Surprise: You're Replacing All of the Windows!

Before beginning the renovation, Jane and Van planned to have all of 308's original, double hung, wood windows repaired and repainted, figuring their replacement was unnecessary.

The first hit to this plan came when removing the upstairs window air conditioning units. Apparently when these units were installed decades ago, half of the windows were discarded, therefore removing the units left the windows permanently half open. So brand new, custom windows were ordered for the affected windows.

The second hit to the plan to keep the windows came when further inspection revealed that many of the windows were beyond repair: wood had dry rotted and the ugly-but-necessary storm windows had outlived their useful lives. The benefits of low UV, efficient, beautiful new windows outweighed the benefits of keeping the old windows.

The undesired expense of replacing all of 308's windows has paid off:  the new windows look great, operate well, don't require storm windows, and provide better protection from all of the elements.

Surprise: You're Replacing The Living Room Floor!

As with any renovation, there have been surprises:  some pleasant, some, not so much.  In the category of not very great surprises, Jane and Van recently learned that they're going to be replacing all of the wood flooring in the living room.

As background, when the house was first built, the living room was two separate rooms.  A recently uncovered old photograph shows that a fireplace was part of the wall separating the two spaces.  Sometime in the late 1940's or 1950s, the fireplace was removed and the rooms combined into one.  Apparently the floor was patched at that time, though not very well...

In removing all of the wall to wall carpet, the contractors noticed the seems and patchwork of flooring where the wall once stood.  The flooring contractor determined that patching the floor would not work in this instance, and recommended replacing all of the hardwoods in the living room.