Between 265 & 485 SQ/FT Bauhaus this house

[Klokwerk]

Things have been busy and tragic these last couple months. The house and garage projects continue to stack up.
First, we lost our 14 year old Roxy last week. She was a great little Shiba and the most loyal and loving companion.
As for the projects, it seems we have many irons in the fire. One that we started but stopped a year ago. We go around to actually doing!
The entry has a bench built into the stair supports that we thought great until we really took a good look at how it was constructed. It was flexing a bit too much when anyone sat on it so it needed to go.
The original bench from above:

Some of the rebuild:

As usual, we do our best to re-use any of the old wood. In this case, the supports that span the legs of the stairs was good, just needed the notches improved for the new lateral supports. Previously, the 'original' had three of these and each was a different size. No idea why. They ranged from an inch thick to a quarter inch. I opted to make them each an inch thick and two wide.
Pardon the litter box, we're working on a solution for that....ugh another project!

Here are the original slats that were in need of rescue. Time hadn't treated them well. Plan was to rip them in half, sand and re-use.


And the new bench. Still need to stain it.



From above again.



Thanks!

 

[Klokwerk]

Since it's spring, a lot of our time these last couple months has been on cleaning the yard, roof etc from the damage winter had done.
Living in a house surrounded by trees you tend to get a lot of junk falling on it. Getting up onto a roof of this house is a bit of a hazzard. Life threatening actually. The back yard, the fall is just 15 or so feet. The front is about 30 onto concrete!
Back (summerish):

Front (late autumn):


I'd gotten bids from companies to clear/clean the roof and the prices were astronomical. So, I've been doing it myself. This is fine but Jo insists I never get onto the front of the house. Not until I get the fall arrestors installed up there. Then I can tie in and be 'safer'. In the mean time, a powerful leaf blower and long handled brooms does the job. Only have to do this twice a year.

The fire rated doors finally came in for the garage. I had gotten worried they would be delayed further because of supply chain issues....but oh no. Turns out Home Depot had the doors for weeks already and the order was on hold because they didn't have a specific fire rated insulating foam! FOAM! They said they could not deliver the doors until the whole order was complete.
I called BS on that and for making us wait weeks for something I could have just got off the shelf myself. They did have an alternative but because their computers said brand A was needed they could not just swap out brand B which was right there in stock. Oh well.

I drove down there, grabbed the doors and a few cans of brand B foam and installed the doors ourselves. We had originally planned to have a contractor do it, but hell if I was going to wait any longer.
Tearing out the old doors and frames. New prehung doors with self closing hinges go in:
Jo making short work of the old frame.


New frame and door hung. The trick with these, if you haven't done one before, is to set the hinge side first. Make sure it's absolutely blumb and has zero rack (left/right). Then it's a matter of doing the top next to make sure it's level, and the last side is a matter of just making sure it's flush with the drywall (if it's already there) and blumb. Takes about 15 minutes a door.

Hard to imagine how the contractor we were hiring could quoted about $600 per door. Oh well. Craftsmen have to make a living too.



4 hour rated foam and caulk in, hinges adjusted and door knobs installed. We were done.
Jo asked me how I was going to paint the doors on the garage side. First thought I had was of @kwyjibo's Gulf livery door....
But since that's already been done, i'll have to come up with something else!

Thanks!

 

[smschriefer]

Everything is looking great. For the door you could go Pink Pig, or the Hippie livery, or conservatively Rothmans.

 

[fouckhest]

Nice work on the bench! Sorry to hear about the pup, hate that for yall

re door livery, do you have any other "general theme" for the garage interior?

 

[Klokwerk]

Nice work on the bench! Sorry to hear about the pup, hate that for yall

re door livery, do you have any other "general theme" for the garage interior?

Thanks, and I hadn't considered a theme. Kicking myself now for not thinking about it.
I keep saying to myself 'once this next project is done...' I'll get to actually sorting out the look and feel for the garage.

If I keep doing that, it'll never get done.....Thanks @fouckhest

 

[fouckhest]

Thanks, and I hadn't considered a theme. Kicking myself now for not thinking about it.
I keep saying to myself 'once this next project is done...' I'll get to actually sorting out the look and feel for the garage.

