West Bloomfield remodeling for seventies and eighties homes
A township built around dozens of lakes, with contemporaries and split-levels from the 1970s sitting alongside big colonials from the 1990s. The older group shares a set of habits: a living room two steps down, trim stained almost black, skylights over a cathedral ceiling, and a primary suite that was generous in 1979 and is tight now.
The step down, the dark trim and the skylight
Sunken living rooms were the look of the era and they are the first thing people want gone. Two steps with no rail, a furniture layout nobody can rearrange, and an edge that becomes a real problem once a family has toddlers or aging parents in the house. Filling the well means new framing tied into the existing floor system, so the finished elevation matches the hall and the whole main level reads as one plane.
That work has a wrinkle worth knowing in advance. The lowered floor usually sits over a joist run or a beam that was dropped to create the effect, and ductwork often threads through the space underneath. Raising the floor pushes those runs somewhere else, which is why the mechanical layout gets solved on paper before demolition starts on any Oakland County remodeling project of this type.
Trim is the next conversation. Wide oak casing and base, hollow-core doors and a stair rail, all stained a heavy walnut tone that eats the daylight coming through those big rear windows. Painting stained oak is possible, though open grain telegraphs through unless it is filled first, and a spray finish beats a brush every time. Replacing the doors while the casing gets painted is usually the better value.
Skylights fail on a schedule. Original units sat in site-built curbs, and after forty winters the flashing at the head is what leaks, not the glass. A stain on the shaft drywall is the tell. Replacing the unit, rebuilding the curb and reworking the shaft is a roof project and an interior project at once, so it belongs in the same phase as any ceiling work.
Kitchens facing the wrong direction
Plans from this era often put the sink against a blank wall while the lake view goes to a formal dining room used twice a year. Reworking the layout so the working side of the kitchen faces the glass changes daily life more than new cabinet doors do. Our kitchen design service starts there, and full kitchen renovation work follows once the plan is set.
Primary suites that never grew
Five by eight with a tub-shower and a single vanity was standard. Space comes from the hall linen closet, a bedroom next door, or a modest bump into the side yard. A freestanding tub only earns its floor area if the shower is already right, so the shower gets designed first in every bathroom remodel we price here.
Walkout lower levels with daylight
Grade falls toward the water on a lot of these parcels, so the lower level already has full-height windows and a door to the yard. That makes a downstairs guest suite a real bedroom rather than a compromise, and walkout renovation work handles the exterior wall and slider side of it.
Four-season rooms off the back
Screened porches and three-season additions from the 1980s are all over the township, uninsulated and unusable from November to April. A four-season room built on a proper foundation with heat and insulated glass reclaims that footprint. See home additions for how the design phase runs.
Decks on a slope to the water
A deck stepping down two levels to a shoreline is a structural project, not a weekend one. Footings below frost, proper lateral bracing and rails that meet current code all matter more on a slope. Our outdoor living work covers rebuilds and new construction.
What a walkthrough on a lake lot looks at
Water proximity changes the checklist. Grade, drainage and shoreline setbacks matter before any interior wish list does, and a project that adds a bathroom raises questions about the existing sanitary or septic arrangement that are cheaper to answer in week one than in month three.
Items that shape the design before finishes are chosen:
- Slope and setback from the water, which decide whether a deck or addition can move toward the view at all
- Whether the lower level is a true walkout, a daylight basement, or a mix of both across the footprint
- Condition of the original cedar or T-111 siding where the deck ledger was fastened
- Cathedral ceiling insulation, often thin and vented poorly, which shows up as ice damming
- Egress and light in any bedroom planned downstairs, handled with an egress window where the wall is below grade
Working in the township
The township is a straight run north from our Platt Road shop in Ypsilanti. Work gets scheduled in continuous blocks rather than scattered days, which keeps one lead carpenter on the house from demolition through punch list and holds deliveries to a single staged drop.
Permitting for interior work is manageable. Anything touching the shoreline, the footprint or the grade takes longer, and that review sits in the schedule up front. You can see the stage-by-stage sequence in our project process, from measure and drawings through selections, pricing and construction.
Two neighbors on this side of the county are worth comparing. Bloomfield Hills runs to estate lots and architecturally significant modern houses, while Farmington Hills to the south is colonial and quad-level country. Call (734) 540-0347 weekdays between half past eight and half past four.
Contracting done Wright, from the sunken living room to the water’s edge.
