'Good Bones' Season 5 Episode 6: Mother-daughter duo turn a rundown house into a modern Victorian dream home
In the latest episode of 'Good Bones', Mina Starsiak Hawke and Karen Lane transform a total dump house into a dream home. The Old Southside condo is the epitome of run down, but a little love, refurbishing and a few personalized touches turn it into the ideal family home. The Talbott House has extensive fire damage so it needs more than just a facelift.
Mina purchased the 2,100 square foot, three-bedroom house for $22,000 and hopes to bring the house back to life restoring it to the charm it once had while adhering to a modern-Victorian theme. Mina plans to allocate $200,000 as renovation costs, bringing the total investment to $222,000 and will list the house to sell for at least $240,000. They will earn a potential profit of $18,000, but Mina hopes they can do better than that.
Besides new siding and exterior paint, the Two Chicks and a Hammer team are going to have to take the house down to the studs to replace all the fire damage. This means all new framing, walls, windows and floors. On the first floor, they intend to create an open floor plan for the kitchen, dining, and living room, while the parlor will be converted into another bedroom. Upstairs, two of the existing bedrooms will be converted into a master suite, with a new full bath and a walk-in closet. The refurbished house will have three bedrooms and a two-and-a-half-bath.
Demolition is a tedious job as the team has tonnes of junk to get rid of. The back addition of the house is where most of the fire damage is and needs to be taken down, but it won't be replaced as the house spacious even without it. Halfway through restoring, the team runs into a "laundry-list" of problems. Turns out that the house is severely damaged and the transformation hits a couple of roadblocks in terms of framing. The Two Chicks and a Hammer team hired a different contractor, rather than their usual one, and according to Mina, the work does not meet their standards.
The exterior of the house gets a white-washing and a gorgeous ornate pocket door with Victorian appeal becomes Karen's DIY project. Outside, the team plants a stretch of evergreens for shade and a pop of color. Inside, the house gets cool-toned vinyl plank floors, throughout the space. In the kitchen, white marble countertops are installed making the place look clean and elegant and the house gets antique, modern and Victorian-inspired interior elements. Large hexagonal tiles go up on the master bathroom's walls. Karen also restores a Victoria looking fireplace mantle for the dining room.
In the end, the renovations for the house amounted to $210,000 bringing the total investment to $232,000. They managed to sell the house for $280,000 leaving them with a $48,000 profit.