It's Time to RENOVATE the Common House - Ep. 228

Renovation on the Common House, which we're now starting to call 'The Roost;, started back in 2022 with the switch out of the old windows and doors-and since then, we've been slowly working our way on fixing the exterior-including siding, deck, steps, and roof-and now working our way to the inside. This will be our big project for 2024, so stay tuned to how it shapes up.
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[@bettyebauche]

It’s incredible to see Sander’s analytical, proactive and creative mind at work here

[@StuffedAvocado]

For the basement space, in particularly the "speakeasy" space, have you thought about adding skylights to the ceiling/kitchen floor for additional natural light? A home my husband and I lived in had several floor skylights in the main entrance/foyer area that let in natural light to the floor below, lighting up the communal space/open hallway which connected to the bedrooms. This house had the main living spaces above and the bedrooms below. It wasn't a split-level: it just swapped the typical layout of a two-story house. The floor skylights weren't made of glass, but instead very thick, clear acrylic to better tolerate all the foot-traffic and weight above.

[@allierhodes6783]

Just wanted to take a moment to tell you all how much I appreciate your sharing the process in such detail. You shed so much light on how much work and thought goes into such a vision. It’s so inspiring as well as enlightening to see all of it. I just encourage all that you guys have planned and am excited to see and learn along with you guys. Thank you so much 😊

[@pingsmileful]

I also dream to have a washroom in the mudroom. I also have a pet so I'd actually add a shower to clean him easier, before he would go all over the house :) I highly recommend the shower if people in your community will have pets in the future!

[@paulnee4156]

Saunder and Summer, when showing the basement area, a couple things came to mind concerning the concrete stem walls. You may consider first applying a fluid applied water barrier to the concrete then attached 4" Z steel furring with Powder Actuated Tool like a HILTI, on 2' centers then install 2 layers of 2" ridged foam insulation cut into 2' strips. Then apply the drywall to the Z furring. Concrete that doesn't have a barrier on it could let moisture condensate on the backside of the foam board or worse yet the back of the drywall. I came across a very good detail to prevent moisture issues if you are interested. Cheers BTW, I really enjoy your journey in creating your Shangri-La.

[@erinmoore9681]

Great advice. 🏆

[@henneysonjav8473]

Thanks for doing an in-depth “before “ video!

[@FlockFingerLakes]

Glad it was helpful!

[@lisamz]

I’m interested in the financial aspect of how the group affords all of these projects, and I’m sure you’re hesitant in sharing that, but that’s just the part that interests me the most!

[@thedivide3688]

Well that's not hard to figure out. Property in the north end of New York is quite more affordable than many parts of the country. The trio are successful and accomplished with their careers. Summer is an accomplished and desirable model, has I think 3 books out, and obviously wildly successful with her KZbin channel and all things social media. She is also booked frequently for speaking engagements as well. She teaches a houseplant masterclass and has software for sale among other things. Sander is everyone's dream tech engineer do it yourselfer whose worked with some of the most well known tech companies out there. Joey is an accomplished photographer and director...he's never around because he's out there doing National Geographic type stuff. And as you can see they do a lot of the work themselves.

[@JeraldBaliteTV]

Interesting topic ❤❤❤

[@FlockFingerLakes]

We've covered this in some of our other videos, but basically we each contribute something we call a "membership fee" every month to cover basics and some extra, so like taxes, maintenance, and small renovations; basically what most folks probably do if they want to upkeep a home. Beyond that none of us are required to put in any additional investment outside of what we had invested to buy the land upfront. But we've set it up where it benefits members who do. So, we honor work/labor, direct capital investment, revenue generation, and/or in-kind donations brought in or contributed by each of the members. Each of us have professional careers that we do full-time (kzbin.info/www/bejne/nV6bhWiifZWlq7c) as well, so we are fortunate enough to have some funds from those careers if we want to invest it into Flock. We come together 1-2x/year to discuss what we'd like to accomplish and see if we can budget for it and how we want to do so. If we can't, then it'll get pushed to another year. And probably goes without saying-but doing your own work as much as you can is A MUST nowadays for many different reasons. We will have saved easily hundreds of thousands of dollars by doing our own work by the time we’re done with these main renos. We know, because we got quotes from folks who would slap a $100,000 design fee just on this renovation alone (not including any labor), which seems ridiculous because we know the design we want and had it already 3D-mapped out. It may takes 3x as long for us to do the work, but at the end of the day, it makes more dollars and cents to do it yourself where you can. A little skill and elbow grease goes a long way.

