really being any building codes or rules to follow 120 years ago, so we have had to allow for extra time (and money) to accommodate unforeseen things along the way….(hello super scary/non supported second floor…i’m looking at you!)

Enough on the recap, let’s get on to the accomplishments for the month….

New this month:

-All Plumbing

-Furnace and all duct work

-Interior walls framed up

-All windows replaced

-Almost all the siding torn off original structure, and new OSB and tyvek paper

-All electrical wired up and ready

-A functioning set of stairs

Here are a couple photos showing the updates…

This photo is from the front porch, looking at the front door

The porch view after new walls and windows!

The above photos show just how extensive this renovation has become. Was it in the original plan to tear everything out to the studs? No. However, we needed to replace the improperly installed windows and that meant tearing off all the siding out front. The insulation and sheeting weren’t up to par and not really functioning, so they all had to go too.

Now, this means more work and increased cost, but we would rather spend a few more dollars up front and not have to worry about issues down the road. Plus, this is Iowa so we can’t have poor insulation and improperly installed windows or utility bills will be very high.

We have repeated this same process, section by section, for the entire house. Only one small part remains, and that will be done shortly. It’s particularly time consuming to do this all in January, but that’s what we have to work with at the moment. I mean, icy scaffolding just makes things more interesting…right?

Next up, we have a fully functional and standard size flight of stairs to the second floor. Gone are the days of ducking your head and climbing super small and steep steps with no railing.

Speaking of the second level, we haven’t been up there for several weeks while there were no stairs, and I lost track of how much we have to do up there as well. Obviously the windows will have to be replaced (might as well do them all, right?) but the flooring and fixtures will need work too.

The first photo is of the (likely lead) painted original flooring, and we simply cannot sand that down and use it, for obvious reasons.

The next photo is a view from the stairs, and while things might not look too bad up here there is still a bunch of work to do. For example, the door to the second bedroom no longer closes due to the bracing and raising of the floor that was required in order to ensure it would not come down. We also need proper safety mechanisms such as smoke detectors, railings, and windows that are the required size, in case of emergency evacuation. These things can all be done now, since we can now access this part of the house!

As always, our daughter (who we call ‘the inspector’) is as involved as a two year old can be, and she loves to ‘help’. The weather in January has made this somewhat difficult but we work with it the best we can.

Helping dad with the front door

Giving her approval of the new stairs

That’s all I have for this update! I will leave you with a fun little before and after of the outside. As always, thank you for visiting the blog today, we really appreciate all of your support!

Cheers!

-Rachael

Farmhouse Renovation: Month 2 Update

Two months!

It’s been a little over two months since we purchased a 1900’s farmhouse, and then promptly took a bulldozer to a large section of it. We have since added back a large addition (almost 600 sq feet), to replace the torn down section and add some space.

Out with the old…

In with the new!

Since our last update about two weeks ago, we have the addition completely closed in from the Iowa elements, thanks in part to some amazing December weather. Now if we could just request some daylight after 430 pm…ha!

Now that the new part is enclosed, we were able to open up the wall separating the original section from the new addition, and it was the first time I had seen the old part since we boarded it up! Here are a couple photos…

View inside the new part

Looking into the original part of the farmhouse

Opening up the walls and ceiling of the original section of the home presented it’s own challenges, including 120 years of dirt and grime. Oh and about 3 layers of ceiling in the old living room! Here are a couple before shots…

Tearing into this section was not exactly in the original plan, but in order to update the electrical correctly and put new heating and air duct work in we decided to take it all down. There’s always that one moment in the home improvement shows where something goes wrong, and the owners are left with a decision on how to proceed, and for us it was this ceiling and what was underneath it.

I already mentioned there were a ton of layers to the ceiling, and this left us with quite a mess, but a more alarming issue was how the second floor was being (sort of) supported. The picture below on the right shows ONE board, that is kind of in a notch, and that was what held the floor joists for the second floor. One board, folks!

Lots of layers to the ceiling here!

