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I have questions about the feasability of making certain changes in an old house built in 1950 that I'm thinking of making an offer on only if the changes are doable and would not cost an arm and a leg. It only has one tiny bathroom about 5ft by 5 ft that doesn't even have a full size tub and I'd like to add a half bath as well maybe on the other side of the existing bath if not add a full bath.
I'm concerned because the house was built on a slab. Is adding plumbing to homes built on slabs a construction nightmare and extremely expensive ? Isn't all the plumbing that would need to be accessed under the concrete?
Also how do you tell if a wall is load bearing or not?
This house has the tiniest kitchen but luckily there is a huge sunroom in front of it (with an entrance to the sunroom on the northeast corner, if you will, as well as a dining room off to the side( east side) with the entrance off the east southeast corner off the kitchen. The dining room is the same width of the kitchen (about 9ft) and the wall that separates it from the kitchen is about 6.5 feet wide not counting another 2.5 feet for the entrance. I'm wondering if it would be a big deal to take it down.
To give you an idea of the layout of the rest of the kitchen there is another entrance in the southeast corner on the south wall (opposite the one on the north wall that goes to the sunroom) that goes into the living room.
Lastly on the south end of the west wall there is an entrance off the kitchen to the hallway that leads to the bedrooms and baths.
As you can imagine, with all the entrances in just a 9ft by 12 ft kitchen there is hardly ANY counter space; no room for a dishwaher (unless the kitchen is enlarged and either the fridge or oven/range moved over into the expanded area.
Please help all of you with construction knowledge.
Next there is this gross dropped accoustic tile ceiling in the sunroom that has been painted over and if you go outside and look at the roof line it slants upwards so I'm wondering how much it would be to remove those tiles, expose the beams and have a cathedral ceiling and put in a couple skylights. Also in this room there is a wall of windows that look out to the pretty backyard. unfortunately they aren't big enough or low enough. I'd like to replace them with two sliding glass doors next to each other but the house is made of think concrete blocks which would have to be cut into and removed beneath where the windows are. How big of a project would this be do you think?
In a house this age you'd think there would be nice hardwood floors but since it was built on a slab they originally just but really tough linoleum tile down. I'm thinking that I'd either want to put a floating hardwood floor down throughout the house or spring for terracotta tile in the kitchen/dining areas and sunroom and put ceramic tile in the bathroom.
Right now except for the kitchen and bath the whole place is carpeted. In total there would be about 1500 square feet of floor space that would need to be done.
I don't mind helping to keep costs down. I helped a handyman I hired with two kitchen and bath renovations in other places but no walls were taken down or anything and fixture placement was not changed and that worked out well. I got the work done for a fraction of what I'd probably have to pay if I hired a kitchen bath contractor and wasn't willing to get my hands dirty.
Do you think this is doable? I don't want to buy the house if I couldn't do it all for $50k or less.
Let's answer the big question first- Is it doable? In a word, yes. For 50k or less? probably. But that would mean a bit of sweat equity on your part.
The plumbing you're considering would require jackhammering the slab to install- but it may require more than just the bath. The main waste line maybe too small for the added bath- which would require installing a whole new line. And depending on it's direction under the slab could require a lot of jackhammering.
Load bearing walls- is it, or isn't it? All that requires is a trip to the attic. Find the wall in the attic, if you find roof bracing that comes down onto that wall- it's load bearing. if the ceiling joists are running perpendicular to the wall- it's probably load bearing. I say "probably" because it would depend of the overall span of the joists; and or, if there are splices above the wall.
The kitchen is a mixed bag- it would be easy to spend the whole wad in that one space. So, what can you keep, reuse, do without, etc.? What do you absolutely have to have to make it work? Budget, budget, budget!
Sunroom sounds pretty straight forward, from the ceiling to the sliders (though, I'd prefer french doors). I'm not real hip on skylights (did them for several years and always got calls for leaks, so I took them out of the designs), but if you're dead set on them- go ahead. Just make sure that the re-framing is done correctly.
I like the idea of tile for certain areas (remember budget)but, I think I'd stick with tile for the bath(s) only and maybe the sunroom, wood floor for the high traffic areas, and carpet for all other areas.
I have questions about the feasability of making certain changes in an old house built in 1950 that I'm thinking of making an offer on only if the changes are doable and would not cost an arm and a leg.
First, let me tell you I laughed when I opened the thread and saw that it's a 1950's house.
Your title says "older homes" and I live in a house that's over 120 years old!
Quote:
Originally Posted by emilybh
It only has one tiny bathroom about 5ft by 5 ft that doesn't even have a full size tub and I'd like to add a half bath as well maybe on the other side of the existing bath if not add a full bath.
