Drafting Archives - This Ugly House

I have been planning the reconstruction of this house for almost two years now. We’re seven months into construction and I am still planning due to all the change orders. The first place I started was the first floor where our future kitchen will be. My wife cooks a lot, and food is central in our family. We knew we wanted the kitchen to be front and center in the house layout. I draft plans for a living, and I always start the process using SketchUp to 3D model the space and help me visualize the finishes. After many, many revisions, here are some views of the final model:

This space was a bedroom in the old layout when we bought the house.

An island sink made sense for the flow of this kitchen. A dishwasher was a must have.

I added arched openings to help define spaces yet maintain an open layout. These mimic the original arches that are above the doors at the entry.

The living room, entry, and stairs are beyond. Kitchen is central with the family room behind us.

Once we had figured out the kitchen layout, the rest of the house evolved from there. Upgrades include a second bathroom and a pantry. Once we took out the second stairs where the bath is now, it really opened up so much space. Maximizing the space wall to wall is key in an NYC renovation!

We planned based on the existing configuration for a couple reasons. First, we were not originally planning a gut renovation but ended up doing so. More about that later. Second, I am a traditionalist when it comes to old house renovation, so I wanted to keep the layout as close as possible to the original. This is tough to stick to because while the style of this house looks best in its traditional form, it also needs to pass code plus function for today’s world. My personal taste for architecture leans in a more modern style, but I love the play on old world design mixed with a touch of modern details. I have seen this combination a lot in Victorian townhouse remodels, especially throughout Brooklyn. The challenge of course is to blend the two styles well!

This is the demolition plan. Everything in red is what we were only planning to remove. This plan didn’t last long.

This is the final proposed renovation layout as a result from having to gut the entire house.

This house was only 35′ deep originally, but in 1926 someone added a brick extension off the back that extended the house to 50′ deep. Over the years however, water damage from an improperly installed roof drain had eroded so much of the brick in the back that all of the door and window headers had failed. Plus there were 1/2″ gaps in cracks along two of the walls. My contractor warned me that we might have to replace the back extension once we uncovered what was underneath the stucco, so I braced myself. Then I worked up a lot of proposals for the back of the house:

I started the design ambitiously! Bold, with steel deck, sleek, and modern. Dwell magazine worthy. Then I received the construction estimates. Back to the drawing board.

I am not totally scrapping this idea. Just saving it for later. Much, much, much later.

This is the design closer to reality. It’s still very nice in my humble opinion.

We ended up having to replace two of the walls of the extension, so we decided to leave it exposed brick on the exterior.

The deck was scaled way back in this round. I have another story about the DOB nightmare of approvals for backyard decks. Hence this modest redesign. Adding a future patio on the roof of the extension makes sense too.

The exterior front was also something I kept in mind from the beginning. The house had three layers of old worn out vinyl siding. When we opened up the walls in the front of the house, we found so much water damage beneath, that the stability of the beams and frame were almost completely compromised. I knew we needed to budget for structure. I just didn’t know how much to budget, which I ended up underestimating the further we got into it. Again, a different story.

The exterior front elevation along with the window jamb and cornice details. We needed to box frame the new windows and doors.

I am trying to maintain a budget line to replace all the vinyl siding with James Hardie fiber board siding plus rebuild the portico over the front door. After that, I am hoping to repair the cornice that is still up at the top beneath the layers of what-have-you. Based on what we have uncovered so far throughout the house, I should plan to replace the entire cornice. We’ll get there.

Oh, did I mention the budget is tight?