[@fernlibra9737]

I like that we get to watch and learn you guys being more hands on and very detailed. I'd prefer it this way and cut out the intermediaries alot of them aren't necessary if you have good hands and good eyes, you also learn alot along the way. I loved the Masons ft on here, the plasterer, the fencers the blue collar working class snippets are so cool to see aswell as the local projects in your area. I want to visit that apple orchard ❤ i wonder if you've thought about building a tiny wooden boat house or jetty and gazebo on the pond, maybe😊 tie into the common house,

[@sharonknorr1106]

We lived in a very old farmhouse in Phelps, NY. Mice in the walls - check. Squirrels in the attic and walls - check. Dead animals trapped in the walls - check. Mouse eating through electrical and almost causing a fire - check. Little critters - yes, outside only. Loved finally seeing "The Roost" in detail and your plans. Looks like Sonder has another busy year ahead of him - I'm sure he'll do a great job.

[@FlockFingerLakes]

Sander is pretty committed to predator-proofing the house. Much easier to do when the home is gutted and you can see what's open to the outside environs. I don't think we've totally predator-proofed it yet. There are a couple suspect areas that will require more work, but nearly there (we think!).

[@SequoiaElisabeth]

I love your Educational Spirit! I think this is why I love your channel so much. Plus, I love the topics.

[@FlockFingerLakes]

Glad you can learn something from our experiences and mistakes!

[@loriedmundson782]

Enjoy your videos on all your channels. Fun watching the reno projects updates. I'm a retired interior designer and had the joy of "saving" 14 old houses. Solving the challenges was rewarding. The best part was melding my creative vision with the character and style of the house. Looks like you both love the process too. Such a beatiful space that will get better and better! Thanks for sharing.

[@timgarner1957]

I enjoy the way both of you think! Born plant lover but tile mason by trade.. I wanted to mention Schulter system for you to think about..excellent for waterproofing..easy to install. Schulter gives seminars to walk homeowners through the process .

[@carolfisch9750]

Sounds great. Think about soundproofing kitchen floor and basement ceiling. Also bathroom and bedroom walls for privacy and sounds bothering movie room and vice versa.

[@meagantrout2127]

Great point! I lived in a house that the main bedroom shared a wall with the kitchen, specifically where the microwave was located. You could hear every time the microwave was opened and closed.

[@mumstheword8]

Thanks for the video. Love most of the ideas. The one thing I would mention is the mud room being closed off to the rest of the house will keep the cold air from coming in and keeping the house warmer. If you put the bedroom door in the mud room area it will be likely that the room will get cold. Also, if u leave the door between the kitchen to the mudroom as a walkway door and not a physical door that too will allow the cold air to come in and cool the place down. Just food for thought. I do like how it all flows more nicely though.

[@ingeleonora-denouden6222]

Agree. My mother always told us 'close the door behind you!'. Because of the 'draft' (cold air) and to save on energy use.

[@fernlibra9737]

Whoa this is going to be a huge project. After watching and waiting for the tiny house reveal that was so amazing. This is going to be epic. I'm excited to watch you guys throughout the year. ❤

[@robertthatcher7616]

The problem with the stairway is the hole in the floor, especially the end by the kitchen / mud room. So why not do one or two things. One, make the stairs go down in the opposide direction. Second make an "L" shaped stairway; one that goes down to a platform, then turns a corner to decend to the bottom. This would 'shorten' the hole in the floor.