That one board might have made it the last 120 years, but Adam didn’t feel comfortable leaving it one more day, so we had to handle that immediately. Let’s just say that this load bearing wall will soon be almost 12 in thick to provide much needed support to the second floor. Definitely a scary moment, but I am glad we found it when we did!

In other news, you can see in the photo on the above left that there should be some original flooring upstairs underneath the carpet! The second floor will be where our daughter, who we call the ‘inspector’, will have her bedroom and play room. She likes to visit from time to time to sweep and pick up trash, and we will take any help we can get!

Inspector, doing some inspecting

Well that’s all I have for today! Soon we will be getting into the fun part of a renovation/build, when the rooms really start to take shape. Don’t forget to follow along on Instagram and Facebook, for some fun video updates of Adam working, and the Inspector inspecting!

Until next time…

-Rachael

Farmhouse Renovation Update: Week 6

Hello from frigid Iowa!

Major progress on the farmhouse project this week! Adam and crew braved the frozen tundra (and a ‘snow squall warning’) to frame up the walls and add the truss system, which gives this addition some shape and brings the full size and scale of this project into view.

This photo shows the size of this addition, it’s about 2/3 of the total square footage of the house!

The cold Iowa elements aren’t friendly to power tools or air hoses, but fortunately we are really close to having this project closed up (hopefully this week).

And I couldn’t write this post without recognizing the hard work of Adam and his crew, braving the wind/rain/snow last week to get the the trusses set and keep this project on schedule!

Unfortunately, there is no sign of warm weather (above 40 degrees) anywhere in next week’s weather forecast, but that is just how things roll here in the Midwest. Regardless, Adam plans to have the roof closed in and heaters on very soon, so at least the days of frozen air hose lines are numbered!

Well I am off to finish Christmas shopping today, wrap all the things, and try to keep up with the daily grind of this busy household. I am normally an early shopper and have everything done by now for the Christmas prep, but this year time got away from me, so I will just have to grab an extra coffee and make a mad dash to the finish.

Happy Weekend Friends!

Cheers!

Rachael

Farmhouse Renovation: Weeks 3 & 4

Well we have officially owned the farmhouse project for 4 weeks now, and I am impressed with how much we have been able to accomplish despite the colder than normal temperatures. Almost everything that is temperature dependent is finished, and once we get the new structure framed and closed in, it wont matter if the weather turns cold again.

For those of you who are interested in the details…

With temperatures in single digits and low teens during week 3, concrete was not able to be poured so we used this time to frame up the footings and line up the appropriate inspections.

Things finally warmed up for week 4! We are obviously starting from scratch here, with 16 in wide and 8 in deep concrete footings. Adam does all his own concrete work, but I think even he was ‘over it’ by the time this foundation was poured.

Next up, we have the 4 ft concrete walls that will serve as the foundation for the structure we will eventually be adding to the home. As you can see from the photos, we are adding quite a bit of square footage to this home! I think even the city is impressed (ha!).

It’s definitely been nice that Iowa has given us a break with the cold weather so we could finish some of the temperature dependent parts of this project, and hopefully the weather will hold out one more week so we can get the floor poured. Thanks for stopping by the blog today and joining us for this crazy journey!

Cheers!

-Rachael

Farmhouse Renovation: Week 2 Demolition

Major progress at the farmhouse! The weather cooperated and demolition was completed this week, along with digging for the foundation of the addition we are building. If you missed my last update where I explained everything that is staying vs going, I will link it here.

On to the photos!

This first photo shows just how much of the house was torn down. On the far right of the photo, you can see the bucket of the machine used to demo the house, and that is approximately where the structure extended to.

This next photo shows what remains of the original structure. The bottom floor is the living room and second floor is a bedroom. If you look closely at the back of what remains standing, you can see there are a number of different siding materials that were used over the decades, layer upon layer.

After all the garbage was hauled away, the digging started for the foundation of the addition. Since it’s only going to be a slab foundation, it’s not required to be too deep.

The addition will be slightly larger than what was existing, and more importantly it will have a proper roof structure so the trusses do not bow and the ceiling does not sag (this was a major issue in the previous structure). We are adding a brand new kitchen, full bathroom, laundry area, master bedroom with attached 3/4 bathroom, and a utility closet so we can bring the furnace and water heater out of the scary basement! We will still have access to the basement with a trap door in the flooring, but that would only be used in an emergency, such as a tornado.