I'm concerned because the house was built on a slab. Is adding plumbing to homes built on slabs a construction nightmare and extremely expensive ? Isn't all the plumbing that would need to be accessed under the concrete?
It is more expensive to run plumbing through concrete. Since you're planning to install the half bath on the same wall as the existing bath, your costs will be less if the plumbing shares the same wall.
Quote:
Originally Posted by emilybh
Also how do you tell if a wall is load bearing or not?
[quote=emilybh;8829581This house has the tiniest kitchen but luckily there is a huge sunroom in front of it (with an entrance to the sunroom on the northeast corner, if you will, as well as a dining room off to the side( east side) with the entrance off the east southeast corner off the kitchen. The dining room is the same width of the kitchen (about 9ft) and the wall that separates it from the kitchen is about 6.5 feet wide not counting another 2.5 feet for the entrance. I'm wondering if it would be a big deal to take it down.[/quote]
Not really. But you'll have to consider new flooring for both rooms into the cost. Also, there is probably electricity in the walls.
Quote:
Originally Posted by emilybh
Next there is this gross dropped accoustic tile ceiling in the sunroom that has been painted over and if you go outside and look at the roof line it slants upwards so I'm wondering how much it would be to remove those tiles, expose the beams and have a cathedral ceiling and put in a couple skylights.
Lift up the tiles and see if there are attractive beams. It's likely they aren't very attractive at all. You can always drywall the ceiling. It's not hard.
Quote:
Originally Posted by emilybh
Also in this room there is a wall of windows that look out to the pretty backyard. unfortunately they aren't big enough or low enough. I'd like to replace them with two sliding glass doors next to each other but the house is made of think concrete blocks which would have to be cut into and removed beneath where the windows are. How big of a project would this be do you think?
Get enough quotes. It shouldnt' be a big deal.
Quote:
Originally Posted by emilybh
In a house this age you'd think there would be nice hardwood floors but since it was built on a slab they originally just but really tough linoleum tile down. I'm thinking that I'd either want to put a floating hardwood floor down throughout the house or spring for terracotta tile in the kitchen/dining areas and sunroom and put ceramic tile in the bathroom.
Right now except for the kitchen and bath the whole place is carpeted. In total there would be about 1500 square feet of floor space that would need to be done.
Still laughing at the old house comments!
I have seen lots of amazing flooring deals due to the slow economy. One flooring company in my area is advertising three rooms for the price of one right now.
Quote:
Do you think this is doable? I don't want to buy the house if I couldn't do it all for $50k or less.
That's a tough call since you're going to need all new kitchen cabinets and counter tops after you take down those walls kitchen walls.
It's one thing that you're willing to help out a contractor, but that's not as much savings as doing it yourself. I recommend doing as much as possible yourself and hiring a contractor for the absolute musts--like plumbing, electrical and the concrete wall.
I had the same reaction! A 50s house is almost brand new!
Totally depends on the area. When we went under contract for our home built in the 80s, our realtor spoke to us about how different we were from her other buyers since we were willing to look at older homes. I brought this up to a friend in NY, and we laughed together about how this home would be brand spanking new up there.
Totally depends on the area. When we went under contract for our home built in the 80s, our realtor spoke to us about how different we were from her other buyers since we were willing to look at older homes. I brought this up to a friend in NY, and we laughed together about how this home would be brand spanking new up there.
Did exactly the same thing to my Brother's post war tract home...
Yes, it's very doable... but, hiring out the work and having to live through the construction would be a no-go for most.
On our project, I re-piped all the water and gas lines overhead with copper. The second bath was added to an enlarged front bedroom so all of the original sewer under the slab remained untouched and usable...
Kitchen was pretty straight forward... move some load bearing walls around as well as doors and windows... single story ranch homes are not that difficult to move load bearing interior walls with a little knowledge.
With more square footage, it was also time to upgrade to central heat and air which necessitated increasing the electric service.
Adding on to the home also triggered re-roofing after a full tear-off and adding plywood sheathing...
New addition had great windows... so all the windows and doors ended up being replaced.
New addition had great insulation... so all the the interior Sheetrock on the exterior walls was replaced with insulation added...
You can see where I'm going here... one thing leads to another. Brother and his family love the home and it's in a great neighborhood...
He paid 200k back in the 90's and added another 200k in materials... he likes nice high end stuff... Home was appraised at 725k and funded last week for a 30 year fixed no cash out... only consolidating his first and second...
One of the reasons it worked is because 95% of the homes in the neighborhood have been added to or enlarged and remodeled... helps when the lots are large enough to do this...
Am I the only person who wonders what happened to these people who start threads and never return to respond to the replies?
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