Remodeling the Family Home for an Elder

We remodeled a kitchen a few years ago. The project went exceptionally well and created a long-term client. When it came time to remodel the client’s mother's house, he immediately thought of us and called. His mother's home was the family home growing up. It had the same layout and many of the same fixtures and appliances from all those years ago. Because his mother was now elderly, the son knew he and his sister would need to find some live-in help for their mother soon. In our discussions, we concluded that the house required remodeling in several areas.

Our team at Shirey Home Pro updated the kitchen and upstairs bathroom for better accessibility for both the mother and the future live-in help. We added a live-in space, kitchenette, and full bathroom downstairs for the live-in help.

During the remodel, we came across a few challenges because the home was originally built in 1947. For starters, there was no insulation in any of the walls in the entire home, which is probably why everyone still felt the need to bundle up in the winter. We brought in our insulation specialist to open holes in all the walls to then spray in insulation. They vacuumed out the inadequate attic insulation and blew in a new blanket of R38 insulation. The house is now very comfy and warm!

The next obstacle was old wiring tied to even older wiring throughout the home. Old wires, especially knob and tube, are one of the things we stress to homeowners to not delay in replacing and upgrading. The issue can lead to devastating house fires. After informing our client of the safety concerns and it will improve the home's longevity, they agreed to a complete rewire.

The last major obstacle was replacing much of the radiant heat supply lines that went to the boiler. Finishing off the basement meant pushing the supply lines up into the ceiling, which helped to warm the basement. The old heating unit in the basement was an ornate radiant heater that we could repurpose. To repurpose the old radiant heater, we brought in required] a special team, including a plumber, to help us with this task. In the end, the clients were delighted with the outcome.