Our duplex renovation is still a work in progress, but already we’re dreaming about the next house we’ll transform—because there will be another one. Today we’re sharing our long-term goals to own more rental properties through retirement, and the story of how we almost pursued a recent house we toured. What caught our eye? What were our plans for it? And why did we ultimately pass? We also explain why we took a big saw to our front porch and how a break-in scare turned into an awkward encounter with a police officer.
Episode & Notes
You can listen to the full episode on your favorite podcast platform. Below this post we also list the links, notes, and photos referenced in the show so you can follow along with the details and visuals.
What’s New
- If you missed our conversations about painting our brick house’s exterior white, catch up with the episode archives where we discuss the paint we used and why mineral paint is a great choice for brick—it allows the surface to breathe and comes with a solid warranty.
- Here’s what our porch looked like for most of the years we lived in the house:
- Since removing the Chippendale-style railings, the porch feels much more open—closer to the inspiration image we’ve been chasing, though it’s still very much a work in progress. The change makes the brick porch floor look wider and more welcoming.
- Those old railings felt cage-like and required constant maintenance. Local code didn’t require them because the porch is close to the ground, so removing them made sense both visually and practically.
- We plan to add a simple iron handrail on the steps for accessibility and safety, but it will be much cleaner and less fussy than the previous railings.
- Cleaning the old rails each spring was the worst: mildew, pollen, and spiderwebs accumulated in every nook. Since they were painted metal, power washing wasn’t an option without risking the finish. Moving them to the duplex to use indoors will save us a lot of hassle.
- Removing the railings was surprisingly straightforward. We unscrewed the fasteners, scored the paint around the seams, and wiggled the pieces out. The extra posts were not loadbearing; we cut through them and removed them from top and bottom.
- Luckily, we were able to repurpose those railings: they were sent to another project and are now living a second life as interior stair railings. The crew has already started installing them in the duplex, and we’ll share a peek in our newsletter when we can.
- If you’re curious about how we handled the porch columns at our previous home, we documented the process of chunking them out and showed the final look after painting the siding. That project gave us confidence to tackle similar porch updates here.
Well That’s Embarrassing
- About that embarrassing story when the police were called: the false alarm came from a motion detector in our foyer toy closet. In the photo above you can spot the detector on the crown molding. Lesson learned—check sensors before calling for backup.
Buying Another House?
- None of the photos here show the exact property we briefly considered. These images are from Richmond’s Fan District, a neighborhood we love to walk for its historic homes and walkable streets. The beautiful homes there inspired us to think about a future rental or vacation property in a similar location.
- Most of these houses are well beyond our price range, but the neighborhood shows what’s possible: charming streets, colorful brickwork, and great walkability—features that make a property attractive for short-term rentals or long-term tenants.
We’re Digging
- We mentioned a new trimmer during a recent episode. Since the older model was discontinued, we bought a new trimmer/edger with two features we love: a foot pedal to switch from trimming to edging mode and a quick, tool-free transition that saves time.
- We also highlighted a versatile vacuum that switches from carpet to hardwood with a foot control. We like it so much we purchased a second unit for our beach house.
- On a lighter note, we reminisced about meeting author Kevin Kwan during a book tour stop and shared a few memories from past tour dates. Those encounters are a fun reminder of how projects and friendships overlap.
If you’re trying to find a topic or product we discussed in past episodes, we keep a master list of everything we’ve been digging across old shows, along with a Book Club page that gathers all the books we’ve recommended.
Special thanks to Agility Bed for sponsoring this episode. They offered a promotional discount during the episode, and they provide a 100-night trial with free shipping and returns for mattress orders. (Sponsor mention retained from the episode; no purchase links are included here.)
Thanks for listening and following along with our renovation adventures!
*This post originally contained affiliate links and sponsor mentions in the episode notes.*