Remodeling the 1950′s bungalow

Last Updated on Tuesday, 5 July 2011 01:48 Written by admin Friday, 29 April 2011 09:26

Remodeling the 1950′s bungalow

There are so many of these 50′s bungalows that it seems the prime target for discussion. The 1950′s bungalow was what was built for the new families that were formed from all the returning service people from World War II. Of course these were the homes that the baby boomer’s were born into. These were built by the thousands to give Americans a place to live and grow their families. I live in Southern California and I do not know if there are as many of these across the nation but there are tens of thousands of these simple homes stretching across the Southland.

The 50′s bungalow, come to think of it they do call it the California Bungalow are marked by 1 bathroom, small closets, small doorways and very small simple kitchens. They usually had a single family/living room with a small dining area in the kitchen. Most of these have a simple lateral gable with wood siding and shingled roof.

It’s hard to know where to start but of course form follows function so we need to start with structural issues then move into the fun stuff like cosmetics and innovations. So as much as we hate to say it – we need to start with the termite inspection repair and treatment. I actually like to get homes fully tented the whole orange oil thing never set well with me. Tent the home and gas it! When you tent and gas you kill everything – not a bad way to go – all spiders, little bugs, bed bugs – you name all dead. So now at least we will be the only ones living in the home. Now you need to find the parts that the little critters have eaten you replace the wood. If it is in a stud in the wall make certain you tie it into the structure of the home in order to maintain the structural integrity of the home. Floors, eaves, etc – they all need to be fixed repaired and replaced. You DO NOT need a termite guy to do the repairs – simply replace the eaten wood with new wood and nail it all together – piece of cake and a lot cheaper than paying the so called “experts”.
Personally this is how I do the home – I will go into a general overview and then in later posts cover more detail of each improvement.
Rip It Out! – OK first I tear out all old interior doors, cabinets, toilets, crummy tile flooring, door casings, windows, old style baseboard, old carpet, pretty much everything. Rip it all out and now you have a bare shell. Next I put in the windows. Make certain you are complying with the EPA lead rules. Put in new windows – this is a total WIN! New windows are not too expensive – about $140 per window for good ones. I frame them in with plain drywall – no need to add all the extra trim and molding. If you are trying to do a fancy remodel then do the extra trim but it is not necessary – tie the windows in with drywall. You will save about an extra $20 per window. And that’s materials only not labor.
Now I put in new pre-hung doors and drywall and tape all the new drywall. So patch holes, tape the window trim, and tape the door casings. Now texture the whole home. What you say? Texture the home? Yes you need to texture the whole home. It is very important because nothing makes the home nicer than if you spend the money to texture the whole place – it is worth so much to the remodel – you will thank me later. Now paint everything! One color is fine and paint the doors too – spray it all.
Now look around. You have done a lot and the whole home is fresh. All bugs dead. All defects in the walls covered with the texture. This is a tremendous trick and a total win for your project. I know I already said that but so many people skip the textured that they are crazy – do it one time and you never skip it again.
Now lets start putting in the extra elements. How about the bathroom. Throw in a vanity with granite top and built in sink. Put up the mirror above the vanity, new exhaust fan, and 8” faucet into the vanity. Buy one of those lowes toilet set kits that have the entire toilet, wax ring, etc all included. You do not need to but it does not cost much to tile the whole shower. Leave the tub and just tile the shower walls. If you do not know how attend a lowes do it yourself training – learn to tile and you will be saving money forever on all your re-habs. Add a towel holder toilet paper holder kit and you have completed the bathroom. Of I almost forgot – add a $30 light above the vanity and you are done! Having trouble matching colors? Just check in with a lowes customer service representative and they usually can help.

Now the kitchen. It’s simple really. Pull together a total order list for the kitchen cabinetry and use you lowes coupon. It should cost you less than $2,500 for a total kitchen cabinets assuming the kitchen is not too large. Do not be fooled into buying high end anything – it is not usually worth it unless you are in a million dollar area – the basics will make the home look more than worth the re-hab.
Think about the utter simplicity of it all. And you can do all of this, even hire it out for usually under $15,000 – and that is with quality materials and a decent contractor. Total renovation of the Californian Bungalow for around $15K – think it cannot be done? Use that Lowes Coupon and go for it – I think you can do it. $2,500 for the bathroom. $7,000 for the kitchen. $1,500 for the paint and texture. $4,000 for all the fixtures etc – you can do it and probably for even less especially with a lowes coupons. A remodeled home usually goes for much more than a $15K premium.
Soon we will go into more details on how to do each part.

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