PORCH FIRE
 |
 |
The Story:
Raina’s front porch caught on fire from an unknown source. Her son was home one day when he heard the fire alarm go off. He saw the fire on the front porch and quickly got out of the house. The fire destroyed the entire porch and spread into the main level of the home, covering the rooms with soot and damaging the floors and walls. Raina had recently renovated the porch, so we wanted to do all we could to help her restore her home.
The Rebuild:
The fire completely ruined the porch and front of the house, as well as the family room on the other side of the wall. It burned straight through the front door and flooded the main level with thick smoke, which left soot everywhere. After inspecting the house and clearing everything out, we created a plan to restore this home. This would require rebuilding the porch and exterior, replacing materials in the family room, and cleaning and sealing the rest of the main floor.
Savvy Solutions:
Brand new porch
We needed to rebuild the front porch to bring it up to the new building code requirements. To do this, we dug footings to support the new porch, replaced the insulation, added new framing and trusses. We also re-stuccoed the walls inside the porch and outside on the porch to ensure it was repaired to its original state!
Form meets function
While we were renovating Raina's home, she decided to also update her kitchen at her own expense. This is where FORM MEETS FUNCTION. We redesigned her kitchen layout to be more usable in every facet, from creating more counter space to adding a backsplash, and including sentimental artwork made by Hagen and Oats that holds a special meaning to the homeowner.
Vault ceiling
At no additional cost, we hand formed the roof to give the ceiling a vault and make the closed-in porch feel bigger.
Fresh Takes on Design
A bright, natural feel
In the family room, we refinished all hardwood floors and lighted the stain color to give it a natural feel. We added overhead recessed lighting to bring in more light, and painted the walls a neutral so the space feels larger.
Wallpaper
Wallpaper can really add a unique design element to a space. We added an accent wall of wallpaper up the stairway which can be seen in the living room. We chose a light green color because it was Renias favorite color and pattern!
Colorful Cabinets
To keep with the green and natural theme, we replaced the cabinets in the kitchen with custom white and green painted cabinets.
EXPLODING RADIATOR
 |
 |
The Story:
Joe and Janet’s house experienced a lot of damage from the Minnesota winter weather. The homeowners are snowbirds and moved to Florida for the winter. While they were away, their daughter checked on their house and found the whole place was frozen! Every radiator in the home was cracked and some even had burst, spraying sludge on the walls and floors.
The Rebuild:
Every radiator was broken, so we had to remove and replace all of them. When we had a radiator technician test the pipe system, we found there were unknown leaks we had to repair. Additionally we refinished all the hardwood floors in the rooms that had been damaged by the bursted radiators. We also gave these rooms a refresh to help the homeowners feel right at home again.
Savvy Solutions:
Smaller radiators
We replaced every radiator with a smaller version but with the same look and feel. Not only did they help gain space in each room, but they were also far more efficient than the old radiators.
Updated family and dining room
In the family and dining rooms, we brightened up walls with a neutral color so we could play with the furniture pieces. These changes helped make the space feel bigger and freshened things up.
Rescued the floors
The homeowners wanted to keep the original feel of the 1920’s home. We were able to restore the original hardwood floors by simply sanding and coating them with natural polyurethane for a very clean and beautiful look.
Wrapping up
We had the best time working with these homeowners to restore their houses after facing such devastating disasters. Check back next week for new projects and more tips and tricks for designing a safe and stylish home.
Tune in for the next episode of Renovation 911 Tuesday evening at 9 p.m. ET/PT on HGTV, and available to stream on discovery+.