I am excited to see how this comes along! We really need the cooperation of the weather to allow the footings and foundation to be poured, and it’s Iowa so any weather is possible in November! Hopefully I am back soon with another update!

Cheers!

-Rachael

Farmhouse Renovation: Week One

Well it’s been quite the week over at the farmhouse renovation project, but we have accomplished a lot despite the Iowa weather skipping fall and turning full winter on us. The short version of the long story is the house is officially prepped to have it’s 3 additions torn off, and with any luck that will happen next week. I have had several questions on which rooms are staying and which are being torn down, so here is a breakdown:

Staying

• Living Room

• Upstairs Bedroom & Bonus Room

• Front Porch

• 1 Car Garage

Going

• Kitchen

• Bathroom/Laundry Room

• Creepy Basement

• Sunroom

• Deck

• Most of the Fencing

• Lean-to Driveway Covering

We made some exciting discoveries this week while de-constructing the home, it is so interesting to me to think of the history within those 119 year old walls!

I have no idea who John or Amy are, or how old this touching tribute is! HA!

SUPER SCARY BASEMENT——No thanks!

But the most impressive discovery of the week was by far these original wood floors (covered in wood-look vinyl tile). These floors are in surprisingly good shape and just need some TLC.

These floors are in the portion of the home that is staying intact, so we will come back to them later on. For now, this section of the home is being boarded up to protect it from the elements while we tear off the rest of the house.

This past week we:

-removed all appliances and fixtures from the tear down portion

-took down the lean-to structure attached to the garage

-took out fencing and other obstacles to make room for heavy machinery

-acquired the necessary permits for demolition

-had utilities disconnected

We had two random snow events this past week, and some unseasonably cold temps for October in Iowa, so that made outdoor work kind of difficult. Despite all of that, we have the property ready for the heavy machinery to come in next week and get to work. Adam is out of town for work all week, so that leaves me to manage whatever issues arise (yikes).

Hopefully the tear down goes as planned and we can start digging for the new foundation next week, as we really need to get that concrete poured before it’s too much colder here. Although, knowing Iowa, it will be 60 degrees in December so maybe we can take advantage of that! All we have to do is get it closed in before the frigid air arrives and then we can work with heaters and etc. It’s not ideal, but it’s where we are at this point.

I have some videos saved under ‘highlights’ on Instagram, if you are interested in seeing some of the excitement over the last week. Also, I will try to record as much of the demolition as possible next week (when I’m not running 1800 errands or handling whatever snags arise).

With that being said, I had better get back to making my list for next week! Thanks for stopping by the blog today, it’s definitely an exciting time in our lives!

Until next time-

-Rachael

We Bought A 1900's Farmhouse!

You read that correctly! Today we just dove right into the deep end and bought an authentic Iowa farmhouse built in 1900. This will be our biggest project to date, and either the best or worst idea we have ever had.

Your first question might be “WHY?!”, and to be honest I have asked myself this daily for the past month while this deal was in the works., including this morning.

The answer is complicated…but in the end it just felt right. The land value will only increase with time, and the home needs major repair but it’s not outside the scope of our abilities. We have always gone with our gut feeling on these types of things, and so far they have turned out ok, but that doesn’t make this huge purchase any easier on the mind! We have other properties that we own, but people live in those and thus pay for them. This home will not have anyone living in it, as it needs a major overhaul, so that’s where the added “yikes” factor comes from!

OK, here it is!

The home is made up of the original structure from 1900, and three separate additions that were added over time. Our plan is to take down those three additions, and then add one larger one, with a single all-encompassing roof structure. The existing additions were either done improperly or they have deteriorated over time, and some of the resulting issues are so major it just needs torn down and replaced (ex: ceiling sags very low in the kitchen).

The good news is, the original structure is in good shape and just needs cosmetic work. There are also several features intact that show the home’s character and age. Here are a few snapshots from just today where you can see the original door, built-in cabinet, and (my favorite) the 8 inch trim.

