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So I've lurked and posted off and on on this forum for years. I had a few threads years ago when I was doing DIY cosmetic reno work in my first house that was a more transitional style on the east coast.
Well, fast forward to this year and my wife and I just bought a 1949 brick bungalow in Dallas proper. It took us a very long time to find a house that we liked in the areas we were looking. Being our second home and having no obligation to buy, we wanted to hold out for our 'dream home' as opposed to settling on something. Luckily we had a realtor that encouraged us and didn't ever seem to tire of our unicorn hunt!
The homes in the urban area in Dallas (like most bigger cities) are all either old or very expensive tear down rebuilds. Old homes are great, as long as you're not buying a money pit of course. We canceled on more than one contract after home inspections, due to wiring or plumbing issues, or things owners were not willing to compromise on. And we avoided anything that appeared to be a flip like the plague. We also had a strict location goal and had zero interest in moving out to the burbs. This kept the search long and tiresome, but in the end we found a really great modern ranch.
The home had been owned for past 11 years by an architect and his family (wife and 3 kids) and he had done quite a bit of work on the home (actually done well and properly permitted!). He encapsulated a back porch into the envelope of the home to create a mud room (instead of the washer and dryer being in the one car garage) - this brought the heated and cooled square footage to 999. He also opened the floor plan from something hardly desirable for modern life to something quite modern, inviting, and well lit by natural light as well as did a full remodel and new layout for the kitchen. One of the best features of this home was the custom storefront-like window & door assembly he installed as the new front entry. It really is the centerpiece of the whole home.
When we were bidding on this home, we were bidding against multiple people, some of whom planned to tear the home down or immediately add a two story expansion on the back etc. But we both loved the size, location, price, and style of this home and were ecstatic to walk away with a signed contract and even happier to have a great inspection and no hiccups to close!
Now that I have the long-winded intro out of the way, we've been hard at work on multiple projects of our own to take this home over the finish line before we move in.
First up was applying a 3M privacy film to some of the glass at the front of the house. I applied it only partially, to obscure the viewing height from the road to the porch while leaving the rest of the glass untouched. I also utilized the negative space as the house number since the house currently had no number displayed.
We also installed a smart video doorbell, a new wall-hung mailbox, and planted some grasses in some concrete planters.
I am currently working with some friends of mine on a design I had in mind for replacing the front porch support post. This will be a powdercoated steel tripod (color TBD). Hopefully we can get this fab'd and installed in the next 3-4 weeks:
The bathroom is also currently in the middle of a complete stud to subfloor remodel:
The existing bathroom, while not in totally unusable condition had lots of things that needed to be re-done. I believe the only reason it was not touched by the previous owner was that it is hard to remodel a one bathroom home while you're occupying it...with 3 kids!
There were a few broken tiles, a broken gas heater installed on one wall, a drain pipe that needed to be replaced, a tub that needed to either be replaced or entirely refinished, some moisture issues (no exhaust fan, just an operable window), a linen closet that ate up a massive amount of floor space in the already small bathroom, etc. While I sometimes like a nice vintage bathroom, I really wanted a fresh redo on this to match the rest of the home. I'm also making it more functional with both vanity + overhead lighting, an exhaust fan + heater, a vanity with storage, demoing the linen closet for more workable area in the bathroom, etc. Extremely excited to see how the bathroom turns out. I have all my material that I bought, with the exception of the wall tile and the tub that should get here within the next week and then contractors will start building the room back up!
Very striking home. Please share pics when you've completed your bathroom.
Thank you! Will do.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ohiogirl81
You ruined that beautiful bathroom.
There are lots of times I like vintage bathrooms, this was not one of them. While on the surface this looks like a cute, 'beautiful' vintage bathroom, it was not functional and had several items that needed to be repaired or replaced.
-The tub drain line needed to be replaced and is currently run basically through the floor joists.
-Several tiles around the room on the wall had been cracked. More than a couple were cracked with portions of the tile removed showing the cement behind.
-The shower head was much too low. We are not tall people, but it was near unusable, even with the current extension the previous owners had added onto it.
-The supply line for the shower needed to be replaced behind the wall.
-The tub was extremely worn, had a crack they had tried to repair, and would have needed a full refinish if it was salvageable.
-The existing walkway was only ~25" wide from the door frame until 4 full feet into the room due to the musty linen closet)
-you couldnt even use the oversized linen closet without walking into the room, closing the door and then trying to open the drawers from the side.
-It was generally musty and really needed an exhaust fan and some lighting for the shower at night (yes these 2 things could have been solved without the full redo, but they just pile on to the laundry list of items).
-The ceramic gas heater on the wall was broken and non-functioning. You could leave it there as a broken eyesore...or take it out and not have proper tiles to replace it with? Either is a lose - lose.
-I also hate pedestal sinks in the main bathroom, ESPECIALLY in a one bathroom house.
-Shower head, faucet, and the drain trim in the shower and sink all needed to be replaced.
-The toilet was massive (like 31" long) and was a wasteful 3.something gallons per flush (couldnt fully read it) and needed to be replaced
It was honesty a mess. While the vintage colors were cute, that was no reason for me to keep a bathroom that was not functional. Furthermore, there were so many items to repair or replace, it didn't make sense to me to spend the still significant amount of money to apply a dozen bandages to a bathroom that wasn't functional to begin with. It was never laid out well to begin with.
I fully believe there is a time and a place to protect or restore vintage. But to me personally, something doesn't automatically qualify just because it is old.
Bathroom advice.
1. Curbless shower
2. Electric outlet near toilet.
3. Towel warmer
I appreciate it. Since it is a one bathroom home, we are still keeping the tub. We are not shower people, but I couldn't justify removing a tub and only putting a shower in. So I went with as clean-lined and modern of a tub as possible.
I am definitely adding another receptacle to the bathroom. Probably one on each side of the vanity. Currently it had one outlet in a very inconvenient location.
Us too! That was something that really drew us to the house. It helps the small home feel very open. I wish I had pictures of the original interior (I've seen some, but I don't have them myself - might be able to get them from the previous owner). It was very dark, cramped, and drab. The house is very shaded and is northwest facing on the front. It's great for tempering HVAC in Dallas summers. However, with the small windows it had, and closed off layout, it had to be depressing before. The current layout has great, balanced natural lighting all day.
I too recently moved into a ranch bungalow (1100 sq ft) and am loving the size and style. I don't have much renovation that needs to be done inside, but I just had a fence installed and a deck, including a door from the office to the back, is being built right now. Inside I am just enjoying decorating the space. Almost done though.
I too recently moved into a ranch bungalow (1100 sq ft) and am loving the size and style. I don't have much renovation that needs to be done inside, but I just had a fence installed and a deck, including a door from the office to the back, is being built right now. Inside I am just enjoying decorating the space. Almost done though.
I'm glad you love yours! We love the size too. Between the two of us, we have lived in several different cities in different size dwellings post college. From owning a 2800 ft2 home (4 bed, 2 bath, bonus room) to living in 500 ft2 in a NYC studio. And our most recent was an 830 ft2 studio here in Dallas. We both agreed that if we bought something here in Dallas, we wanted a ranch and we wanted something small. We have truly found that we enjoy and prefer smaller places for a variety of reasons.
Last edited by Sunbather; 05-22-2019 at 10:26 AM..
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