When we bought our almost 100 year old Wardman rowhouse in Woodley Park in 2000, it needed a new…read morekitchen, and a new kitchen meant an opportunity to install a half-bath on the main level that the Wardmans never had. However, the logistics of a renovation kept us from proceeding year after year.
In 2015, after eleven years of renters, the house could no longer withstand the wear and tear, and we contacted Eric Goetz at Blue Star who came highly recommended from a friend who was very familiar with what it takes to do a successful DC renovation. We had spent 15 years trying to figure out how to seamlessly add a bathroom where one never existed. Blue Star's design team improved upon our ideas and helped us transform our first floor into an updated, functional space while retaining the 1920's character of the house.
The bigger challenge for our renovation was timing. We needed the project completed in the one month that our tenants would be away on vacation. The renovation was complex - extend the short porch at the back to the house to the shared property line, move the rear entry to the other side, convert a small hall closet into a half-bath, install a new modern kitchen and enlarge it into the porch area, and replace the original hardwood floors. No one including other workmen and the above-mentioned friend thought this work could get done successfully in the limited time we had. No one except Blue Star.
Eric and his team worked with us from start to finish to ensure that everything was in place (permits, materials, subcontractors) so that work could begin on the first day and be complete before the tenants returned. Blue Star worked through the inevitable bumps in the road, unexpected complications, and incredibly did it all in 21 days! We now have a new kitchen that is bright, light and open, beautiful new floors, and a sleek powder room for guests.
Even more important was how great it was to work with Eric and his team. They were never flustered, even though our tenant made things more difficult than anyone could imagine, including pushing the work off for another year, and, yes, the police were involved. Blue Star stood by us and worked collaboratively. They were transparent about everything that needed to be done and how it got done, and kept us up to date on almost a daily basis with the work's progress as we were not in DC for most of the project's planning and execution. Blue Star knows DC building requirements inside out and worked through all the city's bureaucracy unfazed. They are also incredible problem solvers as old DC houses can throw all kinds of issues at you once the drywall comes down. Blue Star came in on budget and ahead of a very, very tight and critical schedule. We highly recommend them to anyone considering a renovation.
