Patient: Old farm house with a stale feel

🤕 Symptoms:

-Sinking kitchen floor with visible sloping and soft spots
-Cracked and aged plaster throughout bedrooms and hallways
-Damaged chimney stack showing wear and water intrusion
-Railings and stairs aged, faded, and in need of new finish
-Closed-off floor plan creating tight, outdated living spaces
-One bedroom with unserviceable flooring; another with hardwood worn thin
-Overall visual fatigue — surfaces tired, flow restricted

🩺 Diagnosis:

The home had good bones, but the structural heart of the kitchen was failing. Sill plates and floor joists had weakened with age and moisture, making it unsafe to install new finishes. The rest of the home reflected time and neglect — not from abuse, just from use. It needed a combination of structural rehab and surface renewal to carry the owner into the next chapter, without losing the house's soul.

🛠️ Treatment Plan:

-Repaired and replaced damaged sill plates and joists beneath the kitchen
-Installed new subflooring to stabilize and prep for surface work
-Opened the kitchen into the living area to modernize the floor plan and allow better flow
-Built a bar-height countertop along the former kitchen wall for casual dining and spatial balance
-Installed all new kitchen cabinets, appliances, and a farmhouse sink for function and style
-Repaired existing plaster walls in both bedrooms
-One bedroom received vinyl plank floating flooring; the other had its original hardwood floors refinished
-Repainted stair railings and second-floor hallway to freshen vertical circulation
-Repaired and resealed chimney to restore integrity and stop moisture entry
-Tied in all new trim, paint, and surface finishes for clean lines and cohesion throughout

💡 Prognosis:

With the structure reset from the sill plates up, this house is no longer working against its people. Before, that sloped floor was stealing stability. Cracked plaster and dark corners drag energy down. Now it flows, feels fresh, and respects both the client’s memory and their future. Restoring this house wasn’t just practical — it was medicinal.