I get it, its hard when you move in and all the sudden the garage is full....Lots of cool livery's, I'm confident you'll find something to dress it up.

A simply/cool idea if you have old license plates it to cover the door in those....just a thought

 

[nicholam77]

Nice updates! I like the built-in entry bench. Totally understand if you want to keep it private but I'd love to see more interior pics of the house as it makes sense... it looks very interesting.

Yes, craftsman need to make a living, but I find a lot of labor to be way overpriced. And sometimes they don't even do a good job. At least I've been burned a few times. But I don't mind paying for contractors when they actually do a good job or have a niche skill. $600 per door is a lot of money and you're right, it's not very hard to do. I've hung about six in my house for the same reason.

 

[kwyjibo]

Sorry about Roxy
Good work on the door - you definitely should paint it the way you want!
btw, my wife and I recently spent a few unplanned days in your neighborhood. We had car trouble not long after leaving Spokane and it took a few days to get going again. I had enough time there to try a couple Wisconsin Burgers and go to ****'s, in addition to a couple pizza and Vietnamese places that I can't remember the names of (yes, we ate a lot when we weren't waiting at the dealership)

 

[Klokwerk]

Oh man! If you went to Wisconson burger you were just a few blocks away from my place!
Wish I'd known you were in town. Oh well.

Yeah, we're still chugging away on little projects here and there but nothing garage related. Still haven't painted the doors though.
Trim is on them though so it's a lot cleaner.

I've been working a lot on the 2002. My goal is still to have it on it's own wheels this summer and fingers crossed, have an attempt at starting the new motor for the first time this year!
Since it's been a while I'll recap. I'd restored the front grill and since Jo decided she wanted ALL of the trim in black, I had a lot of blasting, sanding and painting to do.
Front grill coming along.

Front light buckets and turn signals rebuilt with new hardware.
The turn signals were a lot of fun. New gaskets, redid the reflectors and wiring.

Tail light assembly and trim. New gaskets and lenses.

Just last week I sent the suspension off to be powder coated finally!


And the sunroof hardware is screaming for attention. I've got to be very careful with this part because some of the parts are unobtainium.

This is going to force my hand on the interior too. Sunroof will need headliner, head liner needs more trim, which leads to seats and then all of the glass......ugh! Lots to do still.

 

[Klokwerk]

... Totally understand if you want to keep it private but I'd love to see more interior pics of the house as it makes sense... it looks very interesting.

Thanks Nick. Roxy was a great little dog. Still miss her.

As for the interior of the house, there's actually a lot of video out there about it. The previous realtors had done great jobs when the house was for sale. Here's a link to the latest one: Trogdon for sale

I take horrible pictures but will try to get some pictures of the interior as it is today.

 

[Jayman17]

I like 2002s, that is an interesting color and I mean that in a good way. Will be nice to see the finished car.

Jay

 

[nicholam77]

As for the interior of the house, there's actually a lot of video out there about it. The previous realtors had done great jobs when the house was for sale. Here's a link to the latest one: Trogdon for sale

Thanks, that is awesome!!

 

[zanyad]

As for the interior of the house, there's actually a lot of video out there about it. The previous realtors had done great jobs when the house was for sale. Here's a link to the latest one: Trogdon for sale

Thanks, that is awesome!!

Concur, I quite enjoyed that video.

 

[Klokwerk]

Well hey there.
Little update on what's been happening in and around the garage.
After getting the fire doors in I'd settled on the layout for the space. It works for me and how I plan to use the garage. I'm not a fabricator, machinist or carpenter, but all of those things can happen here. Nothing super fancy.

Here was the original layout with the walls to take down highlighted.

Here is how it pretty much is now.


As I said, this layout works for me. The workbench is actually two 72"x24" Husky rolling tool chests back to back with enough space between them to drop a Harbor Freight parts washer between them. Spanning the space on the other side of the parts washer connecting the tool chests is a solid wood door That I'm using as the working top. All of it locked together for form a large working surface (when the parts washer is closed). To it I can mount my vise, hydraulic press etc.

The lighting isn't that great yet, but I'm working on something like this: https://www.instructables.com/Articulated-Ceiling-Lamp/
Idea stolen from this video:

For now, I've got 4 or 5 LED light strips I got from HomeDepot. They're pretty good at throwing down abient light, but I really need something I can pull in and focus a lot of light in one spot. Thus the articulating lamp project.