[@fernlibra9737]

I keep coming back to comment haha i love it so much i guess. But loved how you said you might do garden tours ❤ you have such a huge following from all ages (which is quite new and cool) in NY that would love to come for a picnic at Flock, a tiny plant swap or buy stall add fruit from your orchard, fill the pond with crawdads to keep it somewhat clean and a snack for you ir to attract more birds if you dont mind the noise haha.

[@jsalvame]

It’s like this old house

[@michaelspano4067]

was fun to see what existing structures you are working with. you have thought things out thoroughly and the renovations will make for much better flow and comfort. the downstairs has some little issues but you seem to have a lot of options. the central part of our house is the original old farmhouse that was here and it had only two 17 foot squared off log support beams end to end and only one center support so they had sagged considerably. we had to reinforce everything but couldn't really remove all the 2 inch dip in the floors and ceilings above. after a lot of exasperating cursing, arm waving and number crunching we looked at all the options and adjustments available and finally just decided on an attitude adjustment. so we now have charming and historic sagging floors and ceilings in the center of the house. i think i might even try painting some folk art designs on the exposed ceiling beams in the upper floors. thanks for another great video, we really enjoy watching you guys on your new journey.

[@FlockFingerLakes]

We like the "attitude adjustment" concept. Hahahaha. Mad helpful to have a "just go with it" mentality when coming to terms with some of the challenges. "I guess I'll just cut this at an angle because this wasn't put in straight to begin with"...I've said more often than not!

[@veeveeleo9713]

Good Morning Summer

[@ingeleonora-denouden6222]

A lot of work ... but it's going to be beautiful!

[@jonathanleonard1152]

In dark basement rooms it is good to have a TV that has all the entertainment potential one might want but also link to all security cameras on the property. This becomes like a window.

[@ja-uh9gz]

I saw, in the before photo, you had some arborvitae (sp?) trees by the house.....all without the vegetation from the bottom to the middle. We have those trees here, too. I now call them "mushroom" trees....thanks to the deer that love to browse on them...lol. You have some interesting projects there for '24.

[@FlockFingerLakes]

Yeah, we're thinking of hemming them up because the birds like those trees. For two years, this land was left largely uncared for, so there were definitely deer incursions in the fence and they really did a number on so many of the pre-existing trees here.

[@janxious]

If your wall where the sun hits in the winter was a dark color or some kind of solar battery like stone/brick, it would warm up faster and keep your house warmer without heating system in the winter. Might not be possible aesthetically or from engineering perspective but could help more with your winter bills.

[@FlockFingerLakes]

Totally concur. We are making that back wall a green wall (meaning a plant wall), however, and we were talking about having some water storage there, although I don't think the latter will make a ton of sense space-wise.

[@judymckerrow6720]

GOOD LUCK !! We have a mouse problem and it’s the worst! ❄️🌲💚🙃

[@RaphCocson]

Your Hoya obovata is looking really great now.

[@FlockFingerLakes]

Except for the 2" of dry wall dust on it and everything else!

[@christinaelliott8565]

To better support the second floor, is it feasible to use "I" beams ( not sure if that's the term) parallel to the existing floor supports that are currently inadequate for the load upstairs? Or can you just put "sister" (connect) similar type of beams but just more of them at least in the area supporting the kitchen?

[@krista6677]

Are you building a farm kitchen building? I think I saw a video about you talking about preserving veggies, harvesting and storing herbs and wild foods for tea and medicines (teas). If you are doing a communal living situation I assume you envision a group of folks getting together to do canning and such? You might need a much bigger cook space for just communal canning alone just for large prep and all those bottles. Look at larger Amish kitchens. All counter space with a huge farm table 🥰

[@FlockFingerLakes]

Our plans is to build a root cellar, but because the way the house is designed, it'll likely have to be one not directly attached to the house. We likely won't be doing any large scale canning projects. Probably something reasonably sized. Summer Rayne's parents had a kitchen in the basement to do canning projects because it can get so hot iin the upstairs kitchen, but we'd rather go with the apothecary / tea room / cinema / and game room.

