Split Level House Renovations
By Dan Fritschen
The most popular Split Level house renovations are projects to finish unfinished or partly finished areas, opening up the main floor, updating the kitchen, adding bathrooms to the main (formal living area) floor and to the upper level (bedrooms area).
Many people want to create more openness in the main floor of a split level, which usually consists of living room, dining room, kitchen and possibly a bedroom. Openness can certainly be achieved by removing some of the walls between rooms. You will need to be sure you know which walls are load-bearing walls. For example, you might want more openness between the kitchen and the dining room. Either removing the wall or replacing the wall with a counter will open up the area and feel more spacious. Removing the wall between the living room and dining room can also open up the area and make it more conducive to entertaining.
It is not uncommon for split level homes with four levels to have an unfinished bottom level. Finishing this area is really no different from finishing any basement. It will be important, however, to check on ceiling height early in the planning stages of the project. A number of split level homes have lower ceilings on the bottom floor.
The desire to add a bathroom to any home is quite common. Split levels often offer two important opportunities for bathroom additions. First, most split level homes were not built with a bathroom on the main (formal living area) floor. Many homeowners would like to add at least a half-bath or powder room on the main floor for the comfort and convenience of guests or for elderly or disabled family members. Determining the location of the new bathroom is a challenge in most split levels. Logic and cost-consciousness would suggest locating the new bathroom near (next to, above or below) existing plumbing. This allows you to use existing supply and removal pipes. Depending on the floor plan, however, this might not be workable. Location of pipes to a new bathroom on the main floor will also require some attention to the ceiling height of the floor below (if there is one). If the lower level has typically lower ceilings, placement of plumbing might depend upon where you can run pipes without making the lower level unusable. You can get a quick estimate of the cost to finish a split-level homes basement at www.remodelestimates.com.
Adding a bathroom on the bedroom level is also a very popular renovation to a split level. Many split level homes have only a shared bathroom on this floor. Other designs include a very small master bathroom. Whether your remodeling plan involves adding a second bathroom or enlarging a master bathroom, it will be necessary to sacrifice space somewhere on that floor. Again, you will probably want to try to build the new bathroom close to existing plumbing, if possible to reduce the amount of work required and to control the cost of your renovation. Enlarging a master bathroom in a split level will almost certainly require taking space from the bedroom. One solution might be a bump out or add an addition that spans both the bathroom and the master bedroom. The key to success for remodeling projects is to be organized - try getting an organizer like the one at www.remodelingorganizer.com
Although split level home designs present some unique challenges to remodelers, with a creative eye to design, careful planning, and attention to detail, most of the changes you might want to make are possible.
Dan Fritschen, the remodel-or-move guru is President and Publisher at ABCD Publishing and operates three very popular websites including http://www.remodelormove.com which helps homeowners make this important decision on the basis of knowledge and reliable cost estimates, a He is the author of three books on home remodeling.
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People like to live in the country, and so many people are starting to move back there. People don't generally enjoy living in the city because of the noise and hustle and bustle. However it's by no means easy to find beautiful old houses in the country, farm houses are beautiful but they may require extensive modernization in order to live in them. It is normally much cheaper to renovate a farm house than build a new house in its place, plus you get a very historic beautiful building.
Older style farm houses were built using wood; these were made quite large by today's standards. They were also built very well and are probably more sound than modern day houses. You must however bear in mind that this is an hold house and there may be problems that could need sorting before you can get onto renovating it. Before you start renovating the house you should check that the foundations are sound, also inspect to make sure termites have not caused any problem. If all is well then you can start planning your farm house renovation project.
In old houses the electrical wiring is different normally two separate cables were used instead of the modern day single insulated wire. It is very important that you budget for rewiring the house as this needs to be brought up to standard. You will have to replace all of the wiring and install circuit breakers. You may also want to replace the galvanized plumbing and upgrade the heating and ventilation.
Replace doors and windows
Lots of old farm houses use double hung windows, these use weights on ropes which makes it easy to lift the window and keep it open. These ropes naturally deteriorate, as do the window frames. The windows might be a poor fit due to the building settling more into its foundations. You should budget for replacing all of the windows and doors just in case.
The settling of older homes over time can also cause uneven floors. It may be necessary to rectify this by using jacks to jack the floors up in the basement. If the floors are uneven you should defiantly get this sorted out first before you even consider fitting doors. The proportions of the whole house can be affected just by leveling the floor.
A farm house renovation project is no easy task, in fact it will take ages to complete. However casement windows are worthwhile spending time to do it because then you know its right. You should make sure you have enough money available in your budget to cater for any eventuality. There is no point starting unless you can finish.
The author Jerry Blackburn is especially passionate about subjects related to gardening and storm windows. His observations on casement window hardware are found on http://www.replacement-windows-tips.com/ casement-windows.html.
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