1. Removal of floors and ceilings and installation of new staircase in designated location (Main level-Bay Window front room). New Main level ceiling height will be set at 10'. Ceiling of stair tower on second floor will open up into the trusses and be finished with planking and trim boards.
2. Demolition of current Master Bath, Master Closets, and Laundry Room to become Girls Bedroom and Kids Bath with Linen closet in new 4' wide Hallway.
3. Build new floor to expand the Master Suite over the current Foyer space. Ceiling height on main level will be at 10'. Finish wall partitions and open Master Bedroom ceiling into trusses as per plans to unite the suite with the Phase 1 wing. Washer and Dryer move to temporary location in one of the Master closets until Phase 4 is completed.
Finish walls and trim as per final plan in every possible location.
This plan shows the new bedroom for Devon, as well as the new Kids Bath, that will ultimately become part of the Girl's Suite in Phase 4. The new bedroom ceiling will also be opened and finished.
The doors to both boys' rooms are maintained. Scott keeps one side of his Closet and gives up the other side to become a Hallway Linen Closet.
Grant keeps his closet. I have not decided how to handle the closet space from Devon's old room. It may be best to leave this wall untouched until Phase 4, since it is the only wall space in the room where his dresser fits well right now.
Phase 4: I like how this turned out. By giving Devon the window seat area as part of her room, it balanced out the fact that I took a little bit of space from her room to create a nice sized bath. The entrance to her bedroom is now more private, but the window and reading nook will look inviting from the hallway. The window will let light into the hall too. The sun sets almost perpendicular to the window, so it will be a very pretty spot to read in the afternoon. The built-in could be used for storage, linens, entertainment equipment, or whatever.
The Bath and Closet entrance will be set up to mimic a dressing room with three angled mirrors.
The Ceiling Height Controversy
Note: The floor height on the Mail Level will move to 10'. This is the part that we really want to work out and understand our options before moving to construction plans.
- The first place we think the ceiling height will be raised will be the new staircase tower, since the old floor needs to be cut away anyway.
- The next place is the expansion of the floor over the old Foyer space, which should be easy to set at the 10' height, because nothing is there now. The windows affected will be removed once the new wing is in place. The remainder of the old Master Bedroom will need to be elevated onto a new floor, which will mean that the French doors to the Balcony and the ceilings need to be addressed. We wanted to open this ceiling into the trusses anyway.
- The new wing in Phase 1 will be built to match up to the 10' ceiling height on the Main floor and a 9' ceiling height on the 2nd floor.
- Phase 4, which is part of a knockdown phase further down the road, will be built at 10' ceiling heights on the Main level and 9' on the 2nd Floor.
- That leaves the space where we need to convert our Master Bath into the Girl's Room and Kids Bath right now. On the Main Level, the space beneath the Girl's new room will become the new Dining Room and Butler's Pantry. The question is, do we just leave this at the current height and do two steps down from all of the other construction into this area, or do we raise it now and have one level space upstairs when we are all done. We want to know the cost involved, as well as get an understanding of what the additional disruption to our lives would be if we went the latter route. There would be a window height issue in the bedroom if we raised the floors. All of the windows need to be replaced on both levels anyway, so that would not deter us. However, the extent to which the roof line may be involved would potentially sway our decision to take the easier route.
