Upstairs Floorplan!

Just like the first floor, the second floor is undergoing a major overhaul. The biggest challenge was that the upper floor of the new addition served as a separate apartment that did not interconnect at all with the corresponding floor of the old section.

Below is the before/after of this floor. Click it for a bigger view.

As you can see, the old section used to contain 3 separate but intimately arranged bedrooms--you had to walk through one to get to another. These rooms now comprise the master suite with a separate bedroom, bath and marvelously enormous closet/laundry area. Descending a couple steps from the master suite, you enter the new addition, which will have two guest/kids' rooms and a bath.

Here are the major tasks we had to accomplish to create this new layout that actually flows the way a house should:

1. Removed the attic altogether, because it made the ceilings in our master suite only 6 feet high. (Read about the attic situation here.)
   
2. Hollowed out the entire apartment/guest section so that we could start from scratch in creating the floorplan. (Read about the demolition here.)
   
3. Moved the staircase so it wouldn't cut into the space in the second bedroom.
   
4. Rebuilt the entire guest section with larger bedrooms, a bigger bathroom and a new linen closet.
5. Cut a door into the master bedroom wall and installed stairs to connect the old section with the new.
6. Tore out the floor in the master suite and replaced it with brand new joists and subflooring. There were beautiful wide planks in there, but sadly the floor was so warped and uneven (it dropped 6+ inches from one side to the other) that the boards couldn't be saved. Again, the carpenters helped with the structural work.

All in all, we're very pleased with how everything flows together now, considering what we started with! We scratched our heads for awhile trying to solve this floorplan puzzle, and I believe that everyone's ideas worked together for the best possible solution.

I know these last two posts have been extremely long, but I just wanted to give you an idea of the scope of our job. My recommendation: don't try this at home.