C’mon you’ve got to admit, this is already an amazing transformation, and we haven’t even hung one piece of drywall.  This ain’t just lipstick on a pig - this is an extreme-makeover!  We’re about 3.5 weeks into putting this house back together.

For the first installment of this rehab go here:  5204 Wesley Rd - Part 1

How about that new dormer and front porch?  Both are 100% rebuilt.  Nothing was salvageable.  Just about the only the only things we saved in this house were the roof joists, the exterior walls, some interior studs and the floor joists.

The second floor of this house has been totally transformed, from basically an attic to a REAL floor with two nice bedrooms, and a spacious full bathroom.  To make the transformation, my student Joann opted for a much larger dormer to create the bath space.  The bathroom ceiling will be vaulted to create an even bigger feel.  We also rolled backed the walls 16 inches to create more space in the dormer bedrooms .  And most important, we created more ceiling height by raising the ceiling trusses by about a foot.  It doesn’t feel like a cavern anymore.

CHECK THE PICS!

The first four photos of the set below are essentially exterior shots of the new porch, new roof, and new dormer.

The next four photos show the first floor framing and how we’ve opened up the first floor to create a more modern feel and functionality.

The next 9 pictures are of the second floor framing.  There you will see all that we’ve done to create the great new space that is the 2nd floor.

The final four pictures are pretty cool.  I’m often asked, “What do you do with uneven floors that are often found in old houses that have settled over time?”

The answer - We jack up the floors and make them even again.  When you’re doing a full-gut rehab, this is a very easy task.  If however you are doing a rehab where you are not removing all the plaster or sheetrock, plan on doing some serious wall repair if you jack up the floors.  Look closely at the final few pictures and you’ll see that we used blocks of treated lumber to bring these floors up 1-3 inches in some spots.  Pretty cool.

Even better - look at the last two pictures.  That should give you some indication as to why the floors were so uneven.  This is one of two rotted columns trying desperately to hold up up the main beam in the basement.  To give you an idea of how bad each column was - my contractor needed only a good kick with his boot to remove them!

Not shown in all the pictures is the new electric, plumbing and HVAC.  Today, we’re waiting on rough inspections.  Once we get the green light from Baltimore City, we’ll insulate and start hanging drywall.

So, that’s it for now.  I’ll have a lot more to show you in about a week.

Click for all the latest pics!

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