Remodel Phase 2 Begins

Two years ago we did a major remodel of half of our house. We gutted the whole front half - the living room, kitchen, laundry area, and pantry. We learned that the original wiring from the 1950s was scary, and that the wiring from work since wasn't any better. So we realized that eventually, the rest of the house would need its drywall and paneling taken out too. So - here we are at Phase 2 of the remodel, which will be John's office and my office. Phase 3 will be the guest room and master bedroom and bath. Then the inside will be done except for the guest bath, although it had some of its wiring done in the last remodel.

John's office is in what was originally part of the carport. The roof is very low at that point, and John's office has always seemed a bit...cozy. So, his main objective is to make the space feel bigger. He is removing the walk-in closet which is at one end of his room and adding windows (in addition to ripping the paneling and wiring out on the existing walls). He is also removing the old carpet and putting in click Marmoleum flooring. John has already started demolition, here's our progress so far- here's how his office looked at the beginning- with one little window above his desk (there will be 3 along that wall after the remodel) - the trapezoidal window that will be added is in blue tape on left-



And here's a similar shot after he ripped out the carpet. Edge of closet that is ripped out is on right side of photos. Under the carpet was an old parquet floor in pretty bad shape.



And here is a "before" picture looking from the entry hall into John's office - you see a view of the closet door-


And here is how it looks now, since he tore out the closet last weekend-



His room now seems much bigger and airier already. And here's a final shot of the wall where the trapezoidal window will get added and the other window removed-


Now, on to my office. My office is simpler. Mainly the problem is the carpet and the wiring. But we decided to add another window (see blue tape. Final placement of windows has changed slightly from this.)


And here's what we found under the carpet -



I had forgotten that my office was originally 2 small bedrooms that had been joined into one room at some point. You can see the changes in paneling styles on the wall - half the room has a smooth painted paneling and the other side is grooved paneling and they meet in the middle of the room! Well, under the carpet, you can see the original flooring - one side a checkerboard imitation cork and the other is a charcoal grey with speckles of color. And in the middle, where the wall once was, they have filled in the gap with a variety of flooring.

Also in that wall that got removed in the past is a water pipe that goes outside to a faucet and the drip system. The problem is that it was inside the wall and when the wall was removed, it stuck up out of the floor an inch or two-


To conceal it, they cleverly (?) covered it with a piece of PVC covered with carpet to disguise it- (that's my bookcase to the right of it, I know it's a bit confusing visually)-


Anyway, the plumber is going to have to figure out a solution to this problem because I don't want a pipe sticking up out of my floor! (which is going to be the same slate-looking porcelain tile that we have in the guest bath directly across the hall).

I really don't like this checkerboard tile. The other bedrooms of this house all have different tile. So I don't feel so bad that after the remodel, we will have a bit of variety in flooring also.



The contractor (the same one we used last time) will start in 3 or 4 weeks so stay tuned. Meanwhile, we'll continue demolition.