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Any chance you can replace or eliminate the storm door? If it needs to stay, I find that color coordinating that with the entry door looks best. Otherwise the actual door isn’t appreciated as much.
Right now it's hard to see the front door and any detailing on it isn't very visible. If you want it to stand out would suggest a very light color.
I like the first blue Maureen used. It matches your siding beautifully
Only someone on site can tell you for sure. They need to be in good condition obviously, they need to not have the spike holes (if there) not hogged out and tire up. They need to be proper lengths so you don't end up with a bunch of short pcs. You will need to buy brackets, leader straps, and other accessories so be sure you are prepared and have a source for the correct parts. The new parts will also be much briter and cleaner for quite some time.
The wood on the stair does seem to relate to the wood furnishings we see in the photo. I’d leave well enough alone
Lare 70-----For clarification, the stair railing/floor trim matches the cherry color of the kitchen cabinets as shown in this picture. The lighter color LVP flooring was recently installed to contrast with the dark cabinets.. The stairway can be seen from the kitchen/dining area.
I'm wondering if a honed Virginia Mist could work for you? It is considered mid-range granite $85-100 per square foot. And looks like soap stone!
How are you handling running conduit for outlets on the wall? This has me perplexed.
"observe how moisture is travelling through the block"
"a masonry specialist who says everything can be externally fixed or run inside"
These two statements unfortunately say that you should not be finishing the basement yet. You need to fix the water infiltration. Unstated, but guessing water is coming through the blocks and at the slab/floor, and you probably have lots of efflorescence residue. That means it is sitting outside against the CMUs, continuing to deteriorate mortar joints over time, and entering and filling the bottom course cores (still sitting there).
You may have done some remediation work outside, like gutters/downspouts and grading, which is keeping water at bay for the time being. But it is just a matter of getting, say, a sustained rain for a couple days, or a 100 year rain every few years, and you are now back to having water infiltration.
Nothing can be applied to the interior of the CMUs to prevent it. The best solution is excavating outside, installing a footing drain tile (to interior sump pump), waterproofing, and a drainage plane. This will reduce hydrostatic pressure and eliminate the problem with the deterioration and cracking of mortar joints.
But that is the most expensive, so the next and most often chosen solution is a compromise, a less-effective method of an interior retrofit perimeter drainage system. They trench around the interior perimeter and install a pipe connected to a sump pump. This is not 100% effective for every house, and does not eliminate water coming through the wall or all hydrostatic pressure, or continued deterioration of mortar joints. But it is 1/3-1/2 cheaper than the proper solution. It also compromises your interior finishes as you have to collect water still coming through the wall.
Your solution of all interior CMU is probably not thought through completely. You will have to demo the concrete slab in order to pour thickened footings to support where walls occur. All electrical will be in conduit, or for an uninterrupted look, be run inside the block (laborous). There might be some difficult details complicating your desired look where CMU meets any ductwork and pipes that are typically present in the basement ceiling. If you need permit, basements do have to be insulated.
There are three ways mold can happen specific to a basement:
- ground water infiltration
- condensation from the incorrect method of insulating and finishing perimeter walls
- sump pump failure
All have been solved to where it is not a high risk to finish using wood and drywall.
Don’t ignore your carpet tone when finalizing these colors. Swatches that you can move around and test near various angles is better than painting on the wall at eye level. And, always look at your large swatches (you can paint your own on foam core sheets) against a white backdrop as your existing wall color doesn’t allow you to really ‘see’ the new color.
We’re painting today, ha! I ended up going wirh the middle blue (Wedgewood Gray) and the lighter ‘gray’ (Athena). We’re actually replacing the carpet but I think these will coordinate with it fine.
Thank you so much for everyone’s advice and input!
First,
"NO expansion, no change of plumbing location........."
You are.......... screwed. Nothing but a cosmetic update. You lack the length at 70 inches to meet toilet codes and make any significant improvement. Never will be "age in place"' comfortable.
Second:
There is another "primary" bath, shared.........
Which is the one she USES? which is the one you want for long term? This seems most logical.
Third...........