I will get a full set of ‘before’ photos prior to doing any work, but the living room and upstairs bedroom are all that are staying in their original condition, and everything else is being torn down.

Speaking of work, I had better get back to this demolition permit, stay tuned for updates…..it still remains to be seen if this is our best or worst decision to date!

Thank you for stopping by the blog today! Check back with us soon!

-Rachael

Laundry Room Makeover

I am always looking for inexpensive ways to update and/or decorate our home, and my laundry room was recently at the top of my list of spaces that needed serious help. I had seen several designers recently posting about using wallpaper to update a space, and my first reaction was not a positive one. I mean, wallpaper?!? Who has time for that??

Well as it turns out, I had time for it, and so do you! Wallpaper has come SUCH a long way from the days where I remembered my grandparents mixing paste and matching patterns, only to have it dry and shrink just enough that it no longer lined up perfectly. I was curious how this “new” version worked, so I ordered a roll from Target’s website, which has dozens of options.

Today’s version of wallpaper has no mess, simply peel and stick. Make a mistake and need to remove it? Just peel it off the wall, no damage to the paint/wall, and you can re-use the piece! This feature in particular makes a wallpaper project budget friendly, I did this entire laundry room makeover with only one roll, which was $30. Don’t worry about matching patterns either, the print I chose has a tiny pattern line on it so you can easily tell where the next piece should line up.

So I went for it and ordered the wallpaper….

Before I show you how it turned out, let’s take a look at some ‘before’ photos!

This laundry room functioned just fine how it originally was, but I wanted a space that was more inviting and had a ‘fresh’ look. I first shopped the garage for some shelving materials, then picked up a vintage window for the space above the sink, and finally picked out the wallpaper that would tie it all together Somehow, I roped Adam into helping me.

Neither one of us had ever worked with wallpaper, and thus we had no idea how to install it. I envisioned unrolling it and sticking it to the wall (why make it more difficult than it needs to be, am i right?), however Adam had other ideas.

He approached the situation as thought it were flooring, and found the center of the wall and the center of the wallpaper pattern and started there. As a result, the first piece took about 45 min to place, but the rest of it went much faster.

After the wallpaper was applied, we placed a small white trim around the top edges to give it more of a polished look. Then all that was left was to mount the shelf and hang the window, and suddenly the laundry room had been transformed! Here are a couple photos…

This budget friendly update has made quite a difference, and I am really happy how it turned out. This was a learning experience, but it really was quite easy, so if you are looking to freshen up a space consider using wallpaper!

That’s all I have for today, I am headed back outside to enjoy this second Summer that Iowa has given us this week! I will be back soon with our latest outdoor client project, as soon as I load and edit the photos :)

As always, thank you for stopping by the blog today! We really appreciate it!

-Rachael

The Kitchen Reveal You Don't Want To Miss!

Sometimes there are home improvement projects that linger, for years. This would be one of those projects. Our kitchen was 95% finished for the last two years, all but for some 6 or 8 back splash tiles and decor. Well, since this winter is approximately 15 months long, we had time to finally get a few things done around here and this project was one of them!

A little background info:

the home we currently live in was designed on a piece of notebook paper by my husband. We eventually had to have an architect develop the house plans off of our drawing (because let’s face it, we know nothing about truss systems for roof structures) but the floor plan stayed the same. Now we had previously built additions to homes, and remodeled existing structures, but building the entire home from scratch was a new endeavor. Oh, and did I mention we had never designed a kitchen… (yikes!).

So off we went with our notebook paper drawing to meet a local cabinet maker and have him help us come up with something. He told us what worked logistically for wiring and plumbing, and showed us some basic layouts he had in production. I knew I wanted something different and unique and by the time we left our first meeting I am pretty certain he thought I was nuts.

Fast forward to that next summer, and we were laying tile and painting the walls in preparation for the cabinet maker to bring and assemble the cabinets. I don’t have many pictures from this point in time (maybe because we were literally building our home during the night and working during the day), but this photo below shows you the basic outline of our cabinet system (excuse the contractor lighting and pizza box).