I'm still putting Betty, the '76 2002, back together so the place is a mess.
Got the subframe parts back from the powder coater.


That let me finish the disc brake conversion for the rear brakes. It keeps the parking brake. Kit from Ireland Engineering.


We've also started the bedroom remodel in earnest.
I didn't mention that?....well here we go!
Here's a picture of a wall we took out. The view here is from in the bed area of the bedroom looking into the sitting area/closet/bathroom.


The space was originally a loft open to the floor below. Where this wall is, used to be a half wall which was the balcony looking down into the living room below. Because the family was growing, the original owners closed up the floor, and added two more bedrooms to the house. The result was something like this:

When we bought it it was like this. The previous owner had taken the middle wall down and added a sauna.


So, last week I asked Jo what she wanted for our 26th Anniversary. The silly girl says I want that wall knocked down.
Here we are:



We got this wall down and only ran into a couple surprises. One involved electrical wiring and the other some missing parts.
Continued in next post.

 

[Klokwerk]

To finish up about the wall....
We were afraid the cedar ceiling got butchered. So we proceeded cautiously and carefully took the top plate off....Turned out they just left it in place and framed up to it.

What was missing were the boards that run the width of the room. They're evenly spaced the length of the room. Where this wall was, there was supposed to be a set of them. They were not buried in the wall. Instead they chopped them flush to the ceiling. We'll have to take some of the ceiling down to install a new one.

The wall is down for now. Next is to tear down the sauna walls. The sauna itself was gifted to a friend of ours. He runs his own construction company and was happy to take it off our hands! Win win!

Messy bed is messy. Sorry about that. It was covered during the demo!

The design we're working with is this. We'll move part of the bathroom into this space by putting the vanity and storage out here which will allow us to use the existing bathroom as a walk in shower. Looking forward to that!


Fingers crossed!

 

[Denwood]

Wow, that bedroom is shaping up to one cool space. In the wall you took down, it looked like there was a header on the right, in the middle of the wall. Any idea what that was about? Also, I'm guessing this wall is not structural at all based on how it met the ceiling?

In any case, that is an amazing open air space you have shaping up there.

 

[fouckhest]

Thanks for the link to that YouTube video, that guy is fascinating! I also really like that articulating light, you've got me thinking now....

Master remodel is looking great, we are currently doing the same, I love your open floor plan, going to be a great space.

 

[Klokwerk]

@Denwood we suspected that the frames for the two doors or at least one of them, would still be in the wall. They just framed around it. Turns out we were right. We could tell because the drywall had an indent where the door was. It was obvious once the drywall came done. Made us giggle. They treated wiring the same way. If it was there and they didn't need it, they jut cut it and put the end in a box. How that didn't cause a fire I'm not sure. Lucky I guess.

And the wall was definitely not structural or load bearing.

@fouckhest yeah, that guy with his shop in NYC is amazing. Crazy what he's done. Can't wait to get the light done. Really could use it now.

As usual, thanks again!

 

[fouckhest]

Also, if your garage lighting, this is a really handy tool, I used this to spec out he lights in my shop

Visual Interior Tool

www.visual-3d.com

 

[iceman510]

That let me finish the disc brake conversion for the rear brakes. It keeps the parking brake. Kit from Ireland Engineering.

Do you know what the rear calipers are from? Another model BMW?

 

[Klokwerk]

@iceman510 yes, IE in their install guide mentioned this:
In the future if you need replacement parts the following should be used: Rotors -- front rotors from first generation VW rabbit. Pads -- rear pads from late 80’s & early 90’s VW’s. FMSI #D340 Caliper – late 80’s & early 90’s VW Jetta with 10mm bleeder

I can't wait to have the car on the road in order to test these out!

 

[CoyoteDuster]

Just discovered your thread. Love the house and the cars. Looking forward to seeing the shop come along. After college, I always wanted an "oh-two" but when I was shopping couldn't find one that wasn't trashed or too expensive. So I bought a '74 Bavaria. Was a truly wonderful car, but needed a lot of attention. I drove it for many years - had about 300K on it when I finally scrapped it.

