Help with Reno Changes- Old House onto a New Basement
Hi, I need your help please!
I’ve been on the kitchen forums for a few years, but am
ashamed to say I’m not one to post or comment on other people’s post. It’s mostly been a ‘lurk and learn’
experience.
But now my boyfriend and I have purchased a 1928 home and we
going to move it onto a new basement, (it’s full of charm!) Everything in the house is livable as it is,
but the kitchen layout is not ideal and I do not want to hook up plumbing based
on the current layout if we will be renovating with a few months. I would rather change the kitchen layout
before the final plumbing is cemented in the basement and we put a new roof on
(moving vents/plumbing drops).
We were very close to purchasing a new build, but just
couldn’t accept the idea of a huge mortgage.
So we have gone the older home route.
I have attached a layout of the original house, and few
pictures of the kitchen. I want to keep
the existing upper cabinets where they are; I’m sure they were built into the
wall, removing to re-use would just destroy them. The base cabinets are too low and not practical. The walls are also lath and plaster, 9' tall.
The wall that is shown between the kitchen and the current
laundry is not a full wall. The red line
is a full wall, supporting a beam installed from a previous reno. The rest of the wall is a half wall.
The view through the north window is to our gardens, and
past that a hayfield. The west window is
a view of nearby trees; they would block a lot of the west setting sun.
I’ve come up with 4 different layouts; 2 which incorporate the
supporting wall, and 2 where we would have to do some structural engineering to
remove it.
Each had their pros and cons when I created them. Now, after reviewing them, there isn’t one
that I’m totally happy with, I’m over analyzing each until I get overwhelmed! Can you help me narrow down to ONE layout,
and improve if necessary? Or give me
something so outside the box that I haven’t even thought of!?
This project won’t start for another 2 months or so, but I
like details so here I am now.
I’m open to moving/adding/removing windows; we have to replace
the rest of the house windows too.
We also have plans to make the main entrance where they had
an informal dining room, we need more space for an entry with storage.
We are on a budget, and will most likely use Ikea but I will
get quotes from cabinet shops in the city to compare.
When we cook, it’s usually only one of us doing the
cooking. We have different cooking
styles, and may only have both in the kitchen if one is cooking and the other
cleaning/prep. We do have a basement, so
any surplus food storage/large appliances could be stored there.
Thanks :)
Comments (18)
bailey183913
6 years agorantontoo
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agoRelated Discussions
Clean or change AC ducts to get rid of old house smell???
Comments (9)Were previous owners smokers? We redid a rental house & got new screens, 2 coats paint on each room, completely redid the kitchen, new cabinets, countertops, new appliances, light fixtures, etc. New floors & new carpet throughout. As we worked of course it was fall & had windows open. Right after realtor started showing the house to renters it got cold & we had to turn on heat, wow, did the house stink, we opened up that furnace door & it was dark dingy yellowed smoke, stale stink. so hours more of bleach water & cleaners before the place was pretty good. We added bowls of vinegar at night & hid them in the morning. by the time renters moved in it was pretty good. So try vinegar bowls where kids & critters can't get at them Open box of soda in closed in areas might help. Take a vent cover off & wipe out area of vent & rinse rag out in clean bowl of water, is it all brownish? Then it's probably the vents, if it is just dirty water with no smell that might not be it. I took a long skinny broom to couple of my vents a few times, got almost nothing out but I had gotten a high quality duck tape for attics & seams & so I guess nothing get in them to speak of. I have allergies big time, also clean out the area under furnace where air goes into to it from hall. I put a heavy piece of carpet pad that is covered with plastic on the floor under there & then wipe out couple of times a year by taking vent cover off. Of course no 1 smokes in my house but that area does get some dust. Yes fridge, freezers & humidifiers have drip pans that need cleaning or they can make you sick. Also if you have any drains that don't have water in the elbow sewer gas can come up & make you very sick, is there drain in center of basement floor- be sure to put gallon of water down it often or keep it covered, upstairs bathroom not used, get water in all the drains including tub or shower. Good Luck, Hope you find the problem soon....See MoreFrom old home to new - or new to old? What does it feel like?
Comments (30)I love old houses - the quality, the history (I was THRILLED when I saw the names of the owners of our then under 5 year old house on the 1930 census), and the style. If I don't win the lottery, I will never live in another "new" build (80's and up) because the vast majority of non custom built homes are just not up to my standards. Of the 4 new builds I lived in in my life, only two were decent. The last decent one had been built by a guy who had previously done commercial building. It was built to last and I have no doubt that one would still stand after a tornado. Because of the commercial background, the finish "prettyness" wasn't there, but those details were added later, by us. The last new build was a nightmare. The "quality" semi custom build was so lacking that I can't even imagine how much worse some of the mass produced really poor quality houses will last. Within the first 5 years the deck was partially rotting (no flashing between the house and it), the roof leaked at the chimney, many of the windows wouldn't work well and/or leaked at the top, lots of the trim wood was rotting out and the floors of both 1st and 2nd floor creaked in almost every spot as did the entire staircase. And then of course you had the "minor" issues like one couldn't use a hairdryer in the master bath before resetting the outlet in the upstairs bath if someone had used a hairdryer in it before the master bath. And the defective shingles requiring a complete reroof at 3 years is hard to forget. My brother has a friend who last year moved into a house in one of those new mass built neighbourhoods in South Carolina. Brand new. 6 months after moving in, a water pipe junction burst (iirc, they thought it hadn't been correctly connected or something) in the attic while they were on vacation and ruined most of the house and their items. The builder denied responsibility and the insurance company was blaming it on the builder since the house was still under "warranty" and it was turning into a huge mess, to say the least. New does not equal free of work and I'd rather strip wallpaper than deal with finding out what corners were cut....See MoreIkea Laxarby Kitchen Reveal- Before & After- With a Blog Too
Comments (7)Cabinet #3, #4 drawer- flours, sugar, etc Cabinet #5, Top Drawer (burnable garbage & compost) Cabinet #5, Bottom Drawer, (recyclables/dump garbage) Cabinet #6, Top Drawer- Utensils Cabinet #6, Middle Drawer- Plates & Bowls Cabinet #6, Bottom Drawer- Mess of Tupperware and plastic containers (needs a divider) Cabinet #8, Odd-sized and infrequently used items Cabinet #9, Top Drawer- Kids drinking glasses, go mugs, water bottles (middle and bottom drawers are pantry overflow and junk drawer) Cabinet #10, Top Drawer- Breakfast station- bread/buns, wraps, Toaster, Peanut Butter and Honey. Cabinet #10, Middle drawer (no picture), has dish cloths, tea towels, and uses the 'hidden' drawer from Ikea. Bottom drawer is pantry overflow....See More1930's house purchase/reno help?
