Bismarck Home Improvement and Remodeling

Project: Home Improvement on a Mission

Handyman Kota helps realtor remodel 1950s home

A 1950s home made its way to the “2010s” with a little help from Handyman Kota. Work on the home improvement and remodeling started in earnest in October 2019 with replacement of two old exterior doors. Installation of the new doors presented an opportunity to “beef up” insulation under the thresholds and around the frames. While the existing sills had begun to rot years ago, new pressure-treated sills under each door promise years of solid footing.

I installed 12 interior doors, including a barn door on the front entry coat closet and three sets of bifold closet doors in the main floor and basement bedrooms. Two bedroom doorways required substantial reframing to widen the openings for new 32” six-panel doors.

“The kitchen cabinets and master bath vanity turned out even better than I expected!”

— Michael A., realtor/ owner

The realtor/owner chose a simple Mission/ Shaker style for trim, cabinets, and window and door casements. The baseboards totaled around 600 linear feet for both upstairs and downstairs, with the lower level requiring some scribing and custom cuts at the bottom edge to accommodate an uneven concrete floor. We decided on 3/4” quarter round for the main floor baseboards to cover gaps left between varied lengths in the original hardwood floor planks and the drywall.

The final stage of this home improvement and remodeling project involved installation of kitchen and master bath cabinets, with some custom cutting for placement of farmhouse-style sinks in both rooms. In total, I installed about 50 linear feet of cabinets, including uppers and lowers.