Every Little Detail is Falling Into Place
Rebuilding a Vacant, Historic Detroit Home (Episode 65)
Its been about 2 months since our last full update, so I thought I would hop in and give you all a walkthrough of what’s been going on with us these last few months.
In the push to do this project, one of the deadlines we had set for ourselves was the Rocket Mortgage Classic PGA tournament. We were booked early this year to host a golfer, and at the time, a tournament at the end of July seemed like an easy deadline to work toward to wrap up our project. BOOOOOY, were we wrong! With delays on things like our roof, our landscapers, weather slow downs, sick contractors and more, it became clear around the end of May that time was going to be running out on us finishing the project. We decided to triage our efforts, and prioritize things in order of importance to have done before the tournament.
Our priorities were:
- Driveway — Gravel isn’t going to cut it for our golf star guests. But getting concrete complete in time meant that we had to prioritize our roof first, as the roof requires renting a large, heavy lift that we don’t want on our new concrete.
- Mudroom — This is the space our golfer would be coming and going from every day, so having the interior of this space done is ideal to ensuring a comfortable stay.
- Tile — With the mudroom being priority that meant getting our tile work done so that finishes could go in.
- Patio — Our patio/pergola area was essentially done, but we want to be sure we have comfortable furniture to use out there and create a nice ambiance.
- Gutters — We need to control water, and we don’t want our giant low spot in the yard to be a nasty mudpond the week of the tournament.
- Solarium Exterior — Our sunroom exterior was definitely unfinished, with a bunch of cedar breather yellow plastic material covering the facade. Getting the exterior covered in our wood trim and a coat of paint would go a long way to making the space feel more finished.
What we unfortunately knew we’d run out of time for:
- Landscaping — After planning on landscaping getting done in time for the tournament for months, our landscapers informed us they simply wouldn’t be able to make it to us in time for our deadline, and they wouldn’t be able to start until after the tournament. They did offer to come and do the necessary grading work and pull weeds to make things look as clean as possible, but no plants or grass meant that our yard was going to be forced to look pretty sad.
- Stucco — We have been struggling to find skilled contractors in stucco work, and given some of the other priorities on the property, we decided to put focus elsewhere and live with the Tyvek on our mudroom and garage for the tournament.
- Solarium Interior — Our interior wood trim we ordered we learned would not be showing up in time for install by the tournament, and definitely not enough time to paint. So we opted to get the first layer of our walls up to clean up things, and focus on the tile in this space to make it usable, albeit unfinished inside.
So, without further ado, here is how each piece of the puzzle went:
Roof & Gutters
We originally planned to have concrete completed first, but after learning of the specialty lift that was necessary to put on our heavy metal roof, we placed the roof ahead of concrete to avoid taking such a heavy piece of equipment on our brand new driveway.
Benito’s crew, Trejo Construction, arrived in full force and made quick work of removing our old roof. As they went, they made any necessary repairs to the wood underneath where they found wet/rotten wood or animal friendly holes. As part of ensuring the new metal roof was installed correctly, the siding on our 3rd floor dormer was removed to ensure all flashing was done with 50+ years of future proofing in mind.
Fake Shake
We began our hunt for a new siding material. The dormer originally had cedar shake siding. We know this because we found it under the vinyl siding when Benito removed it. We decided to hunt for an artificial cedar shake material. Given its on a third story dormer, a good “fake shake” would look pretty realistic looking up from the driveway. We ended up landing on a cool product by Tando called Beach House Shake. It is an expensive product, but for a small dormer like ours, the realism and Pacifica color made it a really nice product that also tonally looks very similar to our ipe fence. Benito got the product installed for us as they were installing the metal roof.
The look of the new standing seam metal roof on our Tudor home is pretty striking. I could not find any examples online of a tudor home with a metal roof like ours, and so I was very nervous at whether we would like the end result. It looks sharp, stands out, and will be perfect for our eventual install of solar panels.
Gutters
With the new roof on, we now needed gutters. We were unable to get our contractor Great Lakes Gutter to show in time for the tournament, but they came shortly after. Thank goodness it didn’t rain during the tournament, because when we got home a large rainstorm came through and due to water falling down the brick walls of the house rather than gutters, we had a TON of water that came in through our back French doors to our solarium out of the door frame. We have no real overhanging eaves on our home, and so water was simply flowing fully down the walls of our house until the gutters were installed.
Despite the water disaster that thankfully didn’t cause permanent damage, the new gutters look great. We finally have gutters on our mudroom, sunroom, and garage for the first time, and everything is piped directly into our hidden, underground retention system in our yard. The gutters really changed the look of the sunroom especially, giving it a slight Asian Pagoda-style look at the top with the skylight.
Concrete
shortly after the roof was complete, Dennis of Blackie Concrete arrived to finally pour our driveway! they made quick work of the job, completing everything in about a week. We spent extra time with their forming boards, trying to figure out the exact right curvature to put into the “S” curve of our driveway. We wanted to be sure the curve was as comfortable to drive as possible.
Calvin took the time to place large 6 inch conduit under our driveway and walkways before they were poured. This would come in handy later when we get to things like irrigation and landscape lighting. It allows us to have a pass-through under the concrete without having to drill or dig extensively.
