Husband-and-wife duo Tommy and MeLinda Welch, with the help of their team at 1st Class Painting and Restoration, transformed a 1950s bungalow into a bright, modern lake house.
Imagine a humble house on a grand plat near Lake Moultrie, often overlooked and underestimated. Tommy Welch of 1st Class Painting and Restoration saw the potential in the 1955 bungalow as well as the surrounding terrain. “We bought the house from a guy who was going to restore it, but then he purchased a waterfront property instead,” says Tommy. “There was no way we could pass this opportunity up.”
The corner-lot location, distant neighbors, and proximate lake activities are just a few aspects of what drew Tommy to the property, even with its dated exterior colors and interior décor. Both Tommy and his wife, MeLinda,
knew everything needed an overhaul. What wasn’t obvious (until later) was just how much structural help the home needed. “It had to be stripped to the studs,” he begins. “We thought when we bought the bungalow that it would only need new plumbing and wiring and that it would be a fairly quick process.” Hindsight makes him chuckle at the assumption.
After a structural engineer helped open the floor plan and bring all of the framework up to speed, the team replaced the siding, added a dormer, and re-roofed. With a new master bedroom upstairs, the home’s vertical space expanded by around 400 square feet. The addition also allowed the team to add things that South Carolina homeowners love, like a new porch connected to the master bedroom and more deck area on the first floor, all while maintaining the ’50s charm.
Every facet of the Bonneau home was updated. AdvanTech subflooring was lain beneath the hardwood floors to prevent even the tiniest bit of moisture, either from the lake or from the coastal climate, from warping the wood. Spray foam insulation was installed for better energy conservation. A tankless water heater and Uponor Pex plumbing replaced the old pipes. Now the pipes will never freeze, and the homeowners never have to worry about dripping faucets. The interior was designed and decorated by MeLinda, who picked everything from the colors and the finishes to the tile and the hardware. Most dramatic of all the revisions is the deck that hides the septic tank. Since septic tanks need maintenance on occasion, the team built a deck that opens along a track system so that one half slides to the right and the other half slides to the left, allowing access to the tank.
“It’s going to be tough to live up to the standards we set with our first whole-home restoration; MeLinda and I weren’t the only ones who wanted to live in it once we were done. It flew off the real-estate market shortly after it became available,” Tommy remarks, then jokes that they might not be so quick to put the next project they’ve already begun in Summerville up for sale.
For more information, call 1st Class Painting and Restoration at (843) 324-6006 or visit 1stclasscharleston.com.
