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Love At First Sight Beach
House Sign |
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The 2024 Exterior Renovation:
55 years of weathering salt,
sun, and hurricanes.
Here's the before, during, and
after.
Love At First
Sight
Oak Island, North Carolina, USA
Welcome to the information portal
for Love At First Sight, a
well-maintained
2nd row beach rental located on the beautiful west
end of Oak Island, NC. |
In early December of
2016, we made our way to Oak Island, NC
to look at some homes we'd seen on
Zillow. There were 6 in total, but
one stood out from the others.
Hmm, a 2nd row, duplex, really cute, on
the west end of the island.
We were working with a local realtor,
and with her complete permission, we
asked to take an early look, by ourselves,
at our leading candidate choice, 3310 W
Beach Drive. We pulled up, parked,
and started looking around.
How charming!
We went up the stairs, turned around and
looked at the view of the ocean.
We sat in the rocking chairs and
thought, immediately, "This
is the one!"
Truly, it was love at first sight for
us.
We didn't go inside until the next day,
with our realtor, but we sat on the
porch and marveled at the package of
house, location, and view.
December 2016
photos,
including our original view from the
porch. It was our first time
seeing the house (and our first time at
Oak Island, NC).
Easily Sifting Through
the Other Listings
We did go look at the other 5 houses
that day, just the two of us, driving up
to each house (all empty in December).
We checked out the locations, the curb
appeal, and the designs of the houses.
For some, we spent 15 minutes walking
around and checking out the condition.
For some others, we drove up, and almost
immediately backed out of the driveway.
Some listing photos had been obviously
"polished" to "help" the house sell.
The reality didn't meet the expectations
of the listing.
What did this accomplish?
It sold us completely
on our first choice,
and we had still not seen the
interior
yet! We toured it inside the next
day during our "official" appointment
with the realtor. The layout
offered so much potential. We made
the offer, it was accepted, and we
started making plans for post-closing
repairs and
upgrades.
July 2017
photo,
post initial
renovation,
on the day before we turned it over to
Coastal Vacation Resorts for weekly
rental.
2017's
Exterior Work
The
main focus of 2017's renovation was
overwhelmingly
interior, upgrading electrical,
installing new flooring, kitchen
rebuilds, shower rebuilds, plumbing, and
painting. We did replace the roof,
fix a couple of windows, paint the front
of the house, and repaint the porch's
white trim, ceiling, and rails.
The house was well-received on the
rental market that year, despite getting
a late start in the season (July 5).
Every
year since 2017, we've invested time and
energy into making improvements, always
addressing the evolving exterior needs.
Any structure this close to the ocean is
in a severe competition against the
elements. It is no secret, in a
contest between a structure on the coast
and the salt-laden elements, the
elements are always going to win.
Mix in a tropical storm and a couple
hurricanes, and the structure gets a bit
of a sand blasting, too.
Without yearly attention, a house on the
coast will look noticeably weather-worn
in just a few years. We want your
experience to be one of tremendous
satisfaction. Our goal is to
always present a fresh, clean,
well-maintained rental experience.
2024: The
Complete Exterior Rebuild
Our contractor for the project was
Cameron Stanley of Cape Fear Home
Improvements.
He can be reached at 910-742-7862.
We are very pleased with the materials,
the workmanship, the planning, and ideas
he provided along the way. All
work was performed under permits, and
his subs were professionals. We
have no hesitation in recommending his
work.
Teardown and
examination, replacing sheathing as
needed, and repairing compromised rim
joists.
Our 2024 exterior renovation included a
complete re-siding of the house.
We chose James Hardie fiber cement
siding. This superior product
brings an upgraded visual appearance and
durability to the house.
The removal of the
previous siding revealed some water
affected areas from decades of
wind-driven rain during hurricanes.
The damage was not structural, but did
need corrected. All sheathing was
inspected and significant areas were
replaced. The outer rim joists
suffered the worst since 1969, being
replaced in several areas.
Re-seating and
flashing the windows.
Each window was examined
for operability and all of the windows
on the front of the house (the toughest
spot for salt exposure) were replaced
with tinted, hurricane rated glass.
Every window in the house, was removed and
reseated for proper depth to match the
new Hardie plank surface.
Each
window and door was properly re-flashed and
sealed against the elements. Wall
insulation was replaced as needed, and
the entire house was wrapped in Epilay
moisture barrier material.
Rear side of
house, rim joist replacement, sheathing
replacement, and window reseating.
Applying the Eplilay
moisture barrier and installing fiber
cement trim around the windows and
doors.
The formerly exposed
eaves were boxed in with vented soffits.
All windows and doors were re-trimmed
with James Hardie fiber cement board.
New 2024 standing seam
metal roof from Hinson Roofing
Specialists, 910-524-1915.
The metal roof installed
in 2017 was not faring well over time.
We were very surprised, upon inspection,
to see the linear degradation in just 7
years. Rather than band aid that
installation, we decided to install a
new, proper, standing seam metal roof.
We'll have to chalk up the 2017 roof to
being rookies, at the time, to coastal
home ownership. Not every product
on the market is up to the conditions
present at the coast. The new
metal roof is far superior in material,
design, underlayment, and installation.
James Hardie plank
and trim in factory primed coating
color.
The front of the house
faces the ocean, and the daily salt
spray and salt air exposure really takes
its toll over the decades. As the
project progressed, and the attention
moved to the front of the house, it
became apparent the right side of the
porch was out of level by about 3
inches. The rebuild replaced every
component of the structural part of the
front of the house and porch, including
new stairs.
Complete porch and
front rebuild, including new stairs.
When every board and nail and fastener
is replaced, when does a 1969 house
cease to be a "1969 house" any longer?
We opted not to reconstruct the stairs
on both sides of the porch, as the house
is no longer an interior duplex and
we've only offered whole house rentals
since 2023.
The stairs to the porch are now on the
left side of the house only.
New frame,
decking, and rails.
Completed 2024
rebuild of the front of the house, the
porch, new windows, railing, and
stairs...and it is all level!
The porch rebuild includes decorative,
yet structural design elements to
recreate the feel of the original design
(which we loved). We are very
happy with the results.
2024 porch ceiling
replacement.
Under the house, the original shower was
replaced with a new design with new
materials and plumbing. A new
20'x6' storage room was built (for
homeowner use) under the house, too.
The new shower has a recessed light
inside, controlled by a switch on the
exterior of the shower.
2024 new shower photo
Finally, the house was professionally
painted by the crew of Bob Merkle
Painting, 910-742-6099
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