The next step was to add counter tops and appliances, which then made this kitchen functional. We were on a time crunch, so finishing touches and decorating took the back burner. We just needed our kitchen to pass the final building inspection and we could worry about the rest later.

Originally, I was interested in concrete counter tops but my husband talked me out of it. We cook A LOT at our house, and he was afraid that we needed a stronger material that could take a beating without showing any signs of wear. I am happy to report that after three years of constant use, these quartz counter tops have held up perfectly and have zero imperfections.

We did add a stainless steel back splash behind the stove area pretty early on, and then gradually finished the rest of that wall with subway tile, as you can see pictured below.

One of the first comments people usually make when they see our kitchen for the first time is that our cabinets look ‘beat up’. Well, I think this is where our custom cabinet maker thought I was nuts, but I wasn’t going to budge on the distressed look. The material is knotty alder, and we chose all of the wood that had the greatest amount of natural knots and ‘imperfections’. Then, combined with black glaze and iron knobs and pulls, this kitchen has the appearance that the cabinets are older or re-purposed, when in fact they are brand new. I know this is a unique look, and it’s not for everyone, but it really came together in the end and I couldn’t be happier with how it turned out.

Ok, fast forward a couple of years to present time, and the last of the subway tile was installed over the kitchen sink. During the notebook paper design phase, I had pictured a window for this space but it was not feasible since the garage was on the other side of the wall. I still decided to put a window in this space, but just had to be a bit more creative.

I found an old farmhouse window at a salvage barn for $5, and I immediately knew it would work for this space. All of the glass was removed, which was perfect since it would make cleaning a breeze. This window frame is very light, and thus I was able to install it easily with command strips. Plus, I didn’t really want to drill into the fresh tile! (yikes!) And while I love our sink, I would have preferred a copper farm sink but that just wasn’t in the budget for this house (maybe next time!).

Here are a couple more photos/angles of our kitchen:

Well I could go on and on about this kitchen, it really is the focal part of our home and I am so excited that it is finished. This was a huge lingering project that I can finally cross off of our list, all thanks to our epic long winter this year. If you have any other questions about the materials or process, feel free to leave a comment here or catch me on Instagram. As always, thanks for stopping by the blog today! We really appreciate your support!

Hanging Cast Iron Cookware

Hi friends!

Today I have a quick post for all the cast iron cookware lovers out there. We love using this cookware at our home but find it impossible to have enough room to store all of the heavy/bulky pieces. My husband has wanted to hang up a pot rack over the island for years, but I didn’t want all the heavy cookware to block the view of the rest of the living area. Finally, during one of the 800 snow days this month, we came to an agreement on how to hang and store our cast iron pots and pans.

Our pantry was the obvious location, due to it’s proximity to the stove and vast amount of unused space. We also needed the pans out of reach of our 1 year old, so hanging them on the wall seemed to be the best choice. Adam found a barn wood 2x4 in the garage and fastened it to the wall in the pantry, and then added the gas pipe and fittings. For those of you that don’t happen to have a ton of gas pipe sitting around in your garage, you can buy them from any hardware store. We used 1/2in size, but you could use larger if desired. The only downside to working with gas pipe (besides the grease) is all the adhesive and stickers that have to be removed. If you follow us on Instagram, you saw my struggles with this the other night on stories.

Here is a close up photo of the gas pipe hardware. I had some old shower curtain hooks from a previous residence that I used to hang up the pots and pans, but I’m sure you could find something more aesthetically pleasing on Amazon. In the future I plan to hang up another identical rack below this one, and use it for hang baskets for potatoes and veggies from the garden (to get them off of the kitchen counters).

Here is the view from outside our pantry.

While this was a quick and easy project, it really has been a game changer for kitchen storage. For those of you who use cast iron cookware, you know its bulky and some sizes can be hard to fit in drawers and cabinets. This storage solution took five skillets and one large stock pot out of our cupboards, freeing up space for further organization.

I hope this post brought some inspiration to your own kitchen organization! Thanks for stopping by the blog today!