Santa Fe House Renovation

 One of the bigger issues with this house is that it has really short nose-bleed stairs.  I planned to lengthen them some but needed to do some discovery.  Turns out a lot of that "short" feel is due to the carpet.  The treads are actually 9.25" deep.  Code requires 10" if you have nosing, 11" if you don't.  So if I add 1" length to each tread (6 treads per run) and covert to hardwood/vinyl with nosing, I can actually get these within code spec.  But more importantly, they will feel like normal steps.

 Knew there was some empty space under the stairs, good use of space for long-term storage. Could put a door on it but probably doesn't need it since that is all in a closet already.  I'll reinforce the upper beam and remove the 2 studs.

 Added some lights on a photo timer outside.  Makes it look much nicer than the old single lamp.

 Couldn't resist, wanted to see it opened up a little.

Just moved into the house, just cleaning and getting it sorted so I can leave it for a little while until I finish the other renovation.  I did tear out the cabinets in the garage, and install some temporary lights.  Did find that there are 2 load bearing posts in those cabinet walls, so those will have to remain, but I can work around that. Most of the work is sealing all the air gaps, entry points for rodents, and any other glaring issues.  Major fixes include: Caulked all window gaps Changed locks Fixed minor leak in the Master Bedroom sink drain Filled all holes and gaps with rockwool or foam Added door and bottom seals to the garage doors Fixed the 2nd garage door opener Removed screens Removed satellite dish Filled low-level cracks in the exterior with sanded caulk, will do the rest later when I have a ladder Balanced heat registers to more evenly heat the home from floor to floor Replaced rear outdoor light with a better fixture rather than the generic flood light ...