 

[Klokwerk]

I made a more accurate drawing of the bedroom including the bathroom.


Then sent a quote request to Kerf Designs. I'd like them to build an 8' dual sink vanity and then a huge room divider.
10'x8'x24" that'll have tons of drawers, shelves and general storage.
Since I don't have the right tools or skill to build my own cabinets, I figured I'd farm this out.

The vanity that was in the bath will be taken out and all of that space turned into a walk in shower.
At least, that's our plan right now. We used blue painters tape and mapped this out on the floor yesterday. I think the layout will work, flow-wise.

Have to finish the plumbing and wiring design to make it actually work. Then a quick discussion with the Historical Preservation and Permitting offices.

Back in the garage, I'm starting to realize that I'm NOT going to have the 2002 on its own wheels before the end of summer.
I'm still trying, but I think the differential is going to give me trouble. Also the automatic transmission needs a rebuild.

The differential. Not a '76 2002 dif. Pretty sure this unit comes from a 320 but not exactly sure of the year. It'll need new bearings, gaskets etc. But appears to be in pretty good shape. Jo never complained of any noises or problems when driving it. So I think that's all I'll do here.
New paint, bearings and such then put it back on.


The transmission on the other hand, needs some work. Intermittent shifting issues and sluggishness was a common complaint.



Problem is I don't know anyone around here that works on these. Thought I'd have to send it to California. While calling around, I made contact with one of the founders of SoCal Vintage BMW who happens to live in town. He had some suggestions for me that I'll follow up on.
Also, I just found an old thread on 2002FAQ that Pat Allen posted back in 2009. It has some great info that I can use. I've rebuild other transmissions before, but never an automatic. We'll see.

I might just end up replacing it with another unit that's been recently rebuilt.

If I get the dif rebuilt in time, I could still have Betty on her own wheels before snow flies!

 

[TomGW]

Loving the whole thread, house, garage and cars.
The 2002 is looking great. Would the European front turn signals (indicators in UK) be a straight swap? I just feel they suit the overall profile much better.

 

[DennisK59]

Those little BMTroubleU's are pretty simple to rebuild, just need an overhaul kit, I doubt the steel are damaged. Lube pressure in neutral are near nil, emission test used to caused failer from reving in nuetral.

 

[Klokwerk]

Hi there, it's been a long while since my last posting. Lots has happened since then. Lots.
Where did I leave off? Right, Jo and I were hemming and hawing about the layout of the master bedroom. The garage is pretty much done minus some finish work. And the 2002 is still not done.
The room had been taken down to the studs and to make it easier for us to completely rewire and fix a number of issues, we took the subfloor up too. Here is one of our design finalists. I think the divider wall between the cubby wall/closet and vanity won't make the cut.

Living in the space you're remodeling is tough, but necessary. We spent a lot of time moving things around and wrapping them in plastic sheet to keep them clean during the demo. Here's the sauna walls being removed. the sauna itself was donated to a friend of ours with the condition that he do the demo and carry it away. He was more than happy to do so!






During the demo of the room we learned a lot of things about state of the art construction/framing techniques from the 60's.
Actually every time we ran into something odd, we would both say 'that wouldn't pass code today!'. But it works and it had been working since 1963. As they say, if it's not broken, don't fix it....unless it's really broken. Like all of the wiring in this room. All of it had to be updated.


This was all around October of '22. We were making slow progress. What seemed to work to keep us going is breaking the projects down into smaller projects. Setting goals for the day or week helped. Also helps to keep doing all the other things you do.

We did send a request for a quote to Kerf Cabinets to see what it would cost to have them build the cubby wall with drawers and the open shelves I'd designed. They provided a quote of about $30k which I about passed out on. I know Baltic birch plywood is expensive but holy ****. Needless to say, I'll be building those myself....if that's the way we go.

By the time winter really kicked in, Jo and I had the rockwool insulation in. Since the walls were framed in 2x4 we didn't have a lot of space to work with. Chose to do a spray in foam and r15 rockwool combination then vapor barrier over that.


The coldest it got all winter was just after we finished putting up the rockwool. -9F and the room was nice and cozy. Also much quieter than with the old fiberglass stuff.

continued.....

