The stairway is dark oak with carved bannisters. The floor under the stairs was not supported. An opening to the basement had been cut through the floor joists. A two x four wall had been constructed to support the joists but it was not sufficient so there were gaps between the bottom of the banisters and the steps. We purchased floor jacks and slowly raised the joists to a higher position. We must now replace the jacks with wooden supports.
Over the past 5 years we have had many ideas on how to improve the second floor. We resisted raising the roof (I resisted most). We finally decided it was the only idea that really made sense. The stairway to the second floor was an L shape and had a low slanting roof making it basically impossible to bring up large pieces of furniture – like a large bed. Raising the roof was the only solution and would result in a 4-bedroom house with a bath that did not also have slanting ceilings.
While Steven worked on trimming the trees, I started removing the extra soil from the garage site, moving much of it to the other side of the house to encourage better grass growth.
Trees trimmed and Steven is setting up the forms for the garage cement pour. Huge pile of branches to chip and spread.
Originally, the house was tan with green trim and burgundy shakes and window storms.
We wanted to go with rose colors – three shades with white windows. I painted the front and three sides.
Unfortunately I only began the back, so when we took down the branches, we exposed the back to our neighbors and it didn’t look so good.
I will need to paint this summer to improve the appearance.
There was a large branch hanging over the house – the size of a small tree. I asked Steven if he could remove it. He had been very successful in the past at cutting down trees so they landed exactly where he wanted. Not so this time. It landed on top the bathroom roof. Thankfully, it didn’t land on the shed which contains several of our replacement windows.
A decorative brace also pulled away from the house. Not too bad as the roof will be removed and raised in the near future anyway.
We also broke the glass in the kitchen storm window. The good news is that it didn’t break the glass on the inside window. We can easily replace the glass in the storm.
Steven also removed the branches from a tree that had fallen on our electrical line. These removals opened up the area behind the house and lets in much more light. Now our host plants can grow.
All of the second floor ceilings are low and make the much of the floor space unusable so we decided to raise the roofs on all three sections.
The children of the previous owner had a garage sale and then left everything that didn’t sell. We took 5 car loads to Goodwill.
We found a few antiques and vintage items which we kept. We discovered a love of vintage items especially glassware. 
The original second floor has the bathroom over the dining room below. The ceiling is slanted and only 7′ in the center. The ceiling slants over the bathtub – going down to 2′ 8″ wall on the side of the tub. The plumbing for the tub and sink go through the hallway wall going through the dining room.
Click on the link below to view the original second floor plan
The first floor bathroom was very small - 5' x 9'. The door from the kitchen would not open all the way as it hit the bath tub.
