We recently completed a guest house renovation that will blow you away!

In order to get this guest house in livable condition, we had to do extensive work to repair the rot damage. This is an older home, likely built in the 1940s. The building had considerable rot including its structural members, exterior stairs, and balcony. Much of the rot was caused by water flowing into the garage from surrounding land that was built up higher than its floor,  not to mention the building was clad in asbestos shingles.

FUN FACT:  40 years earlier, our owner lived in this guest house when he was a student at A&M. This house had true sentimental value to him,  so we did everything we could to bring it back to life.

Additionally, there was a honey bee colony that had made its home in the wall cavity. Don’t worry though, we were able to safely remove the bees without harming them!

Our ultimate goal was to save the building by repairing the shell and closing in one bay of the garage. The building had such extensive rot that our immediate step was to provide temporary bracing to shore it up and provide a safe workplace.

Next, we did rough grading to direct water away from the building. This required grading around the entire building by at least 15 feet, including removing dirt from the site. While we were in the process of removing rot, the entire building shifted to one side. Uh-oh! Using wenches, we were able to bring the building back to plumb and finish repairing rot in the walls.

Also, the roof had considerable rot that required us to peel back roof decking, replace several rafters and re-brace the roof. For the rebuilding of the roof, we replaced the roofing material and added gutters.

Next up, the stairs and balcony required a complete rebuild. At this point, the roof had been replaced and so we were able to add new Hardie siding on the exterior. 

Check out our blog post on picking the right exterior siding in the Brazos Valley.

We also built a new garage door in the style of a barn door to complete the renovation.

If you have a project in mind for your home in the Bryan/College Station area, let’s chat. We’ll love to hear from you! Give us a call or set up a free consultation here!