Kailua Cottage Renovation: Before pics

We recently completed renovations on a classic Hawaiian cottage in Kailua. We started the project in June 2015, worked on it for part of the summer, then again for a month or so this winter. All together, we (Cathie, me an a handful of others -- thanks Tunji, Ray, and Jordan!) put about four months worth of labor into the project. It turned out to be a *lot* of work, but in the end, we got a pretty good result.

Pictures of the cottage before the renovation follow. If you're interested in seeing pictures highlighting some of the steps we took along the way, check out: "Kailua Cottage Renovation: Steps along the way". If you want to see pictures of the cottage after the renovation, see: "Kailua Cottage Renovation: After pics".

When we began the project, the outside of the cottage looked like this:

The roof was in tough shape. An old rug covered a leaking roof vent.

The exterior paint was chipped and crumbling.

There were signs of wood rot.

Lots of rot.

At the eaves, the rafters, roof decking, and facia all needed substantial repair.

In the carport ceiling had serious water damage due to the leaking roof.

The grass and bushes were overgrown.

This window was broken, others were covered in paper that had been glued to the glass. Most of the windows were painted shut.

There were signs of termites.

Lots of termites.

Inside, conditions were even worse:

The living room, like the rest of the house was filthy. Dirty and infested with cockroaches. Cockroach and termite feces was everywhere; And cockroach eggs lined pretty much every edge, corner, nook and cranny.

In the kitchen, the appliances were missing. Here you can see coachroach eggs lining the baseboards.

In spite of the filth, there were some nice design features -- like ample cabinets and shelving.

Under the grime, there was a nice porcelain sink in the kitchen. 

Unfortunately, the faucet leaked...

... and the drain was missing its trap, so water from the faucet drained straight into the cabinet below.

An island with a funky divider and multipe outlets separated the kitchen from the living room.

On the living room side, below the mirrored divider, the island hosted a padded bolster.

Unfortunately, the interior ceiling also showed signs of water damage.

Termite damage was also visible inside the house.

More evidence of termite damage at the backdoor threshold. 

When we pulled off the baseboard trim, we also found an ample supply of lizard eggs in the crack between the wall and the floor.

The back bedroom: Like the rest of the house, the bedrooms were filthy. In both bedrooms the old mattresses were absolutely disgusting.

The front bedroom.

A piece of plastic duct-taped to the window frame serves as a window.

In the bathroom, the fixtures were old, but seemed to work ok. The wall tile in the shower was dirty, but otherwise in good shape. 

The floor in the shower was typically filthy. Unfortunately, some of the grout was badly stained and/or missing. 

That's it. If you want to see pics of the cottage during or after renovation, check out: "Kailua Cottage Renovation: Steps along the way" or "Kailua Cottage Renovation: After pics", respectively.