Success Story: Family Turns Dated House Into Dream Home
A family’s journey to transform an old colonial home in 1978 into a functional, modern and personal home – without losing their heads or their money
Each neighborhood is home to one. The home that has been owned by this family for a long time Solid bones, an excellent lot of schooling -but functionally and visually frozen in the mid-1980s. Dark wood panels in the living room. Gold harvest appliances are located in the kitchen.
A single bathroom with up to four rooms on the top level. Carpets over what appears to be gorgeous original hardwood. The Henderson family, the home was theirs. They purchased it during an extremely competitive spring market, with a clear understanding of what they were buying — a house which needed to be completely renovated cosmetically as well as various structural elements and they made the purchase with a purpose since the alternative was paying more for a renovation done by someone else in a place they adored.
What ensued was an 18-month change that resulted in a house valued much higher than they had paid for it, and that works perfectly for a family of two teenage children and dogs, and is a reflection of the people who live within it, rather than the style that were prevalent in 1978. The story of their home is one of planning, prioritizing and sometimes a hard lesson that is worthy of telling in its entirety.
The Purchase: Buying Potential Instead of Perfection
David And Rachel Henderson had been searching for a property in their desired neighborhood for over a year when their agent walked them through the house located at Sycamore Ridge Drive.
The property was built in 1978. colonial with four bedrooms was owned by a single family since its the beginning of its construction. It was a beautiful home with the original kitchen cabinets with dark oak with granite countertops made of laminate, a garage with a single car with popcorn ceilings all over the main floor and the master bathroom was so small that it could barely fit the sink and the bathroom.
Carpeting was original, and the electrical panel contained a mix of modern and old breakers while the heater was at its lowest. The home was priced 14 percent less than similar homes that had been updated in the same area -which was a gap that showed exactly what it required and gave it the equity opportunity that the Hendersons wanted to take advantage of. They offered to purchase the property on the day they toured the house.
Prior to closing, they ordered an entire home inspection as well as the contractor’s walkthrough not to try to negotiate the cost lower, but to develop a full renovation budget that they could plan against with certainty.
The inspection did not reveal any structural issues The foundation was in good condition and the roof had been replaced in the past eight years and still had a significant amount of life and windows had been upgraded in the beginning of 2000. The scope of the renovation was defined through three consultations with contractors over the due diligence process included an estimated sixty-eight million dollars across every phase.
Phase One: The Invisible Work Nobody Photographs
The Hendersons took a decision at a very early stage in the process of planning their renovation that their contractor would be General Contractor Phil Vasquez with twenty-two years of experience in the field of residential renovation described as atypically wise for first-time renovators. They determined to finish all of the unsexy, invisible mechanical and infrastructure work within the initial phase before making a single cosmetic change.
This furnace replaced by the high-efficiency heat pump during the second week of the ownership. Its electrical panels were modernized and brought up to code and additional circuits were added to facilitate the kitchen remodel to be completed in the second phase. All plumbing supply lines in the bathroom that were originally copper and showing the first indications of pinhole corrosionand were changed by PEX throughout the house in only one week of interruption.
Attic insulation was upgraded up from an R-11 level to R-49 with blown-in cells of cellulose added over the batts that were already in place. Air sealing around each ceiling opening in the attic was finished in the same manner. The entire process cost $22,000 dollars, and did not produce anything that guests would notice, or photos would show.
The renovation also reduced the possibility of costly failures in emergencies in the renovation process, allowing the house for a significant reduction in the cost of homeowner’s insurance and also reduced the monthly cost of energy by a sum that would in the course of a decade make a significant return on the initial investment.
Rachel Henderson describes this phase as the most significant choice they ever took. “No one would want to spend 20 thousand dollars for things that which aren’t visible. However, Phil helped us realize that every cent we put into infrastructure was safeguarding every penny we’d spend on other things.’
Phase Two: The Kitchen — The Heart of the Transformation
Three months into their ownership and with the mechanical work completed and their renovation budget completely replete The Hendersons began to design the kitchenthe space which would define the house’s aesthetic and functional character far more so than other rooms.
The original layout placed fridges in corners, which caused an intersection point with the doorway to the dining room and a wall that separated the living and kitchen prevented natural light from entering and created a feeling of separation which was completely out of sync with the way that the family lived.
Phil took down the non-load bearing wall between the living and kitchen opening up the main floor up to the light-filled, connected layout that the Hendersons had imagined since the first time they visited the home.
The original cabinets — which were structurally sound, despite their outdated appearance they were kept and refaced with white shaker-style doors and adorned with bar pulls in matte black throughout. Quartz countertops that were redesigned with a soft white color with subtle veining were replaced by laminate. A backsplash of zellige tiles in a terracotta tone that was aged added warmth and character to the wall that was used as a focal point behind the stove.