[@robertthatcher7616]

Or supposing you just shortened the opening by the kitchen by one step. Would that leave enough head room?

[@sharonknorr1106]

Nice to know about Alpin windows. We actually live in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado, not too far from Rocky Mountain National Park, and have been considering replacing some of the large windows that are also not energy efficient and the sills are rotting. Will have to look into that brand.

[@FlockFingerLakes]

Yes, highly recommend. They have excellent customer service too. Plus we like supporting US manufacturing, particularly when they do a great product. thinkalpen.com/

[@mutantmonkey2301]

Just be careful with tilting windows they are amazing but must be protected from cats or else they can become a death trap ( I know at least 4 cats that have died in tilted windows)

[@bettyebauche]

⁠@@mutantmonkey2301 Yes! That is actually an important message for cat owners! - On that note.. whoever might read this.. if you have a window like that + a cat that is allowed to go outdoors + you live on the ground floor: my grandfather made a triangular wooden wedge* that he would slide in whenever the window got tilted, to „fill“ the narrowing gap towards the bottom of the window to create a safe step for the cat to freely jump in and out. This helped them both to allow them to keep the window tilted throughout the day/night for a cool breeze when needed, as well as reducing the cat-in-cat-out-cat-in-out..door opening situation. *it was a DIY where he made sure to fit the wedge to perfectly slide into the window-frame so it wouldn’t move and was secure when the cat jumped on it as well as making sure that the window gap above the created step was wide enough for the cat to fit properly through. An outside bench (to enjoy the sun) against the wall of that window made it easier for the cat to jump back in. (I miss him. A lot.)

[@mutantmonkey2301]

@bettyebauche grandpa girl here too 🫡 because these windows are the norm here in Germany there are great products to buy that protect the window

[@seanmacdonald8476]

hell yeah!

[@FireflyOnTheMoon]

You're installing a tumble drier? Would you need one?

[@FlockFingerLakes]

Always nice to have the option, particularly on rainy days or in winter when hanging blankets or clothes outside would result in them freezing stiff! 🥶

[@SHARONSHORTOrchidsandGarden]

🤔 do you think that basement onsuite bedroom insulation will be able to buffer the noises from movie and party area😮?

[@JoyoftheGardenandHome]

Sadly the reality is "that'll be someone else's problem". When we "built" our first house, we made mistakes but we cared. Our 50 yr old house now, it's "hope it lasts till the next owner". Hopefully we have enough life in us to build our final dream home.

[@lucydog663]

Great job - but one houseplant has to go, the unsightly trailing philodendron in your common house living room, petty, I know :)

[@cefcat5733]

Well, I'm ready for a warm Cappuccino and front-row seating, on the curved plank. There, one can gaze upon Nature, through the land portrait window... pondering just how to make the unusually placed stairs, all-round safe for young, old and small children. Mickey M. and Co. have got to go. 🐁Hopefully, there are no fleas. One KZbinr used pyrethrin, in his once mice-filled, re-built house. He fumigated and took a ride, with his best friend, 2 dogs and went out to eat, until the 'smoke cleared.'

[@FireflyOnTheMoon]

Is Saunder getting recompensed for all his time by the other members of the community?

[@FlockFingerLakes]

We mentioned this in past videos, but yes, we keep track of everyone's time at Flock, much like a lawyer or a creative, would keep track of their hours, and honor time spent working; revenue generation; in-kind donations; and capital investment, for example.

[@kathymacomber5115]

What is his accent? Never noticed it before

[@FlockFingerLakes]

Sander is Dutch from the Netherlands. kzbin.info/www/bejne/nV6bhWiifZWlq7csi=Oibq9qJ3DfrMLDq2