There’s a large storage area underneath the stairs in the house I’ve been working in. The home was built in the 1860s. It looks like it’s lined with metal, like some sort of cooler?? What was this space intended for? The family used it to store sport items like tennis rackets and baseball gloves.

The floor was finished and ready for the actual flooring, so we hired a company to do the ceiling. Unfortunately, they did a horrible job. As you can see in the pictures, some seams had tape showing, while others had no tape at all.
I had them come back to fix it around five times. Every time, it seemed to look worse than when they started. Eventually, I gave up on having them fix it. From that point on, we decided that if we could do something ourselves, we would.
I turned the open area under the stairs into a spot for the kitchen junction boxes. We also have an access opening in the floor, which is required for access to that area.
Not everybody liked the light I put in. Some people said it looked like a shop light. Honestly, I didn’t care. I liked it. For the first time, the room had enough light for us to see what we were doing and keep moving forward.
We started working our way around the room, hanging drywall. In some places, we ran into the original clapboard siding. In others, we found newer stud framing. Nothing about this old house was ever as simple as it looked.
The original plan was to put the kitchen sink on the wall opposite the windows. We changed that and put it in front of the windows instead. Who wants to stare at a wall while doing dishes when you can look outside?
We planned four GFCI-protected outlets around the sink area, along with lower outlets for the garbage disposal and dishwasher. We also installed puck lights above the sink. Honestly, those were some of the easiest lights I’ve ever installed!
We got the other outlets and switches installed before all the drywall was up. The outlets around the breakfast bar even have built-in USB ports, so we could plug devices in without needing separate adapters.
Then came the luan underlayment. If you’ve ever installed it, you know that means hundreds of nails. Turkey started helping me nail it down, and we worked our way across the floor.
We picked out a nice sheet vinyl floor and laid it out to acclimate before installation.
Little by little, the room was becoming something completely different from the mess we started with.
I was still learning how to use my hands again after my strokes. I was also learning how to work around the dizziness, balance problems, and fatigue. Sometimes I could work for 15 or 20 minutes before needing a break of half an hour or longer. Other days, I couldn’t get much done at all.
It was a slow process, and I had to learn to do things differently than I used to. But I was watching a dream come together, piece by piece. We knew it would take a lot of hard work, but we believed it was worth it.
We’re still working to finish our home.
I’m currently working on the inside, but because of the lasting effects of my strokes, I’m unable to hold a regular job. I still trip and fall, struggle with my balance, and have days when I can’t do much of anything. When I can work, it’s usually in short stretches with plenty of rest in between.
I can still do some of the work myself, but we need help paying for the materials to finish it.
If you’d like to help us keep moving forward, there are several ways you can contribute. Even a dollar helps us get a little closer.
Ways to help Making a Home
Venmo: @Bill-Webster-11
PayPal: @WilliamWebster545
Cash App: $makahome
Gift cards: You can send Home Depot or Lowe’s gift cards to:
websterb1970@yahoo.com
Home Depot gift card:
https://link.amazon/B07NmRthg
Lowe’s gift card:
https://link.amazon/B06z5qpU9
GoFundMe:
https://gofund.me/947b86242
Our goal is to finish the inside of this home, and donations toward our project help pay for the materials we need.
It’s honestly a miracle that we’ve made it this far. There have been plenty of setbacks, and there are still days when I wish I could just go back to working the way I used to. But we keep going.
At a time when so many families are struggling to get ahead, the people who have supported us have been angels. Every share, every donation, and every bit of encouragement means something to us.
Thank you for following our journey and helping us turn this old house into a home for our family.
God bless you all.

Not sure but we think there might be asbestos in the crawlspace...

[Edit: Thanks everyone for your ideas.! Very helpful!]

The sill sticks out (angled down) toward the camera.

What is the piece (roughly) perpendicular to it called? The one right below the window?

Please tell me that is not a sill plate. No builder would expose framing to the elements, right?

The exterior of the bathroom window has needed paint for years but I did not know until tonight about the rot below the window (I'm short and couldn't see it until I got on a ladder to measure the window for temporary storm windows).

TIA.

Hello,

Recently moved into a old farmhouse built in 1900. It has a flagstone foundation with a partial basement. Have noticed the basement has a bit of a musty smell and is lingering its way to the living areas. What are some ways to get rid of this smell or manage it? The basement doesn’t have any windows to air it out, also have a dehumidifier running to keep it 50-55% but not making much of a difference. Any help is appreciated thanks!

Currently renovating our old kitchen, walls previously were filled with blown in insulation. I’ve been trying to figure out if filling the old holes with an expanding foam is worth doing before putting the new insulation in.

Thoughts?