 

[Klokwerk]

2023 started with a bang. On Jan 23 a driver in the snow drove into the utility pole in front of the house. Temporarily took out power.
Then in February Jo's nephew got married in New Orleans. Jo's home town. Maybe the largest wedding I've ever been to.
Great time and a nice break.


If you've never been, please visit New Orleans. But don't go during Mardi Gras. Anytime before or after is perfect for your first time.


Coming back from the wedding, both of us contracted Covid. Our first time getting it. And it put us down for a couple weeks. Nothing major but did delay the project a bit.

That didn't slow down Jo too much though. She ended up scoring a great find. Another Poul Cadovius wall unit for dirt cheap. This one will go up in the bedroom on the wall that had been taken up by the sauna.







Then on March 30th, a day my family knew was coming, my Father passed away. He died peacefully in his sleep. He'd been diagnosed with Alzheimer's a few years ago. Gradually, as this decease does, it takes everything you were were away. Luckily a couple months before he passed, we had a good conversation and at the end of it I got to say goodbye. I'm glad I had that moment because once it was over, that was the last time he was himself....at least the last time I could tell it was actually him in there.
I miss him.



It took several month before Jo and I were in good enough moods to pick up hammer and measuring tape again. But once we did, things started moving fast.



By May we had all of the walls reinsulated with rockwool, all of the wiring and electrical done. This included adding a new circuit for new lights, and smart switches for the porch and overhead lights.
We decided to install radiant floor heating using the existing 240v circuit from the old sauna and got that wired in and new thermostat installed. All of the subfloor was glued and screwed down. While we were in there all of the ceiling lights for the living and dining room below were installed and wired. All new smart switches for them too. Between the floors we added rockwool sound safe insulation which cut down a lot of the noise transfer between the spaces.

Drywall started going up by Aug.
This is about when my Mom and oldest Sister dropped in for a visit from Orlando. We had a great time. Mom is just about to have her 83rd birthday and was struggling mightily with the stairs in my house. With three floors she never got to see the top floor where this remodel is happening.

This also brought into clear focus the difficulty of aging in place in a house like this. We'd talked about this a lot over the few years we've been in here and I think we're seriously weighing our options for when the time comes for us to deal with it.

That brings us up to date on the project. The dumpster we rent to haul off the waste is nearly full again.
The plan is to finish installing drywall this weekend. Keep in mind it's a couple 50+ year old's hauling up 4x8 sheets up 3 flights of stairs. It'll take us a little time between catching our breaths! LOL.

We're nearly there. Flooring is in boxes in the garage and living room ready to install. But first is framing the cubby wall and laying out the radiant flooring. Soon, very soon.

Thanks.

 

[nicholam77]

Funny, I was just thinking about this thread recently. Glad to see you back and updating it! I like the bedroom redesign plan, and looking forward to seeing that come together. Building your own cabinets can be a lot of work, but it's totally doable.

 

[Klokwerk]

It's been a little while. I hope everyone's doing well.
Where to start?
At the end(ish) I suppose is as good a place as any.


What started as a simple remodeling project soon turned into a saga of endurance, patience, and a dash of WTF. This was no joke.

Armed with Pinterest boards, paint swatches, and an unwavering determination to transform our sleeping quarters into a haven of sophistication. Little did we know the path chosen would be fraught with unforeseen challenges. Eh, maybe a couple.


Weeks turned into months, and the bedroom, once a peaceful retreat, morphed into a chaotic construction zone. The walls echoed with the cacophony of power tools, and the scent of construction adhesive and paint hung heavy in the air like a stubborn ghost refusing to be exorcised.


Once united in our vision, we found ourselves bickering over the most trivial details—California corner framing or standard, screws or nails, shades of white, 3" offset or 6" for the accent wall, and the elusive perfect light switch.

As the project dragged on, fatigue set in. What was initially a month endeavor turned into a full-blown renovation marathon. Scope creep you say? Our social life waned, our friends baffled by our prolonged absence. Even the dog, usually an enthusiastic supporter of any endeavor involving more time at home, cast judgmental glances at the chaos. We had hit max remodel.



Bickering aside and hugs all around, we powered through. The bed moved for the 50th time.