Comments (14)I have a 1920 house. I can tell you the wishes to add will add up to over 100 if you do it with permits and hire out. Here is the breakdown of our costs over the 15 years we owned our house. Finished the basement ourselves, materials alone were 10k New appliances,sink, lighting bacsplash, added outlets to code and kitchen counters only no gutting or layout changes 16k. 15 years later we are getting quotes on a true remodel these are between 50k and 110k dependant on layout and brands. Adding a master bath above an existing first floor sunroom above 50k New driveway and landscape because upgrading plumbing for bath meant tearing through the drive way 12k Upgraded electric 8k New high effeciancy boiler 10k Adding ac 22k Our new quotes to do the roof are 8k but we only have a single roof layer if there are multiple layers the price is substantially higher. It looks like you need new siding I do not know the cost for that but we paid 4k to tie our new addition siding into our existing. It was an 8×13 foot structure. We will recoup our investments if we were to sell because we have owned long enough to do so and it sounds like you are acquiring this to keep in the family so it may very well be worth doing. However, I find shows showing how to turn a fixer upper into a showcase on budgets smaller than 120k very misleading and dangerous. It would have been much cheaper and quicker to have listed rather than to love it but my location and neighbors are too important to us and the older character is special. But these came at a large cost. Good luck with your restorations....See More
mama goose_gw zn6OH
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agoI like #3, with a variation on the pantry. At 14' wide, you should have space for a 2'x3' cart:
I don't know if there would be room for a tall, narrow window on each side of the range if it's at the top of the U, but this plan would not involve moving the wall:The plan reminds me of this vintage kitchen in a houzz video:
bailey183913 thanked mama goose_gw zn6OH
eam44
6 years agobailey183913
6 years agorantontoo
6 years agobailey183913
6 years ago
Layout · More Info
Is this an improvement worth considering, or too strange with the wall extending past the fridge into the kitchen too much??mama goose_gw zn6OH
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agoNot an improvement. In the new plan, a helper who was loading or unloading the DW, or doing extra prep tasks, would be in your path between the fridge and sink, and between the range and fridge (if you need something from the fridge once you've started cooking). In addition, the fridge is less convenient for anyone accessing it from the living areas, and you'd need a cabinet between it and the stub wall, to permit the fridge door to open fully.
In the plan I posted before, you can easily access the fridge from the prep area or the range, while a helper loads or unloads the DW, or gathers dishes to set the table, without crossing paths. It's also easier for someone coming from the living area to access the fridge, without interfering with kitchen tasks.
For comparison:
New to kitchens? Read me first.
bailey183913 thanked mama goose_gw zn6OHbailey183913
6 years agoThanks Mama. I didn't like the fridge tucked away like that anyways; inconvienent as you say to others coming into the kitchen. It was a process to visualize a suggestion from above.
Seeing the traffic lines to the dining room has reinforced what has been on my mind for a long time; the distance to the dining room from the kitchen. I wonder if the radical idea of moving the main entrance of the house to the dining room, and vice versa is an idea worth considering?? The current dining room area has such nice trim, which i could replicate and install in the 'new' dining room area...
(pictures for reference)
Layout · More Info
Layout · More Info
Layout · More Infomama goose_gw zn6OH
6 years agoI like the style of your house! (And your dog, BTW :) Also like the idea of making the entry more centralized, with DR closer to the kitchen, but that's more structural work and a bigger budget.
I was rearranging appliances in the kitchen, so I tried out a new DR/entry plan while I was at it:
bailey183913
6 years agoThank you mama, but I can't claim the dog, lol. These are pictures from the listing/ad. This was what I had also came up with at the same time. Variations on a theme. :)
Layout · More Infomama goose_gw zn6OH
6 years ago
caligirl5
6 years agobailey183913
6 years agoI played around some different ideas, here is a layout if we have to keep the wall. Yes, the broom closet is very small, but decent enough to hold a vacuum, mop, or broom. I may have to do shallower base cabinets on the broom closet wall.
Layout · More InfoThe furniture layout in the dining room looks cramped, but we have not bought anything yet. These are the dimensions of a set I have my eye on; however I may have to keep looking for a smaller dining room set.
There shouldn't be alot of traffic to the upstairs, the 2 kids bedrooms are there, but they aren't with us full time, and chairs will be pulled in, etc...
Also, this may be interesting for you, but there is a door for every doorway in this house (excluding into living from current dining). Not all the doors are hung, but they are still with the house. That's 11 interior doors on the main floor (including closet). The entrance to the sunroom used to have double glass doors, but those were removed along time ago and are not around anymore unfortunately.
cawaps