Home Renovation’s

Four years ago I purchased my first home.  A classic cape style built in the 40’s with a kitchen wing addition built in 95. It was an exciting moment that was short lived after recognizing the chores ahead.  Many weekends of toil later I feel as though I’ve learned a thing or two when it comes to renovations.  One is to expect the unexpected.  The other is that when you’re doing the work yourself it’s going to take you a lot longer than you think it will. It became a mild obsession to be honest.

I replaced the floors throughout with the exception of the oak floor in the living area. I replaced the floating engineered floor with white oak upstairs, added new tile in the bathrooms as well as replaced the awful blue checkerboard vinyl floor with cherry hard wood in the kitchen.  I painted the whole house inside and out.  I built new cabinets in the bathrooms and shelving in the living area.  I had purchased a variety of hardwoods from a logger and installed different species throughout the house such as Butternut trim in the bedrooms, Ash in the bathrooms, Cherry stairs and Cherry kitchen countertop. The woodwork in the living area was built of Fir.  I wanted to give each room a slightly different feel by using different woods and paint colors.  I installed a wood stove and slate hearth.  Painting the roof was a challenge that I don’t want to repeat any time soon.  I added new railings to the decks and stairs which I must say was a big improvement over the concrete blocks that were once there.

My renovation had some surprises as anyone would expect when you’re working on an old home.  One thing leads to another such as replacing the baseboard radiation, water heater, etc.  The drywall work was one of the tasks I dreaded, where the woodworking was something I looked forward to. 4 years later and I finally feel as though I can focus more of my attention elsewhere.  Phew!!

Jeremiah Goulet