Once the home was well dried out from all the water, I began the restoration. As you can see in the pictures, the original attic had four Dutch dormers, as they are called, one on each side of the hip styled roof structure. I had to decide whether to retain the hip style or replace it with a full dormer with an A-frame type pitch.
Again, if you look at the pictures, you'll see that I went with the A-Frame type. The reason for this was to gain the full space of the attic, to be used as living space. The Dutch dormers look nicer from the exterior; however, they cut the interior space up in a way that doesn't allow for full use of the area. I also decided to add a full kitchen and bath; before the fire, this space was just used as a bedroom. Part of my reasoning for these decisions was that I intended to make rental units on each floor. Since the total area of the home after restoration was over 4500 sq. ft., it would have been difficult to find a renter who wanted or needed that much space. Turning the house into three large apartments of1500 sq. ft. (each the size of a modest single-family home) seemed to be a better option. I did this, and was able to generate a pretty good rental income.
This renovation took approximately seven to eight months to complete, a big part of which was waiting for everything to dry out. I must say that, while it is a huge undertaking to restore a fire project of this magnitude, the hard work always comes back to you through the great rewards and satisfaction of finishing the job.
The original owners showed up one day about a year later, and with tears in their eyes, they said, “Thank you, Bill, for putting our wonderful house back together”.
I thanked them back for the blessings that abounded because of it!
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