We survived each day in the toolbox trenches, measuring out each board like our lives depended on it. Then laughed each time I cut a it a quarter inch too short and then again too long. Oh well. Amateurs doing stuff.
No one expects the Spanish Inquisition, but when they visit you end up replacing the subfloor, reinsulating, rewiring, lighting and all of the other things you expected and did not expect to do.



The destination has been reached and many more miles to travel. It's taken us a long time to get here. I'm going to enjoy it for a little bit before plowing into the bathroom portion of this.

I've got lots of other projects needing my attention!

 

[fouckhest]

The result looks amazing, I can certainly empathize with the woes of remodeling a master suite.

On to the green 2002!

 

[coldh2o]

Love the wall unit in the bedroom. Is that new or vintage?

 

[Trapps]

Love the writing as usual and the progress looks great! Much of that I can identify with.

Ahhhm, new eyes? Tough to see but looks like Rennline?

 

[Klokwerk]

Thank you all.

@fouckhest that poor 2002....The rear subframe is all put together minus the brake lines so it just needs to be installed. The differential rebuild took me longer than I thought it would. But progress is being made honest!

@coldh2o Definitely vintage. Jo has a great eye for mid century furniture. She says it's a Poul Cadovius. From what we've read, it's an original Royal System which even includes a fold up table. Now we just need to find a key maker so some of those cabinets can be locked.

@Trapps You're referring to the headlights on the 911? Yup, newer eyes. Those are from flat6illumination. I think I installed those a few years ago, back in 2017. So those are some of their earliest units. Huge improvement over stock.

 

[hewey]

Hey mate, I haven't dropped in to this thread for a while. Sorry to hear about your dad, and that's a tough thing to watch someone you care about go through. The renovations look great, even if they've turned in to an epic quest for you guys.

 

[tweidman]

Great house and cars, I have really been enjoying this thread. I am looking forward to the updates.

 

[nicholam77]

It's been a little while. I hope everyone's doing well.
Where to start?
At the end(ish) I suppose is as good a place as any.

This is phenomenal! I love everything about it! Looks like a huge project to DIY, so congrats on making it through and sticking to your vision. You're really doing the house justice.

You mentioned Pinterest boards, but in case you haven't seen it and are interested, I'm going to recommend a docu-series on YouTube as a possible source of inspiration:

https://www.youtube.com/@openspace.series

It's a bunch of short films featuring owners discussing their midcentury modern or modern homes. Many famous houses and architects, and some less known. A lot of passion and desire to preserve the architecture at play. And lots of eye candy.

That Cadovius unit is massive! I saw in a previous post you mentioned Jo found it for "dirt cheap". May I ask where one finds such furniture in great shape for a good price? Also, nice touch with the accent lights.

Smart to take a break before the next remodeling project. Thanks for the update and the cars look great, too!

 

[Klokwerk]

Thanks again all.... for the kind words about my Father.

@nicholam77 We live in a pretty small city and my best guess is no one wanted to pay the shipping.
The shops we visit regularly are Metro Eclectic and Boulevard Mercantile. Metro deals mainly with vintage Mid Century and Danish furniture and run by guys that appreciate the period. And the Blvd is a collection of various vintage sellers. Every once in a while they have good pieces which we happily ****** up.
Nearly everything in the bedroom came from Metro.

And thanks for the link to Open Space....it's not our goal to be on one of those shows/sites, but we would love to have that level of quality in our space. The Neutra houses are amazing!

 

[jake28]

Great update. Thanks for sharing

 

[Klokwerk]

My garage has been feeling a bit neglected and since the remodel started has become a way station for supporting projects and storage.
With a good chunk of the remodel done and the Mrs and I taking a break from that I am free to get back to working on the 2002.

This weekend I'm trying to finish the heater box and controls. Here it is after I pulled it out of the car. It's in pretty rough shape, but I have seen much worse.



This bit has me worried, but we'll see how it looks after I take it apart. I have a kit for the whole thing. It includes new foam, hardware, cables and a rebuild kit for this diverter valve.



Crack it open and whoa! No live critters but what a mess!



Amazingly, this actually worked and kept the car warm....ish. Can't wait to see how it works when I get it all back together.




The halves apart and mostly cleaned out. Complete tear down, wash, plastic repair and paint to follow.

 

[slodat]

Heater rebuild is a very satisfying thing when the car is back on the road. Nice work!