Tile
After hunting around for a while, we finally found an amazing tile contractor through our neighbors. They had just had a sunroom addition of their own tiled by a guy name Marius of MK Stone, and the work looked great. They too had a heated floor installed under their tile, so we knew that Marius would be capable of doing the job well. He got us a quote and was able to start just a few weeks later.
He made quick work of our job, getting our complicated sunroom floor done in only a few days, and our mudroom complete a day after that. We just barely had enough of our terracotta front porch tile left to use as the floor of our mudroom. Marius laid it in a soldier course style design, which I think really will compliment our leaded glass back door.
Solarium Exterior Trim
Our solarium exterior has been quite a slow process. But overtime, the exterior façade of this room keeps getting better and better. Christian got help from our woodworking favorite Roman and a few of his coworkers to quickly put up all of the major wood paneling needed before the golf tournament. After Alec put up a coat of paint, it looked decent in time for our golfers arrival. After the golf tournament, Alec and Christian have gone back to focusing on the smaller details of the wood trim exterio, like our paneling under each window. We still have a small piece of cove molding to add to each panel to really finish the look, but the exterior is essentially done minus a final coat of paint.
Front Patio
Another small detail that got completed was our front porch railing! Dave returned to the site and installed the railing we had blasted, welded, and powdercoated good as new. The refinished original railing is stunning, a welcome return to its former glory. Thanks to Federal Industrial Services for the beautiful powder coating job!
Mudroom
While Roman and crew were working on the solarium exterior, Christian was buttoning up final details on our mudroom interior to make way for our Amish cabinetry from Schlabach Wood. I spent a day putting tung oil on the beadboard that we ordered for the mudroom ceiling. Our cabinet includes a piece of walnut for the bench, and we wanted the ceiling to match as closely as possible. The walnut beadboard with a similar tung oil finish meant that we should get a close match between the seat of the cabinet and the ceiling. Christian and Alec put up the ceiling once I finished oiling the material.
I then spent a day painting the walls a neutral tan in preparation for the cabinet to be installed. The cabinet arrived just two days before our golfers, and thankfully installation went smoothly. After the cabinet was installed, Electricmax arrived to install a vintage light fixture that I have been holding in the basement for this very moment for over a year. With that, the interior of the mudroom is effectively complete. The only thing that remains in this room is a small amount of trim around the door and window, the install of our radiator, and finally the finished step into the home.
Our mudroom cabinet includes some custom and unique features the Schlabachs built in for us. The primary feature being a hidden cabinet behind the jacket hanging space. The secret cabinet is purpose-built to hold our shoes. The small exposed shoe rack underneath the bench is also a hidden drawer that allows for extra space behind the shoe rack since this cabinet is extra deep.
I am really glad we prioritized this room before the golfer’s arrival. It makes a huge difference in coming and going from the home to have a landing space like this. I don’t know how the home was ever built in the 1920s without it, since this has always been the primary way for the homeowners to enter and exit their home.
Landscaping & Irrigation
Last but not least for our update is landscaping! Just before the golf tournament, B&D Garden Design arrived to do some preparatory work before the final landscaping. They tore out any undesired plants and weeds from the extra lot, and brought in plenty of new soil to complete the regrading process. While we still were left with a bunch of dirt for the golf tournament, the regrading and weeding made a huge difference in the look and feel of the yard for our golfers arrival.
Brandon spent a bunch of time, washing, sanding, and repainting some of our patio furniture to get it looking good as new again for our guests! We set everything up so there was plenty of room to enjoy a meal outside, or an evening around the firepit.
A week off!
So with the tournament finally here, it was time for us to take a week away from projects and escape our home. While no house work got done that week, our golfer appeared to have had a good time in our home, and made use of the solarium and patio spaces.
We spent our week in Ohio with family and still found a way to squeeze in a house project! Brandon’s sister’s new home was in need of an accent wall, so I spent a few hours painting a mural for them as they were gracious enough to host us for the week!
Back at it
Once the golf tournament was done, our landscapers Brian and Dan returned and the plants started pouring in. Instantly, the yard starting to take shape. A few things in the plan changed since our start over a year ago. Our rain garden idea was passed on after doing our underground water storage solution instead. I still wanted a tree in the space though, so Dan found me a lovely river birch to enjoy this wet area of the yard, and break up the view from our patio to the street.
B&D then finished up our patio path to the driveway, and completed my new favorite spot… a little secret flagstone path to a hammock patio! It is tucked away inside of our 2 large, old, pine and cedar trees on the side of the yard in this cute little shaded oasis. I am actually typing my update to you from there now :)
After the patios were finished and plants were planted, our irrigation contractor Hoffman Lawn & Sprinkler arrived and got to work! They completed the job in two days and now we have a functioning irrigation system for the first time in probably 40+ years for this property. Brandon picked out a Rachio smart controller for our sprinkler and it is just the bees knees. I can control everything from the app, and it is smart enough to monitor rain, wind, temp and more to figure out when our landscaping will need to be watered!
What’s Next?
Next week, B&D Garden Design return to finish up our landscaping with final plants, mulch and sod! We couldn’t be more excited to have our yard back! Christian and Alec are finishing up exterior prep work for stucco. We have our contractor lined up so that should be happening very soon! Once stucco is complete, a little paint is all that remains and we will be pretty much done with our entire exterior of this project (minus a few small details)! All that will remain is a little finishing touches in our mudroom and last, but certainly not least, our sunroom interior!
Our journey isn’t over
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