SouthLand Properties has always sought to own a mix of rental properties in a range of prices, sizes, and ages, from historic to more modern. We aren’t a historic preservation company but we strive to renovate and maintain our older rental homes with an eye to their history and original structure. We own two units at the oldest apartment complex in Greenville, McDaniel Heights, built in 1939 and converted into condominiums in 1977. The exterior is stucco and the interior is very thick plaster walls.
After 26 years of consistent tenancy in one of our units, we were able to begin a thorough renovation and update of this original one bedroom, one bathroom unit, structurally the same as when it was first built in 1939 and small at around 800 square feet. We spent seven months renovating the property and working to take advantage of every square inch of the small space and add modern amenities where we could while keeping as much original as we could.
1) The old one bedroom, one bathroom units did not have any space for a washer dryer unit. We took the old coat closet that was next to the main entrance in the front living room, and converted that into the laundry closet. The work included opening the kitchen walls to see how the unit was framed, installing a new service panel and electrical for the closet, installing new laundry plumbing, and finally adding the washer dryer.
2) The small narrow kitchen was made even narrower by the refrigerator intruding into the room. We opened up the kitchen/bedroom wall and used the back part of a bedroom closet to create a nook to inset the kitchen refrigerator, saving floor space. We also removed the kitchen cabinets and flooring, installed a new service panel and other electrical upgrades, installed a new interior wall to attach the new kitchen cabinets with quartz countertops, installed a new header beam and trim, and installed a new kitchen floor and trim. To hide the old electric and provide space for new kitchen lights we installed a framed drop ceiling and replaced the light fixture. The kitchen entry door was stripped and repainted.
3) We originally planned to replace the old tub, sink and vanity, and toilet, replace much of the plumbing, and upgrade the electric in the bathroom. In the midst of the work we found four leaks that were coming from the unit above our unit (and which was not owned by SouthLand). Those leaks were repaired with significant repairs to the tub and toilet in the unit above (the work was paid for by SouthLand). We had to remove all of the drop ceiling and the original plaster ceiling, as well as the interior bathroom wet wall and the linen closet (originally accessed outside the bathroom) in order to have full access to the plumbing. To remove the old tub and install the new shower, we also had to remove the plaster wall between the bathroom and living room. We installed a new shower pan, new wallboard, in-wall backer boards for the towel bars, and new grab bars. We also replaced the tile flooring. We created an access from the bathroom area to the small linen closet, while keeping the old access from the hallway.
In the bedroom we:
- Upgraded the electric (switches and outlets)
- Installed a new ceiling fan with lights
- Installed new doors and hardware
- Installed new waterproof plank flooring throughout the unit
- Installed new baseboards in order to support the new outlet boxes
- Added in shelves and new cabinet style doors to the smaller bedroom closet
Throughout the unit we:
- Installed new wood jambs, sills and wide curtain header boards for the windows
- Patched and prepped walls
- Upgraded the outlets and switches
- Replaced the AC vent covers
- Installed new smoke detectors
- Painted all walls and trim throughout the unit
- Replaced the entry door hardware and had the original locksets rebuilt and reinstalled with the original keys
- Stripped and repainted the screen doors and installed new screens
All new appliances, the new washer and dryer unit, and the new furnace were successfully installed.