New stainless appliances as well as a farmhouse sink along with pendant light above the island finished the kitchen that Phil’s team completed in just four weeksaccording to time and within the twenty-one thousand dollars allocated for the budget. The combination of wall removal, modernized cabinets and surfaces created the kitchen that no one has yet identified as a remodel rather than the original design — the highest praise that a kitchen remodeling project can get.
Phase Three: Floors, Paint, and the Details That Define a Home
With the kitchen completed and the family dining in their new kitchen at first, the remodeling began its most dramatic phase. The carpet on the main floor as well as the stairs was removed, showing that, as the inspector said, could be that the hardwood was originally red oak that was in excellent condition underneath.
The three days spent by a professional in sanding, polishing and finishing produced flooring that is often misinterpreted by guests for brand new ones, costing around a quarter of cost of replacing. The bedrooms upstairs were given a new carpets in neutral tones. They were a warm, biscuit-colored shade that teenagers were allowed to have an important input on -which David Henderson credits with significantly decreasing tension in the family due to renovations.
Removal of popcorn ceilings and skim coating were also completed, creating clean, smooth ceilings across the main floor, which improved the appearance of the rooms over the ceiling. Painting the interior — carried out in two weeks by a professional team that applied a consistent color scheme of off-whites and warm tones throughout the principal living spaces and a striking forest green in the main bedroom, which Rachel had been working on prior to closing on the home, and clean white throughout the ceilings and trim.
Light fixtures were replaced with new ones for each original fixture in the home during one weekend. Cabinet hardware upgrades in bathrooms, brand new mirrors for the bathroom and modernized towel bars finished the fine work that distinguishes a renovation from a repaired one. The total cost for this phase is 16000 dollars.
Phase Four: The Master Bathroom Expansion
The master bathroom originally -6 feet by 7 feet, and featuring an apron sink along with a bathtub-shower combo — was the one that the Hendersons had discussed the most prior to committing to buying. The expansion required borrowing space from the adjacent bedroom closet, which was a structural alteration that Phil had described in his review of due diligence as easy.
The bathroom was reconfigured to gain forty square feet and accommodated an additional double vanity as well as a freestanding tub that was set beneath the window, as well as an additional walk-in shower that has an enclosure made of glass that is frameless as well as a rain showerhead. the floor drain is linear.
Honed marble-look tiles on the shower floor and walls accentuated the spa style the Hendersons wanted to create for. The warm oak vanity cabinets and fixtures in matte black throughout and a dimmable lighting system finished off a bathroom Rachel says was the space which most influenced the way she felt about coming home at night after the completion of a long and tiring day.
The bedroom closet was renovated using a reach-in layout with custom-designed shelving that made the most of the smaller area. The total cost of the bathroom remodel in the master bedroom $9000 -the most expensive per square foot investment during the entire renovation and also the one that the Hendersons claim they will increase prior to reducing.
The Outcome: Eighteen Months and One Appraiser Later
After 18 months of having closed on Sycamore Ridge Drive house The Hendersons were able to have their home appraised for refinancing purposes. They had paid between three 12 thousand for their property and had invested sixty-eight thousand dollars for renovations and a total expense of three hundred and 85,000 dollars.
The appraisal was $450,533 dollarsseventy-three thousand dollars more than their investment total, representing the return at one hundred and seven percentage of the renovation money spent as well as an equity in the home of around $140,410.00, based on the initial down amount that was sixty-two thousand. Beyond the financial outcomes the family also had an additional thing that is difficult to quantify but equally true an ideal home that suited the family.
A kitchen where the entire family could actually gather. A bathroom in the master that feels like a real escape. Flooring and finishes that reflect their personal taste, not the style of someone else’s. Two teenagers who, according to their words to David Henderson, ‘have friends who would like to visit right now.’ The home situated on Sycamore Ridge Drive was always worth the value that the Hendersons were able to see during their first visit. It just needed people who could appreciate it.
Three Lessons From the Henderson Renovation
The Henderson family’s transformation can be summarized into three lessons that can be applied to homeowners contemplating a major renovation.
First, you must do the invisibly work first. Mechanical and infrastructure improvements will protect any subsequent investment in cosmetics and avoid the unforeseen issues that can delay the timeline of renovations and budgets. Third, choose an expert contractor whose judgement you can trust to follow, even when it doesn’t align with your intuitions.
Phil Vasquez’s suggestions on sequence and budget allocation scope management helped save the Hendersons from making at least two choices that could have cost them a lot. Third, purchase the property and then renovate it to your liking instead of paying to someone else’s decisions.
A house that is old and that is in a good location that is bought at a lower price and remodeled with care usually results in the best both in terms of financial and personal outcomes than an unfinished home bought at the market’s highest value and lived in for a while. The dream home isn’t only the one which appears to be like it on the first day. Sometimes it’s the home that makes it.
Notice: The fictional family depicted in the article was a composite story designed for illustration purposes. Names, places and identifying details are fictitious.
The financial figures and the results of renovations are based on actual results. The individual results may differ based on the market conditions, the quality of renovations and other property-specific aspects. Always seek the advice of licensed professionals prior to doing any significant work.