She's 69, active. HOW active, because I will state right now that my own sister is 68, I am 74, and we belong to the same gym. She can not bicep curl as much weight as I can, ( 20lbs ) but her squats are to be envied! She cleans homes 5 days a week and climbs stairs like a billy goat. I have 27 stairs up, and down with laundry, she has 31. Four years ago I could crank out 25 man push ups until I ruined a bicep, so I am down to ten.
NEITHER one of us even thinks about ADU! We still have balance, though neither one of us does as much "stupid STUPID" as not holding a railing when lugging a ton down a stair....or wearing sneakers on icy pavement.
Sixty nine today, is still a very active period in life unless already a little or a lot compromised. Most people might consider it a downsized living style opportunity, a one floor type of ease, but are not yet at the grab near the toilet stage, though it's certainly fine to plan ahead with backer board to add those at will.
You seem to be in the middle of make it beautiful and make it long term.
She lives alone, is active, but you're........................
"Give me a day or so to build out the floor plan doc. I need a nap at the moment bc we spent all day de cluttering my mom’s room.
I’m younger but not young anymore 😂"
Whether she had you in her H.S senior year.....or on her 39th birthday, , you are VERY young.
What is my point in all of this? Clarity in the goal, whether the "need for love in her house" was mostly a lack of resources/finding help for big projects , or just lack of true interest?
As to bathrooms......which one is most advantageous long term, and it isn't the 70 x 70.
Nobody has a crystal ball. My own mom at 69, was mowing a gigantic yard, hands and knees trimming the edges. Did a cartwheel for laughs at 71. Ran the house, the checkbook, ALL.
By 74, dementia was setting in and at 83, she died in assisted living, my dad died seven weeks later, following 18 months of living there with her. Broken hearted , broken everything.
Nobody ever knows. "Age in Place"? Not a given, we just wish it were so.
I'm 74 and selling my 2 bed/bath home to downsize. When you age it's not a gradual reduction of abilities. You drop from plateau to plateau. Abilities I had two years ago have vanished.
I found I can comfortably live in a multifunction room that has a bed and a chair, full bath, W/D in a closet and a kitchenette, about 600 sq ft. More space than this requires too much work and money.
My backyard tree drops branches which require hiring a tree guy about every six months, and it's going to put me in the poor house branch by branch. The roof that was replaced 20 years ago and repaired 10 years ago has decided to spring a new leak.
A couple of stairs into the house is still OK, but once inside I do not want to face a staircase. Random attacks of vertigo that started a few years ago could cause me to fall I'm looking forward to a building elevator.
Having said all that, I would not want to move to a senior citizens facility. Most old people are crabby and the facilities are too depressing. Being self sufficient as long as possible in a small place is ideal. I'm hoping to move into an studio apartment like this.
Sharing my experience with my parents. They lived in a 1967 split level, so 6-7 stairs from the living area to either bathroom. They lived there until my Dad moved into long term care at age 94, and my mother was 88. She was mobile, he was in a wheelchair for the last few months, used a walker before that.
The only aging-in-place we did was to install double handrails on all stairs, and replace the living room carpet with hardwood, no rug. They did some updates to the house in in the early 90's, but nothing after that.
According to his physio and OT, the necessity to do stairs for toileting was what kept his legs strong enough to avoid falls, up until he needed a wheelchair more because his dementia had progressed to the point where he couldn't remember how to walk or get out of a chair. For the last few months there we moved their beds to the dining room and he used a toilet commode. Not elegant but it worked and was safe.
You are saying "she has finally agreed" to the renovation. If she is not enthusiastic about it, why is she doing it if the house stll functions well for her currently? She may need the money for long term care which is expensive. Obviously you know her beter than me but consider that she is currently mentally capable and doesn't need someone else telling her to do cosmetic updates to her home. I am 71 and would tell my children to mind their own business.
When the the home no longer suits her needs, she may prefer to move. Then she has less money to do so because she has spent the money on these renovations that still don't make her home truly suitable for her reduced physical and/or mental needs. And by then the cosmetic improvements will be old and the new buyer probably wants to update anyway, so they add no value to the home.
And this would be OK and completely her prerogative if she is a "house proud" type of person and the dated decor is making her unhappy. But I don't think that's the case if she needs to be convinced.