One Room Challenge Week 4: A Very Expensive Construction Hurdle for Our Living Room

Happy week 4 of the One Room Challenge! Since we’ve been renovating for quite a while now, I have some VERY interesting updates on our constructions hurdle.

First off, let me just say that no one here is more excited about revealing this completed room than I am! Trust me! Or well, maybe the construction team at Genesis. Technically I’m only hurting emotionally and financially, and they’re hurting simply by hearing all of my woes and dealing with me. It’s a rocky road, haha.

At first, we thought this room was going to be as simple as replacing the old flooring, painting the walls, replacing light fixtures, and decorating. That quickly turned into replacing an entire balcony railing that was coming unhinged and RAISING THE HOUSE FOUNDATION.

That’s right folks, I dare anyone make as horrific a discovery underneath their vinyl flooring in this One Room Challenge than us!…

One Room Challenge Week 4: A Very Expensive Construction Hurdle for Our Living Room #oneroomchallenge by top Houston lifestyle blogger Ashley Rose of Sugar & Cloth #houston #realestate #renovations One Room Challenge Week 4: A Very Expensive Construction Hurdle for Our Living Room #oneroomchallenge by top Houston lifestyle blogger Ashley Rose of Sugar & Cloth #houston #realestate #renovations One Room Challenge Week 4: A Very Expensive Construction Hurdle for Our Living Room #oneroomchallenge by top Houston lifestyle blogger Ashley Rose of Sugar & Cloth #houston #realestate #renovations One Room Challenge Week 4: A Very Expensive Construction Hurdle for Our Living Room #oneroomchallenge by top Houston lifestyle blogger Ashley Rose of Sugar & Cloth #houston #realestate #renovations

When the contractors starting peeling up the cheap floors, we were pleasantly surprised to find real MARBLE underneath. We were quickly brought back down to earth once they also noticed a lot of moisture on the tiles. They did some (okay, a lot) of checking around and realized that water was coming in through the foundation behind the wall to the right.

The previous owner had plugged the weep holes on the exterior of the house rather than fixing their non-existent yard drainage system, and our inspection didn’t catch it as an issue.

Alas, we ended up forking out $10,000+ to lift the foundation back into place as well as have a new drainage system installed so that the problem didn’t persist.

This also meant that we had to wait a while and have the floors and foundation tested for moisture before we could lay the new flooring. Rather than building a subfloor, they were able to lay a special type of plastic underlayment beneath the Stuga Studio flooring so that we had a more budget-friendly alternative for the install.

Here’s where we are now—

  • First coat of paint is complete
  • The new upstairs balcony railing is installed and painted
  • Stuga Studio oak alpine flooring is installed
  • Most of our furniture has arrived from our living room and dining room design, but we haven’t unboxed anything since we still have construction dust flying

Next week I’ll be sharing a peek at some of the design details in place, so be sure to check back for a first look before the final reveal!

Here are the previous weeks if you need to catch up: Week 1, Week 2, and Week 3. Plus all of the other participants right here…

At Home With Ashley | Casey Keasler | Dorsey Designs | The Farmhouse Project | Home Made by Carmona | House of Funk | House of Jade Interiors | House Seven Design | House That Lars Built | Inspired by Charm | Jana Bek | Jessica Brigham | Kelly Golightly |Murphy Deesign | The Pink Pagoda | Sarah Gunn | Sherry Hart Designs | Sugar & Cloth | Veronica Solomon | Vintage Revivals | Media Partner BH&G | TM by ORC

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16 Comments

  1. I just wanted to offer my sympathies for your pain with the foundation. How frustrating that your inspection missed the problem! Also wanted to say that railing is so unique! Love it!

    1. Thanks, Meredith. Foundation issues are always painful to hear. We would’ve still purchased this house but could have totally negotiated down the price even more if we had known! Thanks for checking us out! XOXO

  2. Oh, no! That’s not good! I am glad it was caught, before new floor was laid down. Can’t wait to see the finished product!

    1. You’re actually totally right! It would’ve been a nightmare if we caught it after the new floors were in. Love your positive reasoning!

  3. Yiiiikes. We seem to run into some sort of water issue every other year between our last two houses. I have nightmares about it! Try to tell yourself at least it is fixed and no further damage can occur (it hurts in the moment though…and maybe for a while after that). It’ll be a distant memory soon enough!

    1. Oh, no! Water damage is the worst because if you don’t fix it right away… then you have to deal with mold. Sigh. We are trying to tell ourselves that hopefully after all this work and money, we won’t have to deal with it every again. XOXO