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.
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.
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.
When the cedar clapboard was removed from the sagging wall, we found rotted wood from rain water running off the roof and down the siding! The window seemed ready to fall out. The rim joist was rotten as well as the studs in the wall. The entire wall had to come down.
By the time we had finalized the purchase, the bathroom wall was literally falling off from water dripping down from too small an overhang!
